5-Day Commentary Challenge - James 4Sample

THE FOOLISHNESS OF

PRESUMPTUOUS PLANNING, 4:13–15

These verses contain another example of man’s arrogance and self-sufficiency. In the previous section James addressed the inappropriateness and arrogance of assuming to oneself God’s role as judge; now he turns to address the arrogant attitude of self-sufficiency in presumptuous planning. Man often assumes he is the final arbitrator of his own life; he should, rather, walk humbly before God and trust in His providential care. But man easily gets so engrossed in the pursuit of financial gain that he fails to take God into consideration in his planning. In this section, James first gives a brief statement reflecting presumption in planning for the future (v. 13), then shows the foolishness of such an attitude (v. 14), followed by a correct approach toward the future (v. 15). “Come now” (cf. 5:1) introduces a change in the subject matter. Itinerant business people who have been successful in merchandising are now addressed. The picture of an itinerant merchant fits with the Jewish business person of the Roman world. Lydia, “a seller of purple fabrics,” went from Thyatira to Philippi (Acts 16:14), and Priscilla and Aquila moved with their trade from place to place (Acts 18:1–2, 18). James’s rebuke is not against planning for the future; it is against planning without taking God into account.

Evidently the past successes in commercial enterprises gave the merchants James is addressing confidence in their ability to make even more money. In discussing their plans, they treated the future as if they had control over it and it was their property. They had planned the time of departure, the city to be visited, the time to be spent, the business to be transacted, and the profit to be made, all without taking into consideration the providential working of God. Scripture warns, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). In the parable of the rich fool, the rich man made plans for a secure future without considering that the length of his life was not within his power to determine (Luke 12:16–21). By exposing the foolishness of their presumptuous attitude toward the future, James lays bare two weaknesses in their thinking: they were assuming the events of tomorrow, when in reality no human knows what tomorrow holds; and they were not taking into consideration the transitoriness and uncertainty of human life. There might not even be a tomorrow.

Translations vary on the punctuation of the first part of verse 14. It may be taken as two sentences: “Yet you do not know what shall be on the morrow. What is your life?”. Or it may be rendered as one: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow”. The former suggests that for one to assume that he will even be alive on the morrow is presumptuous. The latter rendering assumes the person will be alive on the morrow, but to know what that day will bring forth is presumptuous. In either case the emphasis is that we do not know about tomorrow, whether we will even be here, let alone be certain of our man made plans.

The proof of that is that life is but a “vapor.” Different terms are used in Scripture of the brevity of human life, such as “breath” (Job 7:7), “cloud” (Job 7:9), “grass” (Ps. 103:15), and “lengthened shadow” (Ps. 102:11). “Vapor” is a term used for a “puff of smoke,” “steam” rising from hot water, or “breath” coming from the nostrils on a cold day. It is an apt description of something that has very little permanence. There is a play on words; literally, “appearing and then disappearing,” emphasizing the transient and short-lived nature of life.

Rather than presumptuous planning, one ought in humility to take God into account in planning for the future (v. 15). This verse brings the reader back to and is in contrast with verse 13. Instead of the arrogant talking of verse 13, the pious person ought to say, “If the Lord wills.” The formula “If the Lord wills” is an aorist subjunctive: “If the Lord should will.” It leaves the situation indefinite and does not presume upon God’s prerogative to will as He chooses. Several times the apostles used that expression as they planned the future (Acts 18:21; 1 Cor. 4:19; cf. 16:7). Where the formula is not used (Acts 19:21), certainly the apostles assumed it in their attitude toward the future. Though the phrase “God willing” (Deo volente [D.V.]) can degenerate, and often has, into mere hypocrisy and empty piety, it should not deter the humble Christian from expressing his dependence on God verbally and otherwise.

God’s providential control is over both our lives and our actions: “We shall live and also do this or that.” To plan ahead is biblical; not to plan is foolish. But planning must be approached from the standpoint of God’s will. Careful forethought is not depreciated, but the attitude of haughty self-confidence and independence from God is exposed.

THE EVIL OF A PRESUMPTUOUS ATTITUDE, 4:16–17

“But as it is” turns the attention to the present corrupt attitude they had. The basic evil displayed is that of presumptuous arrogance. “Boast” can have either a good or a bad sense. In 1:9 it is used in a good sense (cf. Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:3); here in a bad sense (cf. 1 Cor. 1:29; Gal. 6:13). The condescending backbiting of verse 11 and the planning of verse 15 is, in effect, evil boasting. Their boasting finds expression in their “arrogance,” which is in the plural and carries the idea of insolence and of pretentious bragging. In 1 John 2:16 the term is used in company with “lust”:

“The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.” Those worldly attitudes are further stated by John as not having their source from the Father, but from the world. Such boasting with its accompanying pretentious bragging “is evil.” It has satanic characteristics, for Satan is called “the evil one” (Eph. 6:16; cf. Matt. 6:13 margin). Because “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), it is small wonder that worldliness exhibiting itself in arrogant boastfulness is said to be evil.

The concluding maxim caps what has been said: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (v. 17). That verse, which clinches what has been said in the paragraph (vv. 13–17), can be seen as “a general summing up and moral of what has been said before” as far back as 1:22, and provides a bridge to the next section. Emphasis is laid not so much on active wrongdoing, but on the passive failure to do what is right. Paul wrote, “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23); John asserted, “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4), which may mean sin is an active transgression of the law, or, perhaps better, sin is failure to keep the law. Throughout the epistle James has concerned himself with a vibrant, productive faith. The believer who does not produce works of righteousness is actually sinning, and the sin of omission is as serious as the sin of commission. Often it is easier to refrain from committing sins that are forbidden than to perform good at every opportunity afforded. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the Samaritan seized the opportunity to do good, something that the priest and Levite had failed to do (Luke 10:30–35). In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man was condemned for his failure to do good toward the needy (Luke 16:19–31). The obligation placed on man is the law of love; any failure in the performance of it is labeled “sin.”

The individual addressed is not ignorant of God’s requirement to do “right” (kalon; lit., “good”). He knows his obligation, but fails to practice it; he is sinning against better knowledge. Micah wrote, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8). Concerning our obligation, Paul commanded, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). It is axiomatic that we more often fail to do the good we ought to do, than actively do what we ought not to do. Arrogance, boasting, and a presumptuous attitude keep us from fulfilling the law of love, therefore they are sin.

Note from the Publisher: We hope that you have been encouraged by this 5-day commentary challenge from Vernon Doerkson . You can pick up a copy of James - Everyday Bible Commentary at moodypublishers.com