Scripture
17Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[1] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[2] 18He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.[3]
Listening and Doing
19Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20Human anger[4] does not produce the righteousness[5] God desires. 21So 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.
22But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25But 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.
26If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Translation notes (5)
- 1:17a Greek from above, from the Father of lights.
- 1:17b Some manuscripts read He never changes, as a shifting shadow does.
- 1:18 Greek we became a kind of firstfruit of his creatures.
- 1:20a Greek A man’s anger.
- 1:20b Or the justice.
21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[1] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Translation notes (1)
- 5:21 Or to become sin itself.
When it comes to sin, one of the responses some of us have is to minimize it. We tell ourselves that even though we sinned, our sin was not a big deal compared to the sins of others around us. The problem is that this line of thinking is that God does not view any sin as "minimal." Every sin breaks His heart and separates us from Him.
Throughout Scripture, we read about the consequences of sin. From the beginning of Scripture in the book of Genesis, we see that sin separated humanity from God. When Adam and Eve sinned and introduced sin into the world, they became separated from God. They had to leave the Garden of Eden, the home God created for them, and their relationship with Him was altered. After sin came into the world, humanity began offering sacrifices to God to be forgiven for the sins that they had committed. These sacrifices were required for them to have a relationship and be made right with Him. The problem with these sacrifices is that they had to continually be offered because they were insufficient to pay the price for past, present, and future sins. That is why, ultimately, Jesus came to Earth and became the final, once and for all sacrifice. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." He came to Earth, lived a sinless, perfect life, and died a criminal's death on the cross even though He was innocent. He endured the torture of being crucified on a cross and the pain of taking on the world's sin. He did this all for us so that we could be made right with God.
Friends, our sin is serious. Even the "little white lies" we tell are enough to separate us from Him. They are not minimal to God. They required Jesus to leave Heaven, come to Earth, and suffer the pain and agony of the cross. May we live fully understanding the consequences of our sins and how deeply loved we are that God would send His only Son to rescue us.
Moving toward action
We have to take all of our sins seriously. All sin separates us from God. All sin is severe enough that it cost the blood of Jesus. Read the verses listed in the Going Deeper section below slowly and aloud. As you read, pay attention to the seriousness and cost of sin. Tell God you are sorry for your sin and its cost, and thank Him for the forgiveness that Jesus offers.
Going Deeper
James 1:17-27
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