Lesson 9 for

November 29, 2014

THE LAW

The Lawgiver (4:12)

Gossiping and
judging (4:11)
Planning ahead
without God (4:13)

The transgressor

A mist (4:14)
Arrogance and
accountability
(4:15-17)

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to

destroy. Who are you to judge another? (James 4:12)

The Lawgiver is the most suitable One to judge.

He may rightfully decide who shall be absolved
and who shall be condemned; who shall be
saved and who shall be lost (John 5:22)
Who is the only Lawgiver and Judge that may
judge the whole human race?

For the Lord is our Judge, the

Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is
our King; He will save us.
(Isaiah 33:22)

The Son of God spoke to Moses from the

mountaintop The Divine Legislator descended
upon the rocky mountain to speak His law in the
hearing of all the people, that they might be
impressed by the grand and awful exhibition of His
power and glory, and fear to transgress His
commandments. God spoke His law amid thunders
and lightnings and the thick cloud upon the top of
the mountain, and His voice was as the voice of a
trumpet exceeding loud. The law of Jehovah was
unchangeable, and the tablets upon which He
wrote that law were solid rock, signifying the
immutability of His precepts.
E.G.W. (Reflecting Christ, March 22)

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother
and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you
judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. (James 4:11)

When we speak badly of others (gossip), we

are judging them. Our ulterior motive is to
hurt them.
When we gossip, we declare that others are
condemned by the law, but we feel not
condemned by it. That way, we lift ourselves
up above the Law and replace it with our
own opinion. We are judging the Law
instead of fulfilling it.

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother
and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you
judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. (James 4:11)

May judging be right in certain situations?

Is it so, that there is not a wise man
among you, not even one, who will be
able to judge between his brethren?
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in
any trespass, you who are spiritual
restore such a one in a spirit of
gentleness. (1 Corinthians 6:5; Galatians 6:1)

The Church needs people with enough spiritual

maturity to judge and restore those who fail. But
that must never be done in a personal capacity, but
as the body of Christ.

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and
such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.
(James 4:13)

James obviously disapproved the

behavior of those who plan for the
future. Nevertheless, is it wrong to
plan our short-term, mid-term and
long-term activities?
Those Church members were
planning ahead like God didnt exist.
They did just like the man who
planned to build more granaries in
Jesus parable (Luke 12:16-21).

Moreover, they were making plans like

their future was in their own hands. God
is the only One who can decide if were
going to live one more day.

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears
for a little time and then vanishes away. (James 4:14)

The word James used (vapor or

mist) is the same Solomon used
in all is vanity.
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Our life is like a vapor that dissipates. God is

the only One that can make our mist to
dissipate or to remain. So how could we
plan ahead without keeping Him in mind?
Those who dont keep God in mind when
planning ahead are lifting themselves up
above the law (just like the gossipers). They
think they are their own judges, like they
could control their lives.

Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and
do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such
boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and
does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:15-17)

Boasting and arrogance are used to describe selfsufficiency. That arrogance is evil. As Christians, we
must reject evil.
James also described sin. Sin is the transgression of
the law (1 John 3:4). But there is also a passive
sin; knowing good and not doing it.
The law of God condemns not only what we
have done but what we have not done. We will,
in the day of final accounts, find a register of
the sins of omission as well as the sins of
commission.
E.G.W. (Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, no. 369, p. 141)

E.G.W. (Counsels for the Church, cp. 26, pg. 152)

Each morning consecrate yourselves and your

children to God for that day. Make no
calculation for months or years; these are not
yours. One brief day is given you. As if it were
your last on earth, work during its hours for the
Master. Lay all your plans before God, to be
carried out or given up, as His providence shall
indicate. Accept His plans instead of your own,
even though their acceptance requires the
abandonment of cherished projects. Thus the
life will be molded more and more after the
divine example; and the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7.