3/16/30
Unchristian conduct
vv 4: 11-17
ix “the test of dependence”
11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
James now lightens up a little by shifting from “adulterous people” back to “brothers”, however, he shows he is still very concerned with their moral conduct, expressing this concern by illustrating we human’s natural tendency to selfish, uncharitable, spiteful conduct; once again pointing out the damage that an unbridled tongue causes – to ourselves as well as others.
1.An unruly tongue, again
- V11: slander is completely incompatible with a “humble”, “charitable”, spirit. Slander was considered a vice in their society,( Rom.1: 30; 2 Cor. 12: 20; 1 Pet. 2:1) as it is in ours, but James shows that it is even worse than that: it is a shockingly presumptuous assumption of God’s absolute authority of Judge! An expose’ of a far worse sin than what we often casually dismiss as relatively innocuous “gossip” – even it is deadly sinful: in slandering/gossiping we are condemning ourselves by the Law! Only the truly humble person is honored. James shows that in judging our brothers, we judge God’s law, to our condemnation, reinforcing previous very similar statements ( 1: 22-23, 2: 8-12, 3: 5-6).
- V12: in v 1:21James ascribed the power to condemn or forgive to the “engrafted word”. God alone has the power to judge. Divine judgment determines where one will spend eternity – how could a mere mortal exercise such staggering power? “who are you 0 man..(Rom.9:20; Rom. 14: 4; etc). Christians are prone to sinful rivalries and judgmental attitudes which if left un-checked will inevitably lead to presumptuous usurping of God’s role, the only defense is a humble spirit. The one doing the slander is often completely oblivious of their own abysmal condition; which they now worsen by their arrogance. With ones slanderous actions one sets one up as a judge, with evil thoughts (2: 4) whose conversation is no better than cursing (3: 10).James caution about teaching (3: 1) fits right in.
- V 13-James continues his assault on presumptuousness, zeroing in on wealthy, selfish, businessmen. His opening colloquialism “go to now” is used in the NT only by him, here and again in chapter 5: 1, the familiar almost slang phrase catches his readers attention and personalizes his following attack. The offender being addressed here is the typical businessman, or any successful person, concentrating on the futile accumulation of more stuff while taking no thought of their mortality and the inevitable judgment we all face. (Matt. 6: 25-34). These folks are thinking and speaking as though they are in complete control of the universe and are not in the least interested in the Creator of the Universes wishes and do not need, or want, anything from Him.
- V-14: James tells these selfish hustlers they don’t even know what will happen tomorrow, men never know the future, all plans are tentative, completely dependent on God’s omnipotence, they have exposed both their ignorance and their arrogance; another example of the self deception James has been talking about ( 1: 2-3, 6-7, 13-14, 16, 19, 26; 3: 1, 14; 4: 4-5). Their ignorance is rooted in their human nature. He points out the briefness and fragility of life, no one knows the time or place of their death, life is brief; a mist that appears and quickly dissipates…without trusting God these believers are little different than the wicked unbelievers they live among.
- V-15: “if it is the Lord’s will…”this phrase is common in the NT and is indicative of trust in God and His ordering of their lives. It isn’t used like some magical incantation, or superstitious muttering, but as a realistic affirmation of God’s sovereignty. This statement ties back to his previous warnings about merely being “hearers” of the Word and not “doers”; having faith that is dead without works. Yet, with this polemic against the rich the idolatry of worshiping mammon is even more significantly dealt with: here, in this short sentence James summarizes the failing of not recognizing the fallacy of self reliance the utterly helpless, hopeless, condition of mankind: “..ye ought to say…”. Hope is to Love God all the time, with all ones heart and not presume anything beyond that. A few years later Matthew recorded Jesus words:
Edition : Third
Copyright : Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc.
Matthew 6:25-34 ( KJV )
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Here in this short statement James has supplied the successful person with a way to cope: trust their enterprise to God, “every good and perfect gift comes from God…”
- V16: “…boasting is evil…” however, boasting of “our Hope” in view of the work of God is very appropriate for a believer, but this is not the case here: these are bragging on their own accomplishments…evil, self aggrandizement,. Instead of praising and trusting God they are declaring their independence. Inherent in boasting is “respecter of persons”, proclaiming oneself to be superior to others which James warned against back in chapter two: “…But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Coupled with this is the condemnation expressed a bit earlier that friendship with the world is enmity with God..Boasting, as described here, shows the hearts sinful attitude towards worldly possessions and accomplishments: the opposite of humility and a humble dedication of service to God. Boasting arises from a prideful, prayerless, selfish, and pretentious life; what could this be but wickedness?
- V17: with that spiritual maturity James guided us to in earlier parts of his letter it would be impossible – or sinful, to not do the “good” things that one knows to do: faith without works is dead. Disconnecting what one does from what one knows is another example of the double mindedness James repeatedly mentioned: glancing into a mirror – then walking away....to not fail to do what one knows is right requires that all one’s intentions and actions be completely subject to God’s will, whole hearted trust in God.
DISCUSSION
• Why is judging someone particularly bad
• What is God’s attitude towards “pride”?
• What is wrong with planning ahead?
• Rejoicing is evil?
• How does James illustrate the brevity of life?
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