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JAMES - Be Doers of the Word, and not Hearers Only
Studies in the Letter of James (by Dr. Richard Thomas)
Chapter IV
Worldliness and Godliness (James 4:1-10)
JAMES 4:1-10
1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? 2 You lust, and don’t have. You kill, covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures. 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
War and peace are perennial correlates; the one implies the other. Somewhere in the world a war is going at present, and efforts are being made to secure a peace (Matthew 24:6). Or else a measure of peace exists, and there are threats of war. Women long for peace and men prepare for war. From peace as theme (3:18), James turns to war (4:1) - a civil war, an internal war, at once fiercer and more exhausting than external conflicts. Where shall we seek causes of contention? “From whence come wars and fightings among you?” The answer is obvious: “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings”.
One of the features of our apostle’s style is a liberal use of interrogatives (around 22 occurrences). Some of these questions are clearly rhetorical; others are designed to elicit from his readers what they ought to know for themselves about themselves. The conflicts of which James speaks are not merely among themselves but in each of them individually. Internal conflict is worsened by quarrels and animosities kept up within the group – the effect being that of all-out war. The vocabulary used emphasizes the violence: The word for wars, polemoi, gives us polemics, the term for fightings, machai, is related to the Greek word for sword, while the verb comes from the root that is the source of the military term strategy. The total impression in the passage is one of vehemence reflecting the violence of spiritual warfare, which viewed from below is carnal.
A struggle is being waged in the human heart owing to its deceitful and desperately wicked nature (Jeremiah 17:9). Our Lord who came to complement the truths taught in the Law and the Prophets details more specifically the manifestations of corruption: “From within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride and foolishness (Mark 7:21). James has earlier picked out murder and adultery as typical notorious transgressions of the Law. Here the two are re-iterated not as hypothetical contraventions, but as subjective or objective realities that establish man’s guilt before God.
Paul can speak of that other law which operates in one’s members and cause unending warfare between flesh and spirit (Romans 7:23). His ambivalent usage of the term ‘law’ (it is holy, yet we need to be freed from it, Romans 6:15; 7:12) contrasts with the attitude of James. For the latter there is but one perfect law, the law of liberty, the royal law (1:25; 2:8). What he describes in this passage is a state of lawlessness, of anarchy in man with passions, lusts and pleasure-seeking impulses running amok. Modern psycho-analysis envisages a situation equally disturbing. The terminology has become familiar. It speaks of the libido and id. The second is amoral, wholly self-centred, ruled by the pleasure-pain principle, it does what it likes and avoids what it finds painful.
Desire when frustrated turns to violence (verse 2). James was writing at a time, when the Zealots and other fanatics in Jewry were getting ready for their suicidal war against Rome. A great many Christians had already fallen victim to resulting violence. Such severe expressions are appropriate for unconverted Jewish bigots. But Scripture can be given a wider application. Unbelievers and believers alike should heed the warning implicit in these verses: Inordinate desire is satisfied only by damaging another party. He who madly covets an object of apparent value often wishes the former possessor removed out of the way. The covetous person may be a pious David or an infidel Ahab. Our vices like guerrilla raiders attack us treacherously and turn our lives into a battlefield: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”.
Just as it is out of the heart that evil thoughts proceed, so “it is in their hearts that battles are won”, as Churchill said of fighting men in action. For a Christian man victory comes with God’s grace through prayer. At this point James introduces the subject of prayer obliquely by drawing our attention to some of its hindrances. Whenever problems arise in any sphere we seek expert advice in that field. James is the man to listen to on the theme of prayer. His knees were calloused like a camel’s from hours spent kneeling in prayer. He has already indicated how we should pray, and assured us of God’s unfailing generosity (1:5,6).
