James 1:25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
So often, the law of God is viewed negative by Christians. This may be due in part to a fundamental misunderstanding of what the New Testament says, particularly authors like Paul. The law of God is actually a beautiful gift to us. If we did not have God’s laws as found in the Bible, we would live in chaos and war. Most often wars and crimes come about because people have broken God’s laws. Every war in the Bible is due to someone not following God’s laws. When people do follow God’s laws, the result is peace. The Hebrew word for this is shalom. Obeying God’s laws out of a transformed and sanctified heart will result in freedom. When James talks about “law” here, he might be referring to all the commands of God found in the Scripture. It is impossible to narrow the law down to anything specific here. James may have in mind such passages as Psalm 119 where the laws of God are praised and seen as the source of life. James uses the description of “intently” looking into the “perfect” law. Intently shows serious study, medication, and application. This is not a cursory look, just read a verse and be done with it. If we only just read a verse or two quickly, we are not taking the time to look carefully and letting the Bible penetrate into our inner most person. It is too easy to forget what we read. We must allow God’s word to find a place of loving in our hearts through careful consideration, study of the finer points, memorization, and most significantly, putting into action the things we read and study about. That is also the most challenging step. If we read the Bible only intellectually or out of duty, the laws of God will have no lasting impact on us. We must choose and then act in obedience upon the things we read and study. One way to do this is to identify the truths to live by. This may take some practice, but the biggest issue is simply listening to the Holy Spirit. One does not have to have a college or seminary degree to find the truths to live by in the Bible.
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