HEARING AND DOING

Many Christians have allowed their knowledge of the truth to outdistance their practice of the same. To fall short of achieving that objective is to delude oneself into the attitude 'I'm okay'. But the evidence of one's faith (that you really are 'Okay' with God) is demonstrated by obedience.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.  James 1:22-25

The Contemporary English Version states it this way - Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.

Your hearing must be balanced with and backed up by ... your doing.

The 'mirror' reveals what you 'are' in the eyes of God and what you 'ought to be' is made clear. You see what is wrong and what must be done to make it right; but in all of your 'hearing', you forgo the 'doing' and remain as you are. Know ye not that ... 'Faith without works is dead'? (James 2:20)

MacArthur - Those who consistently disobey God’s Word give evidence that they are without His life within them. Those who consistently obey the Word give evidence of the life of God in their souls. A true believer will not be inwardly satisfied with merely knowing the Word. His conscience and the prompting of the indwelling Holy Spirit will keep convicting him of his failure until he becomes obedient. 

Religion for religion's sake falls short. You may faithfully go to church, sing from a hymn book, tithe your income, listen intently to a sermon, and earmark your Bible ... but if you leave it all behind when you exit the confines of that assembly, you have mistakenly assumed that your weekly routine makes you a Christian. 

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4

If you 'inhale' the truth of God's Word (hearing) but stubbornly 'hold your breath' ... your faith is cut short. 'Exhaling' (doing) completes the cycle and your life in Christ is made whole. 

Breathe ...