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[In this lesson, we shall review what the Bible teaches concerning acceptable and unacceptable speech. We begin by cataloging some types of speech that are condemned in the Scriptures…]
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Sarah J. HauserOpen Menu
Aug 31
I am starting to think this 12-week series could have been a year-long series. Every week I come to the set of verses for the week and wonder how in the world we’ll cover them in one post (which I couldn’t even do last week and had to break the content into two posts). The Word of God is so, so rich, and we could study this a thousand times and not exhaust all there is to learn and meditate on. But while we won’t be able to grasp all there is to learn, we can still take small, meaningful steps in the right direction.
In the first chapter of his letter, James has laid out a bird’s eye view of many of the topics he’ll bring up again. He reminds his readers to be joyful and steadfast in their trials, because there’s a reward that will be worth all the struggle. And along our Christian journey, we’ll face trials and temptations that threaten to bring us down and lead us in the wrong direction. Yet we must consistently choose to follow our good God, trusting him and demonstrating that trust by putting that faith into action.
“Our changed lives should reflect who God is and what his kingdom is like.”
As he lays out his points, brick by brick, we can start to see the argument James builds. If we have faith in God, that faith will change not just our minds but our actions. His point is summed up well in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Each of the author’s practical exhortations come back to this. You have faith? Show it by the way you speak. You believe in a good and loving God? Act like him toward others. You say you follow Jesus? Live like him, not the world. Faith does something. It changes us, and our changed lives should reflect who God is and what his kingdom is like.
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
James 1:19-21
I’m too often slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry. I get defensive before I can even hear someone voice their hurt, I rush to vocalize my opinion, and I get frustrated and angry all too easily—especially with those closest to me. But over and over again, Scripture talks about how the way we speak matters. James draws on the Old Testament throughout his book, and his words in verses 19-21 are reminiscent of Proverbs and other Wisdom Literature. Proverbs 13:3 says, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.” And Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Paul also wrote a similar idea, saying in Ephesians, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (4:29).
We could study plenty more passages about how we speak, listen, and communicate with each other. But the point we need to remember is this: The way we communicate—just like everything else we do—should demonstrate that we love God and love others. It’s as simple as that.
James doesn’t say never become angry, because some things should anger us. Tim Keller once said something to the effect of what am I loving so much that it’s making me this angry? (That’s my paraphrase.) It’s a good question to ask when we’re angry. Am I loving my neighbor so much that the injustice done against them makes me angry? Good. That is a right anger that we should use to fuel right actions. Am I loving my own comfort and ease at the cost of my neighbor? That is selfishness. That is sin. Our anger—and the speech that proceeds from that anger—should demonstrate love for God and love for neighbor.
We are God’s image bearers listening to and speaking with other image bearers. Do we take that seriously? For those who follow Jesus, we are being transformed and changed to be more like Christ. Are we listening to the hurts, pains, struggles, stories, and opinions of others in a Christ-like way that points them to Jesus? Or are we trying to point others to ourselves and how “correct” our view is?
In today’s digital world, our “speech” also includes our social media comments, texting, blog posts, Facebook messages, and any other form of communication the kids are up to these days. Our online speech should be used to love God and love our neighbor. Period. That also means that, as James calls us to do, we should be quick to listen—even online. Follow people you disagree with and hear them out. Get to know authors, writers, speakers, creatives, business people who look, sound, believe, and act differently than you. More often than not, we would do well to simply listen.
There’s absolutely a time and a place to correct someone, comment with your disagreement, or offer a strong differing opinion. Usually these hard online conversations make me want to curl up in a ball in the corner of my room, but I have seen hard conversations done well online (although I don’t think it’s usually the ideal medium). We are called to speak the truth boldly, so let’s not shy away from that. But the question should always be, am I doing this to love God and love my neighbor?
James is speaking mostly to believers. The early church apparently needed a reminder to listen and speak to each other within the community of faith that reflected the God they followed. It’s painfully obvious we need that same reminder. One commentator wrote, “The idea here is that when we allow anger to control us, spewing out poisonous emotional garbage onto our fellow believers, this falls far short of what God has designed for our relationship in the community of faith.”[1]
Friends, the world is watching. Others are taking note of how we who are members of the Church talk to one another—both in person and online. I’m afraid too often (and I’m guilty of this, too), we don’t demonstrate a community of faith that reflects God and his love for the world. If how we’re living isn’t in line with who God is, we shouldn’t be doing it. Why would others want to be a part of God’s people if all they see and hear is our “poisonous emotional garbage?”
We’re supposed to put off filthiness and wickedness and “receive with meekness the implanted word” (James 1:21). Put off the old, put on the new. If we truly have received the gospel and it has taken root in our lives, it will grow and bear fruit that displays that gospel to the world. Through that word planted in our hearts God has justified us and will one day fully sanctify and glorify us (“able to save your souls” refers to those future aspects of salvation). As we study this, we have to consider, what is it that we’re actually demonstrating to the world? The true gospel? Who God really is and what he’s done for all creation? Or something else?
Love God and love others—in the way we listen, in the way we speak, and in what we get angry about.
“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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
James 1:22-25
In verses 22-25, James uses an analogy to drive his point home. If we truly believe God and what he says, it will change our behavior. Otherwise, we’re like someone who looks at himself or herself in a mirror and walks away forgetting what he looks like. That person is deceiving himself. The true believer, though, looks intently in the mirror of God’s word, taking it in and examining their life as his word reflects back to them who they truly are. Then, they go live differently because of it. They live according to the truth of what God’s word has shown them. They don’t hear what God says and say, “Nah, I don’t really like that. I’m going to do it a different way.” Those who put God’s word into action hear it, examine their lives, and live according to what God says—not what they want to see.
