Ep. 115 | Just Do It! | James

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring James 4:17. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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Transcript

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Welcome to Formed by the Word. Many people have a faith that works well on Sunday but struggles on Monday. The book of James was written to bridge that gap. This letter speaks directly to real life: our struggles, our relationships, our speech, our priorities, and our response to difficult circumstances. Over the next several weeks, we'll be walking through James, a practical and challenging letter often called the Proverbs of the New Testament. James doesn't just teach us what to believe, he shows us how genuine faith works in everyday life. James calls believers to a faith that is visible, active, and genuine. A faith that doesn't merely hear God's word but puts it into practice. As we journey through this powerful book together, my prayer is that God would shape us into people whose faith is seen not only in what we say, but in how we live. After all, faith is more than words. It's a life that is being formed by the truth of God's Word.

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Welcome back to Formed by the Word. Today we're looking at just one verse, James chapter 4, verse 17. James writes, Remember, it is sin to know the good and yet not to do it. There's been more than once, I have to confess, that I have been riding along, driving around, and I saw someone stranded on the side of the road and thought, you know, I should have stopped and asked if they needed to help. Has that ever happened to you? Or let me ask this: have you ever felt the Holy Spirit nudging you to pull over, but you just kept driving? Or perhaps you thought, I need to call some person, I need to apologize, I need to encourage them, or maybe even to pray with someone. Or maybe you thought, I need to spend some time with God today, only to be distracted by the busyness of the day. You weren't planning to do something sinful. You simply didn't do what you knew was right. Well, James has a word for that. He said, Remember, it is a sin to know the good and yet not to do it. This verse is James' conclusion to chapter four, and it's confusing to some people, but I think it's really quite simple. He's confronted pride in our speech and pride in our plans and pride in our independence from God. And then he ends with one simple challenge. Now that you know what God wants, what are you going to do about it? James is driving home the point that knowing God's will creates the responsibility to obey God's will. And I want to offer three observations of this powerful little verse and then draw some concluding application that I think may help us. I know it will help me. Here's these three truths, these three observations. First, just knowing is not enough without doing. You see, James has already told us, be doers of the word. Now he says something even stronger. He says that knowing without doing is sin. Now that brings me great conviction. See, Christianity isn't measured by what fills our heads, but what changes our hearts. It isn't measured only by what we gain in our knowledge, but whether or not our lives are transformed. We've already seen that the truth, that truth throughout this letter, and now here it is confronting us again. Knowing is not enough. Second truth, second observation, good intentions are not obedience. We usually think of sin as doing what we shouldn't, and certainly when we do what we shouldn't, it is sin. But James reminds us here that sin is also or also includes failing to do what we should do, failing to do what we know to do. Sometimes our greatest failures aren't the wrong things we did, but the right things that we never did. Or at least they are the most difficult for us to see and the most difficult for us to recognize and thus to confess and turn from. Third observation genuine faith always acts. Now, this truth connects very neatly to James as a whole, right? So it really shouldn't surprise us here when James tells us that our faith brings about action. And if we don't have those actions, then it is sin. James has been saying this throughout his letter, right? He says faith works. He said, faith obeys. At one point he said that faith acts and always faith moves. David Gusick, one of my favorite commentators, said this about this verse. He said, James knows that it is far easier to think about and talk about humility and dependence on God than it is to actually live them. Genuine faith is proved by action. So once again, we see James focusing on his major theme, genuine faith, is evidenced by our works. Now I think we have a good illustration of this truth that comes to us right from the words of Jesus. Do you remember the story he told? I won't set the context because for our thought, I'm not sure it's necessary. Let me just remind you of a story that Jesus told about a good Samaritan. It's found in Luke's gospel chapter 10. I'm going to read verses 30 through 37. I know many of you are familiar with it, but some may not be. So let me let Jesus tell the story. Verse 30, Luke chapter 10. Jesus took up the question and said, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hand of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side also. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him, and when I come back I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend. Jesus then asked the piercing question. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? The one who showed mercy to him, he said. Then Jesus told him, Go and do the same. Now that story is so incredible. And the point for us to consider right now is the action of the priest and the Levite. You see, these were two very religious men. They were religious leaders in the community. They knew the Word of God. They knew the Torah very, very well. They understood the law. They understood what God wanted of them. They just didn't do it. Both men knew the command to love your neighbor, and yet both men walked by the injured man. Their omission was sin. That's where we get the theological thought of sins of omission. There are times when our omission is sin. You see, the priest didn't beat the man, the Levi didn't rob the man, they simply walked by. That is James 4.17 exemplified. Their sin wasn't violence, their sin was indifference. Now, let me close out with a couple of questions that may help us to make some applications. Let me ask you these three questions. One, who do you need to encourage? Maybe today or certainly as soon as possible, who do you need to encourage? Who has God placed on your heart to speak to? But so far you haven't. Number two, what has God been asking you to do? That's a tough one, isn't it? What has God been prompting you? The Holy Spirit in you, it's been prompting you to do something and yet you haven't yet. What has God been asking you to do? And number three, what act of obedience have you been postponing? That's a tough one, but I think it's worth thinking about. What act of obedience have you been postponing? I want to remind you that delayed obedience is still disobedience. Now, how about before this day is over? Do one thing. Commit to do one thing that you already know God wants you to do. Maybe make that phone call, send that text, offer some forgiveness that needs to be offered, give to someone generously, maybe share Christ boldly with someone, spend time in prayer. Stop waiting for a better moment. James would simply say, just do it. Well, the good news is that Jesus never committed a sin of omission. He never failed to do the Father's will. Every act of love, every word of truth, every step toward the cross, he did exactly what the Father sent him to do. His perfect obedience now becomes our hope. And because he has forgiven us, he now empowers us through the Holy Spirit within us to become doers of his word. The takeaway for today the greatest tragedy isn't always doing the wrong thing. Sometimes it's failing to do the right thing. So remember, knowing without doing is never enough. Someone said the next step of spiritual formation is usually the next act of obedience. Now that's a good word. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your patience with us. Thank you, God, for revealing your will to us clearly. And now, Father, give us courage, humility, and power to obey you completely. Show us one good thing we can do this week, O Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Thanks for joining us today. We are so glad that you chose to spend a few moments with us in God's Word. If this episode has encouraged you, we ask that you leave us a review or maybe share this episode with a friend. Also, would you consider sending us a note to let us know what God is doing in your life? Pastor Eddie would love to hear from you. You can find this email in the show notes. Until next time, stay in the Scriptures, keep following Christ, and allow your life to be formed by the Word.