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James 1:21
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
Having called us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19–20), the Apostle James develops his thoughts further in today’s passage by telling us how we can be wise in our speech, hearing, and anger. In fact, what he says guides us in how we can act wisely in all of life. James explains that the key is to put away sin and receive the “implanted word” of God (v. 21).
We begin by noting that the phrase “implanted word” means that the Word in view is already in us. The Apostle likely has in view such passages as Jeremiah 31:33, where we read God’s promise to write His law on our hearts under the new covenant. This fits well with James 1:18, which speaks of God’s regenerating us by His Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. James is reminding us that we who believe in Jesus have had the Word of God implanted in us, that the truth of the gospel has changed us and taken root in our lives.
Of course, this naturally raises questions. How can we receive what has already been implanted in us? Does not the implantation of divine truth in our souls in regeneration mean that we have received the “word” and that we do not need to receive it again? Here we recognize that while there is a decisive implanting of the “word of truth” in regeneration and conversion, that is only the beginning of the work of God’s Word in us. We must continually receive the “word of truth” after conversion in the sense of allowing it to permeate and form every aspect of our lives. John Calvin comments that “it should be a living implanting, by which the word becomes as it were united with our heart.” In other words, we must let the Word of God dwell richly in us and bear fruit in us (see Col. 3:16–17).
To receive the Word of God in this sense, we must put away all filthiness and wickedness and come to Scripture with humility (James 1:21). The imagery used is that of removing soiled clothes. We must cast away sinful deeds and all manner of wicked actions as readily as we take off dirty clothing after a hard day’s work. We must also receive God’s truth with meekness. Matthew Henry comments that this means “being willing to hear of our faults, and taking [the word of truth] not only patiently, but thankfully, desiring also to be molded and formed by the doctrines and precepts of the gospel.” God has put His law on our hearts, and the Holy Spirit shapes us by this law as we attend to the Scriptures in faith.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
James says that the “implanted word . . . is able to save [our] souls.” This salvation begins with a decisive change at conversion and continues as the Lord renews us daily according to His truth. As we come to the Scriptures, let us put aside sin and seek to hear it with humility and to respond to its truth. Then we will see it do its work in our lives.
For further study
- Joshua 24:14
- Ephesians 4:17–24
The bible in a year
- Genesis 38–40
- Matthew 13:24–58
- Genesis 41–46
- Matthew 14:1–21