Here’s a silly analogy. Have you ever looked in the mirror and realized you have a piece of broccoli stuck in your teeth? You didn’t know it was there until you looked in the mirror–and then, of course, you mentally backtrack to add up how many people saw you and how embarrassed you need to be. But my point is that we didn’t see the food stuck in our teeth until we looked in the mirror. Similarly, we won’t know how our lives need to change if we never look at the word of God. And to take the analogy a little further, we’re all glad when that close friend pulls us aside to point out the big green vegetable tainting our smile. They’ve saved us from a dose of humiliation. We need the same thing in our spiritual lives. We need the community of faith to point out our blind spots and sin so that we can change.
When someone points out broccoli in our teeth, or when we look in the mirror and notice it, we don’t leave it there. That would be almost as ridiculous as this analogy. In the same way, if we’re to live out our faith, we shouldn’t look in the mirror of God’s word and not put what it says into action.
The “doer of the word” constantly comes back to the word, using it as a reference point for the way they live their life. And they are changed because of it.
In verse 25, James uses the term “law of liberty.” I didn’t quite understand what was meant by this for a while, but I’m ever so slowly starting to grasp it, and I found N.T. Wright’s analogy helpful.[3] He uses the example of driving rules. In some countries, we drive on the right side of the road. In others, we drive on the left side. If you live in America but you’re dead set on driving on the left side of the road, you won’t get very far for very long. You could decide you hate the right side of the road and it feels constricting to you and you never want to follow that law—until eventually you suffer the consequences.
While the metaphor falls short eventually, you can see the point. God’s design for the way we should live our lives is good. And just like when we drive on the correct side of the road, we can enjoy the freedom of driving that way it was intended, so too abiding by God’s law allows us to have the freedom to live life according to his design. This doesn’t mean you’ll never get in an accident even if you drive on the correct side of the road, and it doesn’t mean nothing bad will happen in this life even if you follow God’s law perfectly. But that’s where faith comes in, and that’s where we have to circle back to the beginning of James 1. Living according to the way God calls us to live, even when we can’t understand it, will yield a reward. When we live God’s way, James 1:25 tells us, blessing follows—maybe not immediately, maybe not in this life. But it will come. (Check out this post on James 1:12 for more on the word “blessed.)
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
James 1:26-27
If we want to be doers of the word, if we’re serious about living our faith and not just pretending, we will reflect that in the way we speak, in how we love the vulnerable, and by not getting caught up, distracted, and tempted by what the world has to offer. The way we do things will be different. It will look odd. It will cause discomfort. It will require sacrifice. It will be hard.
James knew this well and was eventually martyred for what he believed. But if we are true followers of Jesus, we can bear all of that now because we know that the weight of glory will surpass it all (2 Corinthians 4:17). That crown of life (James 1:12) will absolutely be worth anything we face now. Do we actually believe this?
If we do, we will learn to control our speech—to “bridle” our tongue, steering and controlling it just like a bridle on a horse. We will also serve the vulnerable. In James’ time (and often still today) that included widows and orphans. The Old Testament is filled with passages about how God’s people were to serve the vulnerable. They were to demonstrate the generosity and goodness of God to the world, and this meant they were generous and good to others. God’s people were to serve the vulnerable, because God did the same for us. God’s people were to work for justice, because God is just.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 says, “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you we’re sojourner in the land of Egypt.” In the book of Isaiah, God rebukes his people for their “vain offerings” and empty worship. He calls them instead to, “Wash yourselves; make yourself clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:16-17). God didn’t want them to just do the religious stuff. He wanted to use them to change the world to be the way he intended. They were supposed to live in a way that pointed to who he is. (This video from The Bible Project is helpful for understanding our call to advocate for others and pursue justice.)
From the Old Testament until now, one of the hallmarks of God’s people is that they actively pursue justice and dismantle oppression—which doesn’t just mean on an individual level. God is remaking the world, and as the people of God, we get to be a part of that process. That means we work to bring about his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We work to ease the burden of our neighbor, and we work to dismantle the systems that put that burden on their backs in the first place.
Church, let us be people who are known for loving our neighbor. Because who, after all, is my neighbor? According to Jesus, even those who look, believe, act, worship, or think differently than me are my neighbor (Luke 10:25-37).
“How could we offer those being abused anything less than the end of their suffering when we have the power to grant it? James does not say, ‘Tell the orphans and the widows to put up with their suffering.’ He says to the Christian, ‘Help them!’”
— Esau MCaulley
New Testament scholar, Esau McCaulley, wrote this. “How could we offer those being abused anything less than the end of their suffering when we have the power to grant it? James does not say, ‘Tell the orphans and the widows to put up with their suffering.’ He says to the Christian, ‘Help them!’”[4]
Let us be people who are known for being just as God is just, for being merciful as God is merciful, for being good as God is good. Let us be people who feed the poor and change the social structures that forced poverty upon them. Let’s work to eradicate racist systems that threaten the lives and livelihoods of Black and brown men and women. There’s no racism in God’s kingdom, so as the Church we get to be people God uses to make that a reality on earth as it is in heaven. There’s no hunger in God’s kingdom, so we must feed the hungry. There’s no abuse in God’s kingdom, so we must advocate for the abused.
You get my point.
As we do all of that, as we live out our faith in our actual lives, we are to remain “unstained from the world.” As Christians, we operate differently than the rest of the world. We abide by a different standard–the law of liberty. But our role is to be people who live out who God is and what his kingdom is like. That is a high calling–one that’s an honor to live out and one that will be worth whatever it costs us now.
Holy Spirit, help us today as we do that work.
“Justice” is a felt need in our world today and a controversial topic. But what is justice, exactly, and who gets to define it? In this video, we’ll explore …
James Study Plan
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[1] Longman, Tremper, David E. Garland, et al. Hebrews—Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006, p 225.
[2] Wright, N. T. The Early Christian Letters for Everyone. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p 12.
[3] McCaulley, Esau. Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020, p 133.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.
Check out the rest of the James study!
