The verse that really and truly gets to me

[mystdancer50]

It mainly gets to me because, with all the tap dancing and whatnot that I do, this just nails my feet to the floor and says, "Yeah, it's still sin."

James 4:17

THE MESSAGE (James 4:16-17)

As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

AMPLIFIED (James 4:17)

So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.

NEW KING JAMES (James 4:17)

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Just, you know, I know what I ought to do and not do and, well, when I excuse it, for whatever reason, this basically says I'm sinning. So, like, even if I know I should do something that is a good thing, for example help an old woman carry her groceries out, because I know she needs the help (I see her struggling and whatnot) and I don't do it, I'm sinning.

I don't know if that is what this verse literally means, but it is a verse that every single time I read it, it pierces my heart, you know? It really makes me stop and consider what it is that I know is good and am refusing to do, for whatever reason. It kind of eliminates my excuses and makes them show up for the pettiness they truly are.

Yup. This is the verse that really and truly gets to me. It is one of many, mind, but it is the one most currently focused on.

 

[posthuman]

me too.

Proverbs 3:27-28 goes right hand-in-hand with what James says here:

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”
when you already have it with you.

 

[mystdancer50]

Oh, man! Thanks for adding to the pressure!

I'm going to add that verse to my study of the James verse. Thanks so much!

 

[posthuman]

i try to read through proverbs every month (31 chapters, ~31 days give or take) and every time i get to that it's convicting.

that, and a whole lot of other verses!

 

[Enow]

James was also addressing making any boast in the flesh about any plans for tomorrow. To counter that, we are to say, God be willing....we shall do this or that when making plans for tomorrow.

James 4:[SUP]13 [/SUP]Go 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: [SUP]14 [/SUP]Whereas 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. [SUP]15 [/SUP]For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [SUP]16 [/SUP]But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. [SUP]17 [/SUP]Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

So there is no real pressure when you are trusting Jesus Christ to help you do the good you are to do for today as well.

John 6:[SUP]28 [/SUP]Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? [SUP]29 [/SUP]Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Galatians 2:[SUP]16 [/SUP]Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. [SUP]17 [/SUP]But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. [SUP]18 [/SUP]For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. [SUP]19 [/SUP]For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. [SUP]20 [/SUP]I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. [SUP]21 [/SUP]I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 3:1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? [SUP]2 [/SUP]This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [SUP]3 [/SUP]Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? [SUP]4 [/SUP]Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage....[SUP]5 [/SUP]For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Matthew 11:[SUP]28 [/SUP]Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [SUP]29 [/SUP]Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [SUP]30 [/SUP]For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Philippians 1:[SUP]6 [/SUP]Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:....[SUP]9 [/SUP]And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; [SUP]10 [/SUP]That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. [SUP]11 [/SUP]Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

2 Timothy 4:[SUP]18 [/SUP]And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

[mystdancer50]

"To the one who is intimately dedicated to the beautiful, excellent, precious, useful, admirable, good, genuine, noble, praiseworthy thing, that which is excellent in its nature and characteristics and therefore well adapted to its ends, and promises to perform that which is morally good and confers honor, affecting the mind agreeably, to act rightly and carry out, execute, celebrate and keep said thing, and yet does not fulfill said promise to perform and does not act rightly and carry out said thing, to that one it is err, they have missed the mark, have done wrong and have violated God's law."

Word study has just begun...James 4:17

 

[konroh]

So perfection is not only not sinning, but always doing good as well! Yes, I'm absolutely not perfect and anyone who says she is should always be doing good, and probably also realize that she's not perfect.

 

[mystdancer50]

None of us are perfect, which is why we need Christ and must lay down our bodies as a living sacrifice every single day. The thing is, though, if you know you should be doing something and you aren't doing it, well, time to start doing it, yes? This is why this is such a big deal to me. I know what I am supposed to be doing, what good I am called to do, and just because of previous hurts and current circumstances, I'm not doing it. So, that is the same as sinning. This is a wake-up call for me. I should be about my Father's business...not the world's busyness.

 

[jordy1984]

Set your affection on things above not on things of the earth Colossians 3:2 such a verse to think about easy just to read past it and not really think about it!!

