Woman Looking in a Mirror at the Ten Commandmentsby KandD
1:24James 1:24
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
The verse pictures a hearer of the word who does not obey it as a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, goes away, and at once forgets what he saw. The mirror is God's Word, the perfect law of liberty and moral standard that tells the truth about character. To hear without doing is to deceive oneself, leaving the impression to fade and the life unchanged instead of continuing in the law and practicing it. That mirror exposes defects of character, sin and guilt as God sees them, yet it has no power itself to pardon or cleanse, so the convicted sinner must repent toward God and trust in Christ whose blood and righteousness alone save. The remedy is not to turn away and forget but to look closely and continually with prayer, remember what was shown, forsake sin, and keep beholding Christ's perfection until the life is changed into His image.
Mirror and Hearer Described
The verse describes a hearer of the word who is not a doer as like a man beholding his natural face in a glass, who goes his way and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. Such forgetful hearing is self-deception, for hearing alone is useless and leaves many unprepared to meet Christ, while receiving the Word and obeying it causes light to shine forth in good works. The Word must under all circumstances be done by cooperating with the truth presented, listening attentively, being swift to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath, waiting in patience instead of speaking irritated words, cleansing passion from the soul temple, and receiving the engrafted word with meekness as saving truth to be believed, appropriated inwardly, and obeyed. The verse therefore requires self-examination whether Christ is within, laying apart selfishness and all filthiness, beholding the Saviour rather than judging others, so that life and business are kept unspotted from the world.
The glass or mirror in the verse is the Word of God, the perfect law of liberty, God's great moral looking-glass and standard of character that always tells the truth about what a person is. It is a moral mirror that reveals defects of character by comparing a person's words, spirit, and actions with God's standard, showing condition and duty and warning because deeds are tested by it in judgment. A hearer who does not act on what he sees walks away and immediately forgets, failing to look closely enough to see defects needing correction and reformation, and continuing in his own way rather than God's way. Many things are brought before him, but he straightway forgets what manner of man he was and what the mirror revealed as needing change, and knowing and believing truth is vain unless the memory of the Word is cultivated and the message is remembered, pondered, and done with earnest, thorough change in the manner of working. Satan sought to induce men to believe that God abolished His moral standard so the human family would have no moral looking glass, yet God designs His law to be obeyed by all who believe, and defects it exposes are not a reason to reject it, for the sins exposed must be put away or they will bar the way to heaven. Each person has a work to do for himself that no one else can do, and each must give an account to God, using the mirror to discover and remove his own defects rather than to see a neighbor's faults or watch whether he comes up to the standard, for following the natural heart brings bondage and there is no liberty to obey what is agreeable and disobey when convenient, since obedience is better than sacrifice.
A literal glass shows only outward appearance, while God's law and gospel are a moral and divine mirror that also reveals God's character, Christ's perfection, and the divine attributes to be reflected in a transformed life. The gospel mirror reveals the love, honor, perfection, justice, goodness and benevolence seen in Christ, and at the same time reveals human defects and wherein daily life fails to reveal the principle of the Word. Merely seeing oneself in that mirror and then forgetting produces no lasting change, for true religion and sanctification purify and refine the heart, mind, and will, extinguish selfishness, and appear in words, actions, and works of righteousness. Those inclined to look into a literal mirror to admire themselves have little inclination to look into God's law to search the heart, and this idolatry of dress, luxurious living, and extravagant and demoralizing worldly fashion destroys all that is humble, meek, needy, lowly, and lovely in character, sanctions worldliness, shows Christ is not formed within as the hope of glory, and consumes precious hours that should be devoted to meditation, heart-searching, and prayerful study of the Scriptures. The mirror must therefore be studied earnestly day by day to learn what kind of character God would have formed, and what is seen must not be left but must be acted upon by earnest prayer and faith to put away defects and come up to the standard God gives. By constantly beholding Christ as He is and being charmed with His divine perfection while striving to meet the perfection God desires, the beholder is changed into the same image from glory to glory, insensibly yet surely, with the human will molded to the divine and Christ's nature revealed in human nature in gentle and courteous words and kind and helpful ways and spirit in conformity to His Spirit and will.
The verse belongs to practical instruction in James 1 that must be read carefully, slowly, and prayerfully, understood clearly, taken heed to day by day, and brought into the daily life and applied personally. Such personal application shows a person and a worker for God his own condition and the work he must do to clear the King's highway, so he will see himself clearly, recognize that words and actions testify against him, and not be weighed in the balances and found wanting. This is especially for those who dwell on others' faults while failing to face their own, and it is connected with overcoming self and steadily advancing from victory to victory under God's discipline. Heeding that instruction day by day leads to spiritual victory, and the instruction in James 1:16-27 is God's great remedy for the diseases of body and soul and God's health reform prescription, so that those who follow it, along with the health principles in James 2, will triumph at last with the overcomers.
Hearing Without Doing
Hearing without obeying is self-deception that leaves a person unchanged, unbenefited, and quickly forgetful of what was seen, like glancing at the face in a mirror and at once forgetting it, in contrast to continuing to look into the perfect law of liberty and doing its work. The warning calls for honest self-examination by the divine word followed by action, and it applies to those who cherish wrongdoing, hostility toward fellow believers, or an uncontrolled tongue. Mere hearing leaves no lasting change, whereas doing means laying aside all filthiness, receiving the engrafted word able to save the soul with meekness, bridling the tongue, and practicing pure religion by visiting the fatherless and widows in affliction and keeping unspotted from the world. A hearer who sees defects by comparing conduct with the moral law but does not act soon forgets the impression and continues unreformed in his own way, recognizing what is revealed but failing to carry it into life. Those who profess to know and love God must reveal by good works and simple, elevated piety the binding claims of His law and the power of Christ to keep from transgression, rather than by pretension and assertion, for claiming love while works show little grasp of His requirements dishonors Him. Seeing oneself as God sees would bring terror at falling short of His will and being cut off in disobedience, since love of God is keeping His commandments which are not grievous, and His law is perfect to convert the soul and make the simple wise.
