James 3:2-10 “If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. … (8) But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”
In the above passage of scripture the apostle James teaches us that no man can tame the tongue because it is an unruly evil. So why is it that men cannot keep their tongues under control? Jesus explained the reason to us when He spoke about the evil hearts that men have, and that it is out of the abundance of their evil hearts that their mouths speak. Nevertheless when we come into the kingdom of God things change, because God begins to write His laws in our minds by His power thus causing our speech to change accordingly. As I have already mentioned, all believers come into the kingdom of God with a worldly mindset and thus have to transition their thinking and speech to conform to heavens standards. This is not an overnight process however and it does take time. And so in the interim period while the saint is slowly transitioning from a worldly to a heavenly mindset their speech becomes mixed between the two. The apostle James describes the condition of this saint’s speech by declaring that out of the same mouth proceed both blessing and cursing. James goes on to tell us that this is not an ideal state of affairs and needs to be addressed. Sadly however most believers never experience any significant change in their speech patterns and continue to speak as this world speaks on any given subject, purely because they are not diligent in meditating on and confessing God’s word over their lives. There are a category of believers however that do attain to heavens standards in their speech, and James mentions to us who they are when he tells us that those who are perfect do not stumble in word. The word translated “perfect” also means mature, and in the context of this passage that is the type of believer that James is referring to. A mature believer in scripture is not someone who has been in the kingdom of God for many years, but rather a believer who has reached the point where they are fully convinced in their minds regarding the reality and truth of God’s word and they therefore no longer stumble (sin) in the words that they speak, because their mindsets have changed accordingly.
Michael E.B. Maher
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