Covetousness may be traced back to the acquisitive instinct in humans. In itself this instinct has a proper function as part of one’s psychological makeup. It drives us to search for knowledge, enjoyment, wealth, in thins that may be seen, heard, tasted or touched (Colossians 2:20-23). ‘Lust’ and ‘desire’ in fact translate the same Greek word. For the Buddhist desire or craving represents original sin, and its elimination becomes the climax of deliverance from earthly bondage. Not so the Christian: Scripture urges him earnestly to covet the best things (1 Corinthians 12:31). There are countless objects that he could wish for and rest assured that he has done no wrong. After all, God gives us all thins richly to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). The treasures of art and literature, the joys of friendship, the beauties of nature, the zest that stems from sport. Our scope for enjoyment is restricted only by the time factor and our capacity to absorb.
Yet with a significant semantic shift, lust replaces legitimate desire, when we covet what is another’s or set our hearts on things that God in His wisdom has forbidden us. It has been pointed out that a hundred years ago there was love and there was lust and everyone was aware of the difference, now there is only sex. A permissive society tries to obliterate such vital distinctions; these are always valid for God-fearing Christians. If the motive behind desire is evil, God will not answer our petition; if the desired object (and desired is not synonymous with desirable) is taboo, the motive is almost certainly wrong, God will withhold it from us for our own good. There is, however, the disturbing possibility hinted at in Psalm 106:14,15 that foolish requests may sometimes be granted. Note again the context there is one of ‘lusting exceedingly’. When we get to heaven we shall thank the Lord that not a few of our foolish prayers remained unanswered.
Asking amiss suggests that people ask for the wrong reasons and with wrong intentions. The petition is designed to boost one’s ego and bring it to the attention of potential admirers; or else to supply the ‘petitioner’ with the sort of advantage that gives him a still higher opinion of himself.
Lust and adultery go together; the one preceding the other. In the next verse (4) James displays the severity of an OT prophet and describes the wrongdoers as adulteresses (the best manuscripts omit the masculine ‘adulterers’. Such an epithet is best understood figuratively, since the term ‘lusts’ covers a host of conflicting desires not always sexual (Ezekiel 16:32; Matthew 12:39).
Adultery in this broader sense deserves yet another description, ‘friendship of the world’. The Greek philia stands for friendship verging on affection. Lovers of the world predictably spend their time lusting after worldly possessions, either animal, mineral or vegetable. James has equated friendship of the world with enmity towards God. ‘Adultery’ draws us away from the worthy object of our love to mean substitutes.
‘An enemy of God’. This phrase reinforces the conviction implicit in the rhetorical question posed previously. It also reminds of Abraham, the friend of God (2:23), a favourite Quranic title for the patriarch and the Arabic name for Hebron, where his grave is found. This historic friendship was expressed by his trust in Yahweh, when he kept out of Sodom, and in the offering of his son, Isaac. In these steps we too can follow his example and be God’s friends (John 15:14,15).
The next verse (5) is a difficult one. ‘Scripture says in vain’. Where does Scripture say as much? The Scriptures were the sacred writings of the day with which James was familiar. They embraced more than the Church later accepted into the Canon. Conversely there are numerous OT passages never quoted in the NT that were in due course accepted as canonical by the Church.
Next, what does the verse mean? It can hardly mean what the AV rendering suggests, more so if we give the present continuous tense its regular force ‘is constantly lusting to envy’. We may paraphrase, ‘The Holy Spirit who dwells in us is jealous over us for His sake’, or with the Jerusalem Bible translate, ‘He yearns intensely over the Spirit He has made to well in us’. Some such rendering will do, and fits in with the fact that the Spirit groans on our behalf, and grieves over our failings (Romans 4:26; Ephesians 4:30).
Assuming that it is God who yearns over the Spirit He has made to indwell us (5), we may expect Him to grant more grace to those indwelt by that Spirit (6): Grace upon grace (John 1:16). Having given us grace initially through faith to save us, He generously endows us with more. The very presence of His Spirit is the earnest of fuller gifts to come to those with open hearts and hands. According to your faith be it unto you!
