Genuine Faith in Action
- May 22
- 16 min read
Date: 24 May 2026, 9.30 am
Speaker: Ps Daniel Tan Sermon Text: James 1:19-27
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TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Blessed Sunday to everyone. I pray that our time together would be an edifying one for all.
To the homebound, may I warmly greet you too. We are glad you can tune in.
I know you would rather be here in person, and so we are thankful that technology allows us to still stay connected.
I heard a story about surfers in California that is apt reminder about putting what we know into action.
According to the story, in some of the beaches of California, there are safety patrols not just along the beaches, but from the air as well.
One relatively new surfer joined the community and that day he paddled out to the surf and was enjoying himself.
As he was taking turns to ride the waves, sitting on his board maybe 200m from the shore, he noticed a helicopter flying parallel to the shoreline.
He thought it was some TV crew or scenic ride for tourist.
The helicopter flew past him and then it began to turn around. Soon it was hovering right above him.
The first reaction this newcomer had was that of curiosity. He tried to see who was in the helicopter. His next reaction was that of irritation. The downdraft of the helicopter was stirring the waters around the surfer.
Then the surfer saw the pilot gesture over his head, with his hands, an open palm and he thought he was trying to say hello and so he did the same gesture back.
As that communication was going on, a fellow surfer paddled up to this newcomer and said, dude, I think we should go in, let’s head to shore.
At that time, he looked around him and instead of the dozen surfers who were with him a moment ago, now, just him and the other surfer.
He was a bit disappointed as now he had the waves to himself. But he thought, no harm in following this seasoned surfer back to shore.
Upon reaching the shore, he was told, the helicopter is a safety helicopter, it spots sharks in the water.
Why it was hovering over you was to use the downdraft to drive away the shark underneath.
So, this newcomer needed to know the sign language and the role of the helicopter.
But more important, it is after knowing what was communicated, to follow through with the appropriate action.
Last Sunday, Ps Peter shared what I thought was a very insightful diagram that puts before us 2 choices. One is the steps to life and the other is the steps to death.
We have made many choices this past week. Let’s recall them ……
Do they represent steps to life? ….. I pray that they do.
I pray that for all of us, James 1:12 is applicable – we are the blessed person who remains steadfast under trial, for when we have stood the test, we will receive the crown of life.
Since, I presume we are all sold out towards choosing the steps to life, James, goes on in today’s passage to elaborate on what that practically means.
Genuine faith is not external performance, it is the Gospel reshaping our speech, our responses, our desires and our love for others.
In today’s passage, we will see 3 marks of a faith that truly hears and obeys God’s Word.
A hearing heart receives God’s Word Humbly (v19-21)
Our first mark is that for genuine faith to be in action, it must be through a hearing heart that receives God’s Word humbly.
Jas 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Scripture says, ‘know this’. Scripture commands, understand, comprehend, remember that all of us are to have these 3 actions.
We are to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Many of us, use this and apply it to our relationships with one another. That is not wrong, but the context tells us that this is more about our relationship with God and His Word.
We are to be quick to hear God’s Word. We are to be slow to speak in response to God’s Word and we are definitely to be slow to be angry towards God’s Word.
To be quick to hear God’s Word means we make haste to listen. It means we are ever attentive; we are eager to receive.
It means we have a soft, tender and teachable spirit when we approach Scripture.
So then, when God’s speaks, we would not be defensive, we would not be proud and we would not be dismissive, thinking Scripture is irrelevant.
Instead, because we are teachable, we will be slow to speak. We will not impulsively react.
An empty vessel always makes the most noise is it not? Words spoken hastily often reveals spiritual immaturity.
For many of us, we speak without thinking and processing it first. And so what we say, usually does not edify others around nor enables us to make the right decisions.
When we are slow to speak, we can live out - Prov 4:24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
And when we are slow to speak, we will also be slow to anger.
Now, James is not saying, we cannot be angry about something that is righteous in God’s eyes, but if we are honest with ourselves, that only happens once in a blue moon.
