Hearing Christ preached--which is looking into the perfect law of liberty--is compared to a man looking at his natural face in a mirror. Those who are "hearers only" behold their unrighteousness when compared to the impeccable righteousness of Christ. They behold themselves as being as incapable of providing eternal life, perfect righteousness, justification, and preserving grace as they are of resurrecting themselves from the dead.

Yet, those who are "hearers only" go back to their day-to-day lives, immediately forgetting the pollution they saw in themselves and the liberty they beheld in Christ. Though they beheld the all-sufficient grace of God for salvation and for every trial, yet they do not continue trusting Christ alone, looking to Christ alone, walking in the Spirit of Christ alone.