Living Out Our Faith through Prayer and in Community [James Study Week 12, James 5:13-20]
How to Wait Well and Live with Integrity [James Study Week 11, James 5:7-12]
Plans, Possessions, and the Kingdom of God [James Study Week 10, James 4:13-5:6]
But He Gives More Grace [James Study Week 9, James 4:1-12]
Bitter Jealousy, Selfish Ambition, and the Meekness of Wisdom [James Study Week 8, James 3:13-18]
Why Do We Need to Watch the Way We Speak? [James Study Week 7, James 3:1-12]
True Faith Does Something [James Study Week 6, James 2:14-26]
Learning to Love Our Neighbor [James Study Week 5, James 2:1-13]
Living Out a Changed Life [James Study Week 4, James 1:19-27]
Running Away from Death and Toward True Life [James Study Week 3b, James 1:13-18]
#Blessed Are the Steadfast [James Study Week 3a, James 1:12]
It Will Be Worth It [James Study Week 2, James 1:2-11]
A Beautiful Punch in the Gut [James Study Week 1, James 1:1]
Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash
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May 26, 2024
In our previous study of James, we heard James’s frank explainer on the anatomy of sin. Desires are enticed by temptation—and when the desire conceives, it gives birth to sin which, when fully grown, brings forth death (1:14-15). But James did not think our corrupted desires inevitably set the course of our destiny. Instead, he saw believers as children whom God birthed by his word of truth (1:17-18). Every good and perfect gift flows from the Father of lights to his children so they can become mature. This maturation process will lead to the transformation of our desires, which leads James to teach us how that transformation comes.
For James, a major source of transformation is God’s wisdom. He has already presented God as the ultimate source of wisdom, especially the kind of wisdom that’s needed in the type of hard times his audience lived in, but now he declares a bit more about where God’s wisdom is found (1:5-8). As I said, James already alluded to God’s “word of truth” (1:18). In this brief section, James goes on to refer to God’s word of truth as the implanted word, meaning it is like a seed within each believer that can grow up to produce orchards of fruit in the form of godly character and gospel impact (1:21). James also referred to God’s word as the perfect law, and the law of liberty, meaning it is truth that sets us free like the original law set Israel free from Egypt (1:21, 25).
So James envisioned God as a loving Father who stands ready to shape his children with his voice. He is ready to make us wise, strengthen us against error, and stand with us as we grow into maturity. A good dad is there to teach his kids to tie their shoelaces when they are young and how to make a budget when they are older. In a similar way, our heavenly Father is ready to shape us into further and deeper levels of maturity, and he wants to do this over the course of the entirety of our natural lives. And James sees God’s word as a chief instrument in that maturation process.
So it’s clear that James viewed the word as from God, potentially liberating, and able to transform. But how? How does the mature person receive the wisdom of God’s word? How does it get into their bloodstream? How does it become their new operating system? How does God’s wisdom become second nature?
The mature person receives wisdom by hearing the wisdom of God’s word. By calling it the implanted word, James gives us a massive hint at how he sees God’s word. He thinks of it like Jesus did when he gave the parable of the sower. The farmer sowed his seed on four types of ground, and only one type of soil bore lasting fruit (Matt. 13:1-23). The seed of God’s word has everything required within it to bring forth a great harvest in our lives, but the soil of our hearts must be ready to receive it. James saw the word of God this way.
And as James unfolds his exhortations regarding our interaction with the Father’s word and wisdom, he does not spend his time on tactics but on the heart. In other words, you might expect him to break down some best practices for interacting with the word: talks on Bible reading plans, tips for journaling, and exhortations to Scripture memorization. But James doesn’t go there. We can safely assume James would be in favor of all those tactics, but he knows that if the heart is not prepared, the tactics will eventually lose their energy. So James went straight for our heart attitudes when we approach the word.
In the Old Testament story of David, there was a long period when he was on the run from an insane king named Saul. David was innocent, and his sweet character and previous victories in battle drew many warriors to his side. One day, as he sat encamped with his men, he began longing out loud for a drink from the water of his hometown springs (2 Sam. 23:15). When his three mightiest men heard his words, they formed a pact and went to risk their lives to bring David a jug filled with that water. There was such a strong bond between the future king and his men, and they hung on his every word. They were hungry for his word and humble as they responded to it. They couldn’t wait to hear what he said. Nothing he asked of them was beneath them. Even a slight suggestion or vocalized dream was enough to drive them to action. James’s vision of the mature person is similar to David’s mighty men. The mature are hungry for the word and have humility as they approach the word—they are quick to hear it, slow to speak arguments against it, and slow to defensive anger about it (1:19).
Maturity cannot be found without the Father’s wisdom, so we must be quick to hear his wisdom, desiring eagerly to see what he has to say. Maturity cannot be found without the Father’s wisdom, so we must be slow to speak in response, meaning our first reflex is to allow the word to confront, correct, and challenge our thinking. Maturity cannot be found without the Father’s wisdom, so we must be slow to anger when we hear the Father’s voice, meaning we are not defensive and self-justifying, nor are we surprised and angry when others don’t live up to God’s wisdom (1:19).
How about you? Are you humbly hungry for your Father’s voice? Any dad will tell you how amazing it is when their children’s hearts are soft towards them. When a child becomes humble, hungry for parental guidance and direction, wisdom can take root and maturity can develop. Let’s grow as a people who are quick to hear our Father’s wisdom, slow to speak our objections to our Father’s wisdom, and slow to be angry or defensive about his honest wisdom for our lives.
You might need to begin with the knowledge that, as James said, the righteousness of God can’t be produced by unrighteous anger. James isn’t talking about a right standing with God, but right living before the world. You just can’t live the righteous life based on your own thoughts and wisdom. You must tap into the Father’s wisdom by humbly accepting it.
And you might need to, as James said, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness so you can receive the word (1:21). If we want life for our souls, we must remove every obstacle that gets in the way of the word (1:21). So we weed the garden of our hearts as we feed on the nutrients of our Father’s wisdom. We look inward to find practices and inputs that are choking out the power of the seed of the word, and we continually put away those practices and inputs so we can hear our Father’s voice.
