James 1:23

1:22-25 If we heard a sermon every day of the week, and an angel from heaven were the preacher, yet, if we rested in hearing only, it would never bring us to heaven. Mere hearers are self-deceivers; and self-deceit will be found the worst deceit at last. If we flatter ourselves, it is our own fault; the truth, as it is in Jesus, flatters no man. Let the word of truth be carefully attended to, and it will set before us the corruption of our nature, the disorders of our hearts and lives; and it will tell us plainly what we are. Our sins are the spots the law discovers: Christ's blood is the laver the gospel shows. But in vain do we hear God's word, and look into the gospel glass, if we go away, and forget our spots, instead of washing them off; and forget our remedy, instead of applying to it. This is the case with those who do not hear the word as they ought. In hearing the word, we look into it for counsel and direction, and when we study it, it turns to our spiritual life. Those who keep in the law and word of God, are, and shall be, blessed in all their ways. His gracious recompence hereafter, would be connected with his present peace and comfort. Every part of Divine revelation has its use, in bringing the sinner to Christ for salvation, and in directing and encouraging him to walk at liberty, by the Spirit of adoption, according to the holy commands of God. And mark the distinctness, it is not for his deeds, that any man is blessed, but in his deed.

James 1:23-24 . If any be a hearer of the word merely, and not a doer — If he do not comply with its design, do not so consider and believe it as to lay it to heart, and be influenced by its doctrines, obey its precepts, embrace and rely on its promises, revere and stand in awe of its threatenings, guarding against what would expose him to them; he is like a man beholding — From custom or by accident; his natural face in a glass — Without any intention to discover, and wash or wipe off, the spots that may be on it. For he beholdeth himself — Without taking particular notice of what renders his visage disagreeable; and goeth his way — To other business; and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was — What renders his countenance uncomely, and requires to be removed. Here the word of God is represented as a mirror, in which, if a man will look with attention and care, he will see the face of his soul, and discover in what state he is, and what character he bears in the sight of God. It will manifest to him those principles and practices, those thoughts and imaginations, those affections, intentions, dispositions, words, and actions, which are contrary to truth and grace, to wisdom, piety, and virtue. But frequently those who discover all this through the word heard or read, go away, and so occupy themselves in secular affairs, as immediately to forget what manner of persons they were, and continue the same in their temper and conduct as before. Reader, is this thy case?

Beholding (κατανοοῦντι) With the notion of attentively considering (κατά, down into, or through; compare εἰς, into, James 1:25). Compare Luke 12:24, Luke 12:27; Hebrews 3:1. So that the contrast is not between a hasty look and a careful contemplation (James 1:25, looketh). It is not mere careless hearing of the word which James rebukes, but the neglect to carry into practice what is heard. One may be an attentive and critical hearer of the word, yet not a doer. His natural face (τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως) Lit., the countenance of his birth; the face he was born with. In a glass (ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ) Better, Rev., a mirror; a metallic mirror. The word occurs only here and 1 Corinthians 13:12.

{17} For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his {u} natural face in a glass: (17) Secondly: because they lose the most important use of God's word, if they do not use it to correct the faults that they know. (u) He alludes to that natural stain, which is contrary to the purity that we are born again into, the living image which we see in the law.

23. For—the logical self-deceit (Jas 1:22) illustrated. not a doer—more literally, "a notdoer" [Alford]. The true disciple, say the rabbis, learns in order that he may do, not in order that he may merely know or teach. his natural face—literally, "the countenance of his birth": the face he was born with. As a man may behold his natural face in a mirror, so the hearer may perceive his moral visage in God's Word. This faithful portraiture of man's soul in Scripture, is the strongest proof of the truth of the latter. In it, too, we see mirrored God's glory, as well as our natural vileness.

He is like unto a man: the Greek word here used, properly signifies the sex, not the species, but is indifferently used by this apostle with the other, as Jam 1:12,20 , so that by a man looking at his face in a glass, is meant any man or woman. Beholding his natural face; or, the face of his nativity, by a Hebraism, for natural face, as we translate it; i.e. his own face, that which nature gave him, or he was born with. In a glass; the word is here compared to a looking-glass: as the glass represents to us the features and complexions of our faces, whether beautiful or deformed; so the word shows us the true face of our souls, the beauty of God’s image when restored to them, and the spots of sin which so greatly disfigure them.

Verses 23, 24. - Illustration from life, showing the folly of being led astray. His natural face ( τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ ); literally, the face of his birth. The expression is an unusual one, but there is no doubt of its meaning. In a glass ; rather, in a mirror , ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ : cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12 , Δἰ ἐσόπτρου . The mirror of burnished brass. James 1:23

(23) He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. —The Apostle points grimly to an example of this self-deception. He (literally, this ) is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. Not a “glass,” but a mirror of polished steel, such as are still used in the East. “His natural face,” or the face of his birth —the real appearance, that is, which the reflection of the Word of God, properly looked into, will afford the inquirer.

23 . he is like unto a man …] The instance is chosen to illustrate the nature of the paralogism or fallacy by which the man deceived himself. It lies, as said above, in forgetting the self-knowledge which should form a premiss in his argument, and reasoning as if it did not exist. beholding his natural face ] Literally, the face of his birth , that which he was born with. The latter word might seem at first almost superfluous, but it serves to point the spiritual interpretation. That which the man sees in the mirror of the Divine Word, is the revelation of himself, as he is by nature (comp. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 ), weak, sinful, “double-minded.” That revelation is meant to lead him to seek for supernatural strength to rise to the higher life. The word for “beholding” implies more than a passing glance, the man contemplates the reflection of his face (see Matthew 7:3 ; Luke 12:24 ). in a glass ] Better, in a mirror . The word is the same as in 1 Corinthians 13:12 . The mirrors in use among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans were of polished metal, and as these presented a less perfect image than our modern mirrors, to see through, i. e. by means of, a mirror had become among the later Rabbis, as well as with St Paul, a proverbial phrase for man’s imperfect knowledge of divine things. Here, however, stress is laid on the fact that the mirror does supply, in some measure, the self-knowledge which the man could not attain without it.

The sapiential books of the Apocrypha present two interesting illustrations drawn from the same source ( Wis 7:26 ; Sir 12:11 ). It is possible, though it can hardly be insisted on, that there is an emphasis on a man’s casual way of looking at a mirror, and the more careful gaze supposed to be characteristic of a woman .