 

[The_highwayman]

None of us are perfect, which is why we need Christ and must lay down our bodies as a living sacrifice every single day. The thing is, though, if you know you should be doing something and you aren't doing it, well, time to start doing it, yes? This is why this is such a big deal to me. I know what I am supposed to be doing, what good I am called to do, and just because of previous hurts and current circumstances, I'm not doing it. So, that is the same as sinning. This is a wake-up call for me. I should be about my Father's business...not the world's busyness.

Mysticdancer,

You should read and study up on 2 Peter2.1-11
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
[SUP]3 [/SUP]According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
[SUP]6 [/SUP]And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
[SUP]7 [/SUP]And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

The Greek word fall means:

1. to err, make a mistake, to sin
2. to fall into misery, become wretched
   
   The largest myth in the church is that we will always sin. That is not what the Bible says at all. The Bible says that by the promises of God we are partakers of the divine nature of God.
   
   To be crystal clear, Jesus started perfect and ended perfect. We started with a sinful nature, but have been made righteous and when we were delivered out of the powers of darkness and were translated into the kingdom of his dear son[See Col 1.13] we got our choice back. Sin is a choice not an action.
   
   We will NEVER be perfect, but I believe as the Bible says we can be all points tempted...yet without sin [See Heb 4.15]
   
   As you spiritually mature and begin living and walking in the Spirit [See Gal 5.25] and renewing your mind to have the mind of Christ [See Phil 2.5] and begin to partake of the divine nature there should be certain sins that don't beset you any more.
   
   This is a teaching the church has never or does not like to teach/preach about because its better to keep saints in condemnation, rather than setting them free.
   
   There is no condemnation for those which walk Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit[See Rom 8.1] and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [2 Cor 3.17]

 

[mystdancer50]

I take the word of God very seriously and since there is a Scripture that says that Jesus told His disciples, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, didn't we do many things in Your name? Didn't we cast out demons?' and to them I will say, 'Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.'"

So, was He addressing those that aren't part of the church, or those that are?

I fully realize that by the power of Christ and Holy Spirit, we can choose not to sin. My focus on James 4:17 is that we can also choose not to do good, and in so doing are sinning. So, it isn't necessarily fornication but rather the refusal to do what we know we ought to do.

I think that the real issue in churches today is not the feeling of condemnation, but rather the whole "we're under grace so anything goes". I live my life constantly checking it for leaven because, honestly, the world and its compromises are very insidious and I don't want to go through this life touting feel good Scriptures and letting sin and compromise run rampant in my life, covering myself in a thin veneer of grace abounding. Yes, I am saved by grace. I cannot earn my way to heaven. I can most definitely, however, choose to spit upon said grace while claiming grace and find myself in places no Christ-follower should be.

So, I know what I ought to do and I am not doing it and, by His own word, that means I am sinning. Simple enough, yet deeply profound.

 

[nathan3]

Maybe you can look at this in light of the verses before it , Like man doing his own thing that is contrary to God. And man's lusting after things , all the while, leaving God out of their plans .


James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is you life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."


James 4:15 "For that ye ought to say, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."


James 4:16 "But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil."

However to those that think they can cut their own deals and leave God out of their plans, they are looking for trouble and evil to come their way. This is why we must say, if not publicly, "If it be God's will."

James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

An act done in ignorance is not necessarily a sin, but when you know to do right and you do it not, that is a sin.

When you know you are a Christian, and that our Father loves you and cares for you, it does not harm you to bring God into your confidence when you do your planning . He knows what is best for you.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

I know what I am supposed to be doing, what good I am called to do, and just because of previous hurts and current circumstances, I'm not doing it. So, that is the same as sinning.

I realize this may be too personal, so is there an indirect way that you can give us an example of what you should be doing? I'm really curious about your dilemma.

 

[mystdancer50]

Maybe you can look at this in light of the verses before it , Like man doing his own thing that is contrary to God. And man's lusting after things , all the while, leaving God out of their plans .


James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is you life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."


James 4:15 "For that ye ought to say, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."


James 4:16 "But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil."

However to those that think they can cut their own deals and leave God out of their plans, they are looking for trouble and evil to come their way. This is why we must say, if not publicly, "If it be God's will."

