Comission vs Omission...

We going through the book of James. The Lord has taught us so much on our journey to be more and more like Him. Tonight, once again, He showed me something profound. David Platt puts it far more eloquently than I do, so if you rather hear it straight from him Click Here. If not hang on while I attempt to share my heart with you.

In James 4:17 says: So, for the person knows to do good and doesn't do it, it is a sin. This sounds like a simple scripture. I tend to think of this scripture as a compare and contrast scripture. For example..the opposite of good is bad. So of course if we don't do good and do bad, it is a sin. What stood out to me the most, was that it is not that clear cut.

The 10 commandments lay out rules to obey. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not covet, thou shall not lust, etc. We sometimes think that if we do not do these things, then we are not sinning, this can be referred to as commission.

However there is another aspect to obedience, and that is omission. In other words...there are things that the Lord clearly lays out for us to do and if we don't do them we are disobedient. For example, if I ask my children to pick up their toys and clean up and they do not...it is disobedience. If I ask my son to be home at 10 and he returns at 11...that is disobedience. We must obey Jesus, in the same way. He has asked us to live in way that is different from the world, focused on others and not self. He has asked us to trust Him, not man. He has asked us to care for the poor, widowed and orphaned. He has asked us to make disciples of all nations. He asked us to sell our possessions and give to the poor so that our brothers and sisters would not have need. There are many things, that as followers of Christ we are asked to do and if we do not...we disobey Christ. There is no other way to look at it.

Although works do not save us, we are saved by grace and grace alone, they are necessary. James says "Faith separated from works is dead." If we love Jesus we will obey His commandments. That poses the next question..how do give? The Lord leads us in many ways. We not only give financially, but we also can give of our time. The thing that we must not do is compare ourselves to each other. All of us are called..it is in what capacity that differs. Like the widow and the Pharisees. The widow gave her last money and the Pharisees gave of their abundance and wealth. The widow was commended and the Pharisees, condemned. Why? The widow was obedient and her heart was lined up with Jesus'. The Pharisees were not. It was not the question of how much she gave, it was a question of how she was obedient to what the Lord asked her to give.

We should be obedient to what the Lord has called us to do individually, not compare ourselves to each other. Our heart needs to line up with what Jesus. And what He wants from us individually, will differ. We can also ask the Lord how wants us to give, and in what capacity. He will be faithful to show us and give us ideas and convict our hearts. We just need to be obedient to what He calls us to do.