Wrath Works not the Righteousness of God
Bp. Mackenzie. James 1:19-21 Why, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:… It must be quite clear to any one who examines into the gospel of Christ as a cause or principle of action, that a meek and quiet spirit should be at once the distinguishing ornament and characteristic of believers. St. James lays down as principles that the unchanging God is the Giver of every good gift; and that it is by an exercise of His omnipotent will that He has begotten His spiritual children with the Word of truth. This appears to me, I say, an irrefutable argument I If we admit the premisses — that we are God's children, begotten again in Jesus Christ to a lively hope by the Word of His grace; and that, as children partake of the same nature with their parent, so we are made partakers of the Divine nature, which is holiness, then we are bound to admit the conclusion that it is our leading duty to seek to work out the righteousness of God! And, farther, that if the wrath of man worketh not that righteousness, we are bound to eschew it, and then to cultivate that meek and quiet spirit which is according to the mind of Christ. And now consider with me the great object of our vocation propounded in the text. That object is "to work out the righteousness of God." How holy a privilege is here held up for the exercise of Christians! How worthy an object for the greatest efforts of the greatest mind! I am desirous now to lead your minds to consider the reverse of the apostle's negative assertion, and to point out to you that if wrath does not work out the righteousness of God, what it is that does. Hear what St. John says upon this point, "Let no man deceive you: He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as He (i.e., God) is righteous"; "Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother"; this exactly accords with the doctrine of St. James, "Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only." Whence it appears that an identity of will between God and man produces an identity of effect. An identity, that is, not in the perfectness of the righteousness, nor of the amount of it, but in the general tone of mind and action, so that the converted man seeks no longer as his main object the fulfilment of selfishness and carnal desires, but rather the righteousness of God. If you have felt your spirits stirred within you, and yourselves deeply moved — 1. In the reception of God's revelation; 2. In feeling that revelation as a reality, not merely believing it as a theory; and — 3. In acting upon it as an unfailing rule of life; then I conceive that you may without presumption apply the comforting promises of the gospel to your own souls, and trust in humility that God's Spirit within you is working God's righteousness by you. (Bp. Mackenzie.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: WEB: So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;