James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

An act done in ignorance is not necessarily a sin, but when you know to do right and you do it not, that is a sin.

When you know you are a Christian, and that our Father loves you and cares for you, it does not harm you to bring God into your confidence when you do your planning . He knows what is best for you.

Thanks. That is essentially it. If we know what we're supposed to do and we do not do it, then we are sinning...just like when we know what we're not supposed to do and we do it anyway.

 

[mystdancer50]

I realize this may be too personal, so is there an indirect way that you can give us an example of what you should be doing? I'm really curious about your dilemma.

It is really more in regards to the call that God has placed on my life, as opposed to some blatantly sinful thing. God placed this call on my life over ten years ago, affirmed it mightily three years ago, and here I sit, on my hands, refusing to take the steps necessary to fulfill His call, purpose and plan in this area. That is why the verse weighs so heavily upon me. What He has called me to is good and it is what I should be doing, and yet, I am not doing it.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

It is really more in regards to the call that God has placed on my life, as opposed to some blatantly sinful thing. God placed this call on my life over ten years ago, affirmed it mightily three years ago, and here I sit, on my hands, refusing to take the steps necessary to fulfill His call, purpose and plan in this area. That is why the verse weighs so heavily upon me. What He has called me to is good and it is what I should be doing, and yet, I am not doing it.

Well, maybe you are being prepared for it.

 

[mystdancer50]

Well, maybe you are being prepared for it.

Maybe. It would be easier for me if that were the case. I made the decision last night that I'm just going to start walking that path He has for me, even though I'm walking it alone right now, and when He is ready, He will send those to come alongside me to see it fully realized. As He told me over a year ago, "Julie, I can't send someone to walk alongside you if you're not already walking."

 

[Enow]

So, I know what I ought to do and I am not doing it and, by His own word, that means I am sinning. Simple enough, yet deeply profound.

Which goes to show why we are to be reliant on Jesus Christ & His promises to us that we will do good. If we take His teachings to place ourselves under the letter again, then it will be a burdensome weight, but He said His yoke is easy & His burden is light because what we see as our shortcomings & tribulations, they are to be given to Him to overcome. By the grace of God we are saved thru faith in the Son of God and thus by the grace of God I, in following Him by faith in the Son of God.

Do we trust Him to help us live as His for He is with us always or are we worrying as if He has taken off and said, "Good luck, you will need it"?

The just shall live by faith, but of we take His teachings as they are higher than the works of the law as something we have to do, then we have fallen from grace. Either we trust in Him to help us live this reconciled relationship with God thru Jesus Christ or we are forgetting how much He loves us and wind up labouring in unbelief as if we can finish by the flesh what was begun in the Spirit.

Romans 8:[SUP]31 [/SUP]What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? [SUP]32 [/SUP]He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? [SUP]33 [/SUP]Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. [SUP]34 [/SUP]Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. [SUP]35 [/SUP]Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [SUP]36 [/SUP]As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [SUP]37 [/SUP]Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. [SUP]38 [/SUP]For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, [SUP]39 [/SUP]Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 4:[SUP]18 [/SUP]And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

[Bookends]

It mainly gets to me because, with all the tap dancing and whatnot that I do, this just nails my feet to the floor and says, "Yeah, it's still sin."

James 4:17

THE MESSAGE (James 4:16-17)


AMPLIFIED (James 4:17)


NEW KING JAMES (James 4:17)


Just, you know, I know what I ought to do and not do and, well, when I excuse it, for whatever reason, this basically says I'm sinning. So, like, even if I know I should do something that is a good thing, for example help an old woman carry her groceries out, because I know she needs the help (I see her struggling and whatnot) and I don't do it, I'm sinning.

I don't know if that is what this verse literally means, but it is a verse that every single time I read it, it pierces my heart, you know? It really makes me stop and consider what it is that I know is good and am refusing to do, for whatever reason. It kind of eliminates my excuses and makes them show up for the pettiness they truly are.

Yup. This is the verse that really and truly gets to me. It is one of many, mind, but it is the one most currently focused on.

Are you suggesting or thinking that tap dancing is a sin?

 

[Bookends]

The Book of James is the proverbs of the NT for sure, it just about has everything in it.