James, chapter 4, comments

 

James 4:1 ¶  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

 

Early Christianity was composed of mostly ethnic Jews who believed on their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Jewish culture was in turmoil which would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in or about AD70 and another catastrophe in the early 100s. Whereas James warned the Jewish Christians about strife and envy in the last chapter here he goes on to discuss wars and contentions, although the use of wars may have been a metaphor for their constant disputes between each other linking this to the last chapter.

 

Wanting what the world wants and holding valuable what the world holds valuable is the source of their constant disputes with each other. For Jesus said;

 

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Pride goes along with this heresy, fierce pride in one’s own way. The implication here is that the Devil himself is behind this impulse. The promise is that if we resist he will run away. It is also said that we are to humble ourselves and mourn for our sinful ways and thoughts and in doing so God will lift us up. These are notable memory verses here in James that should always be rolling around in our heads.

 

Also see;

 

For verse 6;

 

Proverbs 3:34  Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

 

For verse 7;

 

Matthew 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

For verse 10;

 

1Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

 

James 4:11 ¶  Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15  For that ye

ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 

James, still focused on our speech, warns against malicious words against our brothers and, of course, we presume our sisters in Christ. We should not judge each other to our hurt as if we were a judge of the Law of God to use it against our brethren. It is too easy a matter to be self-righteous. Added to this he warns against promises that we cannot be sure to keep as the Lord God is in control of our lives. We should remember God’s sovereignty when we make such pronouncements. Finally, he makes an important point for us all, that not doing what is right is the same as doing what is wrong. This is extremely important for us to understand in our dark, fallen world. It is a great principle of Christian living which is emphasized by what James said previously.

 

James 2:14 ¶  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.