The Perfect Law

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does. -James 1:25

This verse shows the contrast between two men: the first man hears the Word and does nothing, while this man mentioned above hears the Word and chooses to conform his life to it. As I studied this verse, I decided I really liked it.

Tucked in the middle of this sentence is insight into the life of these early Christians. (Who, by the way, were in the midst of persecution for their faith and had scattered all over the land - see vs. 1).

The man who looks intently into the perfect law...

Looks intently - he does not simply skim the pages of Scripture or gloss over the words of God. No, he studies, examines, scrutinizes these words that promise life to those who do so.

Perfect law - In my tiny margins I have scribbled "Matthew 22:37-40". The perfect law that James was referring to is as follows:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.' "

This was about the time I decided I really liked this verse. You see, these early believers didn't have the Bible. They didn't have all of Jesus' and Paul's teachings in a pocket-sized New Testament that they carried around. They didn't have Bible Gateway on which to quickly reference a verse or perform a topical search.

No, these people had none of that. Jesus had only recently left the earth; all of the New Testament books we have now were only in the process of being penned.

But they did have the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy), if not some of the other Old Testament writings. These five books had been around since the time of Moses (as he was the one who wrote them), and these were the books that God's people studied and memorized.

Jews knew these words inside and out. They studied them from the time they were old enough to read and literally memorized them. So when James refers to this perfect law, these Jews-turned-Christians knew what he was referring to.

In the verse above, Jesus was quoting directly from these holy ancient words. They come from the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and the early Christians knew them well.

Hear, oh Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit
at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get
up. tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates.

When James told his readers to look intently into the perfect law, he wasn't telling them to study the Sermon on the Mount. He wasn't suggesting they sit around and discuss possible interpretations of holy living. He wasn't asking them to separate the black and white from the gray areas of language and wine.

He was telling them to love the LORD with everything in them, and to keep on doing this. He knew that this is all that matters. We often miss that point in our comfy Western culture. But these people - these precious souls who had just handed over every safety and comfort they had ever known to follow a Jesus who challenged everything they had ever learned about God - these people better understood the freedom that such a life brings. Not an earthly freedom. By no means, because to live in such a way draws persecution. But an eternal freedom that no physical restraint can contain.

For to love the LORD...that is everything.