Be Doers of the Word - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on James 1:22-25 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 02/14/2021 in Novato, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Last passage called us to meekly receive the Word of God which God has implanted in us. Here James further elaborates on what that means. To receive the Word of God is not simply to hear what it has to say. It’s not just that you give a welcome audience to God’s Word. Receiving is more than just about hearing, it also includes heeding. A true Christian doesn’t just give lip service to God’s Word. Nor does a true Christian claim to value God’s Word but ignore what it has to say. That’s not what our faith believes. No, our faith has come to see that Jesus has the words of eternal life. His Word we embrace and look to live out. As it says here, let us not be merely hearers of the Word but doers of it. This will be our topic for today.







Let us begin by considering how James in verse 22 says that if we are just mere hearers of the Word then we deceive ourselves. We’ve heard this idea of deception already in this letter. Back in 1:16, James warned against being deceived by your evil desires that will try to tempt you to sin. But the Greek word is different back in verse 16. There it was a word about being led astray. In comparison, this word here in verse 22 for being deceived is about deluding yourself with false reasoning. In other words, you mentally think and reason about something, but your logic is faulty and so you come to some faulty conclusion.







In context, he’s saying its faulty logic to think we can just hear the Word and not look to do what the Word says. If you think you will benefit from God’s Word by listening to it or reading it but not by looking to respond and act to its teachings, then you have deluded yourself. The Bible is not some magic spell that you just read over you and it does some magic. No, the Bible is God’s Word to you that teaches you what you need to know about him, the duty that God requires of you, and especially of how to be saved from sin and death in Jesus Christ. The mere hearing of the Word is not going to save you. This is what the Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes so wonderfully in question and answer 90. It asks, “How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?” It answers, “That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.”







For example, when the Word says that we need to repent of our sins and turn and put our faith in Jesus Christ to be saved, it’s not enough to just hear that if we want to be saved. We need to actually repent of our sins and turn and put our faith in Jesus Christ if we are to be saved. That’s an example when it comes to responding to the gospel. But we can apply this principal across the board when it comes to God’s Word. Think of all the laws in the Scripture. The Bible’s many laws are given for our instruction and have many practical benefits in life and it is what we Christians are to strive for as fruit of our repentance. But if you hear those commands but never seek to live them out, they won’t bring any benefit in progressing in righteousness. When the Bible says don’t lie but you just keep on lying, or when it says submit to your boss, but you keep trying to subvert your boss, you won’t know the fruit of righteousness that God would have you to have in those areas. While we know that we need God’s Spirit to help us understand the Word and live it out, we know that the Word itself is not mystical in how it instructs us and trains us. It speaks in straightforward terms that as we heed it we find its benefit. Otherwise,

Further episodes of Reformed Sermons and Sunday Schools at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Petaluma, CA

Further podcasts by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Website of Rev. W. Reid Hankins