James 1:23 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

James 1:23

Doers—Not Hearers Only

21 Therefore ^alay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, ^bwhich is able to save your souls.

22 But ^abe doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23 For ^aif anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But ^ahe who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, ^bthis one will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone¹ among you thinks he is religious, and ^adoes not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.

27 ^aPure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: ^bto visit orphans and widows in their trouble, ^cand to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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James 1:23

For—the logical self-deceit (James 1:22) illustrated.

not a doer—more literally, "a notdoer" [ALFORD]. The true disciple, say the rabbis, learns in order that he may do, not in order that he may merely know or teach.

his natural face—literally, "the countenance of his birth": the face he was born with. As a man may behold his natural face in a mirror, so the hearer may perceive his moral visage in God's Word. This faithful portraiture of man's soul in Scripture, is the strongest proof of the truth of the latter. In it, too, we see mirrored God's glory, as well as our natural vileness.

Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing James 1:23:

Ezekiel 33:31
1 Corinthians 14:25
2 Corinthians 3:18
James 1:19
James 1:24

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James 1:24 >>

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Doers—Not Hearers Only

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

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