James 1:25 “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Those who “continueth” in “the perfect law of liberty” are contrasted with those who “goeth” their “way” (James 1:24). James is writing to the Children of God who know better than to pursue their own “way” instead of “the perfect law of liberty”. Those who “goeth” their own “way” are those who forget or ignore that they are sinners saved by the Merciful Grace of our Lord and His Blessed Grace alone. They who “goeth” their “way” are devising ways and means of obtaining Eternal Salvation by positioning themselves as their own savior or giving themselves credit for securing or consummating their Eternal Salvation; “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3). The problem with such views is that it positions men as having more power than God, it denies our Lord’s “finished” work (John 19:30), it discredits our Lord’s declaration that “this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39), and it leads to greater and greater sin and corruption. This is the “broad” “way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13). It “leadeth to destruction” because it is man’s “way” motivated by and guided by man’s carnal lusts and desires. This “destruction” is what happens to a person in this present life when they set their course in the carnal “way” over the Lord’s “way”. A destroyed or ruined life is a pitiful thing to look upon. As more and more people take the carnal “way”, they drag down their own lives, their families, their local Churches, their communities, and ultimately their nation. Let us prayerfully heed this warning, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25)! It appears that many people in our Nation are presently in this “way”. Let us go back to the Primitive Basics and look at our “natural face in” the Biblical “glass” (Mirror) and prayerfully remind ourselves “that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18) and that we are but sinners Saved by Grace (Ephesians 2:8)!