The quotation in 6b is from the LXX (Proverbs 3:34) with the substitution of ‘God’ for ‘Lord’. ‘The Lord’ is used uniformly throughout that chapter of Proverbs. In the Hebrew we get the sense of Him scorning or mocking the scorners: Personalities who are conspicuous by their presence, and consequently scornful or haughty. Peter inserts the same quotation in his epistle (1 Peter 5:5) thus repeating the warning against pride and resuming the humble of Gods measureless supply of grace.
Humility consists in surrender to God, a course commended in verses 7 and 10. The genuineness of this submission, this self-surrender, may be tested by our attitude to others. Are we self-effacing? Do I consider others better than myself? (Philippians 2:3). Islam though it purports to proclaim surrender to God as its central message, fails miserably here. For it engenders the very antithesis of humility – arrogance and contempt towards the ‘infidel’.
Meekness need not imply weakness. Those who have submitted to God are urged to keep resisting the devil whenever he tries to tempt us. Such regular resistance is bound to make us sturdy Christians. God who opposes the proud wages constant warfare against the proud enemy of our souls. Peter makes the same point when he exhorts us to resist the Adversary who prowls around like a wild beast (1 Peter 5:8,9). We shall overcome with constant vigilance in the confident knowledge that Christians everywhere have suffered and resisted, but have emerged triumphant (1 Peter 5:10). Above all we have the example of Jesus, the Pioneer of our faith, who submitting to God resisted the devil and put him to flight (Matthew 4:7,10,11).
Yet we read in Luke 4,13 that Satan left Jesus only for a season to return at an opportune time. We must treat the fleeing of the devil from us as merely a tactical retreat. From experience we know he counterattacks at moments convenient to him and inconvenient to us. With this in mind we shall be on our guard, and (as the tense suggests) resist him continually whenever he hits back.
Reference has been made in the introduction to the frequent use by James of the imperative; this is particularly evident in verses 7-10: Submit, resist, draw nigh, cleanse, purify, be afflicted, mourn, weep, humble yourselves. Often in evangelistic followings an ABC of imperatives is offered as a guideline to the enquirer (admit, believe, confess). The list that James submits is fuller and more balanced. Affliction mourning, weeping express true contrition; submitting and drawing right to God signify that faith is already at work. All the while the blood of Christ is cleansing and purifying the one who has taken these steps.
‘Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you’ (8): Lovely words of comfort to sinners and waverers. Having once drawn closer to the Lord, we shall hold on to this conditional promise and act upon it daily. The Psalms inform us that the Lord is near to the contrite and broken-hearted (34:18) and to those who call on Him (145:18). James makes the same point, and underlines man’s responsibility to take a step nearer towards the waiting Father.
The cleansing envisaged here (8b) and elsewhere in God’s word is outward and inward, hand and heart (Psalm 24:4), moral and spiritual in a comprehensive sense. The external rite of washing hands and feet as the priest approached the altar or entered the tent had already taken a deeper inward meaning in the Psalms and Prophets (Psalm 26:6; Isaiah 1:15,16). In the symbolic act of feetwashing our Lord figuratively uses the part for the whole and insist that those who refused to be cleansed by him have cut themselves off from him (John 13:8). Westcott commenting on 1 John 3:3 points out that the Greek for purify has a more personal and internal reference than cleanse, which is what we would expect for heart and hand respectively.
Affliction, mourning heaviness do not in themselves lead to repentance, but usually accompany it. There is saving sorrow (godly grief) that brings salvation and leaves no regrets (2 Corinthians 7:10); there is also worldly sorrow which causes deadly remorse. Judging by the context James has the former attitude in view. He concludes this section by repeating his plea for humility and submission to God. For those who follow this path the prospect is wholly reassuring; God will lift them out of gloom and heaviness to buoyant joy. The same promise recurs three times elsewhere in the NT; thus we may take it to be a solid principle in Christian living (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; 1 Peter 5:6). Exaltation may come to us in public, but the vital thing is that God lifts us up to mount high like eagles over the turmoil around, and so renews our strength.
Augustine sounds a warning to any who reject this principle, “As a tree must drive its roots deep down to grow tall, so the man who does not have his soul rooted in humility will find height to be his downfall”.