The forgetful hearer may feel the force of truth and see his condition yet let the impression fade, failing to retain and practice it, and hearing with outward adoption of truth without its sanctifying influence leaves a person unsettled and vulnerable to self-deception. Such a hearer builds on sand and will fall, while one who hears and obeys builds on the rock securely, rooted so that persecution cannot shake him. Those who receive light but do not follow it become forgetful hearers rather than doers and are accountable to God for whether they accept or reject what they heard. There is no neutral ground for those with the Word brought home to mind and conscience: either they live by every word proceeding from the mouth of God and are entitled to all the treasures of heaven, or they are only hearers and not doers. The hearer who does not practice given light and knowledge forgets what manner of man he was, disregards the life and character and works of Christ, and does not imitate His example. His guilt and innocence are measured by privileges, circumstances, opportunities, light and knowledge, and he is most guilty according to the light he did not practice.
He is regarded as most dangerous because his example leads others out of obedience and faith and rectitude, and one man in office who is not a doer does incalculable evil, for which judgment shall sit and the books be opened. Loving to listen to truth without acting on given light is being a forgetful hearer and not a doer of the work, and the hearer must become a doer by seeing the snare of Satan and refusing to yield. Trying to save trials by yielding is forgetting what was heard, and if he remains forgetful and does not do the work he will be drawn under the cloud of unbelief and yield the conflict, with Satan using others as agents to ruin him and make him a stumbling block.
Knowing and believing truth is vain unless the memory of the Word is cultivated and the message is remembered, pondered, and done, requiring earnest, thorough change in the manner of working for the advancement of truth. The glass is the Word held up as a mirror, and the forgetful hearer does not look closely enough into it to see defects of character needing correction and reformation, so though many things are brought before him he straightway forgets what was revealed as needing change. Merely reading or hearing is not enough: the Bible as a mirror must guide daily practice, exposing faults and errors of character and strengthening good traits. Knowing truth in theory without practicing it does not save, for salvation requires experiential knowledge, and those who received truth must ponder and act on it because they will answer to God for the privilege of hearing it. People who hear a minister's message but fail to dwell on and live out its truths praise the human instrument instead, forgetting Christ who used him. The very first duty is to be an earnest student of the Word rather than a hearer who goes away and forgets, with knowledge of God based not on the opinions of men but on the Scriptures given as revelation of Himself, which, because men are judgment-bound, must be meditated upon and its rich treasures practiced.
Mere profession and awareness of faults do not produce conversion, for a changed character requires the Holy Spirit's work in the heart, and a person may see in the Word that life is defective, then go away and forget without making the needed change. Hearing truth without doing it leaves a person unsanctified and lost, for having a name on church books never makes anyone a Christian, and only doing the Word makes sons and daughters of God. Judas proves this: chosen as a disciple with power to heal the sick and cure diseases, he heard the lessons yet failed to be converted daily and to become an instrument sanctified and polished for use, his old hereditary and natural tendencies remaining until Satan used them to dishonor the Master and imperil his own soul. The same result follows all who have knowledge of truth without being sanctified by it, with some departing from the faith, constantly working out wrong characters, doing more harm because of the knowledge they have, confederating with apostates, and betraying sacred trusts, whereas God calls for the whole-sided, undivided interests of those He has chosen. A person may look into the moral law, recognize being unjustified and unclean, yet go away and forget defects without changing life, and mere religious profession, talk, or activity does not make this change, since genuine conversion requires heart and character transformed.
Law Exposes Sin
God's law acts as a mirror in which a person sees defects of moral character, sin, guilt, selfishness, and unlikeness to Christ as they stand before God. It shows what a person is like as God sees him, revealing him as a sinner guilty before God even when by a human standard of outward acts he appears blameless and free from sin. A sinner who looks honestly sees the faults of his character and recognizes his need to repent, which prepares the way for true conversion, while one who does not search honestly can look and go away without recognizing or remembering his own defects, though they remain apparent to others. Seeing those faults without thorough reform leads to forgetting the condition exposed, with the mind lapsing into still greater carelessness unless it remains alert to responsibility.
The defects the mirror reveals are not a reason to reject, break, abolish, or trample the law, and sins it exposes must be put away or they will bar the way to heaven. Breaking or rejecting the law because it exposes sin does not improve a person's condition, and remaining willfully ignorant of its claims does not shield anyone from the penalty of violating it. Those who refuse to face what it reveals instead accept a corrupt standard of their own, twist Scripture to excuse sin, and misinterpret it to excuse their course rather than yield sin and become pure in heart and life. Merely seeing defects and turning away does not change them; acknowledging the law's claims and living in harmony with it enables consistent conduct and moral power, while trampling the glass leaves a person seeing himself only by a standard of his own making by which he looks perfect and claims to be holy and without sin while unholy. Seeing defects should not lead to discouragement but to humble confession and a claim on God's promise of forgiveness.
Seeing in the mirror must not be followed by turning away and forgetting what was revealed, but by work to remove moral defects, repentance toward God, trust in Jesus Christ, and becoming doers of the word, with heart and moral nature renewed by grace. Self-examination against the law must lead to putting away what must be put away, cleansing of character through Christ, and overcoming sin with Christ's help and atoning blood rather than remaining unchanged. Those brought to the truth need thorough reform pressed upon conscience, for otherwise the sense of responsibility fades; reformation prompted only by emotional excitement does not endure. The mind must remain alert to responsibility or lapse into still greater carelessness.
