Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 1:25

"But he that looketh into the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and [so] continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing." — James 1:25 (ASV)

In contrast to those who listen to the Word but do not do what it says, James now describes one who both listens and puts into practice what has been heard. “He will be blessed in what he does.” The reason for this blessing is fourfold. (1) He “looks intently” (GK 4160) into God’s truth, a verb that described John’s act of stooping and peering into the tomb of Jesus . Here it is as though a person stoops over the Scripture, zealously searching for its message. (2) “He continues to do this.” He is the blessed man of Ps 1 who meditates on God’s law day and night. (3) He does not forget “what he has heard.” (4) Most important, he puts the truth into practice.

James’s term “the perfect law of liberty” (literal translation) deserves special attention. The word “law” (GK 3795) reveals his Jewish orientation and that of his readers. But he qualifies this word to make sure that his readers do not misunderstand, describing it as “perfect” (GK 5455) and as characterized by “freedom” (GK 1800). It is not merely the OT law, nor is it the Mosaic law perverted to become a legalistic system for earning salvation by good works. When James calls it the “perfect law,” he has in mind the sum total of God’s revealed truth—not merely the preliminary portion found in the OT, but also the final revelation made through Christ and his apostles that was soon to be inscripturated in the NT. Thus it is complete, in contrast to that which is preliminary and preparatory. Furthermore, it is a law that does not enslave. Instead, it is freely accepted and fulfilled with glad devotion under the enablement of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22–23; see Jas 2:8, 12 for more on this concept of law).