Ignorance of the law is never an excuse in court. We’re expected to know what the speed limit is, or the catch limit on a fishing license, or which species are protected, or whatever. Right, but with sin, knowledge matters. This is because sin is fundamentally rebellion against God. It’s all about what’s in the heart. The actions reveal what’s in the heart to us, but God sees what’s in the heart directly. He sees the sin, not just the symptoms of the sin.

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. — James 4:13–17 (NKJV)

James seems to be saying, “Don’t put off to tomorrow, what you can do today.”

Yes. James is moving on to one of the most obvious aspects of the fact that we’re not God—we don’t know the future. We all understand this truism, yet we often act like we don’t believe it.

This is sort of what James has been saying all along, if we act like we don’t believe it, then we don’t believe it. We have a confidence about the future that’s not really all that confident.

That makes sense.

The point is that we should never disconnect from God. He is Lord, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

“But,” James continues, “now you boast in your arrogance.”

That is kind of nuts. Do you think there’s a psychological connection between boasting about that confidence and that confidence being actually shaky?

That is a common psychological phenomenon, but James doesn’t make that connection. He’s more concerned with the consequences.

And note that this part is directly addressed to his first century readers. While it’s for everyone’s edification, the direct implication doesn’t apply to all.

But then the next sentence does apply to all. All such boasting is evil.

Yikes. Boasting is a big part of the American culture.

Read More