There are multiple contrasts in this verse. First, the sole imperative is dexasthe ("accept" the word), an act that stands in contrast to that of the modifying participle apothemenoi ("taking off" or "getting rid of" all moral filth and evil). Both are to be intentional acts for Christians: accepting the word while rejecting evil. Second, the evil to be put away is prevalent (perisseian, describing a surrounding presence in abundance), whereas the word to be accepted is planted (emphyton, depicting an internal presence of the word that has already been placed like a seed inside the Christian). Third, the implanted word is able to save you (sosai tas psychas hymon, "to save your souls"), implying a contrasting threat to your souls from the preceding moral filth and prevalent evil. This one verse is thus a marvelous window into the worldview from which James is writing. It is a worldview of complementary moral imperatives made urgent by their corresponding results.

By comparing other texts, James's worldview is found to be not an isolated thought but a genuinely biblical worldview. First, the prevalence of evil is a notion James would have found in Jesus' sermons. Jesus taught that the quantity of trouble (kakia) is enough in each day (Mt 6:34), so James can warn about the evil (kakia) with the quantitative term of perisseian (surplus, abundance). Jesus taught that one can store up either good or evil in one's heart and that the abundance (perisseuma) in one's heart will direct how one speaks (Lk 6:45). James could be recalling that teaching now, both in the quantitative image of evil and in the application to one's speech.

Second, the need to put off this evil drives other New Testament writers. The force of the participle apothemenoi is properly translated as an imperative: Get rid of . . . This urgency is similarly reflected in 1 Peter 2:1, "Rid yourselves [apothemenoi] of all malice [kakian]." With the same verb, Paul will urge the Ephesians to put off the old self and to get rid of falsehood (Eph 4:22, 25).

Third, the emphasis on the ability of the word to save is also part of the fabric of New Testament thought. Again the origin is in Jesus' teaching—in Matthew 7:24. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Christ's parable depicted a house surrounded by prevalent and threatening dangers—falling rains, rising streams, blowing winds. The inhabitants were saved through "words"—the words of Christ put into practice. Then James's theology in the first part of chapter 1 (specifically 1:18, concerning "the word of truth") provides the immediate context for his application here in 1:21. Finally, Peter again presents confirming parallel instruction in 1 Peter 2:2. The "pure spiritual milk" Peter has in mind is most likely the word of God, which he has just emphasized in 1:23-25. Thus Peter's line of thought runs parallel to James's:

1. God has given us birth through his word (Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23).

2. Therefore it is imperative that we get rid of all evil (Jas 1:21; 1 Pet 2:1).

3. In place of the evil, it is the word of God that we must now accept and crave (Jas 1:21; 1 Pet 2:2).

Application is to be made based upon what we have seen of the meaning. First we found in this verse a worldview, seeing evil as both pervasive and life-threatening for us. This calls us to evaluate our own worldview by comparison. Do we see the world in the same terms? Minimizing the danger of doing evil is, in light of this verse, recklessly unrealistic. It is somewhat comparable to persisting in a heavy smoking habit while saying, "It's not as bad as they make it out to be" (that is, it's not really life-threatening) or "The cancer won't get me" (that is, the danger is not really prevalent). Unrealistic thinking leaves us insulated against the urgency for moral reform. This is one reason that our praying in crises is not like King David's: "Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil." We pray for safety instead of purity because we do not see impurity as dangerous.

Second, this verse calls for us to repent of all moral filth in our lives. It includes not only sensational crimes but also everyday evils like a complaining attitude, a jealous spirit, a deceitful or gossipy way of speaking, or a rebelliousness against authority. Like numerous other biblical statements, this one makes clear that repentance is not merely a sorrow for one's sin but, more fully, a sorrow that moves one to make changes in one's life. Biblical repentance is a change of direction, a turning around, a choice to repudiate immorality and cry out to God, "I don't want to be like this anymore!"

The third area of necessary application is in the humble acceptance of God's word. It should not be confusing that James would tell us to accept what is already planted in us. The term emphyton (planted in you) indicates that the focus of the word's work is on changing the Christian rather than changing the circumstances of the trial. Humbly accept would then mean not only to believe teachably but to act upon that word—for example, to accept that being quick to listen and slow to speak really is the best course in the midst of the conflict. Anger is a stance of telling and demanding; James commands a stance of learning and receiving. It is the stance he has already prescribed and illustrated in 1:2-18 concerning trials. It requires a humble teachability to consider it pure joy when one meets trials because one knows, from God's word, that the trials will be used by God as tests to develop perseverance.

When I was directing an InterVarsity conference in Colorado one year, something the speaker said prompted a student to ask with evident intensity, "But what do you do when things are going wrong, and other people are hurting you, and you are hurt and angry?" The speaker answered, "Have your daily quiet time."

At first this made me angry; it seemed to be a simplistic answer that ignored the struggle expressed in the question. As I thought about it, though, the wisdom of the speaker's words came into focus. We need the word of God—we need to humbly accept it into our minds and hearts—because it really is able to save us from the destructive power of our own sinfulness. With this conviction, James goes on to explain how to use that lifesaving word of God.