James 4:17
So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, but he does not do it, he is sinning.
Translation for Translators
In The King James Version
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
In Context
Cross References
John 9:41Jesus said to them, “If you realized that you did not yet know God’s truth, but you wanted to, then you would be like blind people who wanted to see. God would be able to forgive your sins. But you are now falsely claiming that you know God’s truth, so you are like people who are blind who claim that they can see. Because of that, God is not able to forgive your sins.”
John 15:22If I had not come and spoken God’s message to them, they would not be guilty of rejecting me and my message. But now I have come and told them God’s message, so they will have no excuse when God judges them for their sin.
Romans 1:32Although they know that God has declared that those who do such things deserve to be killed, they not only habitually do these kinds of evil things, but they also approve of others who habitually do them.
Romans 7:13So, if someone were to object saying, “ The laws that God gave Moses, which are good, ◄resulted in my being separated from God!/did they result in my being separated from God?► [RHQ]” I would reply, “Certainly they did not do that!” But instead, those laws, which are good, stimulated my desire to sin. I knew that the result was that I was separated from God. And also, because I learned what God had commanded, I knew that what I was doing was truly sinful.
Matthew Henry on James 4:12-17
Caution against Slander; Caution against Presumption. ( a. d. 61.) 11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13 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… Read the whole commentary →