The mirror reaches beyond outward acts to thoughts, motives, words, spirit, and actions, showing how far short a person falls of God's requirements and making clear how conduct affects both his own soul and God's cause and warns against a wrong step. Held up as it is, it exposes when self has been made the center, when a covetous propensity of the heart reaches out for human sympathy, praise, and sentimental attachment, and when the mind has been fed with thoughts and affections that hinder spirituality, growth in grace, and elevation of character, calling for the soul to be enlarged and selfish covetousness to be overcome. It accurately reflects defective, distorted character, exposes self-righteousness as rags to be torn away that should alarm the beholder into falling before God in contrition, and shows wherein daily life fails to reveal the Word's principle. In its spiritual character and depth it convicts that the laws of worldly policy are not to be the standard for God's people unless in strict conformity with God's law, so that going away and forgetting means being deeply convicted yet continuing in one's own way without repentance, confession, and full restitution for wrongs done to brethren, remaining unaccepted while ignoring past conduct and facing being weighed in the balances and found wanting in the judgment. To not forget means to bow in humiliation, confess guilt, and exercise genuine repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ by which one is washed and cleansed, refusing to say I am righteous, I am holy while unrighteous, for no one who trembles before that exalted standard will claim to be perfect and holy while casting it aside, and refusing to comply brings loss at the bar of God when character built for eternity must stand the close test of judgment.
The right use is shown when Daniel, though greatly loved by God, saw himself in this moral looking-glass and confessed his own sin and the sin of his people, for the nearer a person comes to the Lord the less boasting he does, and the farther he moves from the Lord the more satisfied he is with himself. Paul shows the same use, for when the commandment came sin appeared in its true hideousness, his self-esteem died, and he ceased to ascribe goodness and merit to himself, retaining self-knowledge instead of forgetting it, repenting and turning in faith to Christ. Christ also used the law in this way when urged by companions to do wrong, holding up the commandments before proposed wrongdoing to place it in the light of the commandments, reflect light upon wrong actions, reveal their true character, and give keen discrimination between right and wrong.
Christ Gives Salvation
The law as a moral mirror shows the sinner himself as a sinner, convicting of sinful condition, guilt, defects of moral character and just judgment, revealing the perfection of a righteous character against which his own is tested. It is an agent in every genuine conversion, because there can be no true repentance without conviction of sin, and that conviction is the first step in reconciliation to God. While it promises life to the obedient it declares that death is the portion of the transgressor, exposing sin as transgression and telling whether love to neighbor has been kept. Yet while it reveals sins it provides no remedy, for it cannot itself rescue, cleanse, pardon, repair, save, free from penalty, or remove defects, and it is not to be abolished or broken on that account. Refusing to look shields the soul from its holy light and leaves a worldly standard of custom and practice in place of God's standard.
Deliverance comes only through Christ, given so that believers may have everlasting life, and the condemned sinner must be freed from condemnation and defilement by the gospel through repentance toward God whose law has been transgressed and faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice. The gospel points to Christ as the one who removes sin through his blood, pardoning transgressors through its merits as their only hope, cleansing, healing, justifying and sanctifying. Coming to God with a humble penitent heart brings pardon through Jesus the Advocate, who takes away sins and imputes His righteousness so the sinner can claim the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, whose shed blood heals the wounds sin has made and who becomes sanctification and righteousness and redemption. Clear recognition of sin prepares the way for true conversion and acceptance of that atoning blood, while reformation prompted only by emotional excitement does not endure, and without true conversion joining the church is deception and is not being joined to Christ. Christ came not to save men in their sins but from their sins, and those who do not follow His injunctions will be lost while those who truly love their neighbor carry out the principles of the law in daily life toward suffering humanity.
Spots seen in the mirror must be washed in the fountain prepared by the world's Redeemer, by recognizing errors and imperfections and removing them through Christ's precious blood rather than trusting feelings of spiritual well-being as a measure of standing with God. Looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing in it, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, means laying apart all filthiness and receiving with meekness the implanted word able to save the soul, having an eye single to heavenly things and delighting to behold God in Christ Jesus. By continually beholding God's glory in the gospel and being charmed with Christ's divine perfection, the beholder is changed into the same image from glory to glory, insensibly yet surely, with character and conduct brought into conformity to God's Spirit and will. In that change the human will is molded to the divine and Christ's nature is revealed in human nature, purifying and refining heart, mind and will, extinguishing selfishness, and appearing in gentle and courteous words and kind and helpful ways and works of righteousness in conformity to His Spirit and will. Seeking to be like the Pattern means asking in perplexity how Jesus would do under similar circumstances and conforming conduct to His example, for the perfect law of liberty is a transcript of His character and doing the word requires obeying the commandments.
Remembering what was seen means not turning away unchanged but allowing conviction to work unto confession and repentance rather than forgetting. When God in His light presents what is wrong, the right response is to be willing to see oneself as one is, to be filled with shame, distress, humiliation and abhorrence of self, to humble oneself before Him with remorse for marring God's work and working against Christ and against one's own spiritual health and the spiritual health of others, and to look to Jesus beholding the sacredness of His office and the perfection of His character, and then God comes to relief. Refusing to change the way of life to avoid acknowledging wrong makes conviction useless and prevents reformation, leaving the soul's interest at stake where a mistake is life or death. Looking into the divine mirror long enough to recognize and reject sins and unlikeness to Jesus brings strength to overcome, for true faith leads to confess and forsake sin, bring wrong tendencies under God's will, exercise genuine repentance and faith to be washed, and be changed into Christ's likeness with approval through His righteousness. Forgetting is failing to keep that reflection and act on it, while remembering is being diligent to make calling and election sure by believing all of God's commandments and examining one's own life rather than complaining about others.
Daily Self-Examination Practice
The verse calls for the work of self-examination to go forward instead of judging others, examining whether one is in the faith and proving whether Christ is enshrined within the heart. It belongs to a chapter to be read slowly and prayerfully so that words and actions are seen to testify against the beholder, especially when one dwells on the faults of others while failing to face his own. God's law is a mirror to show defects of character, and each has a work to do for himself that no other can do, for each must give an account of himself to God and be judged by that standard. The mirror is not given to see a neighbor's faults reflected or to watch whether he comes up to the standard, and following the inclinations of the natural heart instead brings bondage. Merely seeing truth does not shape character when one turns away without applying it, and those who spread reports of others' faults neglect their own need for Christ's righteousness and remain unprepared for the heavenly banquet. Knowledge of what is seen is not enough but the light must be followed with complete obedience, not obeying what is agreeable and disobeying when convenient, for obedience is better than sacrifice.
