But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22

The Book of James is one of the most straight forward letters in the New Testament.  Instead of focusing on theological discussions, he deals mostly with what we do as evidence of what we believe.  In other words, he challenges us to look at our actions more than our words to truly discover what is in our hearts.

Revelation 12 give us an important insight into the work of Satan. We are told, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down” (Rev. 12:10).  John is referencing Satan and reveals that the devil is constantly appearing before God in the courts of heaven with accusations against us…against you and me. We see a similar scene in the opening verses of the Book of Job where Satan is accusing Job of worshipping God only because God blessed him so richly.  Satan complained that God had prevented him from getting at Job and bringing pain and loss into his life.  The accuser argued that if God would lift his hand of protection and allow Satan to torment the man, Job would curse God instead of worshipping him.

When looking at these verses and others throughout scripture, we discover that Satan is constantly going before God with accusations against us.  He is persistent in his attempt to find a legal right to afflict us…some unrepented sin, some generational curse, or some spoken word that opens the door for his attacks.

James warns us of the ultimate deception through which Satan may gain access to many believers. He warns us to avoid the trap of being hearers of the Word only, without being doers of the Word. It is easy to feel spiritual and mature when we are constantly involved in Bible study, theological discussions, perpetual sermon podcasts, and so forth. We can carry on spiritual conversations, disect scripture, and talk about all the amazing things God is doing in the world, without allowing the Word of God to actually transform us.

In my years as a believer, I have witnessed men who taught the Bible with zeal and who could quote most of it, act in very unloving ways.  Some were abusive husbands and fathers. Some were spiritually arrogant and quick to judge others as less than themselves.  Some were child molesters. Others pursued secret addictions while quickly condemning others for their weaknesses.  

Because we talk about something, it is easy to believe we have done something about it.  Anyone who has done much counseling has experienced clients who come every week to their sessions and fully engage in long discussions about what they should be doing or could be doing, but then leave and never apply any of what they learned to their lives.  They show up, they talk, but they don’t change.  They feel great that they are going to counseling as if that were the goal rather than life change.  

We can do that in church or in our small groups as well.  We can read the Word, hear the Word, and discuss the Word, but never get around to doing what it calls us to do.  That is the great deception.  We feel we are good with God because we hang around God’s people, listen to sermon and attend conferences.   But our true goal is gaining religious information rather than spiritual transformation. Transformation takes a commitment to actually do what we are called to do…forgiver others, humble ourselves, confess our sins, care for the poor, seek justice for the weak, and so forth. 

When Satan goes before the Lord and accuses us of hypocrisy, God will have to grant him some legal right to afflict us because the charge is true.  The sin of appearing to be righteous while our hearts are full judgment, hatred, pride, lust, indifference to the needs of others, and so forth is the very condition about which Jesus rebuked the Pharisees…clean on the outside but full of decay on the inside.  The great deception is found in our contentment to know all the right things without letting those “right things” get hold of us and change us. The deception is feeling good with God and secure because we listen great sermons and great teachings.  James, however, says there is another necessary step.  We must do what we know, not just know what we know.  

I had a wise man come to me one day after a Bible class.  He said,” I don’t want you to teach me one more new thing from the Bible.  I want you to teach me how to do what I already know. I think that man would have made James, the brother of Jesus, smile.