Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 4:15

"For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that." — James 4:15 (ASV)

Instead of saying v.13, the Christian businessman “ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will.’ ” No Christian can live independently of God. For believers to leave God out of their plans is an arrogant assumption of self-sufficiency, a tacit declaration of independence from God. It also overlooks reality. Whether people recognize it or not, they “will live and do this or that” only “if it is the Lord’s will.” A study of the use of this conditional clause in the NT makes it clear that we are not to repeat it mechanically in connection with every statement of future plans. Paul, for example, employs it in Ac 18:21 and 1 Corinthians 4:19, but he does not use it in Ac 19:21; Romans 15:28; or 1 Corinthians 16:5, 8. Yet it is obvious that whether Paul explicitly stated it or not, he always conditioned his plans on the will of God.