JAMES 1:21

Victor M. Eskew

 

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls

 

1.   Lay apart

A.    Strong (659):  from two words:  one meaning “off” or “away” and another meaning “to place.”  Thus, to put away.  :- cast off, lay apart (aside, down, put away, off)

B.    Thayer:  to put off or aside or away

C.    Vine:  to put off from oneself…in Acts 7:58 of laying down garments after taking them off for the purpose of stoning Stephen

 

2.   Filthiness

A.    Strong (4507):  dirtiness

B.    Thayer:  to make filthy, befoul, to defile, dishonor

C.    Vine:  denotes dirt, filth…used metaphorically of moral defilement.

 

3.   Superfluity

A.    Strong (4050):  surplusage, that is, superabundance

B.    Thayer;  abundance, superabundantly, superfluously…residue, remains: the wickedness remaining over in a Christian from his state prior to conversion

C.    Vine:  abundant, more than sufficient

 

4.   Naughtiness

A.    Strong (2549):  badness, that is depravity or (actively) malignity, or (passively) trouble

B.    Thayer:  malignity, malice, ill-will, wickedness, depravity

C.    Vine:  evil

 

5.   Receive

A.    Strong (1209):  to receive

B.    Thayer:  to take up, receive…of the thing offered in speaking, teaching, instructing, to receive favorably, give ear to, embrace, make one’s own, approve, not to reject

C.    Vine:  to receive by deliberate and ready acceptance of what is offered…adds the idea of appropriation, to the heart

 

6.   Meekness

A.    Strong (4240):  mildness, that is, (by implication) humility

B.    Thayer:  mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit

C.    Vine:  It is that temper of spirit in which we accept his (God’s) dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting

 

7.   Engrafted

A.    Strong (1721):  implanted

B.    Thayer:  implanted by others instruction

C.    Vine:  to implant…the metaphor is that of a seed rooting itself in the heart

 

8.   Word

A.    Strong (3056):  something said

B.    Thayer:  what someone has said…the sayings of God, of the moral decrees given by God…doctrine, teaching

C.    Vine:  a saying or statement by God…sometimes used as the sum of God’s utterances

 

9.   Is able

A.    Strong (1410):  able or possible

B.    Thayer:  to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources…to be capable, strong or powerful

C.    Vine:  to be able, to have power

 

10.Save 

          A.  Strong (4982):  to save, that is, deliver or protect

B.  Thayer:  to save, to preserve one who is in danger or destruction...to deliver from

     the penalties of Messianic judgment

D.   Vine:  to save, of present experiences of God’s power to deliver from the burden of

sin

 

     11.Souls

          A.  Strong (5590):  spirit

          B.  Thayer:  the soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids

      offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secured eternal blessedness, the   

     soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

          C.  Vine:  the immortal, invisible part of man