Poul Madsen
"He that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that
worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing." James 1:25
OUR question is: What does the Lord mean by the call to be a doer of the word, and how can we be one. Let me ask another question: 'Can you do what the law says?' Perhaps you feel that you can. Saul of Tarsus felt like that, but he found that he did not fulfil the law by doing what the letter of the law said. It is possible to do what the law says without fulfilling it. For [86/87] example, we are commanded to show hospitality. Yes, of course you can do that. If, however, you do it unwillingly or grudgingly, from fear of punishment or to win a reward, this is not the true fulfilment of that law. To be a doer of the Word is to be a person who is blessed in his doing. When Christians do the right things but without their hearts being in what they do, then that cannot be pleasing to God. It savours of pharisaism.
We must look, then, into the mirror of the Word and continue doing so, so that we do not forget what we are like. We forget so quickly because we look so seldom, and in this way have a higher opinion of ourselves than we should. How important that we should keep looking into the Word, for otherwise it is easy for me to take for granted that I am superior because I am doing the right thing, yet I can be as right as rain outwardly and yet out of tune with the Spirit of Christ.
Does anyone really think that He who died on the cross can be served by those who have a bad spirit? Does anyone imagine that he is doing the Lord's will when he only does so to avoid unpleasant consequences or to gain a reward? Is that evangelical Christianity? No, and nor is it really being a doer of the Word. We need to take another look into the perfect law of liberty.
In Romans it is called the law of faith, and this law excludes all glorying. We have our righteousness in the Lord Jesus, and in Him alone. We can add nothing to that righteousness, for it is perfect. If we focus on our beloved Saviour and His life, He is seen in His greatness and we cannot lose sight of what we are and what we are like. Paul constantly did this and so realised that he was "the chief of sinners", with no good thing in his flesh. He never forgot that. He knew that he had not reached perfection. But on the other hand, Jesus was everything to him, the perfect and wonderful Lord. He never let this be a matter of course, but contemplated the glory of Jesus Christ and continued to do so. That is the perfect law of liberty, and that sets a man free in the truest sense.
When a person is entirely free from guilt because Jesus Christ is His perfect righteousness, then he never does anything just to obtain a benefit, for he has all that can possibly be obtained in Christ. In a marriage it would be very sad if the partners were good to each other out of fear; it would take all the radiance away if the man was afraid of what his wife would say, or she were afraid of him. What a degrading basis for doing the right thing! True freedom is surely to be governed solely by the constraint of love.
The gospel sets us completely free to serve God without any ulterior motives, not forgetting what we are in ourselves and being paralysed by our inadequacy, but liberated because we keep our eyes on Christ's glory. He has given us a new nature that we may not just do right things but be doers of His will. That is why James does not just say, "Do what is written" but rather "be ye doers of the word".
The boundary between law and gospel is not in the Bible but in our own hearts. If we are beholding Christ, then we are really free and everything is gospel. If we are not beholding Him, then everything is law. Even the command to believe becomes a law. So we struggle to believe, and this becomes a new performance. If, however, we look into the perfect law of liberty and see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, our spirit is released from prison and pressure and we delight in what is good. We discover how blessed it is to do His will.
It is true that for all of us there are battles, for we have not yet reached perfection. But the battles are won by looking more and more at Christ, by devoting ourselves to His wonderful Word; life and service are no longer two separate departments, as if service was something I do and life is something else. The whole is blessed. James, who is sometimes accused of legalism, gives us the richest gospel truth concerning being liberated to be a doer of the word. When the people of God are blessed in their living, they are quite different from those dominated by religious piety and tensions; they have a radiance that needs no stimulants and the joy of being His and Him being theirs in a union of love.
This is what the Lord Jesus meant when He said: "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed". This is an inner freedom. Evangelical Christianity is just this: that because fear which springs from guilt is taken away and replaced by love and gratitude, our actions are not governed by fear of punishment or hope of reward but by the liberty of the Spirit within. [87/88]
In one sense we are back in Paradise. For why did Adam work there? It was not to become righteous, nor was it in order to gain reward -- he worked in true liberty. God said, "Do this", and he did it; in those days he was a doer of the word. We might call this living spontaneously, but this is an expression which could be misunderstood because of our faulty natures. So when we fail, we have to turn back again to the perfect law of liberty, for even this does not function mechanically. The deepest secret of the life of faith is to abide in Him and to abide with Him.
There were two sisters at Bethany. Martha was not blessed in her work, though she was doing right things, and therefore she complained. Mary remained seated and devoted herself to her Lord. If only Martha had sat down beside her and done the same, surely the moment would have come when Jesus would have risen and said, "Now let us do the work together". Then the right thing would have been done in the right way, and the sisters would have been blessed in their work.
The gospel is a mystery and remains so. To be a doer of the word is more than just doing it and being content with the act. The decisive factor is within us. As we look into the perfect law of liberty and enjoy what Christ has done for us, we cannot but love Him more and be free to serve Him in the Spirit. Never think that what you do makes you more righteous. Such an idea is an affront to the gospel. When we do His will, it is not in order to become righteous, but to express the joy and liberty of having perfect righteousness in the Lamb of God and the privilege of following Him.
Daily life will be different and church life will be different if we receive with meekness the implanted word and so focus on Christ that we become doers. This is the way of blessing in the work of the Lord. All disputes and tensions disappear for, whether it seems the meanest task or the greatest, it is all work for Him, done blessedly and freely, with no thought of praise or fear of blame, but just a love response to the One who so loves us. The gospel is the good news of the deep well of salvation from which we need never stop drawing the blessings of love, joy, peace and good works. It makes us true doers of the word.
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