Looking into the moral mirror may reveal what kind of person one is, yet going away and forgetting that self-knowledge leaves the soul unchanged. Occasional prayer and self-examination do not meet the soul's need if followed by the sense that duty is done, nor does a single day of special service suffice, for the soul needs continual nourishment from Christ. He who earnestly desires to do God's will must look into the great moral looking-glass daily and constantly, comparing actions with it with the eager interest of one bound for judgment, so defects do not pass unnoticed. That looking must be close, deliberate and sincere at the stake of life or death where a mistake is fatal, keenly criticizing the reflection, keeping what is seen instead of forgetting, and correcting defects and mistakes at any cost by obeying its holy authority. Prayer for the Holy Spirit belongs with this daily study of the Word carefully and prayerfully, bringing upward leading as God works within to will and do His pleasure with bright light guiding the feet heavenward, and diligence to make calling and election sure by believing all the commandments. Neglect leaves self highly estimated and leads to walking away from willing obedience without carrying repentance far enough, seen when the command to love neighbor as self is disregarded by failing to respect rights, walking apart from those to be helped, treating them with cold indifference and injustice instead of kindness and forbearance, and excusing weakness, passion and lack of love.
Doing the word means laying aside all filthiness and excess of evil and receiving with meekness the engrafted word able to save the soul, appropriating it inwardly as saving truth rather than deceiving self by mere hearing. It means looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing in it as a doer who shall be blessed in deed, not a forgetful hearer, with an eye single to heavenly things and delight in beholding God in Christ so as to be changed into His image. Under all circumstances the Word must be done by cooperating with truth presented, listening attentively, being swift to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath, waiting in patience instead of speaking irritated words, and cleansing passion from the soul temple. It requires bridling the tongue and practicing pure religion by visiting the fatherless and widows in affliction and keeping unspotted from the world, revealing by good works and simple elevated piety the binding claims of law and the power of Christ to keep from transgression. Professed knowledge and love of God shown by pretension and assertion while works show little grasp of His requirements dishonors Him, for love is keeping His commandments which are not grievous, and His law as a transcript of His character is perfect to convert the soul, so that without holiness no one shall see God. Its warning applies to those who cherish wrongdoing, hostility toward fellow believers, or an uncontrolled tongue, for hearing without keeping the exposure in mind or letting it change conduct leaves one unchanged and self-deceived.
Those inclined to look into a literal glass to admire themselves have little inclination to look into God's law to search the heart and test character. The contrast is between two mirrors, one showing outward appearance and the other as the great moral mirror testing what a person is, and turning away without letting it expose or correct leaves one unaware of true character and unchanged. For professed Christians to adopt demoralizing worldly fashions sanctions worldliness and shows Christ is not formed within as the hope of glory. Idolatry of dress, luxurious living and extravagant dress in the last days swallows up all that is humble, meek, needy, lowly and lovely in character. It consumes precious hours that should be devoted to meditation, searching the heart, and prayerful study of the Scriptures, calling instead for inward meekness and Christlike perfection rather than concentration on outward appearance and beautifying of character only outwardly.
The instruction belongs to practical godliness to be taken heed to day by day and brought into daily life, governing understanding, will and affections through the Holy Spirit until precepts become principles of life, and heeding it brings spiritual victory and triumph at last with the overcomers. It is God's great remedy and health reform prescription for diseases of body and soul, together with the principles of health in James 2. Merely hearing or reading or explaining does not benefit unless truths are put into personal practice, and hearing the message without doing causes deterioration, leaving the church years behind doing not a hundredth part of its duty while ability unused degenerates. Ministers proclaim truth and open jewels of light, and members are to receive and in every possible way communicate and diffuse it, for listening to sermon after sermon without doing what God requires is great sin, leaving inactivity open for absorbing energies, destroyed spirituality, and dead weights upon the church. The same call requires willing obedience to the law of Christ's kingdom in every particular, with faith working by love and purifying the soul, power of intellect to discern righteousness from unrighteousness, and revealing God to the world. In schools it means exalting that law, keeping life-practice under the Ruler of the universe, practicing honesty with money, criticizing standards of principle against appropriations bringing no benefit, securing careful bookkeepers, treasurers and managers, and finding each month the true financial standing so thousands are not misappropriated and debts do not accumulate. It includes heeding guidance about friends and close relationships that shape character, supporting the appointed Southern work centered in Nashville without robbery, and knowing that changing place or employment cannot change an unrefined heart.
Forgetting brings the danger of going away without honestly searching, willingly ignorant of faults apparent to others, with selfishness, sin and guilt unrecognized and unremembered. Comparing character with the holy law as schoolmaster should bring the sinner to Christ the sin-pardoning Saviour, but failing to retain knowledge and losing sight of defects blocks perfecting of character. Temperance preserves memory and moral discernment to remember what is seen, while intemperance in eating overtaxes and spoils the stomach, enfeebles mind, diseases memory and causes forgetfulness. Self-love outweighing principle and love for Christ leaves the forgetful hearer unchanged and ungrowing, and self-love and self-sufficiency deceive. Neglecting warnings and failing to overcome allows defects to gain power to corrupt the whole experience, leading to error, apostasy and sin. Seeing oneself in the light in which God views the person reveals a deceptive and desperately wicked heart that makes many heartsick and tempted to turn away and forget, especially when reproof without decided reform hardens conscience and blinds the senses until light goes out. Discerning defects should instead set one to work with persistent energy, patient industry, unwearied effort and untiring zeal in penitence and repentance through faith in Christ's grace to overcome internal foes, rising again when weary in view of eternal life, which is self-conquest and washing robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb.
