James 4:13-17. [13] Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- [14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. [17] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)
Over this past week, overwhelmed rescuers struggled to save people trapped under the rubble as the death toll from a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose past 17,000 this week, with despair mounting and the scale of the disaster hampering relief efforts. (https://nationalpost.com/news/world/race-against-time-death-toll-passes-5000-from-earthquake-in-turkey-syria)
People have called this an act of God. But why is it only in situations like this we call events such. If you were to ask people in Turkey on Monday, what they expected this coming week to be like, you would most likely heard stories of going to work, enjoying time with friends and family, and making plans for doing various things that we all take for granted. Although it’s a good idea to make plans for various things in our life, if we fail to consider the sovereign nature of God in our lives we are in essence, setting ourselves up for disappointment or worse. God has His own plans and when we ignore, deny, or disobey His will, there are significant consequences.
Life is far from simple. It is a complex matrix of forces, events, people, contingencies, and circumstances over which we have little or no control, making it impossible for anyone to ascertain, design, or assure any specific future. Despite that, some people foolishly imagine that they are in charge of their lives. Sadly, such people ignore not only the existence of God’s will, but also its benefit. Christians have the comfort of knowing that the sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe controls every event and circumstance of their lives and weaves them all into His perfect plan for them (Rom. 8:28).
How are we to plan in light of God`s will? It be silly to plan without considering God`s will? What if we execute our plans in a direction contrary to what God has revealed? James tells us to consider in our planning process the blessing of acknowledging God`s will. In James 4:13-17 he points to four elements in how to properly plan ahead. First he shows: 1) The Foolishness of Ignoring God`s Will (James 4:13-14), 2) The Arrogance of Denying God`s Will (James 4:16) and 3) The Sin of Disobeying God`s Will (James 4:17). James however shows us 4) The Blessing of Acknowledging God`s Will (James 4:15)
For us to consider How to properly Plan Ahead, we must first consider:
1) The Foolishness of Ignoring God’s Will (James 4:13–14)
James 4:13-14. [13]Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- [14]yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (ESV)
In James 4:13, the first negative response to God’s will is foolishly ignoring it, living as if God did not exist or was indifferent to and benign toward human behavior. James addressed such people in familiar Old Testament prophetic style (cf. Isa. 1:18); The persons James addresses, however, appear to be the Jewish Christians who are living in dispersion. He writes this letter to them and not to unbelievers. Although his tone changes, James seems to indicate that the readers know how to do that which is good (v. 17), which implies that they belong to the Christian community (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary: Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (146). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
James begins his address with his words come now which are an insistent, even brash call for attention. James is in effect saying “Listen up!” or “Get this!” The phrase come now appears in the New Testament only here and in James 5:1. This begins an address where the claimants have a deliberate and calculated arrogance. They would go where they liked, and for as long as they liked. (Adamson, J. B. (1976). The Epistle of James (p. 179). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
• Underlying this is the sentiment of our day. People have their lives and plans and don’t expect anything or anyone to get in the way. This text is a wake-up call, in that it is an unconsidered life that is actually getting in the way of the reality of a sovereign God.
The targets of James’s rebuke are those who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town/city, and spend a year there and trade/engage in business and make a profit.” The Greek text literally reads “the ones who are saying,” indicating people who habitually live without regard for God’s will. The underlying Greek verb, lego, means to say something based on reason or logic. James rebuked those who habitually think through and articulate their plans as if God did not exist or care (cf. 4:11–12). There is somewhat of a parallel in Jesus’ discourse on the end of the age in which he refers to the days of Noah: “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (Matt. 24:38–39; also compare Luke 17:26–29). Although no one faults a person for eating, drinking, and marrying, the point is that in the life of Noah’s contemporaries God had no place. These people lived as if God did not exist. And this is also true of the merchants James addresses. Note that James has no quarrel with the merchant’s occupation. Nor does he write about the ethics of buying and selling...James takes the businessmen to task for their disregard for God. To them money is much more important than serving the Lord. They make plans for the future without seeking the will of God (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (146–147). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
• The specific illustration James chose was one that would have been familiar to his readers. Many Jewish people dispersed throughout the ancient world were successful businessmen, itinerant merchants who naturally sought out the flourishing trade centers in which to do business. Wise planning and strategizing in business is not, of course, sinful in and of itself but commendable. No spiritual principles are violated by anything the businessmen said. The problem lies in what they did not do. They did extensive planning, but in the course of their planning, they totally ignored God; God was not part of their agenda.
