"But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does." ~ James 1:25 NASB '95 Just a simple (I think) question; what is the "law of liberty" as referred to here??
I've taken that to be a reference to "love one another as I have loved you" aka. love your neighbor, etc., re: "an effectual doer". In other words, the 'law of liberity' - 'the perfect law' - is living a life as taught by Jesus.
Ok, thanks! That was the first impression I got at first. I looked it up after posting this thread, and that seemed to be the most common thought. Thank you for the added confirmation.
I've always inferred a reference to "he who the Son makes free is free, indeed" and to Paul's admonition of "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free", I.e., free from the law, free from bondage to sin, free to serve Jesus.
I can't resist putting a Jewish spin on this. The NIV translates the verse thus: "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom". What "perfect law"? The perfect law of God, as transmitted in the Pentateuch. How does this law "give freedom"? Because by serving God, by "not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it" (later in the same verse) we remove from ourselves the servitude to man. An example: In Exodus 1, Pharaoh is worried about the Hebrew slaves multiplying and joining his enemies (a common antisemitic theme to this day.) So he tells the midwives to murder the Hebrew boys at birth. But something wonderous happens. Verse 17: "The midwives, however, feared God; so they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but they enabled the boys to live." In other words, their fear of God lifted from them their fear of man. Serving God frees us from serving man.