Lesson for August 12, 2026 — The Book of James

Chapter 1:19-22

Verses 19-20

Now everyone is the basic command for the Christian life. All believers are to be involved in the process of spiritual growth. The Greek word for everyone is “aner,” which is a word used for a nobleman or nobility. The reason this is important to note is that before you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you were just part of mankind, which is the Greek word “anthropos.” Upon faith in Christ, you become nobility, the Royal Family of God. You are no longer simply God’s “creation,” you are now a child of God and can understand what the Bible teaches.

Quick to hear. Listening can be a characteristic that demonstrates spiritual maturity. You can learn a lot about someone by simply listening to them. This can give you great insight into their spiritual condition and is simply polite. Slow to speak. Thoughtful response to what you hear from someone can make the difference between you being able to share the Gospel or truth from God’s Word with another person. Slow to anger. Even if something you hear in a conversation is in opposition to your beliefs or causes righteous indignation, you must learn to keep it in check. Righteous indignation must never be allowed to become emotional anger, which is contrary to the will of God. The Greek word for righteousness refers to just or fair dealings. It is a reference to exhibiting the righteousness of Christ in your life.

The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God means that the production of divine good will be blocked. Divine good can be produced only under the filling of the Holy Spirit and emotional anger removes the filling of the Holy Spirit until acknowledged as sin to God.

Verse 21

Therefore refers to the information in the previous verse. Then we have the Greek word for putting aside, “apotithemi,” which is a compound word meaning to take off soiled garments. It is another way of saying, “get back into fellowship.” Confess your sins, examine yourself, lift up holy hands, make straight paths and take off those dirty clothes are all synonyms for getting back into fellowship. In other words, you can’t produce divine good when you are out of fellowship, so get back in fellowship.

All filthiness is the Greek word “ruparia” and is used for pollution. This pollution is anger, as we saw in the previous verse. It’s talking about pollution of the soul, your mental attitude. All that remains is the Greek word “perisuo” and means to overflow. Wickedness is “kakia” in Greek and means evil. So, when we put them together, we have:

Receive is the Greek word “dechomai” and means to embrace. Its usage in Greek is a term for an intimate embrace, an embrace with love. So, what James is saying is to embrace the Word of God, to love the Word of God, and to have an intimate relationship with the Word of God. This phrase is in the imperative mood, which means that it is a command. Therefore, it is God’s will for each of us to embrace His Word.

The word humility is the Greek word “prautes” and is another word for grace in your soul. Humility means teachability and a respect for God and His Word. This is a reference to the grace function of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Then we have the word implanted. Implanted is the Greek word “emphutas” and means to set firmly in the mind or deeply rooted by growth. God’s Word is to be planted in the mind of the believer, who has gotten back into fellowship, isolated and removed certain mental attitude sins, and is now embracing the Word of God under the grace function of the filling of God the Holy Spirit.

Which is able to save your souls is the last part of this verse. The Greek word for save is “sozo,” but it is not talking about eternal salvation, since James was writing to believers. It’s talking about the deliverance of your soul. So, it’s the implanted Word that has become a part of your thinking and can deliver you from any circumstance in life. This is not talking about a mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. This means that you have studied, learned and believed what the Word of God is teaching. You have learned it to the point that it has so become a part of your thinking that Divine Viewpoint Thinking is now your norm and standard, not Human Viewpoint Thinking. But it says it is able to deliver you, which is still only potential. You must allow your knowledge of Bible doctrine to deliver you by applying it under the filling of God the Holy Spirit.

Verse 22

We have potential only, to this point in our passage. The only way that the Word of God is going to be able to deliver us is if we apply it. This is what is meant by being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only!

But prove yourselves doers is the Greek words “ginomai” plus “poietes,” meaning to become a doer. A doer is an applier of the Word. If it goes no further than hearing, it is useless. And application takes place in your mind.

The Greek word for hearers is “akroates,” and it means to listen. The meaning should be clear, listening to God’s Word is not enough. The last phrase of this verse, who delude themselves, means to defraud yourselves. The Greek word for delude is “paralogizomai,” and means to defraud or to self-deceive in one’s mind.

Jesus Christ was an applier of Bible doctrine. As deity, He never needed to learn anything because He had always known all things. (I Corinthians 2:16) But as humanity, He was a human being who needed to learn doctrine in the same manner as we do. (Luke 2:46-52) Jesus continually used the doctrine that He had learned to sustain Himself throughout the trials and tribulations of life. When attacked by others, He applied the doctrine and principles of the Word of God to endure the adversity. He also applied the doctrine He had learned to combat the tests from Satan. And He used the doctrine in His soul to teach others. (Matthew 4:1-11; John 5:16-39; 6:59-60; 7:16-24)

As believers, we are to follow Christ’s example of applying what we have learned. A believer who fails to go all the way with God’s Word, from study, to belief, to application is defrauding themselves of the opportunity to have a victorious Christian life. If the Word of God is not changing our thoughts and actions, then we are not applying it properly.