James 1:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle said "whoever looks intently," not "whoever enters." For the spiritual law, possessing excellence and greatness everywhere, knows how to draw a man even by the briefest reading of it. To the words "perfect law" he added "of liberty," in order to point to its distinctive feature: liberty. For the law of Christ frees from fleshly slavery and sets the one who comes to Him in liberty. Through this liberty it makes him more attentive and frees him from forgetfulness, which is harmful to every good thing.

This is the law of liberty, not of slavery, because it is surely the law of love, not of fear. The Apostle James also speaks of it: "But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty." For this reason he no longer feared the law of God like a slave, but delighted in it according to the inner man; see Rom 7:22. Yet he still sees in his members another law, warring against the law of his mind; Rom 7:23.

Having said "the perfect law," the Apostle added "the law of liberty," thereby presenting liberty as something proper to this law. For the law of Christ delivers from every bodily obligation: from the Sabbath, circumcision, and rites of purification.

By the law of perfect freedom the Apostle means Gospel grace, for "the law made nothing perfect" (Heb 7:19).

And elsewhere: "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption" (Rom 8:15).

Again: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor 3:17). And the Lord Himself says, "If the Son makes you free, you will be truly free" (Jn 8:36).

Such a man became not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. He will be blessed in his action.

Blessedness is prepared not by useless hearing of the word, but by the doing of the work. So also the Lord said to the disciples, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (Jn 13:17).

See, beloved reader, that the Brother of God here said "looks into" the perfect law of freedom, and did not say "enters within." By this word he shows that the spiritual law of the Gospel is so desirable and great that one who knows it desires it.

He longs to bend toward it even a little, even while not yet having entered within.

Since he said "perfect law," he next says "of freedom," to show that freedom has the greatest importance and is the direct image of the Gospel law of grace.

For the law of Christ delivered Christians from the bondage of the flesh. In the old law this bondage consisted in bodily circumcisions, bodily purifications, sabbath observances, and similar insignificant prescriptions legislated for the Jews.

But whoever looks into the law and abides in it, fulfilling it by abiding in it, will be blessed in his doing.

This blessedness appears not as an external reward for good action, having no inner connection with it. Rather, it appears as a state of soul accompanying the very activity of the virtuous man.

Thus, according to the testimony of the great ascetics, a man given to prayer enters during it into such a rapturous state, and experiences such blessedness, that he forgets himself and the whole surrounding world, and seems to be immersed in God.

The same spiritual delight is experienced by the man who gives alms, benefits the needy or the suffering, and in general performs some good deed.

"Whoever looks into" denotes an attentive relation to what is heard, with understanding and assimilation by reason and faith, rightly and, as far as possible, broadly.

"The perfect law of freedom" is the name given here to that word of truth by which man is regenerated by God (Jas 1:18), that is, the Gospel.

It is so called as the new law, or covenant, in comparison with the old law, or covenant, which was imperfect (Heb 7:18-19), the law of bondage (Gal 5:1).

From this the new law freed Christians (Rom 8:2), granting them the spirit of freedom and sonship to God, the law of love and grace.

As if recalling the Lord's preceding and other comparisons about those who hear the word of truth in different ways, for example after the Sermon on the Mount (see Mt 7:24-29), the Apostle James also speaks through an example.

He depicts those who hear the word of God but do not fulfill it by an example familiar to all. A man looks in a mirror, goes away from it, and easily forgets the features of his face.

But whoever looks deeply into the law and considers its demands, its perfection, and its spirit, unlike the law of bondage, will not be a forgetful hearer of it. He will become its doer, and blessedness will be his portion here and in heaven.

The holy king and prophet David spoke especially often about the blessedness of fulfilling the law (see Ps 1:1-2; cf. Josh 1:8).

The Christians opposed to hearers but non-doers of the Gospel word are those who not only look into the Gospel law as into a mirror of self-knowledge, but also abide in the law, preserve fidelity to it, and are guided by it in life.

This law is called perfect because of its superiority over the Old Testament law in guiding man toward moral perfection.

It is also called the law of freedom in opposition to the law of bondage, which was the Old Testament law of rites, from which Christians have been freed.

Moreover, the Old Testament law subjected to a curse everyone who did not fulfill everything written in the book of the law, concerning not only rites but also moral duties.