PURE RELIGION

James moves from his point about being doers not hearers, to a conclusion about "religion." This word "religion" means, in Greek, 'someone who really does what they believe.'

This can be turned into the simple equation:

James could have said: "IF you really believe in Jesus, THEN we should see these things in your life." We could say the same thing about any other belief, for example: IF you really believe in evolution, THEN you should be living this way, IF you really believe there is no God, THEN....

Whether we like it or not, we always live according to what we really believe, so our lifestyle betrays our innermost thoughts.

James throws out a challenge to Christians: "If anyone among you thinks he is "religious" - that is, really living out what they believe . . . and he lists three things we ought to be doing:

Bridling, or controlling our tongue. Being very careful not to sin in what we say.
Visiting orphans and widows - caring forpeople who need help, showing friendship, loving.
Keeping ourselves free of the world's sinful contamination - media, music, company, etc.

In James' day "widows and orphans" did not have a Social Welfare system to fall back on. This made caring for them very important, and also gave Christians a good witnessing opportunity. Many people have become Christians because some Christian reached out to them in a practical way. When the gospel comes with food, clothes, medicine etc. it says "God loves you" in a tangible way.