The mature person receives wisdom by practicing the wisdom of God’s word. It’s in this section we learn a bit more about James’s view of the Father’s wisdom or word—he calls it the perfect law of liberty (1:25). He has more to say on this concept in a couple of paragraphs later in his letter, but for now we can say that James thought of God’s word as something that liberates, something to be obeyed and something that is without error. Jesus said the law should not be ignored, and James held that same view (see Matt. 5:17-20).
To understand his view of the word, one must consider the first installment of the law and the liberty that was attached to it. After their radical and miraculous exodus from Egypt, God gave the law to his people at Mt. Sinai. Observance of God’s law would make them into a different people who could serve as a kingdom of priests introducing the nations to God (Ex. 19:5-6). But it was a law that set them free. Egypt and Egypt’s ways had been grooved into them; their synapses had been reshaped by centuries of Egyptian culture and slavery. They needed a new law, a new rule for life, that could rewire their mentality and bring them to freedom. So God gave them the Ten and many other laws to help them live in the freedom he had won for them.
And to James, acting on the Father’s wisdom, this perfect law of liberty, leads to a blessing—he will be blessed in his doing, James said (1:25). So we must be doers of the word, and not hearers only (1:22). One cannot, of course, do the word unless they hear it, and James has just told us how important hearing it is, but all that hearing must lead to action. As Jesus said, “Blessed…are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28).
James’s logic might make us think of Jesus’ concluding words to his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:24-27). To hear the word and do it is to be like a man who built his house on the rock while hearing the word and neglecting it is to be like a man who built his house on the sand. When the storm came, each house experienced totally different outcomes. The house on the rock—the person who acted out the word—stood in the storm. The house on the sand—the person who neglected the word—fell hard in the storm.
Do you see obedience to the Father’s wisdom as something that leads to blessing? This takes us back to James’s concept of God as the Father of lights from whom comes every good and every perfect gift (1:17). Do you see the life God wills for his children as a life of blessing, or do you perceive him as keeping good and perfect gifts from his children by asking them to live such miserable lives of obedience? I want to be clear that I’m not talking about obedience to various forms of legalism or extra-biblical church customs, things Christians have picked up along the way that have nothing to do with the Bible, but the wisdom the Father gives us in his word.
And if acting on the Father’s wisdom leads to a blessing, inaction leads to self-deception. James said we deceive ourselves when all we do is hear the word without obedience. He used a metaphor of a man gazing at his natural face in a mirror, only to forget what he looks like after walking away (1:23-24). This is what it’s like when the mirror of God’s word is held up to our lives, and we walk away unchanged: we study it, take notes about it, say amen to it, and then walk away without any intention of obeying it.
There is a devastating line in Ezekiel that addresses this same situation. Like many of the prophets, Ezekiel was not widely received by his generation. He fascinated people, but not many heeded his warnings. At one point, God told him that people were talking about him and his message in their homes, inviting each other to go listen to the prophet. But God said, “So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say…You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!”(Ezekiel 33:31–32, NLT).
But James gives us hope with his words. Contrary to the defeatist attitudes of many modern believers, we aren’t destined to lives of disobedience but of progressive transformation as we persevere in the word (1:25). There will be plenty of failures, but by his grace, we can walk with him in obedience. Just as Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch it out, knowing that his power would meet the man in his obedience, God’s power is there for us when we step out to obey (Mark 3:1-6).
The mature person receives wisdom by expecting the wisdom of God’s word to produce something in their life. You have likely heard the Christian maxim, “It’s not a religion, but a relationship.” James comes along, however, and says there are definite marks of religion that is pure and undefiled before God that anyone who thinks he is religious should pay attention to (1:26-27).
What is James saying? To understand James, we must acknowledge that he uses a different definition of “religion” than we do. It’s not a word you will find very often in the Bible—in these two verses, James doubled its usage in Scripture. And when James used it, he was not giving us a comprehensive list of every spiritual practice endorsed in the Bible, but a general picture of what a heart relationship with God is bound to produce.
In other words, he is not saying that Christianity can be boiled down to loving orphans and widows. There are three complementary attributes mentioned in just this paragraph—controlled speech, care for the hurting, and personal godliness—and the rest of James and the Bible tell us so much more about what a walk with God looks like. So don’t stop praying, attending church, reading the word, serving, or giving just yet.
James expects a relationship with God to produce these three religious outworkings. First, he expected a relationship with the Father’s wisdom to produce controlled speech. He said the person whose religion does not help them bridle their tongue has a worthless religion (1:26). This is real talk coming from James—the heart is deceptive, telling us that we are pretty holy even while we decimate people near and far with our words.
I got a good laugh out of one scholar who ranted in 2008 about the modern ways people practice unbridled speech: “In this age of quasi-illiterate text-messaging, out-of-control email, overused cell phones, endless personal websites, blogsites and “facebook,” and the inanity of most of what is posted on myspace.com, it is easy to spend large amounts of time producing or imbibing just vain drivel!”[^1] If he only knew! It hasn’t gotten any better!
Second, James expected a relationship with the Father’s wisdom to produce practical care for the hurting in our churches and societies. He said pure and undefiled religion visits orphans and widows in their affliction (1:27). In that ancient society, widows and orphans had little means of support, so the church needed to do its best to alleviate their pain. James will talk more about the practical care Christians should give to others later in his letter, but this concept flows perfectly with the crux of Micah’s exhortations from the Old Testament era.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
Pastor Mike Casey has a core story that has helped shape his ministry. In the fictitious tale, two men are walking along the shoreline while talking to each other. On the sandy beach, thousands of starfish had washed ashore. As they walked, one man kept picking up a starfish here and there, throwing them back into the water. The other man challenged him: “Look at all these starfish. You aren’t making any difference!” The other picked up another and threw it into the water. “Yeah, but I just made a difference to that one,” he said.
Finally, James expected a relationship with the Father’s wisdom to produce personal godliness. He said the mature must keep oneself unstained from the world (1:27).
