09 James 1:26-27 - Pure and Undefiled

January 08, 2023

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: Pure and Undefiled Text: James 1:26-27 FCF: We often struggle with the place of works in our salvation. Prop: True religion that is blameless before God lives out the law of liberty, so we must live out the law of liberty. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to James chapter 1. After a long holiday season with several special messages, special Sundays, Special services – it is nice to get back to a normal worship service. And part of that is settling back into our normal book study. Every book in the bible seems extraordinarily relevant to us though we are several years from them being written. James seems to be especially relevant though. Many are in times of trial right now. They do need encouragement and they do need care. But counseling them to count it as joy must be part of that counsel. It may not be all of it. In fact, it probably shouldn’t be all of it. But if you never edify a believer to count their trial as joy in the midst of it – you are failing them in a big way. Set the word of God loose and see what He will do with it! To a certain degree of design we left James at exactly the time we should have. That may seem odd to say since we stopped before concluding chapter 1. However, what is said in the remaining two verses will serve both to remind us of what we spoke of last, and to push us on toward what James will say in the rest of the letter. Let me briefly summarize all that we’ve seen in chapter 1 thus far. James, the half-brother of Jesus, only converted after his brother was raised from the dead, now leads the church in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, through persecution many Jewish believers have fled to various parts of the Roman empire, where they are looked at with suspicion and even oppressed because they live so much differently than the pagans around them. Then they hear a message that gives them some sense of false peace. Justification is by faith alone without any works. Therefore, we can live however we want as long as we believe. The error of this teaching is borne from those who twisted Paul’s teaching. So, James has his hands full when he writes to these scattered Jews. But what does he say? Where would he even begin to correct AND encourage them? Consider it as pure joy when you encounter trials of all kinds. Because God is using those to perfect your faith. He is making you into someone who lacks nothing. What follows is a list of things they may (and being close to them James probably knew they did) lack. Do you lack wisdom? Wisdom to know God and be what God desires? Then ask God for it. Do you lack God’s perspective? Perspective on what? Well… Do you view wealth and status in this world as something important? Well, this is not how God sees the world. Do you view God’s character in suspicion as though he is the one tempting you? Remember that God is good and never tempts anyone. When you are drawn away, you are drawn away by your own lusts. In the midst of a trial do you see God as a good giver that is unfortunately not always able to help you? Stop! For God is only a giver of good gifts to His people which chief among them is His sovereign plan to give free grace to you and birth you out of death and darkness into light and life. And most recently – James addresses a particularly malicious lack of Godly perspective. And it is the perspective we often have… of ourselves. We often consider ourselves more highly than we should. To this James says – be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Listening means not only to listen to others, but to God also by hearing and doing the gospel. And that brings us to today. I am in James 1. I’ll begin reading in verse 22 just to pick up some context. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible starting on page 1360 or in whatever version you prefer. Transition: There is much to see here today. Let’s dive in! I.) True religion that is blameless before God lives out the law of liberty, so we must control our speech. a. [Slide 2] 26 – If someone thinks he is religious i. James parallels his previous discussion about the person who was a hearer only and not also a doer of the Word. ii. In fact, this is more than a parallel, this is an application. iii. Before he spoke in illustrative and in theoretical senses. He discussed how such a person is like a someone who sees his disheveled appearance in a mirror and walks away forgetting what he sees. But a person who keeps looking into the gospel will never forget and will be blessed in his obedience. iv. Well now James seeks to sharpen the stick as it were. v. You see they might have had a chance to wiggle free of James’ point from the previous section. vi. His audience may have escaped conviction by simply saying – well I know I am a sinner and God is working on me. I am not a hearer only! vii. But now James pounces. He has us right where he wants us, right where the Spirit of God has led him to attack a true deficiency in our faith. viii. And he begins by posing a