We serve God with our hands by what we do. James warned us not to be hearers of the Word only but to be doers of the Word (1:22). With our hands, we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. With our hands, we touch the people that are sick and need prayer. James said, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (5:14). With our hands, we serve God by ministering to others who need to know that God cares. We are the body of Christ, and as His body, we need to be His hands touching, helping, healing, and holding the wounded souls of this world.
The Omission that Blocks Admission
Our verse is something of a summation of everything he has previously written. The Greek word oun, translated “therefore,” is a way of saying, “In light of everything I’ve said to this point, if you know to do good and you don’t do it, then to you … it is sin.” And we don’t want to be guilty of sin because apostle Paul warned that the “wages of sin is death” (Ro 6:23). Yet the Bible teaches that sin is both doing the wrong thing, and also refusing to do the right thing we knew we should have done.