Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 3:2

"For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also." — James 3:2 (ASV)

James gives the basis for what he has just said in v.1: The tongue is the most difficult member of the body to control. To say that “we all stumble” (GK 4760) is not merely to declare that everyone makes mistakes. This word is used figuratively to refer to acts of sin (cf. 2:10). Thus the author declares the universality of sin, even among believers. The person who “is never at fault” in his speech (i.e., never commits sins of speech) “is a perfect man.” If anyone could be found who never sins with the tongue, that person would never sin in any other way, either. Since sins of the tongue are hardest to avoid, anyone who can control the tongue is surely able to “keep his whole body” from being used as an instrument of sin.