How To Plan Ahead Series

For us to consider How to properly Plan Ahead, we must avoid:

3) The Sin of Disobeying God’s Will (James 4:17)

James 4:17. [17] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)

In James 4:17 we see James shift his emphasis from whether we know God’s will to whether we do God’s will. Verse 17 seems at first not to fit the thrust of the paragraph. The adverb oun (“so/then”) provides grammatical evidence that James intends a connection in thought. He may have made a jump in his line of thought without articulating the intervening steps, but it is entirely consistent with the rest of the letter for James to tell his readers to carry out their inward attitude with outward actions. In fact, James capsulizes in this one verse much of what he has already taught in the letter. The picture recalls the earlier picture of one who finds the brother or sister in need but does not do the good that ought to be done (2:15–16) (Stulac, G. M. (1993). James. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Jas 4:17). Downers Grove, Ill. USA: InterVarsity Press.).

Those guilty of this third negative approach to God’s will affirm God’s existence and acknowledge the supremacy of His will—then proceed to disobey it. James rebuked such people with the axiomatic statement that whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Those in this third group know God’s will, and affirm that it is right. Kalos (right) describes what is qualitatively good, morally excellent, worthy of honor, and upright. The reference here, however, is not primarily, that a single sin of omission is also sin, but the whole attitude of an impenitent religious knowledge, the whole self-contradiction of a hypocritical and unfruitful orthodoxism is here described as a wholesale sin of omission (Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., van Oosterzee, J. J., & Mombert, J. I. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: James (121). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.).

“Doing the right thing” in the Bible often means caring for those in need (Galatians 6:9–10). James is concerned with care for orphans, widows, and anyone without clothing and food (James 1:27; 2:15). He might, therefore, be warning against making plans for tomorrow not only without considering God’s will but also without concern for the poor. “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’—when you now have it with you” (Proverbs 3:27–28). One does not know what tomorrow holds, life is short, so one should do all the good he can today.

(It is sinful to fail to do the right thing because we presume that we will have an opportunity tomorrow) (Holloway, G. (1996). James & Jude. The College press NIV commentary (Jas 4:17). Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub.).

Please turn to Luke 12

Those who know God’s will are responsible to obey it, and if they fail to do so, they sin. They will find no comfort in the fact that they have not actively committed sin. Just leaving God out is itself sin. The sin of disregarding and disobeying God’s will is one of omission, of not doing what one knows is right (cf. Luke 12:47). Sins of omission are rarely isolated from sins of commission. We tend to limit sins to specific acts—doing wrong. But James tells us that sin is also not doing what is right. (These two kinds of sin are sometimes called sins of commission and sins of omission.) It is a sin to lie; it can also be a sin to know the truth and not tell it. It is a sin to speak evil of someone; it is also a sin to avoid that person when you know he or she needs your friendship (Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., & Wilson, N. S. (1992). James. Life application Bible commentary (115). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.).