get rid (literally putting off) of all moral filth (compare Ephesians 4:22; 1 Peter 2:1).
the word planted in you, which can save your souls: James emphasizes that Christians should respond to a word God has placed within us. This fulfills Jeremiah 31:31–34.
The sould refers to the whole person (also in James 5:20; see Genesis 2:7; 1 Peter 3:20).