Instead, our anger is usually as a result of our own self-centeredness and impatience. Our pride is hurt, we feel shamed or slighted and so we burn with anger.
To many of our sinful battles, we know that the best defense is offence and so we strike first. We make the first move and that is definitely not being slow to anger.
So, the wisdom of our creator is that man’s anger does not produce the righteousness of God.
Our anger and the words and actions that accompany that, will not produce the righteousness that God requires of us.
For many of us, I sure we can admit, when we are angry, truly angry, we are like the devil incarnate.
And when we are angry, there is no way that God’s Word can get through to us.
We will be stubborn, we will be defensive, we will insist on our version of the truth.
Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel -
Lk 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
When we are quick to be angry, it is a symptom of the condition of our hearts.
After diagnosing our condition, James says, here is the solution in v21. Here is the decision you must make.
We are to put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness.
How many of us have gone mountain biking or just being caught in a downpour and had to walk through dirty puddles home?
When we get home, do we want all over the house in our dripping wet dirty clothes? Do we say, let’s get a drink from the kitchen, switch on some mood music?
No, we try to take out as much of our dirty stuff before entering the house, and we are very economical in which parts of the home we walk through as well.
Similarly, James, says, put away your spiritual filth.
Apostle Paul could not have agreed more, for he says to Christians,
Col 3:8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.
James is saying, we cannot cling to sin if we are expecting to grow spiritually.
This is part 1 of the solution. Part 2 is to receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
We are to put off our filthiness but we are to receive with meekness God’s Word.
We cannot transform ourselves, only God’s Word can. And so instead of being proud and self-reliant, we are to be humble and totally reliant on God.
1:18 says, God’s Word is the Word of Truth. Here in v21, it is the implanted Word. This means, it has been engrafted, it has been permanently established in us.
V21, further says, God’s Word is so powerful, it is able to save our souls.
The power to defeat sin and give us life eternal has been implanted deep in us. That is the solution for transformation.
This is what was prophesied by the Prophet Jeremiah:
Jer 31:33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people
For those in Gen Z and Alpha, you are well versed in the age of social media.
Communication now is no longer verbal speech, instead it’s all text on the various online platforms.
In the time of instant reactions, would we learn spiritual patience? That not every disagreement requires immediate response.
Based on our cultivated image online, would the name of Christ, be magnified in what we post, what we link in our feeds?
How might we cultivate a teachable spirit that reflects increasing Christian maturity in our interactions online?
For those of us who have been living as a believer before the age of pagers, let’s guard against spiritual pride.
Familiarity with Scripture and many years of service does not automatically mean our hearts are soft before Scripture.
Has our anger normalised in our speeches, in our parenting, in our interactions with family and friends?
Are we always seeking to be heard? Do our opinions about Scripture always have to be the last word?
Whichever generation we are in, as believers, let’s exhibit genuine faith by having a hearing heart that receives God’s Word Humbly.
A living faith obeys God’s Word actively (v22-25)
If you see a kettle whistling and seen steam coming out of the spout, what do you think is the temperature on the surface of the kettle? It’s not something we would touch with our bare hands right?
This is because we have the knowledge and we have listened to the warnings of others. Our actions are a result of what we know.
Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Similarly James is saying, when we know Scripture and we are quick to listen to it, what we do next, will determine if we have genuine faith.
V22 to 25 is in the sense the outworking of the earlier verses.
Paul says the same thing, but in a positive way in Ephesians 2:
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. But this faith will be evident in us, when it results in us exhibiting the good works which God has already purposed for us to do.
So Scripture commands in James 1:22, be doers of the Word. Paul says we are to walk in them.
So this is not a once-off project. No, it is a lifestyle of obedience in living out what God has commanded us to do.
Thus in Hermon, we say, we must move from our Heads, to our Hearts and then to our Hands.
How much does it hurt when someone deceives you? It hurts a lot right. But I must say, it does not hurt as much as when you deceive yourself.
It goes against the very nature of our sinful and selfish being.
We are all about self-preservation and to discover that we have hurt ourselves is like the greatest of betrayals.
