The distinction which James draws He draws a sharp line of demarcation between two things that are very intimately connected - 'hearing' and 'doing' the Word of God. They are so closely related that, apart from the first, the second is not possible. No man will ever become a 'doer' of God's Word until he has first become a 'hearer' of it. Nevertheless, although the two are wed together in this way, let us remember that they can be so widely divorced from one another that it is all too sadly possible to be a 'hearer' of the Word without ever becoming a 'doer' of it. This distinction has always been present wherever the Word of God has been proclaimed.
Scripture bears widespread testimony to it.
In the days of Jeremiah, God's Word came to his people urging them to repentance, and warning of coming judgement if they did not turn and make their ways and their doings good. They were hearers, but they refused to become doers of God's Word. Judas heard the word from the lips of Christ himself, but he was one of a vast multitude of people who, under the Redeemer's ministry, were hearers but not doers of the Word. Then, please pause, and reflect upon that fact. It will do all that irrespective of our response, or non-response, to it.