What a robust person James envisioned! Their inner heart has been so changed and transformed that they have great control over their words. Their actions are loving and sacrificial as they help people in need. And they have a healthy relationship with the world, walking through it and its challenges without being stained by it.
They have heard the word. They constantly practice the word. And this is the amazing result of the word. Their Father’s wisdom has shaped them. You’ve heard the phrase, “like father, like son,” and that’s precisely what James has described. Let’s go get our Father’s wisdom!
[^1]: Blomberg, Craig L., and Mariam J. Kamell. James. Zondervan, 2008.
Head (knowledge, facts, understanding):
Heart (feelings, impressions, desires):
Hands (actions, commitments, decisions, beliefs):
Tags maturity, wisdom, Word of God, implanted word, perfect law, law of liberty, hearing, doing, anger, righteousness, filthiness, wickedness, meekness, salvation, self-deception, perseverance, blessing, religion, tongue, heart, orphans, widows, affliction, purity, defilement, Father, transformation, obedience, speech, care, godliness, desires, temptation, sin, death, rebirth, truth, confrontation, correction, defensiveness, justification, weeding, nutrients, liberation, rewiring, mentality, freedom, intention, entertainment, defeat, progression, power, relationship, practices, outworkings, control, society← Archival Post: Redeemed Men Look Like This (Ephesians 5-6)The Case for the Resurrection: Part 1 (Mark 16:1-14) →
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Scriptures: Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 1
When the Apostle Paul closes what is the magnum opus of Christian doctrine in the Bible, he breaks into song! It’s only right that he do so. How should you tie off the greatest story ever told? After walking through the grand reasons behind God’s rescuing love for rebel sinners, only a doxology will do.
So with a heart that is full and a mind on fire, Paul intones the words of Rom. 16:25-27: “Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the sacred secret kept silent for long ages, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God, to advance the obedience of faith among all nations – to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ – to Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
Notice the in last phrases of the entire book of Romans, Paul emphasizes one attribute of God – His wisdom. Verse 27: “to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever! Amen.” My aim in this message, as it has been in every message under the banner of SEEING GOD FOR WHO HE IS, is to open a window in your mind to the infinite expanses of God. And particularly this morning, my goal is to display before you the wisdom of God, so that you see it more clearly and admire Him more intensely and trust Him more firmly and therefore obey Him more consistently and joyfully. (Pray)
One main statement will dominate the next several minutes in my speaking. I call you to let it take hold in your thoughts first, and then, by the Holy Spirit’s enabling, in your heart as well. The statement is simple and deep: God is infinitely wise. I want to unpack that for a moment and then we will see that flowing from that truth is a perspective-shaping, comfort-giving, anxiety-killing, prayer-inducing implication that will revolutionize your life if you will take it as you own.
Let me start with a definition: “Wisdom,” in the Bible, “is knowing the greatest goal in any situation, and the best way to achieve that goal.” (Sermon by John Piper, “The Great Work of the Only Wise God”, based on Romans 16:25-27) Wisdom sees the big picture, in focus, each part in its proper relationship to rest. Wisdom is different from knowledge. You can have knowledge without wisdom. There are a lot of brilliant fools. But you cannot have wisdom without knowledge, because in order to discern the best way to achieve a goal, you have to be able to integrate, to fuse together all kinds of factors from various sources of knowledge and experience.
Now, take up this attribute and think about God. And while you’re connecting those dots, listen to the psalmist say of God, “His understanding is infinite” (Ps. 147:5). Listen to Jeremiah pray to the “great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts, the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men in order to give to each person according to his ways and the result of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 32:19).
When Daniel described God’s wisdom, he wrote, “He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” (Dan. 2:21-22) Nothing’s ever a mystery to God. He is never puzzled or confused or uncertain.
Paul tries to talk about the wisdom of God, and when he does, it moves to praise: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:33-36)
What the apostle is saying is that God’s wisdom is very deep – so deep that His judgments are unsearchable. I can’t get there from here; it’s beyond me. God’s wisdom is so deep that His ways are untraceable. I can’t follow what He’s doing without being hopelessly over my head. It is so deep that no one has been or could be His counselor, ever.
In fact, the wisdom of God is so deep and so expansive that He does not and cannot increase in wisdom. The only way He could increase in wisdom is for something to come into God’s mind that has not already come out of God’s mind. But Romans 11:36 insists that this cannot be done: for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
So God’s actions are always perfectly wise. There are no upgrades to His wisdom that are needed or even available. Think about this: God is constantly synthesizing billions and billions of strands of data, drawn from all possible fields of knowledge and realms of experience, so that He holds every relevant factor in every situation with total and perfect knowledge. He constantly weighs the facts, implications, costs, consequences, and how it fits into His purposes with flawless skill, so that what He does or wills is always the best possible move that can be made. And God does this all the time, without the least strain and without crashing a hard drive.
Does anybody on earth understand this? No way. He is totally out of our league. Do we trust Him more because of it? Well, let’s see. I’m going to draw a massive implication from the wisdom of God that is challenging to consider. Are you ready?
“The wisdom of God tells us that God will bring about the best possible results, by the best possible means, for the most possible people, for the longest possible time.” (Charles Ryrie, quoted by Chip Ingram in God: As He Longs For You To See Him, p. 128.) Let’s say that out loud and weigh the words as they pass through our mouths. (Repeat)
Now run that around the block in your present experience. Take that home with you and see how it works. What this implication from God’s wisdom means is that whatever your life is like right now, God is wisely and sovereignly ordering your circumstances to do something in you, through you, in your marriage, in your family, in your work, in your witness, and in your worship that could not be accomplished any other way.
If there was a better way to accomplish these purposes, then you would be experiencing those other circumstances instead of what you are right now. If there was a kinder, faster, more expedient way, God would be using it. So the circumstances you are in right now are exactly what you need for this period in your life.
