James 1:21
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The context
Still in the opening chapter, James has just warned that human anger does not produce the righteousness God requires. He then addresses his readers as people who already possess something planted among them. The imperative follows the indicative: because a word has been placed there, they are told to receive it.
What it establishes
It establishes that the word is already present and operative, and that the response asked for is receptivity rather than production. Meekness and the removal of moral filth are presented as the fitting posture, not as the price of entry.
What it does not establish
It does not guarantee an outcome by itself. The verse says the word is able to save, not that hearing it saves regardless of response, and it does not identify the word with any single practice. What save covers here is disputed.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
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Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.