“For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying THEN DOING the law that makes us right in His sight.” (Romans 2:13) Some of Paul’s Jewish readers had made the mistake of thinking that by simply being Jewish, they would be declared righteous by God and spared from His wrath for their sin. After all, they were under the law of Moses. Most Jewish people grew up listening to the books of the Law read aloud from the time they were infants. By definition, they were “hearers” of the law. THEY KNEW WHAT THE WORDS SAID THEY WERE JUST NOT DOING THEM. They understood the big ideas. And they were part of the chosen people of Israel.
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and RECEIVE WITH MEEKNESS THE IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. But BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and NOT A DOER, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and IMMEDIATELY FORGETS what kind of man he was.” (James 1:19-24)
Why is DOING the Word so important? “…everyone who hears these words of mine and PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE (becomes a doer of the Word) is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation ON THE ROCK. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and IT FELL WITH A GREAT CRASH.” (Matthew 7:24-27) It is the doing that PRESERVES US!!!
Your personal Pastor -Bill Stockham