But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves. For if any
be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself,
and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was.
But whose looketh into the perfect law
of liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the work, this man
shall be blessed in his deed.
James 1:22-25
Yesterday in the blog I asked the question: "What is this thing conversion?" Conversion is an act, action, not simply something a person receives upon becoming a child of God. Faith in Jesus Christ is the beginning of your life in Christ for by faith you believed that Jesus is Who He says He is, and that what He says is possible by your faith in Him, that is just the beginning of your Christian life. To convert is is to change into something different. To change from one use to another. And example is that a person going to Europe and wants to use a hairdryer must understand that in Europe the electricity is DC and in the United States it is AC. The two types of electricity are not compatible. So what is a person to do? How can a person convert DC into AC? How can there be a change from one thing to another? You must have a converter. Plug the converter into the DC socket and then it is converted into AC which will run the hairdryer. Conversion is to modify so as to serve a different function. Before your faith in Jesus Christ, this free gift of God, and activated by you hearing the word of God and believing upon Jesus Christ as your Savior you were one thing in opposition to God and now you are in the mode of change from that to a life that is based, not on this world's culture, but on the commands and precepts of God found in His word. As the converter had to be plugged into the DC socket, and it will not do it itself, you too must plug into Jesus Christ and be converted. This active, not passive. For the hairdryer to do its purpose it must be turned on, so with you. If you are to fulfill the purpose that God has for you, and that purpose is first to live according to His word, you must "turn on" and then you are able to fulfill your purpose.
Conversion means that you lay aside all filthiness and receive the word of God. Then, now that you have plugged into Christ you are ready to fulfill your purpose and that purpose is to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer of the word. How many people come to Church, or go to Bible studies, or to various programs that are Christian based and only hear with no real change in their lives. Too many! To hear is the beginning, to do is activating what you hear. To do less is to be as one who sees himself as one thing, which is not real as looking into a mirror thinking that that image is real, but in reality it is only an image and does not depict the reality of the one looking into the mirror. You see one thing, you think one thing, and then go about your life as though there was no meaning to what you saw in the mirror. Look into your heart, there is where the real person lives.
Do you want blessings? Yes! Of course! Well, become a doer of the word and not just a hearer of the word. Now, you are not justified in God's sight by your doing, but you will be living out what God has done for you through Jesus Christ and that it to justify you by what He has done. by means of God's justification your sins are acquitted by the fact of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You are pardoned but this pardon does not mean anything unless this pardon is communicated to you and then the doors of what has imprisoned you are opened and you walk through those doors. There is no special feeling that comes from this justification, you must receive it by faith.
Justification is not merely an ideal, it is fact, and in the course of your history you will demonstrate that you are justified for you will have changed from one thing to another, you will become a doer of the word and not just a hearer. We are in this world, but we do not have to follow this world. Live what you are and not what you think you are.
For thus saith the LORD unto
the house of Israel, See ye
Me and ye shall live.
Amos 5:4
Be a doer and not just a hearer
Richard L. Crumb
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