Charles Ellicott Commentary James 1:22

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves." — James 1:22 (ASV)

Doers of the word.—Acting up to the full of their knowledge, whether gained by the spoken or the written Word of God. There is a force in the original sentence, which our own language cannot supply. The term “deceiving” is the contrary of that rendered “word,” and means its corruption; the Word which is the source of knowledge and life may be so handled as to cause error and death.

No acquaintance with the Bible, apart from the practice of its precepts, will avail the Christian any more than it did the Jew. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers shall be justified (Romans 2:13). Those who deceive themselves may not altogether be hypocrites; there is a subtler danger of being blind, and nevertheless exclaiming “We see” .