Let me ask you something: Would it change things for you if you firmly believed that the problem in your life that is pressing and difficult – the one you don’t understand, that you chafe against, that makes you feel overwhelmed and ready to give up – was orchestrated or allowed by an all-wise, loving Father to bring about the best possible, longest lasting results for His glory and your good?
Would it make a difference if you understood that your life is not God’s Plan B or Plan C – that it is always and only Plan A, designed specifically for you while you live in this fallen world? What is everything in your life was a part of His wise plan? What would happen to your anxiety level? How would that affect your confidence in God?
Objection!
But it’s right here where we push back. “I would love to believe that, Lloyd, but it doesn’t add up in my life. You call what has happened to me the best possible circumstances for me right now? And it’s going to produce the best possible outcome! What outcome is God shooting for? I lost my baby! My son was killed in a car wreck. The storm took everything I had. I got a pink slip. My husband beat me. You’re telling me that this is the best! I can think of better ways toward better outcomes. I don’t buy it!”
All over this room, there are circumstances that defy any connection with this teaching. Those circumstances contradict phrases like “best possible” because they are awful, scaring, and painful. There are two things with which I want to plead with you to consider:
1. Remember that our experience of the wisdom of God comes in a fallen world.
This is not the best of all possible worlds, but one that lies under the shadow of the Fall of man. All creation groans and travails under the mighty shock of the Fall, when sin entered this world and death by sin. In this present evil world, God’s wisdom does not necessarily shield His children from sin or calamity, nor punish wicked people in their sin. Right now, in His wisdom, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). But one day, all will be set right.
You have His Word on that in places like Galatians 6:7 where the Bible says, “Do not be deceived” (Don’t be fooled by the delay in the full execution of God’s perfect justice so that you think that He lets the wicked off the hook): “God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap.” You can believe this: God will see to it in full on the day of His judgment.
2. Remember the wisdom of God in securing your salvation.
Everything about God’s plan to save us through Christ looked doomed to fail. A teenage girl in a stable in a little flea-bag town? A carpenter’s son? And then consider the disciples Jesus chose to whom He would delegate His cause. Not exactly your top-of-the-class group.
But the most foolish move of all was the crucifixion. I Corinthians 1:21-24 connects this for us: “For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom” (In other words, God rejected the possibility of salvation by human intellect and wisdom. We will see why in a moment.) “… God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom.”
In God’s infinite wisdom, He chose a way of salvation through Christ that looks totally insane to us. No one on earth would have come up with a plan involving the brutal murder of the Son of God for sinners. Yet at precisely the most foolish-looking moment, God’s wisdom triumphs. And at the point of His greatest weakness, God’s power is unleashed. Verse 25: “because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
In God’s all-wise plan, this was the perfect way to achieve the greatest goal. What goal? Skip to v. 31: “Therefore, as it is written, ‘The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.'” This is what His wisdom was aiming at. God chose us, purchased us, called us, and given to us everything else involving our salvation in such a way as to strip us of all self-congratulation and replace it with glorying only in the Lord.
I make this point for this reason: you and I don’t know enough to fathom why pain and suffering and injustice and brutality happens to us in this sin-wrecked world. Like Job, we come to God with our questions. But in the end, God simply points out that in the grand scope of things, we know nothing. Suggesting our “better plan” to help God out is like proposing “1 + 1” to Einstein. When it comes to divine wisdom, we haven’t been there and we haven’t done that.
It takes time and repeated lessons in humility to bring us to the place where we can rest in His wisdom and trust His plan. But there are a few spiritual booster shots that can help us get there:
1. Wise Living Starts With Fearing the Lord.
Prov. 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Fearing the Lord is basically this: you recognize that He is the Creator, your Master, the Lord of all; He’s holy and awesome and calls the shots. And in response you willingly submit yourself to Him and His plan for your life. Without this, there is no wisdom. It starts with salvation. It continues in reverent humility.
2. Wise Living Grows by Receiving God’s Word.
Wise living grows by receiving God’s Word. Ps. 19:7 says, “The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.” Nothing can match the Bible for showing you the mind of God. The more you sink roots in God through His Word, the more wisdom will mark your life.
3. Wise Living Requires that We Ask for It Specifically.
James 1:5-6: “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” In other words, you don’t come to God for a second opinion. We come to God to say, “Overwrite your wisdom on this, Lord. Whatever you show me, I will follow.”
A.W. Tozer, in The Knowledge of the Holy, wrote these words about God’s wisdom in our lives: “To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.
“There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God… God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.” (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 63.)
Lloyd Stilley is pastor of First Baptist Church, Gulf Shores, Alabama. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Leeanne and is the father of Joey and Craig.
Sermon: All Creation Points to HimThe more we focus on Jesus, the more there is to see, and the more we realize we’ll never see it all. That, of course, is also true about Creation.
Sermon: My Heart Beating in Time with HisThe closer we get to God and the more depth that we build into our relationship with Him, the more we begin to see God’s power and presence in the world. This power and presence are elements of the character of God.
Sermon: He Is Personal – Psalm 91Let me remind you that God is not simply a power, he is a person. As a person, you can relate to him and love him and get to know him.
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How chill are you really?
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Published on July 22, 2025
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We all approach life a little differently. Some people are driven by deadlines, schedules, and to-do lists; whereas, some of us prefer to take things as they come. If you’ve ever been called chill, easygoing, or the calm one in a crisis, you might just have what’s known as a Type B personality.
“Relaxed, spontaneous, and flexible, Type B personalities are the Ernie to Type A’s Bert, Han to Leia, and Kermit to Miss Piggy,” says Eric Gee, a life coach and author of “The Power of Personality.”
The personality dichotomy was created by American cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman in the 1970s.1 The physicians characterized people into two buckets: Type A and Type B personalities. They felt that Type A personalities push themselves harder and operate at higher stress levels; whereas, people with Type B personalities work less aggressively and more steadily.2
Type A
Type B
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A Type A person might thrive on structure, deadlines, and high achievement, while someone with more Type B traits might feel most at ease when things are flexible, creative, and low-pressure.
