C. Self-reliance 4:13-17

As in the previous chapters, James began with the exposition of a practical problem and moved on to its larger contextual problem, that is, its context in life. He already identified the source of interpersonal and inner personal conflicts as self-centeredness and explained that criticism places the critic in a seat that only God should occupy. Now he pictured a self-centered person living his or her life. He did this to enable his readers to see the root of this problem clearly.

 1. The self-centered person 4:13-16

4:13 James confronted his audience as the Old Testament prophets did. He began, "Come now"(cf. Isa. 1:18; et al.). The person in James' illustration was probably a travelling Jewish merchant, ". . . the materialist core of the contemporary bourgeois prosperity."¹⁷⁰Jewish merchants were common in the culture of James' day, and undoubtedly some of them were Christian Jews. The man's plans were not wrong in themselves.

4:14 The problem is what the merchant did not consider: his complete dependence on God (cf. Luke 12:18-20; John 15:5).

"To what extent is your life directed by the knowledge that Christ is coming back? Much of our thinking and behavior is shaped by what we can see of present circumstances or past events. Yet Scripture speaks forcefully of Christ's return as a fact that should be directing how we live now. Christians are to be motivated by the certainty of this future event."¹⁷¹

4:15 The merchant should have made his planning in conscious dependence on God recognizing His sovereign control over all of life (cf. Acts 18:21; 1 Cor. 4:19; 16:7; Phil. 2:19, 24).

"A study of the use of this conditional clause ["If the Lord wills . . ."] in the NT makes it clear that we are not to repeat it mechanically in connection with every statement of future plans. Paul, for example, employs it in Acts 18:21 and 1 Corinthians 4:19, but he does not use it in Acts 19:21; Romans 15:28; or 1 Corinthians 16:5, 8. Yet it is obvious that whether Paul explicitly stated it or not, he always conditioned his plans on the will of God."¹⁷²

4:16 James rebuked those of his readers who were living with this attitude. They derived joy from feeling that they controlled their own destiny. Here is the picture of the "self-made man"taking credit for what God has given him. Boasting of this kind is unrealistic. It betrays an attitude that puts man in God's place. For this reason it is evil.

In these verses James presented four arguments that show the foolishness of ignoring God's will: the complexity of life (v. 13), the uncertainty of life (v. 14a), the brevity of life (v. 14b), and the frailty of man (v. 16).¹⁷³

 2. The concluding exhortation 4:17

The person James just pictured was guilty of a sin of omission. He failed to acknowledge the place God occupies in life. In concluding this discussion of conflicts, James reminded his readers to put into practice what they knew. They should avoid presumption and self-confidence, and they should submit themselves humbly to God. Failure to do this is sin.

"They cannot take refuge in the plea that they have done nothing positively wrong; as Scripture makes abundantly clear, sins of omissionare as real and serious as sins of commission."¹⁷⁴

Note that the verse that concludes each section of James' epistle, each chapter, is a proverbial statement. It summarizes James' point in the preceding section and states it in a pithy way that is easy to remember.