Here it’s not about ignorance but having the gut-wrenching discovery of being deluded. And that Scripture says will happen when we hear God’s Word and are not obedient.
James, here, uses the mirror as an illustration to expose superficial spirituality.
Here is a person who looks intently at his face in the mirror. This is not a passing glance, no this is careful consideration.
So I presume the person looking at the mirror would be for grooming purposes. But yet, when he turns from the mirror, he at once forgets what he was like and does not proceed to do whatever is necessary.
Now for all of us who take selfies and wifies. Do we not scrutinize what we have taken?
We see if everyone is in the picture, we see if any have their eyes closed, we see that there is no one who has photo-bomb us, we see that it is sharp and the right things are in focus.
Now, if we don’t do all that, but instead just take the photo and then just post it and hashtag it? All of us would say, hey, that’s not cool.
Scripture says, exactly, that is not right to listen to God’s Word and not do it.
James says, God’s word is like a mirror for us. It shows us what our true colors are.
As we listen to God speaking to us, we get insights as to who we are.
It discloses our filth, our wickedness, our hypocrisy and our shortcomings.
I submit, God’s word is also like a mirror in another way, it also reflects the grace and love of God found in our Lord Jesus Christ to us.
That is the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus.
As we see our ugliness, Scripture points to the perfect law, the law of liberty.
In the Gospel, Jesus has fulfilled every aspect of the law and He has now freed us from the bondage of sin so that in Him, we are freed to obey and follow all that God has commanded.
Jesus has paid the full price and as redeemed sinners, we now have the freedom to live as God has intended us to live.
As we have the implanted word, it means we have full access as branches to Jesus who is the Vine.
And we know that when a branch is connected to the living vine, it will take nutrients from the vine and it will then be able to bear fruit.
Psalm 1 tells us that the blessed man is the one who delights in the law of the Lord and this man is like a tree planted by streams of water that will yield its fruits in its season and its leaf does not wither.
So James says, this person who hears God’s Word and does them, must persevere in them.
And we know that God is the one who will enable the disciples of Jesus to persevere in living out God’s purposes in their lives.
James then says, this disciple who does the will of God will be the blessed person. He will be blessed by God as he does what God has purposed for him.
Church, do we want to be the blessed person of James? Do we want to be the one that has the favor of God and upon whom God’s fellowship is with?
I’m sure we all want that, and if so, James says, you got to be the following – v12, we must be those who remain steadfast under trials and v25, we must be those who hears and does God’s Word.
If we put them both together, I would say, genuine faith means, walking faithfully even when obedience is costly.
What might the implications for us today be?
If you are a younger believer, don’t measure spiritual maturity merely by how much Christian content you consume.
Instead, we need to ask ourselves, how is my life changing based on what I know from Scripture.
And the thing I’ve realized is that God tends to work on an area of my life at a time. And so since we are multi-faceted, it will take many years.
For those of us who are older, I submit we need to be careful about being professionally religious.
I mean, we may be so in tune with the faith that it is just muscle memory. Our faith in a sense has become routine and ritualistic. We are going through the motions.
Today, is there a need to unlearn and relearn some areas of discipleship even when we are in our golden years of our walk with the Lord?
If you think you are doing well, praise God for that, now may I ask, are you helping to invest in the next generation? Are you living out the Great Commission?
What are the signs that we truly comprehended? When have we truly listened? James says, we have done so only when we have acted upon it.
Not once not twice, but as we constantly day by day, live out God’s Word.
A transformed life displays God’s Word publicly (v26-27)
Jesus said, a good tree will bear good fruit. And if we are connected to Jesus the Vine, we will bear fruit that will last.
The bible is consistent in that a transformed life will display God’s Word publicly. The evident of the righteousness acceptable to God, will be evident in how we live.
Jas 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Since as disciples of Jesus, we are to be slow to speak and slow to anger, James says in v26, if you think you are religious, that you are in the faith, yet you do not bridle your tongue, you are deceiving yourself.
