But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
—James 1:22

You have probably heard the expression: “Be doers, not just hearers.” And what you are supposed to do is everything that is said from the pulpit, and by the leaders too. So what was James writing about, and who are the doers? Let the Lord Himself answer this question for us. In the parable of the talents, or of the minas, Jesus spoke of servants to whom He entrusted His silver. Most of them, as it is written, “went and traded with them” — put them to work [Mat.25:16]. Aren’t they doers? They did what the Lord entrusted to them and brought Him a profit, to which the Lord said: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” [Mat.25:21]. I want to draw your attention to the words “good” and “faithful”, because they describe our doer.

Who is really good? Jesus said to the rich young man: “No one is good but One, that is, God” [Mat.19:17] The word “good” here [Greek agathos] is the same word as in “good servant”. And who is faithful? It is written: “God is faithful” [1 Cor.1:9; 2 Cor.1:18]. And also: “let God be true but every man a liar” [Rom.3:4]. What can a man do to be good and faithful like God? John writes: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” [Jhn.1:12] And the children of God are just like Him, for it is written: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” [Rom.8:29], and also: “as He is, so are we in this world” [1 Jhn.4:17]. By the way, the word “faithful” [Greek pistos] is often also translated as “believing”.

The faithful servants carried out their master’s commission, because they put the silver given to them to work. To what work? To God’s work, not to human works. And God’s work is one: “that you believe in Him whom He sent” [Jhn.6:29]. James writes about the same work: “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” [Jas.1:25] Notice that “work” here is singular, just like “the word” in James 1:22. In other words, James is writing to the Jews: “Whoever reads the Torah [the law] and meditates on it will not just read it and forget it, but will do what the Torah testifies about.” And what does the Torah testify about? Jesus said to the Jews: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” [Jhn.5:46].

Our beloved Paul also writes: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” [Rom.3:21-22] Peter spoke of the same thing at the council in Jerusalem, when the apostles gathered to settle whether the law of Moses had to be kept: “So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them [the Gentiles] by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” [Act.15:8-9]. By faith in Jesus we have received God’s eternal righteousness; by faith God has cleansed our heart once and for all [Heb.10:10], through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit [Tit.3:5]; and by faith we have done God’s Word, by receiving Jesus, and God’s work, by believing in Him.