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25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
This verse stands over against verses 23–24, "23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." This time the "mirror" is "the perfect law, the law of liberty." This is "the word of truth" by which "he brought us forth … that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (v. 18). This is "the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (v. 21). God's Word is his "law," his torah, his parental instruction. And it is "perfect." Whatever flaws we might see are always in us, never in God's Word. It is "the law of liberty." Genuinely hearing and doing God's Word will have a liberating effect on your life.
How can you experience this liberating effect? You need to do two things. First, you need to peer, to "look into" God's Word. This compares to "he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror" (v. 23). The verb translated "look" is used in John 20:5 to describe how Peter and John first looked into the empty tomb. You can be sure that this was no casual glance. How do you look into God's Word? Do you peer intently into it, meditating prayerfully on its meaning and implications, adjusting your thoughts, your attitudes, your behavior accordingly?
Second, you need to persist, to "persevere" in doing so. This contrasts with "For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (v. 24). On the other hand, one who is "no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts" persists in learning God's Word, loving God's Word, and living God's Word. And in so doing, he discovers that God's Word is both "perfect" and liberating. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned … the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14–15).
Indeed God promises to use his Word as a means to give you grace to help in time of need — "he will be blessed in his doing." As our Lord Jesus says, "Blessed … are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28). It may be no surprise to hear God promise to bless his followers in eternity. It may be no surprise to hear God promise to bless his followers at some future time in this life. But in this verse God promises, "he will be blessed in his doing." Right then and there. "True blessedness—the joy of Christ's kingdom—comes not by escaping trials but by doing the Word of the Lord."†
"1 Blest is the man who turns away
from where the wicked walk,
who does not stand in sinners' paths
or sit with those who mock.
2 Instead he finds God's holy law
his joy and great delight;
he makes the precepts of the Lord
his study day and night.
3 He prospers ever like a tree
that's planted by a stream,
and in due season yields its fruit;
its leaves are ever green.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like
the chaff that's blown away.
5 They will not stand when judgment comes
or with the righteous stay.
6 It is the Lord who sees and knows
the way the righteous go,
whereas the way of wicked men
the Lord will overthrow." (Psalm 1, versified)
† George M. Stulac, James (IVP, 1993), p. 79
Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.
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