James 1:21-25

²¹ Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

²³ 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;

²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

²⁵ 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.

filthiness (v.21) = moral impurity,  moral dirtiness, with an emphasis on defilement

wickedness (v.21) = malice, ill-will toward others, a desire to injure

According the the King James Bible Commentary, the words “filthiness” and “wickedness” are “expressions of coarseness rather than immorality.”

meekness (v.21) = gentleness, humility, the opposite of pride

be doers (v.22) = tense is “continue being doers,” with the sense that it is a constant struggle

deceiving (v.22) = misleading by false reasoning, internal self-delusion

natural face (v.23) — the face he was born with

observes (v.24) = observes fully. This man is completely award of his flaws, but carries on in them anyway.

looks into (v.25) — bending forward for a closer inspection.

The heart that humbles itself before God’s Word (v.21), without questioning or murmuring, and that obeys its teaching (vs.22-25) is a heart that enjoys the sweetness of liberty (v.25); for there is no life so free as the life proper to the New Nature. — Williams, page 993.

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There is to be, as a result of true faith, a laying aside of all filthiness, all superfluity of naughtiness; this is the same putting off of which we read in the Pauline Epistles (Colossians 3:9-10, etc.). This putting off is not the working of the law, but it is the result of the implanted Word, which received in meekness, saves; it is both the means of true salvation and the working out of that salvation into results of righteousness. … What is the law of liberty? It is not the law of Moses … The perfect law of liberty is explained in the context. It is the Word of God by which the believer is begotten again, it is the implanted word, which teaches, instructs, guides, and directs; it is the life which flows from the new nature, subject to the Word of God. — Gaebelein, page 1128.

I appreciate Sadler’s point (below), relating this passage to the persecution these believers were facing.

Not only were they saved by the Word of God, they were to make an application of it in their lives. … It alone was able to deliver their souls from anger, bitterness, hatred, and the burning desire to retaliate against those who were persecuting them. — Sadler, page 54.

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continues (v.25) — Kingdom saints will have to continue in the faith to be delivered into the Millennium (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; James 5:11). — Grace, page 2197.

Those saved under grace are saved once for all. They cannot lose their salvation (Romans 8:38-39).

The perfect law of liberty is synonymous with the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7. A casual reading of the Sermon on the Mount and the epistle of James clearly shows that the two are woven together throughout with kingdom truth. In fact, there are at least 15 parallel passages between the teaching of the Lord Jesus and James. … The Sermon on the Mount referred to by James as the “perfect law of liberty” is the standard of righteousness that will govern the coming Millennial Kingdom to be established here upon the earth. It should be noted that the “perfect law of liberty” primarily deals with relationships. While the foundation of this chapter rests squarely upon the Mosaic system, it transfer the offense of a sinful act to the motive behind it.   After Pentecost, when a Spirit-filled believer applied the deeper teachings of the Sermon on the Mount to his every day experience it brought liberty — hence the designation, the perfect law of liberty. It is important to remember, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). — Sadler, pages 59-60.