James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
This verse gives a good definition of sin: knowing the good but not doing it. How do we know what is good? Within the context of this chapter, the “good” could refer to what God’s will is for us. We can only know this by coming to God in humility, willing to listen and determine God’s purposes for us. These are not subjective feelings about the daily things of life. Christians should not go through life floating from one thing to the other with a mystical sense of direction. To the contrary, God has given a lot of clear direction about many basic things of life. The Bible gives many principles to live by if we will only study it closely. We are without excuse for knowing what is good. Our only excuse boils down to laziness or a lack of discipline. This does not mean that we need to be Bible scholars. In fact, that may become a detriment. We can begin with the broadest principle of loving God and loving others. Then from this two point mountain, we work our way down to the many sub-principles that tell us what the good life is like. We can know a lot of God’s will for us through this method. And then, when we do face new things and have to make decisions, we are filled with many ideas and principles. God will take these and help us find the right path for us at that moment.
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