Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mankato
Study of James -- Lesson #15
April 9, 2000
James 4:13-17

James 4:13-17 [NKJV]

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

All of the following verses in James have something in common except two—which are they? Why are they different? What is significant about the difference?

1:2; 1:16; 1:19; 2:1; 2:5; 2:14; 3:1; 3:10; 4:11; 4:13; 5:1; 5:7; 5:12; 5:19

Verse 13: Come now, the ones saying: "Today or tomorrow we will go into such-and-such a city and we will make a year in that place and we will buy and sell and we will gain (make a profit).

• In the sayings of those whom James is now addressing, there are 4 declarations of what WILL happen. There is no doubt expressed…none! No qualifications…none! Simply "We WILL!!" James is writing to lead the people to follow the "Lord’s will" instead of the "we will."
• The buying-selling & money-making is not where the sin lies (though it could also lie there, that is not the issue James is confronting here). God not only allows business, He expects it if that is what your responsibilities lead you to do. Read Matthew 24:45-46, Ecclesiastes 9:10, etc.

Verse 14: (Whereas actually NOT you are knowing the doings of tomorrow. Of what kind is your life? For you are a vapor which becomes visible for a brief [time] and then it disappears.)

• Verse 14 is a parenthetical "interruption" between verses 13 & 15. This "parenthetical verse" shows the reality of things in contrast to the statement made in verse 13. You’re saying you WILL DO these things, when actually you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow much less a year from now.
• Of what kind is your life: James is asking a question (which he also answers) to make his readers consider the nature of human life since sin came into the world. This phrase could be loosely translated: "To what shall I compare your life?" To which James answers….VAPOR!
• Compare this description of life with the human desire to "leave a legacy" and to be "remembered through the ages." Things of human importance will eventually fade like vapor UNLESS they are connected to the ever-remaining Word of God. Consider Mary’s "henceforth all generations shall call me blessed…" (Luke 1:48) and our own "eternal existence" through Christ.
• Related Passages:
  • Passing nature of life: Job 7:6-7; Psalm 39:5-6; 90:5-6,9; 144:4
  • Future unknown: Proverbs 27:1; Luke 12:18-20;
  • Passing value of life: Ecclesiastes 2:4-11; Matthew 16:26; Matthew 6:19-21

Verse 13, 15: Come now, the ones saying: "Today or tomorrow we will go into such-and-such a city and we will make a year in that place and we will buy and sell and we will gain…Instead of saying, "If the Lord wills we will live and we will do this or that.

• In vv. 7-10, James rebuked arrogance toward God and lack of humble submission.
• In vv. 11-12, James rebuked arrogance toward fellow Christians.
• In verse 15, James rebukes another kind of arrogance—an arrogance that dismisses the Lord’s providence and rule of over all things.
• Now the certainty of we WILL can be truly stated, because if the Lord wills, then we WILL…!
• The Apostle Paul provides an example of what James instructs—Acts 18:21.

KRETZMANN: To maintain an attitude of proud indifference to the government of the Lord and to His control of the affairs of human life, is exhibiting a pride of mind which cannot be reconciled with true Christianity; it is an evil boasting in which many people are prone to indulge. [p. 512]

Verse 16: But now you are boasting in connection with your arrogance. ALL boasting of this kind is evil.

IS ALL BOASTING EVIL? NO! James says, "All of this kind…"

• The arrogance of which James’ speaks is arrogance that does not take God’s will into account. Boasting of this type is evil because it forgets God and exalts itself. The opposite of this arrogance is to place one’s entire life into the hands of Jesus. (cf: Matthew 6:33, etc).
• READ 1 Corinthians 5:6 – What is the leaven to which Paul specifically refers in this verse?

Verse 17: Therefore, someone knowing the good to do and not doing it—it is a sin on him.

• "Not knowing" does not excuse sin. However, James teaches that if we know what we should do and don’t do it, that is a sin. SIN OF OMMISSION.
• There is often a tendency to consider the good things that are left undone as being less serious than the wrong things that are done. James erases any such ideas.
• Jesus also spoke of "Sins of Omission": Matthew 25:41-45; Luke 12:47
• Samuel gives excellent example: 1 Samuel 12:23

ARE YOU LOOKING for a perfect, short, tuck-it-in your mind/heart summary of what James says in this section? God Himself has given you one: Proverbs 16:9.

ARE YOU LOOKING for a little longer summary? Martin Franzmann has given you one:

FRANZMANN: Turn FROM the secular self-assurance of the trader, who lays his plans under the huge delusion that man is lord of his tomorrows, forgetting the frailty and transience of all human life and forgetting Him who is lord of the morrow. Turn TO the Lord who rules all life and all its tomorrows and learn to say, "If the Lord wills" in all your planning, for to know the Lord and not to live constantly under His lordship is sin. [Martin Franzmann, Word of the Lord Grows, p. 35]

Thought & Discussion

• Discuss ways to improve our ability to include God in our planning. In what ways should God be involved as we think about tomorrow, or next week, or next year?
• God is does not forbid forethought, planning, business-ventures, etc. (cf: Matthew 24:45-46, etc.) Not taking care of the responsibilities God has given us would also be a sin. There is a line between God-pleasing planning and self-assured planning. What suggestions can we give ourselves to walk along that "fine line." When does "Lord-trusting-planning" stop and self-reliant-planning" and/or "sinful worry" begin?
• What part does the Word of God play in our planning? What part does prayer play in our planning?

{WCE}