James 1:21 (ASV)

Passage

Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Nearby Context

James 1:19 Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

James 1:20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

James 1:21 Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

James 1:23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wherefore", "putting", "away", "filthiness", "overflowing", "wickedness", "receive", and "meekness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wherefore" and "putting", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "for the wrath of man worketh not..." into verse 22's "But be ye doers of the word...", so "wherefore" and "putting" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "wherefore" and "putting" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.