Ministry of Grace Church

Therefore, to him knowing what good thing to do and not doing it, it is sin to him.

Truth to Learn

Now that we know how to behave, we have no excuse if we do not completely follow James’ teaching.

Behind the Words

The word translated “knowing” is a form of idō, which means “to see, either literally or figuratively.” By implication, however, it refers to seeing something with the mind, that is, to know or understand something because we have mentally recognized it. This particular word is expressed here as a perfect participle. The participle indicates ongoing action, and the perfect tense implies a past completed action with an ongoing effect with the emphasis being on the effect. Putting this all together we see that James is speaking to one who has gained knowledge by recognition and continually has possession of such knowledge. Here’s how this word might be used in a sentence in English:

Knowing the alphabet, we can write words.

We gained our knowledge years ago, but we continually possess that knowledge. Before we learned the alphabet we couldn’t write words, but now that we have that knowledge, we are able to do so.

The words “to do” and “doing it” are from the verb poieō, which means “to make” or “to do,” either as an ongoing action or a completed action.

“Sin” is translated from the Greek word hamartia, which is derived from the verb hamartanō, meaning “to miss the mark.” Hence, hamartia refers to an act of doing wrong, having missed the expectation that God has for us.

Meaning Explained

As we read through the fourth chapter of James’ letter, on first glance it appears that this verse is simply tacked-on, not having any real relevance to the rest of the chapter. Upon deeper inspection, however, we can see that it is very relevant. James has just covered some very difficult interpersonal issues and has instructed us how to resolve, or completely avoid, these issues within the church. Here’s what he told us to do:

• Get over our selfish desire for “stuff.” Instead of focusing on getting more, we should clean-up our thoughts and actions and humble ourselves in God’s presence, seeking His will for our lives
• Quit talking evil about and backbiting others in the Church. Instead of comparing ourselves to others in the body of Christ, we need to compare ourselves to Christ Himself. This will produce awareness in us that we are just as guilty as those who we are talking evil about.
• Don’t make selfish plans for our personal success. We have no control over the future, so we should continually seek God’s will for our lives and give Him all the credit for whatever success we might seem to achieve.

Now that we know what to do, James tells us, it is sinful for us not to do as instructed. We can no longer claim that we didn’t know any better!

Application

The specific subject matter of this verse is sometimes referred to as “sins of omission.” We must do as our Heavenly Father instructs us or face the consequence of not pleasing Him. The real question is, what are you going to do differently, now that you know how you ought to act?