“So far from God tempting us to evil, his will is the cause of our
regeneration” (Mayor). He is our Father in a double sense. We owe our
original birth to God, in whose image we are made (Gen. 2:7). We owe our
spiritual birth likewise to God, who begat us again to a living hope (1
Peter 1:3). The Mishnah (_Surenh._, iv. 116) says: “A man’s father only
brought him forth into this world: his teacher, who taught him wisdom,
brings him into the life of the world to come.” Happy is the father who
leads his child also to Christ. But while the word of truth is the
instrument used in the instruction (a pointed lesson for parents,
teachers, preachers), the actual work of regeneration is due to God as
Father, yes, and as Mother also, for the word “brought forth” is the one
used of the mother (see by contrast v. 15).
The doctrine of grace here set forth is of a piece with that in Paul’s
writings (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 1:5), those of Peter (1 Peter 1:3), and of
John (1:13). Indeed, Jesus himself is quoted as saying: “Ye did not
choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). As the seed of sin produces
death, so the seed of God produces life (1 John 3:9). It is interesting
to note this piece of fundamental theology in so practical a writer as
James, who lays special emphasis on works as proof of life. But James
has no such idea as some careless and shallow theologians who think that
a man can galvanize himself into spiritual life by imitative ethics. The
man must be born again, as Jesus said so impressively to Nicodemus (John
3:3). The miracle of birth must precede growth and development.
We are not to puzzle ourselves too much over the mysteries of spiritual
biology. We know that the impulse and purpose[61] come from God (John
1:13). What we do know is that God honors and uses the word of truth,
both spoken and written. If this is true, what a responsibility belongs
to us for diligence and urgency in the use of the word of truth.
By the truth we are set free from sin and error (John 8:31 f.). The word
of truth is the gospel of salvation (Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5), the word of
life (1 John 1:1). God’s word is truth (John 17:17), and the words of
Jesus are spirit and life (John 6:63). The word of truth, when combined
with the power of God (2 Cor. 6:7), quickens into life. So James
emphasizes the importance of the human element in the new birth, while
rightly making God supreme in the act of regeneration. We must reach men
with the word of God. We must pass it on to the thirsty, the hungry, the
dying. Every church is, or ought to be, a lifesaving station, a rescue
mission, a teaching center, a powerhouse, a lighthouse radiating
knowledge of God in Christ.
The purpose of God in renewing us by the word of truth is that we in
turn should win others. We are not an end in ourselves, though God does
save us. He saves us that we may serve. We are to be a sort of first
fruits,[62] not the full harvest. There are fields upon fields beyond us
ready for the reaper. We are just a beginning, just a foretaste. We whet
the appetite for larger, richer blessings. “The trees that are a
fortnight to the fore are the talk and delight of the town.”[63] One
spring my baby boy noticed a tree without leaves when all the rest were
in leaf. “What is the matter with this tree?” he asked.
Christ has introduced a new order into the world. He himself is the real
first fruits (1 Cor. 15:20). But there are others through all the
ages—those that ripen first and fast, show the way, give promise of the
future. So Epaenetus was a first fruits of Asia for Christ (Rom. 16:5);
the household of Stephanas was in Corinth (1 Cor. 16:15). Blessings rest
on the first fruits for salvation in any church, any town, any family.
They are the chosen of God, like the 144,000 in the book of Revelation
(14:3), the church of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23). The Jews consecrated
their first fruits to God as his in a special sense. All Christians are
meant to be first fruits, the promise and earnest of better work (Rom.
8:23). God has in store great things for his people. The least that we
can do is to bring our first and our best, our all, and lay it at the
feet of Jesus. The new heaven and the new earth may not come while we
live on earth, but we may help heaven to come upon earth by living the
life of God.
V
The Practice of the Word of God
Nowhere is James richer than in this wonderful paragraph in verses 19-27
of the first chapter. He has in mind “the word of truth” of verse 18 and
follows that idea with pungent and powerful words that remind one of the
Sermon on the Mount. It is not clear whether the first part of verse 19
belongs in idea to what goes before or what follows. “Ye know this, my
beloved brethren.” It makes perfectly good sense either way. It is also
uncertain whether we have a statement or a command, for the form may be
either indicative or imperative. If you know it, act on your knowledge.
Let us listen to what the Word has to say, since we are renewed by the
use of it, and be less captious in our criticism of its teachings
(Mayor). Moffatt puts it, “Be sure of that, my beloved brothers,” and
connects it with verse 18.