James 3 ended with a list of attributes evidencing godly wisdom, which, by their very nature, sow peace and harvest righteousness. But James says here in chapter 4 that, in general, his audience (along with us in the church) does not have this kind of wisdom because they (and we) don’t ask God. We struggle in our church relationships, because we exhibit only a little worldly wisdom and even less divine wisdom. We must change that, which comes by asking God, by relying on the Holy Spirit who gives grace, wisdom, and peace. Let’s take a look.
1) V1-6 – 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit He caused to live in us envies intensely [Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that He made to live in us; or that the Spirit He caused to live in us longs jealously]? 6But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” [Proverbs 3:34]
James begins with a series of questions meant to humble his audience. He wants us to see our selfishness and sinfulness. When we try to make our own way, our desired end is selfish and the means we use to get there are sinful. We end up partnering with the world and forgetting about God, or even asking Him to aid our ways. But when we simply and humbly ask God for His will to be done – with right motives (not for self-pleasure) – God answers with grace. He, by His Spirit within us, longs to defeat the sin nature within us, and we can be sure that He will in His time. We must remember, though, that His blessings to us, His answered prayers, and His grace are never given on account of our humility. We can’t ever deserve His blessings. Grace, though given to the humble, is not given because of their humility. Even the humility is a gracious gift from God; otherwise, grace would not be grace.
2) V7-12 – 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbor?
Since “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (v6; Proverbs 3:34), James says that we must submit to God and resist the devil. This is a picture of the spiritual war for our souls going on always and all around us – even in us. We have a role to play in this war, and though the concept is simple, the application is a most-difficult challenge. We submit to God and His will while resisting the devil and his will. He came to kill, steal, and destroy, but God, through His Son Jesus, has come to give us life to the full. The question is this: Will we trust that? If we trust that, then we draw near to God and He to us. If we trust that, then we purify ourselves, inside and out. If we trust God, then we repent with weeping over our sinfulness. And God will lift us up. What a picture of repentance in v7-10!
In v11, James says not to slander one another, and he reminds us of the reason in v12 – “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and destroy.” Now this is not an instruction to avoid making a distinction between right and wrong behavior. Rather, we need to avoid judging for the sake of being the judge. We are not to Lord ourselves and our judgments over anyone; nor are we to issue condemnation for the sake of punishment. Rather, we are to humbly encourage repentance and right behavior before the Lord.
3) V13-17 – 13Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
James simply and clearly points out that all things occur in accordance with the sovereign will of God. Our plans are futile, unless God has sovereignly willed them to come to pass. And this is all-inclusive (Ephesians 1:11); nothing can happen apart from God’s will, referring to His will of decree. Certainly there are things that fall outside God’s will of command (the things He commands, also referred to as His revealed will, preceptive will, or permissive will) or His will of disposition (the emotions He reveals, such as displeasure with sin). But again, nothing can happen apart from His sovereign will, which is referred to often as His will of decree. He sustains all things, and as RC Sproul says, there cannot be a single rogue atom anywhere in the university that is displaced from God’s decretive will; otherwise, He is not God.
James humbles us with a reminder of the brevity and insignificance of our lives. And here we are boasting about this or that. Isn’t that ridiculous! James calls it evil. I don’t think James is saying we can’t jest or joke when we make an amazing shot on the golf course or in the basketball game, but even then and there, it’s a baby step; it feeds our pride. Too many good shots, and we’ll start to think we are something when we are nothing. The conclusion James renders in v17 calls us to obedience of commission. Not only should we avoid doing those things that are forbidden by God, but we must also do those things which God commands. For example, it is not enough to avoid breaking the eighth commandment – Thou shall not steal; we must also be generous and hospitable, sharing what God has blessed us with for the sake of those around us, all to the glory of God.
Footnotes
- 4:5 Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us; or that the Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously
- 4:6 Prov. 3:34
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.