The verse pictures a hearer of the word who does not obey it as a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, goes away, and at once forgets what he saw. The mirror is God's Word, the perfect law of liberty and moral standard that tells the truth about character. To hear without doing is to deceive oneself, leaving the impression to fade and the life unchanged instead of continuing in the law and practicing it. That mirror exposes defects of character, sin and guilt as God sees them, yet it has no power itself to pardon or cleanse, so the convicted sinner must repent toward God and trust in Christ whose blood and righteousness alone save. The remedy is not to turn away and forget but to look closely and continually with prayer, remember what was shown, forsake sin, and keep beholding Christ's perfection until the life is changed into His image.
Mirror and Hearer Described
The verse describes a hearer of the word who is not a doer as like a man beholding his natural face in a glass, who goes his way and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. Such forgetful hearing is self-deception, for hearing alone is useless and leaves many unprepared to meet Christ, while receiving the Word and obeying it causes light to shine forth in good works. The Word must under all circumstances be done by cooperating with the truth presented, listening attentively, being swift to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath, waiting in patience instead of speaking irritated words, cleansing passion from the soul temple, and receiving the engrafted word with meekness as saving truth to be believed, appropriated inwardly, and obeyed. The verse therefore requires self-examination whether Christ is within, laying apart selfishness and all filthiness, beholding the Saviour rather than judging others, so that life and business are kept unspotted from the world.
The glass or mirror in the verse is the Word of God, the perfect law of liberty, God's great moral looking-glass and standard of character that always tells the truth about what a person is. It is a moral mirror that reveals defects of character by comparing a person's words, spirit, and actions with God's standard, showing condition and duty and warning because deeds are tested by it in judgment. A hearer who does not act on what he sees walks away and immediately forgets, failing to look closely enough to see defects needing correction and reformation, and continuing in his own way rather than God's way. Many things are brought before him, but he straightway forgets what manner of man he was and what the mirror revealed as needing change, and knowing and believing truth is vain unless the memory of the Word is cultivated and the message is remembered, pondered, and done with earnest, thorough change in the manner of working. Satan sought to induce men to believe that God abolished His moral standard so the human family would have no moral looking glass, yet God designs His law to be obeyed by all who believe, and defects it exposes are not a reason to reject it, for the sins exposed must be put away or they will bar the way to heaven. Each person has a work to do for himself that no one else can do, and each must give an account to God, using the mirror to discover and remove his own defects rather than to see a neighbor's faults or watch whether he comes up to the standard, for following the natural heart brings bondage and there is no liberty to obey what is agreeable and disobey when convenient, since obedience is better than sacrifice.
A literal glass shows only outward appearance, while God's law and gospel are a moral and divine mirror that also reveals God's character, Christ's perfection, and the divine attributes to be reflected in a transformed life. The gospel mirror reveals the love, honor, perfection, justice, goodness and benevolence seen in Christ, and at the same time reveals human defects and wherein daily life fails to reveal the principle of the Word. Merely seeing oneself in that mirror and then forgetting produces no lasting change, for true religion and sanctification purify and refine the heart, mind, and will, extinguish selfishness, and appear in words, actions, and works of righteousness. Those inclined to look into a literal mirror to admire themselves have little inclination to look into God's law to search the heart, and this idolatry of dress, luxurious living, and extravagant and demoralizing worldly fashion destroys all that is humble, meek, needy, lowly, and lovely in character, sanctions worldliness, shows Christ is not formed within as the hope of glory, and consumes precious hours that should be devoted to meditation, heart-searching, and prayerful study of the Scriptures. The mirror must therefore be studied earnestly day by day to learn what kind of character God would have formed, and what is seen must not be left but must be acted upon by earnest prayer and faith to put away defects and come up to the standard God gives. By constantly beholding Christ as He is and being charmed with His divine perfection while striving to meet the perfection God desires, the beholder is changed into the same image from glory to glory, insensibly yet surely, with the human will molded to the divine and Christ's nature revealed in human nature in gentle and courteous words and kind and helpful ways and spirit in conformity to His Spirit and will.
The verse belongs to practical instruction in James 1 that must be read carefully, slowly, and prayerfully, understood clearly, taken heed to day by day, and brought into the daily life and applied personally. Such personal application shows a person and a worker for God his own condition and the work he must do to clear the King's highway, so he will see himself clearly, recognize that words and actions testify against him, and not be weighed in the balances and found wanting. This is especially for those who dwell on others' faults while failing to face their own, and it is connected with overcoming self and steadily advancing from victory to victory under God's discipline. Heeding that instruction day by day leads to spiritual victory, and the instruction in James 1:16-27 is God's great remedy for the diseases of body and soul and God's health reform prescription, so that those who follow it, along with the health principles in James 2, will triumph at last with the overcomers.
Hearing Without Doing
Hearing without obeying is self-deception that leaves a person unchanged, unbenefited, and quickly forgetful of what was seen, like glancing at the face in a mirror and at once forgetting it, in contrast to continuing to look into the perfect law of liberty and doing its work. The warning calls for honest self-examination by the divine word followed by action, and it applies to those who cherish wrongdoing, hostility toward fellow believers, or an uncontrolled tongue. Mere hearing leaves no lasting change, whereas doing means laying aside all filthiness, receiving the engrafted word able to save the soul with meekness, bridling the tongue, and practicing pure religion by visiting the fatherless and widows in affliction and keeping unspotted from the world. A hearer who sees defects by comparing conduct with the moral law but does not act soon forgets the impression and continues unreformed in his own way, recognizing what is revealed but failing to carry it into life. Those who profess to know and love God must reveal by good works and simple, elevated piety the binding claims of His law and the power of Christ to keep from transgression, rather than by pretension and assertion, for claiming love while works show little grasp of His requirements dishonors Him. Seeing oneself as God sees would bring terror at falling short of His will and being cut off in disobedience, since love of God is keeping His commandments which are not grievous, and His law is perfect to convert the soul and make the simple wise.