Like Satan’s five self-centered “I wills” (Isa. 14:13–14) that caused his fall, the businessmen’s statement contains five presumptuous elements indicating their ill-advised confidence. First, is the choice of one’s own time, today or tomorrow. Second, they chose their own location for doing business, such and such a town/city. Third, they chose their own duration, deciding to spend a year there. Fourth, they chose their own enterprise, to trade/engage in business (literally, “to travel into an area for trade”). Finally, they chose their own goal or objective, to make a profit. James is not attacking their profit motive, but their exclusion of God, because what bothers James is simply the presumption that one could so determine their future and the fact that these plans move on an entirely worldly plane in which the chief value is financial profit. (Davids, P. H. (1982). The Epistle of James: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 172). Eerdmans.).
Please turn to Luke 12
Allowing for no contingencies, they planned as if they were omniscient, omnipotent, and invulnerable. In Luke 12:16–21 the Lord Jesus Christ told a parable illustrating the folly of presumptuously leaving God out of one’s planning:
Luke 12:16-21 [16]And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, [17]and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' [18]And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. [19]And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' [20]But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' [21]So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." (ESV)
In James 4:14, James gives two important reasons those who presumptuously leave God out of their planning are foolish. First, James says to such people, You do not know what tomorrow will bring/what your life will be like tomorrow. Like the rich fool in our Lord’s parable in Luke 12, they were ignorant of the future. In Psalm 37:3-5, David wrote, [3] Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [4] Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. [5]Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. (ESV). Likeise in Proverbs 3:5-6, in probably an even more famous passage from a similar vein, Solomon wrote, [5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. [6] In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (ESV). Therefore, bringing us back to James 4:14, what James urges is not a morbid preoccupation with possible disaster, but a realistic attitude to the future made possible by faith in God.… Realizing the immediate future (from our perception) is uncertain not only teaches us trust in God, it helps us properly to value the present. To be obsessed with future plans may mark our failure to appreciate present blessings or our evasion of present duties (Adamson, J. B. (1976). The Epistle of James (p. 180). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
James here gives another reason that leaving God out of one’s planning is foolish: the brevity of life. You are a mist/just a vapor that appears for a little time/while, James reminded them, and then vanishes (away). Life is as transitory as a puff of smoke from a fire; the steam that rises from a cup of coffee; or one’s breath, briefly visible on a cold day. How foolish, in light of the brevity and frailty of earthly life, to plan and live it without consideration for God’s will. The Bible repeatedly stresses the shortness of human life. Job, possibly the first book of Scripture to be written, says much about life’s ephemeral nature. In Job 7:6 Job lamented, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to an end without hope,” while in Job 7:9 he added, “When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol [the abode of the dead] does not come up.” “We are only of yesterday and know nothing,” said Job’s friend Bildad the Shuhite, “because our days on earth are as a shadow” (Job 8:9). Continuing his lament, Job said, “Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its prey” (Job 9:25–26). Job’s complaint to God in Job 14:1–2 aptly summarizes the frailty and brevity of human existence: “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.”The Psalms also stress the transitory nature of human life. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,” wrote Moses, “or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away” (Ps. 90:10). “My days are like a lengthened shadow,” the psalmist mourned, “and I wither away like grass” (Ps. 102:11). Summing up the Bible’s teaching on the brevity of human life, David wrote, “As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place acknowledges it no longer” (Ps. 103:15–16; cf. Isa. 40:6–8; 1 Pet. 1:24). To James's audience, their ignorance of the future and the frailty and brevity of human life should give pause to those who foolishly ignore God’s will. James would impress upon us this critical piece of knowledge: that God is the one who sustains our lives, that each day’s twenty-four hours are not “ours” automatically, that God controls time and gives it as one of his good gifts, and that we would be already blown away in God’s judgment were it not for his mercy. The biblical worldview is that “we receive another day neither by natural necessity, nor by mechanical law, nor by right, nor by courtesy of nature, but only by the covenanted mercies of God” (Motyer 1985:162). This knowledge helps to dispel self-sufficiency, replacing it with the freedom to rely on God’s faithful generosity. Again, far from preaching self-reliance and works-orientation, James is leading us into a life of grace-reliance (Stulac, G. M. (1993). James. The IVP New Testament commentary series. Downers Grove, Ill. USA: InterVarsity Press.).
Quote: John Wesley said: ``Realizing the future is uncertain not only teaches us trust in God, it helps us to properly value the present. To be obsessed with future plans may work our failure to appreciate present blessings or our evasion of present duties (Cited in Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., & Wilson, N. S. (1992). James. Life application Bible commentary (113). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers).
