“for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified” (Romans 2:13).
When God’s word is available in written or spoken form there are only two categories of people—the hearers and the doers.
Jesus gives these two categories at the close of the Sermon on the Mount. The wise man hears His word and does it (Matthew 7:24-25); the foolish man hears His word and does not do it (Matthew 7:26-27). The outcomes of each man’s choice were not the same; they were completely opposite.
The prophet James enjoined his readers to “receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21-22). The forgetful hearer of the word is not a doer (James 1:23-24). It is the doer who is blessed in what he does (James 1:25).
Paul declares that being a hearer of God’s word does not justify; it leaves you in your sins. Only the doers of God’s word are justified before God.
Are you a hearer (i.e., foolish, deceived, and not justified) or a doer (i.e., wise, blessed, and justified)?