The forgetful hearer may feel the force of truth and see his condition yet let the impression fade, failing to retain and practice it, and hearing with outward adoption of truth without its sanctifying influence leaves a person unsettled and vulnerable to self-deception. Such a hearer builds on sand and will fall, while one who hears and obeys builds on the rock securely, rooted so that persecution cannot shake him. Those who receive light but do not follow it become forgetful hearers rather than doers and are accountable to God for whether they accept or reject what they heard. There is no neutral ground for those with the Word brought home to mind and conscience: either they live by every word proceeding from the mouth of God and are entitled to all the treasures of heaven, or they are only hearers and not doers. The hearer who does not practice given light and knowledge forgets what manner of man he was, disregards the life and character and works of Christ, and does not imitate His example. His guilt and innocence are measured by privileges, circumstances, opportunities, light and knowledge, and he is most guilty according to the light he did not practice.
He is regarded as most dangerous because his example leads others out of obedience and faith and rectitude, and one man in office who is not a doer does incalculable evil, for which judgment shall sit and the books be opened. Loving to listen to truth without acting on given light is being a forgetful hearer and not a doer of the work, and the hearer must become a doer by seeing the snare of Satan and refusing to yield. Trying to save trials by yielding is forgetting what was heard, and if he remains forgetful and does not do the work he will be drawn under the cloud of unbelief and yield the conflict, with Satan using others as agents to ruin him and make him a stumbling block.
Knowing and believing truth is vain unless the memory of the Word is cultivated and the message is remembered, pondered, and done, requiring earnest, thorough change in the manner of working for the advancement of truth. The glass is the Word held up as a mirror, and the forgetful hearer does not look closely enough into it to see defects of character needing correction and reformation, so though many things are brought before him he straightway forgets what was revealed as needing change. Merely reading or hearing is not enough: the Bible as a mirror must guide daily practice, exposing faults and errors of character and strengthening good traits. Knowing truth in theory without practicing it does not save, for salvation requires experiential knowledge, and those who received truth must ponder and act on it because they will answer to God for the privilege of hearing it. People who hear a minister's message but fail to dwell on and live out its truths praise the human instrument instead, forgetting Christ who used him. The very first duty is to be an earnest student of the Word rather than a hearer who goes away and forgets, with knowledge of God based not on the opinions of men but on the Scriptures given as revelation of Himself, which, because men are judgment-bound, must be meditated upon and its rich treasures practiced.
Mere profession and awareness of faults do not produce conversion, for a changed character requires the Holy Spirit's work in the heart, and a person may see in the Word that life is defective, then go away and forget without making the needed change. Hearing truth without doing it leaves a person unsanctified and lost, for having a name on church books never makes anyone a Christian, and only doing the Word makes sons and daughters of God. Judas proves this: chosen as a disciple with power to heal the sick and cure diseases, he heard the lessons yet failed to be converted daily and to become an instrument sanctified and polished for use, his old hereditary and natural tendencies remaining until Satan used them to dishonor the Master and imperil his own soul. The same result follows all who have knowledge of truth without being sanctified by it, with some departing from the faith, constantly working out wrong characters, doing more harm because of the knowledge they have, confederating with apostates, and betraying sacred trusts, whereas God calls for the whole-sided, undivided interests of those He has chosen. A person may look into the moral law, recognize being unjustified and unclean, yet go away and forget defects without changing life, and mere religious profession, talk, or activity does not make this change, since genuine conversion requires heart and character transformed.
Law Exposes Sin
God's law acts as a mirror in which a person sees defects of moral character, sin, guilt, selfishness, and unlikeness to Christ as they stand before God. It shows what a person is like as God sees him, revealing him as a sinner guilty before God even when by a human standard of outward acts he appears blameless and free from sin. A sinner who looks honestly sees the faults of his character and recognizes his need to repent, which prepares the way for true conversion, while one who does not search honestly can look and go away without recognizing or remembering his own defects, though they remain apparent to others. Seeing those faults without thorough reform leads to forgetting the condition exposed, with the mind lapsing into still greater carelessness unless it remains alert to responsibility.
The defects the mirror reveals are not a reason to reject, break, abolish, or trample the law, and sins it exposes must be put away or they will bar the way to heaven. Breaking or rejecting the law because it exposes sin does not improve a person's condition, and remaining willfully ignorant of its claims does not shield anyone from the penalty of violating it. Those who refuse to face what it reveals instead accept a corrupt standard of their own, twist Scripture to excuse sin, and misinterpret it to excuse their course rather than yield sin and become pure in heart and life. Merely seeing defects and turning away does not change them; acknowledging the law's claims and living in harmony with it enables consistent conduct and moral power, while trampling the glass leaves a person seeing himself only by a standard of his own making by which he looks perfect and claims to be holy and without sin while unholy. Seeing defects should not lead to discouragement but to humble confession and a claim on God's promise of forgiveness.
Seeing in the mirror must not be followed by turning away and forgetting what was revealed, but by work to remove moral defects, repentance toward God, trust in Jesus Christ, and becoming doers of the word, with heart and moral nature renewed by grace. Self-examination against the law must lead to putting away what must be put away, cleansing of character through Christ, and overcoming sin with Christ's help and atoning blood rather than remaining unchanged. Those brought to the truth need thorough reform pressed upon conscience, for otherwise the sense of responsibility fades; reformation prompted only by emotional excitement does not endure. The mind must remain alert to responsibility or lapse into still greater carelessness.
