SECTION C: THEMES FROM SELECTED EPISTLES (A) Explain James’ advice to Christians to be doers of the word and not hearers only. (B) State two factors that hi...

Answer Details

(a) James' advice to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22-25)

• James exhorts believers, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Merely listening to the word without acting on it is a form of self-deception.
• He illustrates with the image of a mirror: anyone who hears the word but does not do it is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself, goes away, and at once forgets what he was like.
• By contrast, the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres in it, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, will be blessed in his doing.
• James therefore stresses that hearing must lead to obedience and practical action. The word must be received with meekness and translated into a changed life.
• He goes on to define true, undefiled religion before God as visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, and keeping oneself unstained from the world, showing that genuine faith is expressed in acts of mercy and holy living.

(b) Two factors that hinder Christians from doing the will of God

1. Worldliness and love of pleasure, which turn the heart away from obedience and toward selfish desires.
2. Weakness of will and self-deception, where believers hear the word but fail to act, comforting themselves with mere profession rather than practice.