Illustration: (`Wesley`s Marriage`) Ignoring God`s will can be costly: While crossing a bridge in London, John Wesley stumbled and sprained his ankle. Some friends carried him to the house of Mrs. Mary Vazielle on Threadneedle Street. She was a widow with several children. She cared for Wesley and his response to her concern was to ask her to marry him. But Mary was accustomed to her quiet home, and it was difficult for her to travel with her husband and stay in uncomfortable inns. It is unfortunate that Mary was not content just to ignore John’s ministry; she actually opposed it. She gave certain personal letters to his enemies and even made additions to them that made them worse! If we were writing fiction we might say that the sprained ankle was God’s providential way to bring those people together. But the marriage was a disaster, and Mary finally left John. Had Wesley consulted with his brother Charles, and asked for the prayers of the brethren, he might have avoided that unfortunate situation. (Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, W. Wiersbe, Moody Press, 1984, p. 246)
• Even for otherwise mature and godly saints, we can be blinded to what is in front of us. One of the crucial reasons why God draws people together in a congregation is for our edification and protection. Like an animal that has strayed from the herd, the saints of God are in very precarious danger and easy pickings for the enemy apart from God’s designed resource for us, the Local Church.
For us to consider How to properly Plan Ahead, we must also consider:
2) The Arrogance of Denying God’s Will (James 4:16)
James 4:16. [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (ESV)
We will deal with verse 15 in the final point, but here in verse 16, the first wrong response to God’s will is presumptuously ignoring it, living as though God and His will do not exist. But there are also those who, while acknowledging that God exists and has a will, nevertheless arrogantly reject it. Those in the first group are practical atheists—living as if God did not exist. Those in this second category are self-theists—refusing to submit the uncertainties of life to God, they set themselves, their own goals, and their own wills above God. God’s will, though acknowledged, simply is not as important to them as their plans. Though such disdain does not characterize the life of a believer generally, even Christians are often guilty of setting aside God’s will in favor of their own plans. Those who deny God’s will, James says, boast in their arrogance. Kauchaomai (boast) can mean “to be loud-mouthed,” or “to speak loudly,” either in legitimate rejoicing (e.g., Rom. 5:2–3, 11) or in touting one’s own accomplishments (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:19). The context indicates James has the latter meaning in mind in this passage. Alazoneia (arrogance) comes from a root word meaning “to wander about” and reflects empty pretense. It was sometimes used to describe charlatans who traveled around selling phony goods. Taken together, the two words picture someone bragging pretentiously about something he doesn’t have and can’t obtain. Such is the arrogance, James says, of those who deny the will of God. Proverbs 27:1 expresses the same principle: [27:1] Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (ESV). Most of us do not think of ourselves as boasting people, because we do not go around making people listen to our bragging. As a good discipler, however, James makes us examine more subtle forms of boasting. Arrogance in knowledge occurs when we assume that we control time and events (Stulac, G. M. (1993). James. The IVP New Testament commentary series. Downers Grove, Ill. USA: InterVarsity Press.).
Please turn to Isaiah 47
This makes the arrogance not merely the manner of their boasting but rather the object of their boasting. The sin James is exposing is not merely a sin of omission (neglecting to recognize God’s rule over their affairs); it is a sin of commission in that they even boast about their self-sufficiency (Stulac, G. M. (1993). James. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Jas 4:15). Downers Grove, Ill. USA: InterVarsity Press.).
Isaiah 47:7–10 gives an example of arrogant denial of God’s will, recording the proud, defiant words of Babylon:
Isaiah 47:7-10. [7]You said, "I shall be mistress forever," so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end. [8]Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children": [9]These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments. [10] You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, "No one sees me"; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." (ESV)
James warns that all such empty, arrogant, foolish boasting is evil. Scripture uses poneros (evil) as a title for Satan (Matt. 13:38; John 17:15; Eph. 6:16; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 John 2:13–14; 3:12; 5:18–19), the original boastful sinner (cf. Isa. 14:13–14). Those who arrogantly deny God’s will emulate Satan’s sin and may suffer his doom. Our boasting is to be in the Lord Himself, in the blessings He gives us, and in the experiences which cause us to know him better. Paul boasted in his weaknesses that allowed the power of Christ to rest on him (2 Cor. 12:9). He gloried in the cross (Gal. 6:14) because it represented the action which brought the blessings of God’s salvation to lost sinners (Lea, T. D. (1999). Hebrews, James (Vol. 10, p. 325). Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
Poem: Perhaps no one has expressed a defiant attitude toward God any more clearly than William Ernest Henley in his famous poem “Invictus”: “Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul”. This poem clearly reflects the attitude of those who know God exists, but arrogantly defy His will. Have you felt that way? Have you felt it is your life to plan, it is your decision to make, and you’ve not consulted Almighty God? James says that you are a practical atheist. You’re living as though there is no God, even though you believe in one. There’s an attitude we should not take (Rogers, A. (2017). The Sad Case of the Boastful Businessman. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Jas 4:13–17). Rogers Family Trust.).
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.).
