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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:19-27

In this part of the chapter we are required, I. To restrain the workings of passion. This lesson we should learn under afflictions; and this we shall learn if we are indeed begotten again by the word of truth. For thus the connection stands?An angry and hasty spirit is soon provoked to ill things by afflictions, and errors and ill opinions become prevalent through the workings of our own vile and vain affections; but the renewing grace of God and the word of the gospel teach us to subdue... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:22-24

1:22-24 Prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not only hearers, for those who think that hearing is enough deceive themselves. For, if a man is a hearer of the word and not a doer of it, he is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face which nature gave him. A glance and he is gone; and he immediately forgets what kind of man he is. Again James presents us with two of the vivid pictures of which he is such a master. First of all, he speaks of the man who goes to the church... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word ,.... And they are such, who spiritually understand it; gladly receive it; and from the heart obey it, and make a sincere and ingenuous profession of it; and who submit to the ordinances it directs to, and keep them as they have been delivered; and live, and walk, becoming their profession of it. The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "be ye doers of the law"; and so one of Stephens's copies, as in Romans 2:13 and not hearers only ; though the word should be... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word - They had heard this doctrine; they had believed it; but they had put it to no practical use. They were downright Antinomians, who put a sort of stupid, inactive faith in the place of all moral righteousness. This is sufficiently evident from the second chapter. Deceiving your own selves - Παραλογιζομενοι ἑαυτους· Imposing on your own selves by sophistical arguments; this is the meaning of the words. They had reasoned themselves into a state of carnal... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:22

Verse 22 22Be ye doers of the word. The doer here is not the same as in Romans 2:13, who satisfied the law of God and fulfilled it in every part, but the doer is he who from the heart embraces God’s word and testifies by his life that he really believes, according to the saying of Christ, “Blessed are they who hear God’s word and keep it,” (Luke 11:28;) for he shews by the fruits what that implanting is, before mentioned. We must further observe, that faith with all its works is included by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

Deeds, not words. 1. The right spirit for the Christian is the receptive ; ready to hear, and to receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is to be as the seed falling on the good ground (comp. Matthew 13:3 , etc). A heathen philosopher has noted that man has two ears and only one mouth ; showing that he should be more ready to hear than to speak. 2. A receptive spirit is not alone sufficient. Action must follow. Holy Scripture is a mirror, in which a man may see... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

The law of the new life. "Ye know this, my beloved brethren;" viz. that ye have been begotten again by God. But now, from this vantage-ground, he presses the necessity of a consistent life. They have espoused, by God's grace, a new ideal of character and conduct; let their whole life show forth its power. This is the topic of the whole passage, and it divides itself very naturally into the related subjects of—meekness, self-knowledge, and practical religion (see Punchard, in Bishop... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:22

They are not merely to receive and hear the Word; they must also act upon it. Compare St. Paul's teaching in Romans 2:13 , "For not the hearers ( ἀκροαταὶ ) of a law are just before God, but the doers of a law shall be justified." ἀκροατής occurs nowhere else except in these passages. Deceiving your own selves ( παραλογίζειν ); to lead astray by false reasonings; only here and in Colossians 2:4 . Not uncommon in the LXX . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:22-25

Hearers and doers. The writer has said in James 1:21 that the wise hearer is a " receiver " of the Word, and he now proceeds to emphasize the fact that he is also a "doer" of it. " Receiving " represents the root of the Christian life, and "doing" indicates its fruit. I. THE INJUNCTION . ( James 1:22 ) Very many hearers of the gospel are not sufficiently upon their guard against the dreadful danger of being " hearers only." Some, when the service is over, seldom think... read more

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