Vers. 19-2i.-The law of the new life. "Ye know this, my beloved brethren;" ,iz. 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. '!'his 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 Puncbard, in Bishop Ellicott's 'Commentary'). L MEEKNESS. There is evident1y a reference, in vers. 19-21, to the deportment of the Jews in their relipous gatherings, to which we have more direct reference in ver. 23 and in eh. ii 1-13. And the words of warning are aimed at one of their most besetting sins; they were clamorous, accusing, wrathful. What examples we have of this spirit, as manifested at their public gatherings for worship, in the accounts of our Lord's first proclamation of his mission in the synagogue of Nazareth (Luke iv. 28, 2~), and of the first setting-forth of the gospel by Paul in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 45) ! So perhaps it was also at the Jewish-Christian gatherings; they would contradict, and accuse. Yes ; they were impatient of hearing, eager to speak, wrathful in speech; rebutting what seemed the blow of the truth against them- selves, turning that blow against others, perhaps against the spanker. What a Babel of confusion! And all this in the thought that they were doing God service! AB opposed to this spirit of censorious anger, James urges a quiet, gentle humility in the hearing of the Word. 1. For what was this Word ? It was God's Word, his message to the heart. Yes, with whatever of human alloy it might sometimes be mixed, through the infirmity of the speaker, there it was, a thing Divine! There should be, then, in its presence, a certain awe of silence: "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak." And as this Word was the searching Word of the living God (Heh. iv. 12), there should be the meekness which hears for one's self, not for others-ls there any wrong in me? For this Word was "able to save:" with what solemn gladness should they welcome its healing, cleansing power I 2. Oh, how opposed to all the intended influence of the "\Vord of God was the spirit of passionate assertion and accusation I How it defiled the nature as with filthiness, making it an utterly unfit receptacle for God's holy truth I And how the "overflowing of wickedness" bore back the living germ of the truth, which being implanted in the heart would save un~ the uttermost!. Yel!, man's wrath, sc, far from working God's righteousness, utterly hmdered that work10g. The truth was "able to save," but only if the conditions of_ true humility in the hearer were fulfilled. II. SELF-KNOWLEDGE. But the very hearmg may become a snare: we bear the Word, we" feel" its power, and delude ourselves with the notion that therefore the Word is ours, 1. What is this, but a mere transient sentiment? Like the man with the mirror, beholding a while, then going away and forgetting; so we may gaze into the marvellous mirror of ti,e Word, which shows us so wondrously the fair ideal of truth, the beauty of holineH1 ou. n. 1-~G.J THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 27
and, in contrast, the deformity, the unholinesR of our real self. But so likewise, bein"' charmed with the ideal beauty, and equally loathing our sin, we yet may go away anJ forget what manner of men we are. 2. What is required of us is an abiding practice of the perfect law, that can only result from a continued gazing into its excellence of beauty and consequent knowledge of our own distance from its perfectness. So Ps. i. 2, which sets forth the Law of God a.a the very element of the good man's life. For it is a Law which is a living power, evermore working its perfection into our imperfect life, A Law, therefore, of liberty, making us free from sin, as being a law of holiness; and free from servile fear, as being a law of perfect love. Well may the man who abides in the doing of such a Law be designated blest I I◄'or while merely to hear the Word and feel its power, and then to go away and forget, is to be dru~ged as with an opiate that makes us insensible to our danger; on the other hand, to hear and to do, and to abide in the doing, is to realize the bounding gladness of the full flow of living health (see also the beatitude of Ps. i.). III. PRACTIOAL RELIGION. There is an easy transition, in vers. 26 and 2i, from the hearing of the Word to all the cult of worship. For just as !'Ome of these Christian Jews might be satisfied with the mere hearing of the truth as distinct from its practical realization in the daily life, so many of them might rest satisfied at least with the ceremonial cleanness and "service" on which their old training had led them to set such exaggerated value. They were "very religious" because of their multiplied religious observances, their llp71a-1<•lm, their ritual of service; and this "religion" was pure, undefiled, no taint of ceremonial pollution attaching to its performance. And yet the filthy wickedness (ver. 21) of the unbridled tongue? Vain, indeed, is the religiousness of such a one! Nay; the cult of Christianity is the religion of the life, and the ceremonial cleanness is cleanness of conduct and heart. 1. The ritual. Doing good. So Rom. xii. 1 ; Heh. xiii. 16. A concrete instance is given here, viz. the visiting of the father- less and widows in their affliction, but only as an instance of the ritual of the law of love. And notice the immense significance of the words," before our God and Father." Such as he is we must be, viz. "pitiful, and of very tender mercy" (see eh. v. 11). 2. The cleanness. "Unspotted from the world." An evil world, the evil of which was so exhibited by these " clean" men in their clamorous evil-speaking, Would they be really clean? There are no works like works of love to hush the anger of the heart. We learn for ourselves, in this age, that no ritual of religion is of any worth as such. Collective "worship" truly is good, as a means to an end, viz. the replenishment of our life-power, and maintenance of loving relationship with the Father. But as for any cult, as such, Christianity knows none, save that of a holy and loving life. Your ritualism, as Christians? Doing good I In conclusion, the faith that humbly receives God's saving Word, the faith that abides in the knowledge of that Word day and night, the faith that works itself out in the religiousness of a holy love-this is the sum of the whole matter, this is the very essence of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, evermore give us this faith 1-T. F. L.
EXPOSITION.