Tiago 3

Tiago 3

William MacDonald - Just as an old-fashioned doctor examined a patient's tongue to assist in diagnosis, so James tests a person's spiritual health by his or her conversation. Self-diagnosis begins with sins of speech. James would agree with the modern wit who said, "Watch your tongue. It's in a wet place where it's easy to slip!" (Believer's Bible Commentary) MacDonald's comment is seen in a striking parallel in James 3: Medical Exam James 3 Doctor says "open and say ahhhh" James says "behold" (idou) — look carefully Tongue reveals condition of the body Tongue reveals condition of the heart and soul Diagnosis comes from what is seen Character is diagnosed by what is spoken You cannot hide internal illness from the tongue You cannot hide internal corruption from the tongue The tongue is the diagnostic instrument The tongue is the revealer of wisdom or foolishness James is essentially saying that the tongue is God's diagnostic instrument for our heart and soul. Do you want to know the true spiritual condition of a person? Ask them to open their mouth and say "Ahhhh." What comes out will tell everything because as Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Mt 12:34+). The tongue reveals what is really in your heart. If anyone does not stumble in what he says - More literally this reads "if anyone in a word (logos) does not stumble." Amplified = "if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things]" Phillips = the man who can claim that he never says the wrong thing." NIV = "If anyone is never at fault in what he says." NRSV = "Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking." The IF is first class condition which assumes what follows is true. Notice the emphasis on what he says. Teachers constantly use their tongues and thus are continual danger of stumbling (sinning) by the words they speak. But James had addressed this to ALL, so this description would refer to the speech of all believers, not just teachers. THOUGHT- James is clearly depicting control of one's tongue as a significant marker of one's overall spiritual health. How's your tongue control? Do curse words fly easily off of your tongue? John has a parallel passage on "we all stumble"... If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 Jn 1:8-10+) Says (3056)(logos - English logic, logical, etc) has the primary sense of thought and thus presupposes intelligence. And so the idea is the word by which the inner thought is expressed, the expression of thought, the coming out of that which is within one's heart. The implication of this definition of "says" would indicate that when one stumbles by what they say (logos), their stumbling (aka, sin) is not an accident but a result of thought which makes James' indictment even more pointed. In other words, the stumbling was in essence premeditated, making us even more culpable! He is a perfect (teleios) man - James uses an adjective (teleios) that speaks of the totality of this man. This man is not partially but completely perfect, which would literally apply to only one man, the Man, Christ Jesus. And so one could interpret the perfect man as a hypothetical description, for no man except Christ lives a life of absolute perfection. So for example the ESV Study Bible says James "probably has absolute perfection in view." (Borrow ESV Study Bible) From my survey of a number of commentaries on James, this seems to be the minority view. In short, one of the principal marks of maturity is self-control, especially of the tongue! Alec Motyer: By perfect he means (as in 1:4) the completeness and maturity that will mark us when God has fully wrought in us all that he intends for us in Christ—in a word, the holiness of those who see him and are like him (1 Jn. 3:2). (The Message of James - The Tests of Faith)