Compared to Type As, who are driven by ambition, Type B personalities are more relaxed and easygoing, says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Clarity Clinic, Chicago.
Neither approach is better or worse, they’re just different ways of moving through life.
The Pros and Cons of Being in a Type A/Type B RelationshipCan a Relationship Between Two Type B Personalities Work? Here’s What Experts Think
Think you might be a Type B personality? Take this quiz to find out. Remember, there are no wrong answers. Just pick the option that best describes you.
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This quiz is not intended to be a substitute for a clinical diagnosis, professional assessment, or the basis of any significant life decisions. Think of it as a fun and engaging way to spark some self-awareness.
This quiz is designed for anyone who’s curious about where they fall on the Type A to Type B personality spectrum. Maybe you’ve been called Type A or Type B before and wondered if it’s true, or maybe you feel like you identify with both personality types simultaneously.
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Whether you’re a student juggling assignments, a professional balancing work and life, or just someone who enjoys a little self-reflection, this quiz offers a light, relatable way to get to know yourself better. It’s especially helpful if you’re trying to understand your strengths or see where you might bring a little more balance into your life.
While we often talk about Type A and Type B as opposites, the truth is most people are a blend of both. You might be super organized and driven at work (very Type A), but totally laid-back on the weekends (hello, Type B).
“Despite their often easygoing natures, Type B personalities can be just as demanding, focused, and driven as Type A personalities (and vice versa),” says Gee.
Our personalities aren’t fixed—they shift depending on the situation, the environment, and even our energy levels.3 You may lean more one way than the other, but chances are you tap into both styles at different times.
Our unique blend of traits influences everything from how we handle stress to how we connect with others. It’s what gives us our rhythm, our energy, and our personal style—making each of us a little different, and totally our own.
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Anyone who is called by God learns the basic Bible truth that Satan holds sway over the nations today (Rev. 12:9; II Cor. 4:4). As prince of the power of the air, he broadcasts moods, feelings and attitudes such as hostility, lust and greed around the globe, affecting and influencing all people.But can all the world’s evils be attributed solely to the direct actions of Satan?Although Satan is the catalyst who stirs up violence, crime, wars and other insolvable dilemmas, his nature also operates in a place that has traditionally been overlooked by mankind. Inside every human being there is what is called human nature. Human nature is somewhat of a misnomer, for it is Satan’s very nature operating in the mind of every person.The Bible reveals precisely when and how human nature first manifested its presence.The Origin of Human Nature(1) Did God give Adam a choice as to which tree—the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—he could eat from? Genesis 2:8-9.(2) Did God specifically warn Adam which tree not to eat from, and of the consequences of eating from it? Genesis 2:16-17.(3) Later, when Satan appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent, did she understand the instructions that God had given concerning which tree was forbidden? Genesis 3:2-3.(4) Should God’s warnings as to what we are to avoid be regarded with the same seriousness as avoiding the forbidden tree? Proverbs 4:14-15; II Timothy 2:23; 3:5; Romans 16:17.(5) What did the serpent say to Eve? Genesis 3:4-5. When put to the test, what tree did Adam and Eve choose? Verse 6.Satan directly contradicted God by his assertion in verse 4, “you shall not surely die.” Satan was saying in effect, “you can’t rely on God’s word.” Influenced by Satan’s argument, Eve was persuaded to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(6) After eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what change came over Adam and Eve? Genesis 3:7.The statement “the eyes of them both were opened” pertained to a new awareness that they did not have before eating from the forbidden tree. Satan told Eve, “your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (vs. 5). God alone has the prerogative to determine what is good and what is evil. Mankind has the choice of whether to comply with God’s will. Satan’s goal is to keep man from obeying God.Adam and Eve’s awareness went far beyond their realization of being naked. Genesis 2:25 indicates that before this event, they were naked and were not ashamed. This new mindset brought with it a sense of shame.When Adam took of the tree that God had forbidden, he took it upon himself to decide between what was right and what was wrong—good and evil. His decision did “open his eyes,” and Satan’s influence did enter the minds of Adam and Eve at this time.Their decision precluded the opportunity to acquire spiritual knowledge and understanding that they could have had by eating from the tree of life. Their understanding was now limited to what they could learn through the five physical senses, and human nature came into being for the first time.(7) Was the sin that Adam and Eve committed the “original sin”? Ezekiel 28:15-16.The verses cited in Ezekiel 28 pertain to Satan’s sin, which predated the sin of Adam and Eve by many millions—possibly billions—of years. The one who committed the first sin was Satan. The popular concept of “original sin” in mainstream Christianity is false. Read our Real Truth article “Is There ‘Original Sin’?” to learn more.(8) Besides the physical curses brought upon Adam and Eve and their descendants, what were the consequences of their sin? Genesis 3:22-24.Their sin resulted in being cut off from the tree of life—along with all mankind.(9) What other consequence resulted from the sin of Adam and Eve? Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27.Through their actions, Adam and Eve brought the death penalty upon themselves and all mankind.The Spirit in Man(1) Did God create a spirit in man—a dimension of innate capability empowering the mind to acquire intelligence—making mankind different from animals? Job 32:8; Zechariah 12:1.This spirit in man does not refer to the Spirit of God. Neither does it refer to what some mistakenly consider a “soul.” The spirit in man is what gives him the ability to reason, dream, hope and think. The personality of every human being is unique.(2) Since the spirit in man is limited to the five senses, can he understand spiritual matters? I Corinthians 2:9-11, 14.(3) Is the spirit in man subject to God’s laws? Romans 8:7.Because human beings are influenced by Satan, human nature is hostile to God.(4) Were Adam and Eve hostile toward God from the moment they were created? Compare Genesis 2:25 with 3:7.They were not immediately disobedient or hostile to God. Rather, their minds were neutral until corrupted by Satan. The change in their awareness and their acquisition of human nature did not occur until after they had disobeyed God.