The mirror reaches beyond outward acts to thoughts, motives, words, spirit, and actions, showing how far short a person falls of God's requirements and making clear how conduct affects both his own soul and God's cause and warns against a wrong step. Held up as it is, it exposes when self has been made the center, when a covetous propensity of the heart reaches out for human sympathy, praise, and sentimental attachment, and when the mind has been fed with thoughts and affections that hinder spirituality, growth in grace, and elevation of character, calling for the soul to be enlarged and selfish covetousness to be overcome. It accurately reflects defective, distorted character, exposes self-righteousness as rags to be torn away that should alarm the beholder into falling before God in contrition, and shows wherein daily life fails to reveal the Word's principle. In its spiritual character and depth it convicts that the laws of worldly policy are not to be the standard for God's people unless in strict conformity with God's law, so that going away and forgetting means being deeply convicted yet continuing in one's own way without repentance, confession, and full restitution for wrongs done to brethren, remaining unaccepted while ignoring past conduct and facing being weighed in the balances and found wanting in the judgment. To not forget means to bow in humiliation, confess guilt, and exercise genuine repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ by which one is washed and cleansed, refusing to say I am righteous, I am holy while unrighteous, for no one who trembles before that exalted standard will claim to be perfect and holy while casting it aside, and refusing to comply brings loss at the bar of God when character built for eternity must stand the close test of judgment.
The right use is shown when Daniel, though greatly loved by God, saw himself in this moral looking-glass and confessed his own sin and the sin of his people, for the nearer a person comes to the Lord the less boasting he does, and the farther he moves from the Lord the more satisfied he is with himself. Paul shows the same use, for when the commandment came sin appeared in its true hideousness, his self-esteem died, and he ceased to ascribe goodness and merit to himself, retaining self-knowledge instead of forgetting it, repenting and turning in faith to Christ. Christ also used the law in this way when urged by companions to do wrong, holding up the commandments before proposed wrongdoing to place it in the light of the commandments, reflect light upon wrong actions, reveal their true character, and give keen discrimination between right and wrong.
Christ Gives Salvation
The law as a moral mirror shows the sinner himself as a sinner, convicting of sinful condition, guilt, defects of moral character and just judgment, revealing the perfection of a righteous character against which his own is tested. It is an agent in every genuine conversion, because there can be no true repentance without conviction of sin, and that conviction is the first step in reconciliation to God. While it promises life to the obedient it declares that death is the portion of the transgressor, exposing sin as transgression and telling whether love to neighbor has been kept. Yet while it reveals sins it provides no remedy, for it cannot itself rescue, cleanse, pardon, repair, save, free from penalty, or remove defects, and it is not to be abolished or broken on that account. Refusing to look shields the soul from its holy light and leaves a worldly standard of custom and practice in place of God's standard.
Deliverance comes only through Christ, given so that believers may have everlasting life, and the condemned sinner must be freed from condemnation and defilement by the gospel through repentance toward God whose law has been transgressed and faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice. The gospel points to Christ as the one who removes sin through his blood, pardoning transgressors through its merits as their only hope, cleansing, healing, justifying and sanctifying. Coming to God with a humble penitent heart brings pardon through Jesus the Advocate, who takes away sins and imputes His righteousness so the sinner can claim the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, whose shed blood heals the wounds sin has made and who becomes sanctification and righteousness and redemption. Clear recognition of sin prepares the way for true conversion and acceptance of that atoning blood, while reformation prompted only by emotional excitement does not endure, and without true conversion joining the church is deception and is not being joined to Christ. Christ came not to save men in their sins but from their sins, and those who do not follow His injunctions will be lost while those who truly love their neighbor carry out the principles of the law in daily life toward suffering humanity.
Spots seen in the mirror must be washed in the fountain prepared by the world's Redeemer, by recognizing errors and imperfections and removing them through Christ's precious blood rather than trusting feelings of spiritual well-being as a measure of standing with God. Looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing in it, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, means laying apart all filthiness and receiving with meekness the implanted word able to save the soul, having an eye single to heavenly things and delighting to behold God in Christ Jesus. By continually beholding God's glory in the gospel and being charmed with Christ's divine perfection, the beholder is changed into the same image from glory to glory, insensibly yet surely, with character and conduct brought into conformity to God's Spirit and will. In that change the human will is molded to the divine and Christ's nature is revealed in human nature, purifying and refining heart, mind and will, extinguishing selfishness, and appearing in gentle and courteous words and kind and helpful ways and works of righteousness in conformity to His Spirit and will. Seeking to be like the Pattern means asking in perplexity how Jesus would do under similar circumstances and conforming conduct to His example, for the perfect law of liberty is a transcript of His character and doing the word requires obeying the commandments.
Remembering what was seen means not turning away unchanged but allowing conviction to work unto confession and repentance rather than forgetting. When God in His light presents what is wrong, the right response is to be willing to see oneself as one is, to be filled with shame, distress, humiliation and abhorrence of self, to humble oneself before Him with remorse for marring God's work and working against Christ and against one's own spiritual health and the spiritual health of others, and to look to Jesus beholding the sacredness of His office and the perfection of His character, and then God comes to relief. Refusing to change the way of life to avoid acknowledging wrong makes conviction useless and prevents reformation, leaving the soul's interest at stake where a mistake is life or death. Looking into the divine mirror long enough to recognize and reject sins and unlikeness to Jesus brings strength to overcome, for true faith leads to confess and forsake sin, bring wrong tendencies under God's will, exercise genuine repentance and faith to be washed, and be changed into Christ's likeness with approval through His righteousness. Forgetting is failing to keep that reflection and act on it, while remembering is being diligent to make calling and election sure by believing all of God's commandments and examining one's own life rather than complaining about others.
Daily Self-Examination Practice
The verse calls for the work of self-examination to go forward instead of judging others, examining whether one is in the faith and proving whether Christ is enshrined within the heart. It belongs to a chapter to be read slowly and prayerfully so that words and actions are seen to testify against the beholder, especially when one dwells on the faults of others while failing to face his own. God's law is a mirror to show defects of character, and each has a work to do for himself that no other can do, for each must give an account of himself to God and be judged by that standard. The mirror is not given to see a neighbor's faults reflected or to watch whether he comes up to the standard, and following the inclinations of the natural heart instead brings bondage. Merely seeing truth does not shape character when one turns away without applying it, and those who spread reports of others' faults neglect their own need for Christ's righteousness and remain unprepared for the heavenly banquet. Knowledge of what is seen is not enough but the light must be followed with complete obedience, not obeying what is agreeable and disobeying when convenient, for obedience is better than sacrifice.
