ON THE VANGUARD

DO THE GOOD STUFF
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
James 4:17

The one thing I love about studying a complete book or chapter in the Bible, as we have been doing in going through the book of James, is that I can see the book in context. Looking at James, for example, I know key verses. James 4:17 is one of those verses. To read it alone we read that if we know what we should do and do not do it, that is sin. This is true. If I know for a fact that I should not steal and yet still choose to steal, then that is sin according to Exodus 20:15. If I know that I am not to worship false gods according to Exodus 20:4, and yet bow down and worship the fat boy Buddha or the Hindu goddess Kali, then again I am sinning. So while we can take this verse out alone and still find value in it, I wonder how it reads if we look at it in context.
In order to do this, we must look a verse or two before and a verse or two after. This, then, is how it reads. “As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you,” (James 4:16-5:1). Now in context we see James referring to boasting. Boasting is evil. In the Greek this word ‘boasting’ is ALAZONEIA, meaning to give empty or braggart talk, to give empty assurance, or to place trust in one’s own power. Looking back to yesterday where we discussed James 4:13-14, we see that we are not the main character in the movie of life. Instead are but a mist that comes and then vanishes. How then can we boast and give braggart talk, or encourage others to trust in our power, when we are here for only a short moment? This is a sin I know I am guilty of, and one that goes against God’s Word. As I continue to do it, I only continue to sin. The fact is, in looking ahead to James 5:1, the richness I credit myself in concerning my own boasting will only lead to a misery that will indeed come upon me.
So what is the answer? Well obviously taken by itself the answer is not to do what we know is sin. Despite what it is, if it is done outside the allotments of God, then it is sin. If it goes against God’s Laws as written in His Word, then it is sin. But if we look at this portion in context, we also find an answer. We find that we are not to boast. We are not to give an empty assurance of ourselves to others or place a trust in our own power. This too, being known as something we are not to do and perhaps are doing, is sin. The challenge then is two parts today. First, let us be those who read the Word in context and rightly understand what is being said. Secondly, though, let us be those who know what sin is, be it boasting, serving false gods, stealing, what have you, and stop sinning in these ways.
If we know we are not to do and do it, we sin. If we know what we are to do and do not do it, we sin. It is time to stop sinning.