hypothetical. ix. If someone – anyone - thinks he is religious. x. This doesn’t mean what many mean when they say that person is “religious” or they have “religion.” xi. Typically this is spoken by a non believing non religiously affiliated person to refer to pretty much everyone who is affiliated with a religion in almost any way. xii. What James means by “religious” is a person who is pious. A person who is devout. A person who is holy. xiii. Now it is important to note that James does not say if a person is religious… he says if a person thinks, is convinced, considers, or believes himself to be pious, devout or holy. xiv. He is not speaking of reality but of perception. xv. If this person perceives themselves in this way… b. [Slide 3] Yet does not bridle his tongue i. This person who perceives himself to be and has even convinced himself that he is holy is also one who does not control his tongue. ii. Even in English the idiom is clear – his tongue is like a horse with no bit in its mouth and no reins to guide it. It is used to say all manner of ungodly things. iii. This is not the first and it will not be the last time that James calls attention to the wild nature of our tongue and our need to control it. Indeed, throughout the letter, the control of our tongue remains a sure proof of our genuine faith. iv. And so, we have a person who truly believes himself to be holy but he is unable to control what he says. He speaks flippantly, abusively, deceptively, impatiently, arrogantly, ungratefully and/or unwholesomely – yet still believes himself to be pious, devout, righteous and holy. v. If such a person exists, what is true of that person? c. [Slide 4] And so deceives his heart i. The original language draws a difficult connection between this clause and the rest of the text. ii. But it seems that the NET and other translations point out the obvious conclusion especially as you compare this to verse 22. iii. A person who is a hearer and not a doer deceives themselves. Similarly, a person who thinks he is a holy person but cannot control his tongue is essentially a hearer only and therefore has deceived himself. iv. The significance of James using the term heart here rather than simply saying “himself” as he did before, could be significant. v. If this person truly believes that they are holy and yet cannot control what they say – they have deceived their heart… which is the very essence of their being. vi. Such a person is, perhaps, more lost than before they confessed Christ. They are, perhaps, farther away from true holiness than those who live in blatant sin. vii. Such was the state of the Pharisees who thought they were pious yet ignored justice and mercy. They were incensed when Christ said that prostitutes and thieves were closer to the kingdom than they were. viii. Yet James points out a similar picture here. It is truly a tragic man who is convinced he is holy and cannot bridle his tongue. It is tragic because he is delusional. ix. What is the only assessment we can make of a man who cannot control his tongue but has deceived himself to believe he is truly holy? d. [Slide 5] His religion is futile. i. Notice that James does not say – he has no religion. ii. James says his religion – his piety, his devotion, his holiness – is worthless. e. [Slide 6] Passage Truth: Although it is unspoken so far, the lesson in doctrine that James is teaching in these two verses is already obvious. He is defining true religion. What does it mean to be pious? What does it look like to be devout? What is a case study in true holiness? What does it mean to have humbly welcomed the gospel? What does it mean to be a doer and not a hearer only? James begins very simply by stating that they are not pious or devout because they believe they are pious or devout. Perceiving themselves to be a doer of the gospel does not make it so. They must live out the gospel in order to truly have a religion that is not worthless. f. Passage Application: So, his audience must move beyond their simple belief that they are a partaker of the gospel and move to actually living it. Specifically, by controlling their tongue. g. [Slide 7] Broader Biblical Truth: But do the Scriptures as a whole teach this? Do we find this in the rest of the bible? My friends there are countless examples of people who thought they were God’s child and it was not so. The entire Old Testament is full of Israelites who thought they were God’s chosen people and safe from His retribution for their sins. The Apostle Paul – A Jew – says that not all Israel is Israel. But today we’ve replaced the blood of Abraham with a list of truths we’ve decided to believe. And once we decide to believe them we simply need to be assured that we are safe and secure from God’s wrath. Men and women everywhere in this country live life like they always have but because they decided something when they were 5 years old at a VBS – they have convinced themselves they are going to heaven. James says that a character flaw as simple as a potty mouth can prove your decision to believe was worthless. h. Broader Biblical Application: What about the application