You may perform the acts of the faith - church attendance, giving, prayer, praises, CG participation, yet if you cannot control your tongue, it exposes the real you.
As we have mentioned, Jesus says, out of the heart the mouth speaks. The tone and content of our speech is a spiritual diagnostic tool.
Our words reveal our heart of worship. And this, is not referring to what we say on Sundays here in Henderson, but what our colleagues, friends and family hear from Monday to Saturdays.
James emphasizes again – don’t deceive yourself that you can have an uncontrollable tongue yet have a genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The taming of the tongue is so significant that James will spend the first half of chapter 3 focusing on it.
I submit it is so important because the Gospel is proclaimed using the same tongue.
In this digital age, we want to also include what we say online as well.
On 23 Feb 2026, Salt&Light ran an article about digital missions.
Since 60% of the world is now connected online and many spend at least 6 hours or more online daily, it seems that the digital spaces have now become the world’s largest mission fields.
How is our online speech? Is it as sanctified as our offline one? If a picture is worth a thousand words, what kind of message are the photos we post saying?
Besides our public speech, James says, our care for the vulnerable is the next public display of God’s Word.
The vulnerable in society is represented by the orphans and widows and in the OT passages before us, also the foreigner worker.
Deut 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Ps 146:9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
And James adds, to take note of them in their afflictions. It means to care for them in their distress.
To some Christians it means taking up fostering when the child cannot stay in the family home. To others, it’s adopting a child even as they already have their own biological children.
For widows, I understand some employers make special work arrangements so that they can take care of their children or aged parents. Think of Boaz helping Ruth and Naomi.
For the sojourner in our midst, would we not have the attitude that they should give up their seat in the MRT for us.
That they are not an eye sore when they gather in public places for fellowship on weekends.
That we don’t get all NIMBY when they site dorms near our homes.
Finally, we display God’s Word publicly when we keep ourselves unstained from the world. Where the filthiness and wickedness do not stick.
When we are salt of the earth - preserving what is godly. And where we are the light to the world – shining God’s holiness into the dark areas of society.
James reminds us, our public display of God’s Word is done to the audience of One – Our loving Heavenly Father alone. See, we practice our religion, before God the Father. It is His acceptance, His approval, His standards that we strive for.
Church, if James is a mirror to our lives today, in this 3 areas of public display of God’s Word, how do we measure up?
In our speech, in our compassion and in our purity? In what ways have we been less than salty? In what ways have our light dimmed?
In the affluent society that we live in, may we guard against becoming morally respectable outwardly while inwardly absorbed with worldly values.
Conclusion
James has given us a searching portrait of authentic Christianity.
A genuine believer we see, receives God’s Word humbly, obeys God’s Word actively and displays God’s Word publicly.
And we will all realize that we fall short. Way short, for we often speak too quickly, we listen but don’t obey and our lives do not magnify God.
Here is where we want to remind ourselves of the good news of the Gospel.
Jesus Christ is the perfectly obedient Son that we could never be.
He always heard and obeyed the Father perfectly. His speech is always righteous. His compassion was always pure. And His holiness was complete.
At the cross, Christ died for disobedient hearers like us. He bore the judgment for our sinful speech, our hypocrisy and our failure to obey.
Through His resurrection, He now gives us new hearts by His Spirit.
The Gospel is not merely forgiveness from sin, it is transformation through union with Christ.
And because Christ lives in us, we can increasingly become hearers and doers of His Word.
Our response hymn beautifully captures James’ call to wholehearted obedience.
Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from thee.
Take my will and make it thine, it shall be no longer mine.
May the lyrics be our prayer today. Lord, let us not just hear your Word, but by your Spirit, be transformed by it.
Reflection Questions
In what situations has Scripture pointed out to you that you have not been ‘quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger’?
What is one area where you know God’s Word is calling you towards greater obedience today? What might be one key step in the right direction?
How can our church better demonstrate the kind of ‘pure religion’ James describes towards the vulnerable people in Singapore society? And how might God want you to play your part in it?
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