Together in Christ: 'Obeying the Law Written on Our Hearts' — James 1:25

To best understand the focus of this verse, we need to read it in context:

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. ^[1]

When James is talking about "the perfect law that sets you free," he is talking about "the word God has planted in your hearts" that "has the power to save" us. At first glance, this may appear to be contradictory to Paul's repeated statements in Galatians and Romans that we are free from law-keeping as our means for justification and salvation. ^[2] However, Paul was talking about the Old Testament law, while James was talking about the coming of the new covenant relationship we have with God in Jesus. ^[3]

Paul explains this principle in a section of 2 Corinthians ^[4] that is effectively a commentary presented in the special way that rabbis taught. This "law that sets you free" is rooted in the prophecy of Jeremiah, which talks about the time when God puts His law in the minds and hearts of His people. ^[5] God fulfilled this prophecy in His new covenant people who have received the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them into the freedom that comes from living an obedient life. ^[6] The Spirit works in us, teaches us, and transforms us into the kind of people who need no written law because we are becoming holy and Christ-like through "the power of the life-giving Spirit [that] has freed [us] from the power of sin that leads to death." ^[7] James reminds us that when we focus on the Spirit's leading and teaching and then do what Jesus calls us to do, we find God's blessing and our freedom to become the people we desire to become — Christlike people. Talking about rules and laws can lead us to forget what God's goal is for us: becoming like Jesus. ^[8]

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us how to live as He lived. He closed His powerful message with an emphasis on not just accepting His words as truth but ALSO obeying those truths in everyday living. ^[9] Jesus also ended His time on earth by instructing His disciples to go into all of the world and not just teach what He taught them, but also teach people how to obey what He taught. ^[10] James point is that freedom and blessing come when we obey "the perfect law that sets [us] free" that God has written on our hearts. ^[11] As James emphasized, "God will bless you for doing it." ^[12]

God wants us to live righteous and holy lives consistent with His righteous character, gracious compassion, faithfulness, unfailing love, and justice. We live to honor God by obeying what He leads us to become through the Holy Spirit: people who live and love like Jesus. Once again, we circle back to the key principle of all relationships: Our relationship with God must be the central defining relationship of our lives. When we live this way, we find life, freedom, blessing, and salvation in everyday living!