If You Can Beat This Sin, You Can Beat Them All

The past few days we’ve been shuddering at three R-Rated biblical images of the tongue: A Dangerous Fire, A World of Evil, and a Savage Beast. The fourth and final image that the Apostle James horrifies us with is that of a Polluted Spring.

Residents in Flint, Michigan, understand this better than anyone right now. For years their taps supplied them with clear, clean water. A couple of years ago the city decided to change water supplier. Little did the residents know that the same taps that had refreshed them for years were now pumping polluted water into their lives. Not until a spike in numerous illnesses was noticed at local hospitals some months later did investigations discover that the water had dangerously high levels of lead in it. The same tap that had been a source of health was now a source of illness. We protest, “These things ought not so to be!”

That’s exactly what James exclaims when he sees some who had been praising God turn to gossiping about those who bear God’s image (James 3:9-11).

James Montgomery Boice summed this scenario up best with a sermon entitled “Ten Minutes After the Sermon.” If I recall correctly, his points were: (1) From Glorying to Gossip, (2) From Catechism to Criticism, (3) From Worshipping to Wounding, (4) From Praising to Polluting.

It’s piercing, isn’t it! Because we’ve all done it. And it’s so, so easy to keep doing it. In fact, it’s the hardest thing in the world to stop. So much so that James says: “If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body” (James 3:2). That’s right, if we can conquer this sin, we can conquer them all. If your tongue is not a dangerous fire, or a world of evil, or a savage beast, or a polluted spring, you are PERFECT.

But James is only being hypothetical, isn’t he?

Not necessarily.

Is it not likely that when James thought of this possibility of a perfect man, he was thinking of his own brother, the Lord Jesus? The one whose lips were so “full of grace and truth” that “all marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Luke 4:22). Even His enemies exclaimed: “Never man spoke like this man” (John 7:46).

James brings me from my own imperfections to Christ’s perfections and reminds me that Christ’s tongue has been imputed to me. My Judge looks at my tongue and, instead of seeing a jungle full of wild animals, He sees a tongue full of grace and truth. Instead of seeing an R-Rating, He sees a G. Indeed, He sees perfection.

If Christ can beat that sin, He can beat them all.