Looking into the moral mirror may reveal what kind of person one is, yet going away and forgetting that self-knowledge leaves the soul unchanged. Occasional prayer and self-examination do not meet the soul's need if followed by the sense that duty is done, nor does a single day of special service suffice, for the soul needs continual nourishment from Christ. He who earnestly desires to do God's will must look into the great moral looking-glass daily and constantly, comparing actions with it with the eager interest of one bound for judgment, so defects do not pass unnoticed. That looking must be close, deliberate and sincere at the stake of life or death where a mistake is fatal, keenly criticizing the reflection, keeping what is seen instead of forgetting, and correcting defects and mistakes at any cost by obeying its holy authority. Prayer for the Holy Spirit belongs with this daily study of the Word carefully and prayerfully, bringing upward leading as God works within to will and do His pleasure with bright light guiding the feet heavenward, and diligence to make calling and election sure by believing all the commandments. Neglect leaves self highly estimated and leads to walking away from willing obedience without carrying repentance far enough, seen when the command to love neighbor as self is disregarded by failing to respect rights, walking apart from those to be helped, treating them with cold indifference and injustice instead of kindness and forbearance, and excusing weakness, passion and lack of love.
Doing the word means laying aside all filthiness and excess of evil and receiving with meekness the engrafted word able to save the soul, appropriating it inwardly as saving truth rather than deceiving self by mere hearing. It means looking into the perfect law of liberty and continuing in it as a doer who shall be blessed in deed, not a forgetful hearer, with an eye single to heavenly things and delight in beholding God in Christ so as to be changed into His image. Under all circumstances the Word must be done by cooperating with truth presented, listening attentively, being swift to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath, waiting in patience instead of speaking irritated words, and cleansing passion from the soul temple. It requires bridling the tongue and practicing pure religion by visiting the fatherless and widows in affliction and keeping unspotted from the world, revealing by good works and simple elevated piety the binding claims of law and the power of Christ to keep from transgression. Professed knowledge and love of God shown by pretension and assertion while works show little grasp of His requirements dishonors Him, for love is keeping His commandments which are not grievous, and His law as a transcript of His character is perfect to convert the soul, so that without holiness no one shall see God. Its warning applies to those who cherish wrongdoing, hostility toward fellow believers, or an uncontrolled tongue, for hearing without keeping the exposure in mind or letting it change conduct leaves one unchanged and self-deceived.
Those inclined to look into a literal glass to admire themselves have little inclination to look into God's law to search the heart and test character. The contrast is between two mirrors, one showing outward appearance and the other as the great moral mirror testing what a person is, and turning away without letting it expose or correct leaves one unaware of true character and unchanged. For professed Christians to adopt demoralizing worldly fashions sanctions worldliness and shows Christ is not formed within as the hope of glory. Idolatry of dress, luxurious living and extravagant dress in the last days swallows up all that is humble, meek, needy, lowly and lovely in character. It consumes precious hours that should be devoted to meditation, searching the heart, and prayerful study of the Scriptures, calling instead for inward meekness and Christlike perfection rather than concentration on outward appearance and beautifying of character only outwardly.
The instruction belongs to practical godliness to be taken heed to day by day and brought into daily life, governing understanding, will and affections through the Holy Spirit until precepts become principles of life, and heeding it brings spiritual victory and triumph at last with the overcomers. It is God's great remedy and health reform prescription for diseases of body and soul, together with the principles of health in James 2. Merely hearing or reading or explaining does not benefit unless truths are put into personal practice, and hearing the message without doing causes deterioration, leaving the church years behind doing not a hundredth part of its duty while ability unused degenerates. Ministers proclaim truth and open jewels of light, and members are to receive and in every possible way communicate and diffuse it, for listening to sermon after sermon without doing what God requires is great sin, leaving inactivity open for absorbing energies, destroyed spirituality, and dead weights upon the church. The same call requires willing obedience to the law of Christ's kingdom in every particular, with faith working by love and purifying the soul, power of intellect to discern righteousness from unrighteousness, and revealing God to the world. In schools it means exalting that law, keeping life-practice under the Ruler of the universe, practicing honesty with money, criticizing standards of principle against appropriations bringing no benefit, securing careful bookkeepers, treasurers and managers, and finding each month the true financial standing so thousands are not misappropriated and debts do not accumulate. It includes heeding guidance about friends and close relationships that shape character, supporting the appointed Southern work centered in Nashville without robbery, and knowing that changing place or employment cannot change an unrefined heart.
Forgetting brings the danger of going away without honestly searching, willingly ignorant of faults apparent to others, with selfishness, sin and guilt unrecognized and unremembered. Comparing character with the holy law as schoolmaster should bring the sinner to Christ the sin-pardoning Saviour, but failing to retain knowledge and losing sight of defects blocks perfecting of character. Temperance preserves memory and moral discernment to remember what is seen, while intemperance in eating overtaxes and spoils the stomach, enfeebles mind, diseases memory and causes forgetfulness. Self-love outweighing principle and love for Christ leaves the forgetful hearer unchanged and ungrowing, and self-love and self-sufficiency deceive. Neglecting warnings and failing to overcome allows defects to gain power to corrupt the whole experience, leading to error, apostasy and sin. Seeing oneself in the light in which God views the person reveals a deceptive and desperately wicked heart that makes many heartsick and tempted to turn away and forget, especially when reproof without decided reform hardens conscience and blinds the senses until light goes out. Discerning defects should instead set one to work with persistent energy, patient industry, unwearied effort and untiring zeal in penitence and repentance through faith in Christ's grace to overcome internal foes, rising again when weary in view of eternal life, which is self-conquest and washing robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb.