The Triumphant ChurchJames is saying that the Word of God is the only
thing that will save the believer's soul—his mind, will,
and emotions. Then James goes on to tell believers how
to get their souls saved or renewed.
James told believers that receiving the engrafted
word will save their souls. What does the Bible mean by
the "engrafted" Word?
According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical
Words, the word "engrafted" means to implant.^1 The
word "engrafted" carries the idea of a seed rooting itself
and causing growth. So the Word of God implanted or
engrafted into the soul of man has the ability and the
power to change or "save" man's soul.
That scripture used to bother me because I thought
man's soul was already saved in the new birth. But
then I found out that there is a difference between
man's spirit and his soul and that the soul isn't
recreated—only the spirit is. Actually, the saving of
man's soul is an ongoing process throughout a person's
life.
In studying demons and their influence on mankind,
why is it important for the believer to know that his
soul isn't saved yet? Because what many Christians are
attributing to Satan is really a problem of their souls
not being saved—their minds and emotions not being
renewed with the Word of God.
An unrenewed mind is a major area where believers
can give Satan access to them. Therefore, the believer
needs to understand how to receive the engrafted Word
to save his soul, so he can close the door to the devil.
The word "save" in James 1:21 is the Greek word
1 W. E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nashville,
Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1985), pp. 200,201.