James 4:13-17

James 4:13-17

[13] now,  ye that say,  To day  or  to morrow  we will go  into  such  a city,  and  continue  there  year,  and  buy and sell,  and  get gain:  [14] Whereas  ye know  not  what  shall be on the morrow.  For  what  life?  even  a vapour,  that  appeareth for  a little time,  then  vanisheth away.  [15] For that  ought to say,  If  the Lord  will,  we shall live,  and  do  or  that.  [16] But  now  ye rejoice  in  boastings:  all  such  rejoicing  evil.  [17] Therefore  to him that knoweth  to do  good,  and  doeth  it not,  to him  sin. 

What does James 4:13-17 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

As in the previous chapters, James began with the exposition of a practical problem and moved on to its larger contextual problem, that Isaiah , 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.
"James gave an example of a boastful statement [1], struck a condemnatory sentence on such boasting [2], and offered a practical solution for boasting [3]." [4]