here? Do we find it in the rest of the scriptures? We could go back to verse 19 where James said to be slow to speak. We could go to Psalm 34:13 where it says to make sure you don’t speak evil words or deceptive speech. Or psalm 39:1 where the psalmist says he will watch what he says and make sure he does not sin with his tongue. Or Psalm 141:3 where the psalmist begs YAHWEH to place a guard on his mouth. Or we could go to the gospels where The Lord Jesus said in His teaching that out of the heart the mouth speaks. My friends, if you are truly devout, truly pious, if you possess true religion that is blameless before God, you will beg like the psalmist for YAHWEH to put a guard on your mouth and protect the opening of your lips. CBC, we sin so much with our tongues. Not just crude words or vulgar jokes either. We disrespect, we cut, we impatiently chide, we grumble, we complain, we gossip, we stir up, we backbite, we brag, presume, and we blaspheme. My friends our tongues are a powder keg. We must keep it under lock and key lest a spark find its fuse and blow us to smithereens. We cannot possibly claim to be pious if our lips can never seem to stop spewing unholy sewage. Transition: [Slide 8] We saw a worthless, useless and fake religion in a person who thinks they are truly pious yet they cannot control their tongue. But this doesn’t answer the question of what a true and blameless religion would be. What would it look like to truly be devout? To be pious? To be holy? James begins that discussion in verse 27. II.) True religion that is blameless before God lives out the law of liberty, so we must help the desperate. a. [Slide 9] 27 – Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: i. James transitions to a contrasting kind of religion. ii. He begins with two adjectives. iii. Not a worthless religion but one that is pure and undefiled. iv. These two adjectives are so similar in their meaning that to try to find some meaningful point of difference would probably be a fool’s errand. v. This is no doubt a poetic or stylistic way of emphasizing and highlighting the difference in the two religions he has brought up. vi. This second religion is pure and undefiled. It is spotless. It is blameless. vii. Some preachers, taking the word “pure” to mean complete, have mistakenly assigned all of piety and holiness to these two specific components listed in verse 27. viii. But interpreting them together as spotless or blameless – we see that what follows in this verse are two specific examples of pure and undefiled religion not the sum total of it. ix. And notice - that this religion is blameless before The Holy God. x. Some translations have “before our God and Father” but the NET nails James’ meaning when it says God THE Father. xi. If God the Father, the Ancient of Days, He who sits on the throne of heaven, He who dwells in inapproachable light, He who is the Great I Am – if He determines this religion is blameless – then my friends, it is truly blameless. xii. So what is this religion that is blameless before Him? b. [Slide 10] To care for orphans and widows in their misfortune i. These two kinds of people are connected with the word “and” meaning we should probably not be focusing on their differences but rather on their similarity. ii. Just as “pure and undefiled” and “God and Father” were emphasizing the sameness rather than the difference – so here we are not looking at widows and orphans for their unique needs but rather for widows and orphans for their shared need. iii. And what is that need? iv. Their misfortune. v. Even if you knew nothing of the cultural context of this book you would know that widows and orphans had a unique need in that they were afflicted. They were oppressed. They were pushed down in their society. vi. In the 1st century Roman world there wasn’t a lot an orphan or widow could do to escape their situation. Widows could be left penniless and unable to earn a living for themselves. Orphans could be left with no benefactor to raise and educate them. vii. James’ point to his audience is simply this – living out the gospel, being a doer of the Word, having a truly blameless holiness, is considering the least, the helpless, the outcast, the oppressed – and doing what with them? viii. Caring. Feeding, clothing, healing, helping. The term here used is to visit or to meet. ix. Blameless holiness meets the needs of those who are unable to help themselves. c. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: James’ truth endures through the passage. And it is all the clearer. True and blameless religion before God lives out the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. It looks into and obeys the law of liberty. d. Passage Application: And for his audience one specific way to live out the law of liberty is to care for those who are unable help themselves. e. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Perhaps you were not satisfied that the scriptures speak often about people who think they are God’s people when they aren’t. What of Judas? What of Demas? What of Simon the Sorcerer? What of Alexander and Hymenaeus? What of those Peter spoke about who have known the way of righteousness only to turn back from it? What of Rob Bell, Josh Harris, Rhett and Link, Ravi Zacharias, and countless others without prominent names or followers. They have made a confession, made a decision, believed that Jesus is the Son of God who died for their sins and rose again the third day… but have walked away either by denying the faith or by living unholy lifestyles? Can this kind of faith, religion, piety… can it save them? No. They will join many in the last day who will say – I have done many wonderous things in your name Lord. And the Lord will say depart from me worker of lawlessness. I never knew you. It is important that we know Christ. But it is infinitely more important that He know us. f. Broader Biblical Application: But CBC… my friends. Hear me. All the names I listed before are those who are very obviously in possession of a religion that is worthless. But before we sit so high on our horse. Before we convince ourselves of better things. Do you help those who cannot help themselves? I’m not even talking about money, although that would be one application. Do you personally meet with and care for those who are voiceless, oppressed or afflicted? As we have studied the Old Testament in Foundations and even most recently in our study of Hosea and the Northern Kingdom… one of the main reasons that God is judging them is because… they oppressed widows and orphans. They did not alleviate their misfortune, they added to it. In Psalm 68 the psalmist calls the Lord a Father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. In Isaiah God tells Israel to give the oppressed a reason to celebrate and to take up the cause of the orphan and defend the rights of the widow. Are we helping those who truly cannot help themselves? Transition: [Slide 13] But this is only one application of blameless holiness. James has one more before he gets to chapter 2. III.) True religion that is blameless before God lives out the law of liberty, so we must guard ourselves against the world. a. [Slide 14] And to keep oneself unstained by the world i. This second point is so very important in this context. ii. For many use this verse to defend some kind of social gospel where God’s people’s only concern is righting the wrongs in society. iii. But righting social wrongs cannot be the end of the discussion when we speak of blameless holiness. Truly it is a noble work and one near to the heart of Yahweh. But it is not the end. It wasn’t the end of what God desired for the Israelites and it is not the end of what God desires of His church. iv. Do you see how humility is emphasized throughout this passage? v. Blameless holiness is caring for the desperate. The ones Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol, would have said should “hurry up and die to decrease the surplus population.” vi. This is what living out the gospel looks like when pointed at the desperate – those in the humblest of states. vii. But when pointed at ourselves… what does living out the gospel look like? viii. It assumes that we are in constant danger of being defiled by the world in which we live. ix. The arrogant and prideful think they are always right. They defend their actions even when it is clear they are wrong. They justify themselves and find reason to be excused from fulfilling the law of God. And a less obvious expression of pride would be to live as if you could crawl through the soot without staining your pure white robes. x. Living out the gospel is not just caring for the desperate. It is recognizing how desperate we all are in that when we gaze into the wonderful law of liberty, we see that we are highly susceptible to being stained by all that surrounds us. xi. Seeing this through the lens of the gospel, we take great pains to keep, to protect, to guard ourselves from ungodly thoughts, words, philosophies, teachings, and practices. xii. We don’t just want to escape the judgment of the world… we don’t even want to walk into the kingdom smelling like it. xiii. That is what it means to obey the gospel. That is what it is to be a doer and not a hearer only. xiv. This is blameless holiness… to fight to keep ourselves from succumbing to the influence of a world that hates God. Our Father. b. [Slide 15] Passage Truth: Again, James’ point is inescapable. True religion that is blameless is one that lives out the law of liberty. c. Passage Application: And specifically for his audience, that means they must protect themselves from the world’s influence. d. [Slide 16] Broader Biblical Truth: If you do not yet accept and believe that good works must accompany faith if the faith is real – then at this point there is nothing I can say to change your mind. You are arguing with God… not me. I’ll let Him deal with you. e. Broader Biblical Application: But CBC, we must be so very careful with this proof of true holiness that is blameless. We must be so very careful. I don’t want to open up a huge discussion on Christian liberty. Nor do I want to be the arbiter of your family’s personal convictions. But here is what I know… it is very easy