The Purpose of Hearing the Word

I’ve been reading the book of James.

Here’s a passage to read and meditate on often:
James 1:22-25 (NASB)

²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

I like how the ESV summarizes these verses:
“Hearing and Doing the Word.”

James’ point is obvious: we are to be hearers and doers of the Word. Hearing alone is not enough. It’s a classic case of both/and. A true believer in Jesus must be both.

Having said that, it’s good to remind ourselves that we are to be hearers!

What is a “hearer” who is also a “doer”?

A hearer-doer is a person “who has looked intently at the perfect law” (v. 25). The phrase “looked intently” is one Greek word (parakupto), and it means “to bend over and carefully examine something from the clearest possible vantage point. It is the verb used by Luke to describe Peter’s looking into the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:12).

“The person who looks intently at God’s Word, the perfect law, the law of liberty, examines it to discover its deepest and most complete meaning. For him, it is not a mere exercise of curiosity, as with the forgetful person just mentioned. When he discovers a truth, he abides by it, understanding that this is the purpose for the Lord’s revealing it to men. God did not reveal His Word simply to be learned, but to be obeyed and applied.” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – James).

In other words, the purpose of hearing the Word is to live it out. We want to know the Word so we can obey the Word. And we want to obey the Word because we love Jesus.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). And again, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me” (John 14:21). He also said, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word . . . He who does not love Me does not keep my words” (John 14:23-24).

In James 1:25, note that the Word is referred to as “the law of liberty.” The Bible is the only instruction that provides the power we need to live in freedom from the bondage of sin. Jesus made this clear in John 8:32 – “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

We cannot do the Word if we don’t hear it. Indeed, we cannot even believe the Word if we don’t hear it, because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).

Hearing only is not enough, but hearing and doing are essential and indispensable practices of the Christian life. Oh how I need God’s help to hear, trust, and obey Him. I can’t do His will on my own; that’s a recipe for spiritual disaster.

Meditating on the necessity of hearing and doing causes me to cry out to God . . .

“O God, I need your power to be a hearer and a doer of your Word. Please enable me to engage wholeheartedly in both hearing and doing – from the heart – because I love you and want to please you, and because I want to be like your Son. May my motive for listening and obeying be your praise and glory, so that you get the credit for transforming me into the image of Christ, “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). May all your people experience the freedom that only you can provide, by the power of your Spirit and your Word.”