when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard. You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. (James 1:25-26, ERV)
It is important to listen to what God’s Word says, but it is much more important to obey it and to do what it says. We can measure the effectiveness of our Bible study time by the effect it has on our behavior and attitudes. Do you put into action what you have studied?
It seems paradoxical that a law could give us freedom, but God’s law offers us a true reflection of our sinful condition and gives us the opportunity to ask for God’s forgiveness (see Rom 7:7-8).
As Christians, we are saved by God’s grace, (Eph 2:13) and Jesus frees us from sin’s control. (John 1:29) As believers, we are free to live as God created us to live. Of course, this does not mean that we are free to do as we please (see 1 Pet 2:16).
This is the word of the living God. The law is God’s great moral looking glass. People are to compare their words, their spirit, their actions with the Word of God.
God’s word is alive and working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined. God’s word cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (Heb 4:12)
True religion means living the Word in your practical life. Your profession is not of any value without the practical doing of the Word. {7BC 935.6}
My friends, we are now free to obey God.