(5) Is every child immediately hostile toward God? Matthew 18:1-4; 19:13-14.As children are subjected to the influence of Satan’s broadcast, they eventually take on the spirit of this world and the imaginations of their hearts become evil (Gen. 8:21).From such time forward, they become more firmly under the influence of the god of this world. But, as little children, their minds are mostly neutral and more open, honest and humble—representative of the mindset that those called out of this world must acquire.The spirit in man gives one the capacity for thought, intelligence and personality. Mankind is physical and carnal, though made in the image of God. After the initial years of childhood in mostly a neutral state of mind, everyone’s human nature is significantly molded and influenced by Satan.The Pull of Human Nature(1) Is the heart (the innermost mind) of man deceitful and wicked? Jeremiah 17:9.God uses strong language in describing the heart of man as “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”(2) What did Jesus Christ say defiles a man? Matthew 15:18-20; Mark 7:20-23.In this account, the Pharisees first asked why Christ’s disciples never followed the tradition of their elders by washing their hands in the manner prescribed by Pharisaical tradition. Jesus pointed out that they put their manmade traditions ahead of the commandments of God. He proceeded to show that it is a man’s thoughts that defile him. All the attributes mentioned in the above verses are ingrained into human nature.(3) How did the apostle Paul define the pulls of the flesh—human nature? Galatians 5:19-21.Paul listed 17 distinct (though partially overlapping) attributes of human nature. Since these various aspects of human nature are acquired and developed over time from exposure to Satan’s wavelength, the cumulative effect is that human nature reflects Satan’s nature. After these characteristics of Satan’s nature are acquired, they become natural to people—accepted as their own nature.(4) How do we know that human nature is acquired and not inherited? II Corinthians 11:2-3.Before the serpent beguiled Eve, her mind was neutral. Once she sinned, her mind became corrupted. Paul mentioned that the minds of others could likewise become corrupted by Satan. Thus, we see that human nature is acquired, not inherited.The World Corrupted(1) What conditions in the pre-Flood world brought about the necessity of its destruction? Genesis 6:5-6, 12-13.The wickedness of mankind was so prominent that all of civilization was corrupted. The definition of corrupt includes: debased in character, depraved, perverted, wicked, evil, putrid, infected and tainted. Since wickedness so dominated civilization, God knew that man had to be destroyed.(2) Will society approach this same condition just before Christ comes? Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26.(3) Did society take Noah’s warning seriously, or did they continue with life as usual? Matthew 24:38-39; Luke 17:27.Although Scripture does not explicitly state that Noah preached a warning to the world for 120 years, the timeframe is implied in Genesis 6:3: “…yet his [man’s] days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Josephus refers to this time as “the 120 years of God’s patience (perhaps while the ark was preparing) till the deluge…” (Antiquities, Bk. 1, ch. 3). I Peter 3:20 also shows that “the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing.” It is unthinkable that Noah would have remained silent during this time before such a calamity to strike the world, especially since he was “a preacher of righteousness” (II Pet. 2:5). The very construction of the ark was a powerful witness, although the pre-Flood world perceived it as fanatical or laughable—until the Flood struck.From Josephus, we find more about the depravity of the people of this time and of Noah’s response: “But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better; but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land.”(4) Will society at the end of the age mirror the conditions that Lot faced during his time? Luke 17:28-30; II Peter 2:5-8.The depravity and perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah are also representative of the state to which the world will degenerate by the time of Christ’s coming. We find that Lot was “vexed with the filthy [conduct] of the wicked” (II Pet. 2:7). Those who seek God’s way should be vexed by such conduct.Those in the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 who are given an identifying mark, and therefore spared, are shown in verse 4 to be those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst [of Jerusalem, typifying all of modern Israel, vs. 9] thereof.” God’s people must be sorely grieved and repulsed by the wickedness of this present world.(5) What are some of the characteristics of mankind in the last days? II Timothy 3:1-5.The inclinations of human nature have culminated in civilization being essentially corrupted, just as we read in Genesis 6:12.(6) What instructions does God give His people about this world? John 15:19; I John 2:15-17; James 4:4.I John 2:16 talks about “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” These lusts appeal to human nature, but are all temporary and will pass away along with this world—“but he that does the will of God abides forever” (vs. 17).(7) By what means can one avoid being corrupted along with the world? II Peter 1:4; James 1:27; Romans 12:2.Partaking of the divine nature means to be molded by God’s Spirit, becoming more like Christ. There is no other way!Society Under Satan’s Influence(1) Where does the influence that inspires human nature come from? Ephesians 2:2-3; John 3:19.Before responding to the truth, everyone has walked according to the course of this world, responding to Satan’s broadcast.Verse 3 discloses the usual pattern of carnal tendency of the lust of the flesh and being “by nature the children of wrath, even as others”—all society. Society and public opinion are molded by Satan’s wavelength. Therefore, the general public could never accept or delight in the truth, since the truth would only serve to reprove them (John 3:20).(2) Though society is corrupt, does the world as a whole aspire to higher levels of morality? I John 5:19.(3) Does the world perceive the true servants of God as misrepresenting the world? Acts 17:6.The whole world has long been upside down. From their inverted perspective, the way of truth appears to be downside up.A Coming ChangeSatan and his angels manifested their influence upon mankind in the pre-Flood world. II Peter 3:6 says, “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” Satan and his angels still dominate this current society, referred to as “this present evil world” in Galatians 1:4.However, all this will change in the near future. Notice: “For unto the angels has He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak” (Heb. 2:5). It is the world to come, meaning the Kingdom of God, that is the hope of every true Christian. Humanity will learn the way of truth and willingly change with God’s help.Human nature, within each individual and in all society, works against God’s purpose. Everyone called to the truth has to overcome his own human nature and swim against the current of a hostile society. This is why it can be said that every Christian has three enemies to overcome—Satan, self, and society.To learn more, read our booklets Why Man Cannot Solve His Problems and Did God Create Human Nature?
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