The sin of this third group is actually more serious than that of the first two groups. We see this with the parable of the faithful steward in Luke 12:
Luke 12:41-48. [41] Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" [42] And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? [43] Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. [44] Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. [45]But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, [46]the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. [47] And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. [48] But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. (ESV)
• The wayward prophet Jonah provides a classic illustration of one who knew the will of God, but refused to do it. Called by God to preach to Nineveh, the reluctant prophet instead attempted to flee to Tarshish—about as directly in the opposite direction as possible. Only after being severely disciplined by God did Jonah finally submit to His will. Those who disobey God’s will likewise suffer the consequences (cf. Rom. 1:21–23).
Illustration: In 1744 Louis XV of France was smitten with a malady which threatened to cut his days short. The historian Thomas Carlyle tells us that France was in terror, and Paris seemed like a city taken by storm. The churches resounded with supplications and groans, and the prayers of priests and people were continually interrupted by their sobs. This widespread manifestation of tender interest and deep affection for Louis XV brought him the surname of “Louis the Well-beloved.” The love of the people for their young king was not inspired by what he had done, but by what they hoped he would do. For years the nation had been crushed under the heel of a cruel tyrant, and they regarded the accession of Louis XV as the dawn of a brighter and happier day. They loved him because in him rested all their hopes. That was in 1744. Thirty years later, Louis XV again lay sick. But the churches did not resound with excessive groanings. Sobs did not now interrupt any prayers, for no prayers were being offered. In fact, “Louis the Well-beloved” had become the most hated man in France. In 1744 he might have asked, “What have I done to be so loved?” and in 1774, “What have I done to be so hated?” The truth is, he had done nothing (James Hastings, ed., The Speaker’s Bible, James (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1971), p. 177.).
Finally, for us to consider How to properly Plan Ahead, James shows us
4) The Blessing of Acknowledging God’s Will (James 4:15)
James 4:15 [15]Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (ESV)
In contrast to the negative, sinful responses to God’s will that we have looked at in the previous three points, now in verse 15, James gives the positive side. Instead of the practical atheism, self-theism, or flagrant disobedience of the first three responses, James exhorts his readers to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. This fourth alternative and positive response to God’s will, that of acknowledging and obeying it, generally marks true believers. The present infinitive form of the verb translated to say reveals that submission to God’s will must be habitual and continual. In every aspect of their lives and in every decision they face, believers’ response is to say “If the Lord wills.” Simply put, the will of God is central to all their plans (cf. Acts 18:21; Rom. 1:10; 15:32; 1 Cor. 4:19; 16:7; Phil. 2:19, 24; Heb. 6:3). The Puritans filled their speech and correspondence with the Latin equivalent Deo Volente, “God willing.” And the Methodists followed the same practice. In fact, godly Methodists regularly signed their letters with the initials D.V., and placards and circulars about coming events also had D.V (Hughes, R. K. (1991). James: Faith that works. Preaching the Word (206). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.).
In some circles and cultures, the cliché the if the Lord wills is rather common. It is a pious formula that because of its repeated usage begins to lose its intended significance. But why does James tell the merchants to use this formula? He shows them that their lives are in the hands of a sovereign God and that they should acknowledge him in all their plans. He does not tell them when and how to use the phrase if God wills (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (148). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.). Surprisingly, this phrase does not appear in the Old Testament. In the New Testament era, however, the apostle Paul teaches the Christians its proper use. For example, when Paul left Ephesus, he said to the Jews, “I will come back if it is God’s will” (Acts 18:21). He told the Corinthians, “I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing” (I Cor. 4:19). Finally, He promised the believers in Corinth to spend some time with them “if the Lord permits” (I Cor. 16:7; also compare Phil. 2:19, 24; Heb. 6:3). The business people should qualify all of their plans and hopes with reference to the will of the Lord. What must be recognized is that this world is not a closed system; that an influence quite outside the material sphere ultimately determines the success and failure of plans—indeed, the very continuation of life itself (Moo, D. J. (1985). Vol. 16: James: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (161). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
Acknowledging God’s will affirms His sovereignty over all aspects of life. We live only because God so wills it, for He controls life and death (Deut. 32:39; Job 12:9–10; Pss. 39:4–5; 104:29; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 1:18). God also controls everything people do and all the circumstances of life. Thus, the proper attitude does not exclude plans: “we will live and do this or that” assumes planning is proper. But this attitude conditions plans by the will of God, recognizing both human finiteness and divine sovereignty. This naturally means that divine moral guidelines will be followed and divine goals sought as one plans conscious of the divine will (Davids, P. H. (1982). The Epistle of James: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 173). Eerdmans.).
For the Christian, doing God’s will is an act of worship (Rom. 12:1–2). It is to be done from the heart (Eph. 6:6), as a way of life (Col. 1:9–10; 4:12), recognizing that He must energize us to do it (Heb. 13:20–21). In John 13:17 the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced the reward given those who do God’s will: [17] If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (ESV). Responding to God’s will is yet another test of a living and true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A strong desire to do the will of God is a sure mark of a transformed life.
(Format Note: Outline and some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (1998). James (229–239). Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press)