to set something in front of our eyes, in our ears, holding our hands, taking our time, taking our energy, taking our money, that is so infused, so saturated by the world and its ways that it drips with the sludge of hell. And we can watch and listen and touch and do and give and pay for all of this without getting stained. But my friends… James says to keep… to protect ourselves from being stained by the world. Do you walk about this life expecting that sludge to grow arms so it can get its filthy fingers on your white pure robes? Or do you sit on your couch and watch your TV passively unaware of – not just the obvious sex, drugs, and ungodly behavior – but are you unaware of the ideologies, philosophies, and values that are bombarding your defenses? Are your shields even up? Or are you so exhausted from a day of work that you have no energy left to protect yourself? If you walk through this life claiming to have blameless religion before God but are not walking circumspectly as if around every corner something from hell is out to get you… then you are a fool. And you are going to fall. Conclusion: [Slide 17] My friends… true religion that is blameless before God is this… You control what you say. You humbly help those who cannot help themselves. You walk circumspectly in the world. If you don’t have these… you have not received the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you do have these… but you realize, and probably have for some time that they have laxed and must be rekindled… then let today be the day you repent of idleness. Guard your words. Be careful what you say. Speak the words of life. Encourage, Edify, rebuke, correct, instruct, give thanks, praise the Lord! But let all manner of wicked speech be removed from you. Let not a single idle word pass through your lips. Certainly, this does not mean we must speak only the scripture or only that which is overtly biblical. But prattling on endlessly about things that won’t be in the Kingdom of God makes just as worthless of a religion as gossip, backbiting, slandering, or lying. Control your tongue. As a teacher I have grown accustomed to talking a lot. I take that teaching heart and wax eloquent often. One of the many lessons Eric Beauman has taught me… is to talk less. Choose my words more carefully. And speak only when necessary. I fail his advice often. But His advice is truly sound for it is found in the pages of James. Control your tongue Christian. And that includes the tongue at your fingertips too. Help those who cannot help themselves. Our nation has made a mockery of poverty. Many who are truly capable of helping themselves are allowed to do nothing and yet eat. The apostle Paul says that if a man does not work, he shall not eat. Yet there are those who truly are oppressed and afflicted. They are unable to claw their way out of whatever situation they are in. They are caught in an endless loop and are doomed to never get ahead. It is those whom we must help. We must be the voice of the voiceless. We must defend the rights of the oppressed. We must help those who are unable to help themselves. If I could be so bold… one class of people that I believe God would certainly have in this category… are the unborn. I can think of no other people group in this nation that are oppressed more with simultaneously less of a voice than the unborn. I would go so far even to say that if you fight to keep this people group oppressed and afflicted, regardless of your reasons… there is no way you can have a true religion that is blameless before God. You have deceived your heart. Let me be clear on this matter in that I do not see it as a political issue. Whether it is legal or illegal in this culture to kill unborn children is not abundantly relevant to what I am saying today. Certainly, defending their cause would include fighting for it to be illegal to kill them – but even if tomorrow it was illegal to kill the unborn, our fight would only just be beginning! Why? Because mothers would still go into alleys and murder their unwanted children. If we fight for the cause of the voiceless our fight doesn’t end when it is illegal to oppress them. It ends when they are no longer oppressed. And friends that only truly ends, when they are released from their spiritual father… Satan. Finally, we must walk circumspectly. My friends the devil prowls this world seeking his next victim. And although we who are truly God’s children have nothing to fear from him… the reason we have nothing to fear is because God’s true children when they read what James says here, to protect themselves from being stained by the world… THEY LISTEN TO HIM! True believers bow to the Word of God. How long can you play with the sludge before you get a black spot on your white robes? Psalm 101:3 says “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” Perhaps this verse should rest on top of our computers or phones or TVs. True religion that is blameless before God lives out the law of liberty. We love God and the things of God which means we obey God. What kind of religion do you have before God? A worthless one or a blameless one?