Cultivating a Heart for God's Word

The theme of James' epistle is that we be doers of the word, not merely hearers but doers, and that's exactly the subject matter of this section where he says that expressly. James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, who writes this epistle to believers in the first century, Jewish believers in Jesus, is burdened is that they live out their faith; that their faith be worked out in practice; be evident in their works, in good deeds. He wants them and us to move from belief to behavior; that our belief would correspond or be evident in our behavior; that our convictions would be reflected in actions; that our doctrine would be seen in devotion and duty; that we would not just be hearers of the word or those who ascribe to a certain doctrine, but that our lives would evidence that.