Let’s read James 1:22-25, “But be DOERS of the word, and NOT HEARERS only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 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.” The word “doer” simply means to “DO SOMETHING.” James is teaching us in this passage that we should not only “hear God’s Word” but we should “obey God’s Word.” The Bible is God’s “revelation to mankind” and He expects us to “ACT on what we read.” God’s Word is like a mirror, for just as a man goes to a mirror to see his face so he knows if he should comb his hair, wash his face, brush his teeth, or shave, God’s Word will show us what we need to do in our lives. Yet we may read the Bible and learn that we need to “change our behavior” in certain areas of our life, but if we don’t act on what we read we are like a man who goes to the mirror and walks away from it without “DOING what it is telling him to do.” In that case, the “mirror of God’s Word” is of no value to us. We may “think” we are being blessed and pleasing God by simply “READING/HEARING the Word,” but James tells us we are “deceiving ourselves.” We haven’t been changed at all, so we aren’t blessed, and God is not pleased. But if we take to heart what God’s Word is teaching us and DO (obey) IT, we are indeed BLESSED. In John chapter 13:1-16 Jesus was teaching His disciples to be “SERVING one another.” He then said, “If you know these things, BLESSED are you if you DO THEM.”

You asked, “Does it mean we do all the Ten Commandments?” Believers today are not “under the law of Moses”; we are “under grace.” We see this truth in John 1:17 and Romans 6:14, “For THE LAW was given by Moses, but GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ…For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE.” If you read through the Old Testament, you will see that the Israelites, who were “under law,” failed time and time again to “KEEP (do) the law.” The Ten Commandments were never meant to make them righteous; they were given to “convict them of sin and make them see their need of a Savior.” This truth is borne out in Romans 3:20-21, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law if the knowledge of sin.” Once a sinner sees their need of salvation and trusts in Christ and His finished work on the cross, he is then “under grace.” He realizes he was “saved by grace” (see Ephesians 2:8-9) and now he will “live by grace.” He will not be occupied with the Ten Commandments; he will be occupied with his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This, dear friend, is what it means to be “under grace.” We are focused on the love of Christ who brought Him down from heaven’s heights of glory to the cross of Calvary, where He took our place in death and judgment so we could be saved and have eternal life.

Does this mean we don’t have any commandments to OBEY?” No, we do have commandments that we should obey but they are commandments that we will gladly HEAR and DO, because they come from our Savior who said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My YOKE IS EASY and My BURDEN IS LIGHT” (Matthew 11:29-30). His commandments spring from His heart of love to us (that caused Him to lay down His life for us…see John 15:9-12 with 1st John 3:16) and we DO THEM because of our love for Him. The Apostle John tells us, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are NOT BURDENSOME” (1st John 5:1-3). Does my reader believe that Jesus is the Christ? If you do, you are born of God and you love God, and your love for Him will be manifested by “keeping His commandments.” You will indeed be a “DOER of the word, and NOT HEARERS only.”  (DO)  (526.5)