Please turn to James 1, verse 25, where our Lord and Savior's brother equated the law with liberty or freedom from bondage.
The Amplified Edition adds the following clarifying details: But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience]. This verse sits within a passage (James 1:22-25) contrasting hearing God's Word with doing it. Using the image of someone looking in a mirror, likening this behavior to hearing God's Word and not acting on it, James encourages the opposite: the person who truly looks intently into God's Word and acts upon it.
In the phrase, But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, the Greek verb parakypto connotes bending down or stooping to look closely, namely, an intentional, careful examination, not a casual glance, but rather a serious, reflective, engagement with God's Word.
The perfect law points to God's will which was fulfilled and revealed through Jesus Christ. It is perfect because it is whole, complete, and leads to maturity (James 1:4). The expression law of liberty seems paradoxical and a blatant contradiction to most professing antinomian, anarchistic Protestants. How can any kind of law bring freedom?
Jesus' half-brother James insists that true freedom can only be found in obedience to God, not in autonomy. When God's chosen saints follow God's Word, containing God's law, they are liberated from sin's bondage and self-deception. We must remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's teaching in John 8:31-32, If you abide in My word. . . the truth will set you free.
In verse 25, James uses the expression and perseveres (ESV), suggesting that the blessing does not come from merely a single act of looking or doing, but from continued, sustained faithful practice. The word suggests endurance and steadfastness. My dear brothers and sisters, we must regard our discipleship as a sustained habit, not just a momentary impulse. When James uses the phrase being not hearer but a doer who acts, he continues his contrast between passive reception and active obedience. The forgetful hearer represents superficial religion, that is, hearing sermons or reading Scripture without transformation.
The doer (that should be us) who acts lives out the Word, embodies faith through conduct. When James uses the phrase he will be blessed in his doing, he maintains that this blessing is not merely a reward after obedience but is in the doing itself. When we obey God's Word containing His holy and spiritual law, we obtain spiritual flourishing, joy, and alignment with our divine purpose, a concept which is echoed in Psalm 1, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
James 1:25 forms the thesis or central theme for the entire letter, that authentic faith expresses itself in action, rejecting both legalism (mechanical and rote rule following) and passive religious behavior, asserting that obedience to Christ's teaching is not bondage, but true freedom.
Consequently, we are obligated to meditate deeply, engage in Scripture with attentiveness, reflection, and an ardent desire to apply it to our behavior. We must exercise perseverance, making obedience a consistent practice rather than an occasional response.
We are urged to actively live out faith, realizing that spiritual maturity does not come from information, but instead transformation, converting God's holy and spiritual law into genuine behavior. We must find joy in obedience, realizing that the blessing which James refers to is the inner satisfaction of walking in absolute alignment with God's will.
As God's called-out saints, we must keep God's Word central in our daily decisions, simplifying our choices by asking: What does God's Word say?
