Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. [James 1:21 NIV]
James's Letter has many commands. In this verse he is not making a suggestion which he would like us to consider or think about. He is not offering good advice which we might choose to follow or not. James is giving a command which he is expecting his readers to obey. He is commanding those who are followers of Jesus Christ to 'get rid of all moral filth.' The idea is the same as putting off an item of clothing that is polluted. I was only eighteen when I was working as a tractor driver / labourer in Stevenston Parks Department. One hot summer evening we had the task of clearing out the wee burn that runs through the town. It was overtime so we would get straight home when we had finished the task. The foreman set out wellies and waders and, in my naivety, I chose a pair of waders. I could not understand why nobody wanted the waders - and suddenly I discovered why. Those wearing the waders were to paddle in the burn and stoop down to remove various disgusting things which had been thrown into the burn by my fellow townspeople. I walked home at the end of the shift and everyone I met chose to cross the road and walk on the other pavement while giving me queer looks. And so I had to get rid of my filthy stinking clothes which smelled of sewage. My mother decided to throw them in the bin rather than try to wash them. James is telling his readers that this world is stinking and polluted. We need to have nothing to do with the moral filth that is polluting the world. We have to remove all those filthy clothes because they are polluting our lives. When I entered our home at Misk Knowes, Stevenston I took the pollution from the burn with me and it affected the home.
It is interesting to note that Paul makes a similar statement in several of his writings (See Romans 13:12-14; Colossians 3:5-9; Ephesians4:22-31]. So those critics who suggest that there was a deep conflict between James the apostle and Paul the writer of so many letters in the New Testament. We will look into this in a future Day Share but for today we simply note that both these writers are agreed on the need to put off certain sins. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews as well as Peter the apostle are also in agreement (See Hebrews 12:1 and 1 Peter 2:1).
The list of sins we should put off is extensive and somewhat depressing. I have looked into the various passages in the New Testament providing lists of serious sins and they are listed in the following table. We might not be surprised to see some sexual sins in the list. The word James uses is filthiness or moral filth. John MacArthur informs us that this Greek word was used of ear wax which seriously affects our hearing and this filthiness will impede our ability to respond to God's Word. Here is a quotation from an American commentator:
….. we should make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. The flesh here is the old, corrupt nature. It incessantly cries to be pampered with comfort, luxury, illicit sexual indulgence, empty amusements, worldly pleasures, dissipation, materialism, among many other things. We make provision for the flesh when we buy things that are associated with temptation, when we make it easy for ourselves to sin, when we give a higher priority to the physical than to the spiritual. We should not indulge the flesh even a little. Rather, we should “give no chances to the flesh to have its fling” (JBP). This was the very passage (Romans 13: 12-14) that God used in converting the brilliant but carnal Augustine to Christ and purity. When he reached verse 14 he surrendered to the Lord. He has been known in history ever since as “Saint” Augustine. [William MacDonald: The Believers Bible Commentary]
There are also many sins which affect our fellowship with each other 'anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.' All in all, we need to take heed to James's command to rid ourselves of sins that would destroy our spiritual life. We might not regard gossip and slander as requiring the same treatment as lust and sexual indulgence. But we must treat them like perennial weeds in our garden - pull them out by the roots (and I know I am mixing metaphors). We must starve them of life and destroy them completely. We can only do this in the power of the Holy Spirit. I would like to suggest a book in Kindle called FLESH: Help for Those who Struggle with Temptation by Nathan M Hausman. This writer is very honest in his account of trying to overcome an addiction to pornography. It may be that your vulnerable area is more in the cesspit of slander and gossip rather than sexual immorality. The lesson is that careless talk is also moral filth with equally polluting consequences.
To return to the story about the effect of paddling in a polluted burn, it was because I had immersed myself in filth that I became polluted. Sometimes we can choose to avoid situations where we will become polluted.
Photo from Rade Nugroho on Unsplash
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