Submit Yourselves To God (ch. 4:1-12)
James opens chapter four with a question. He asks, "What causes
fights and quarrels among you?" He answers his question with yet
another question. He answers by saying, "Don’t they come from your
desires that battle within you?"
The Greek word "hedone" is the word that is translated as
"desire" in this verse. Our English word "hedonism"
comes from this particular Greek word. Both words speaks to the
"gratification of ones own desires". This is why some call our
western culture a "hedonistic society" wherein our main
aspiration in life is to "gratify ourselves with all sorts of
pleasurable things". Our god is the satisfying of our own natural
cravings. What James is saying, and it is clear in our day, is that
relational problems are a result of being self centered. This is true in
any kind of relationship, whether in family, friends, or in the church.
All you need to do is to sit down for a few evenings of television
viewing and you can see our world deeply engrossed in its hedonistic ways.
We are pursuing pleasure at a fast pace. We are gratifying ourselves with
all kinds of pleasure including materialism, money, sexual pleasure and
fame, only to name a few. We are running after the good life with greater
vigor. We are extending the borders of this pleasure beyond its moral
limits. Then we wonder why relationships are falling apart. We wonder why
people are falling between the cracks of life. James makes it very clear
that such a lifestyle is far from Godly.
James further comments on this hedonistic way of living by saying
that these desires to put ones self first is battling within us. They are
raging war within us, as the KJV expresses it. As we have noted earlier,
the tendency for man is downward. The constant pull downward is always
within us. We see this thought here in verse 1 as well. The hedonistic
desire to put ones self first is not only always there, but trying real
hard to take over our lives. We may not realize what is happening, but
this is the way it is. One reason why we don’t understand this as
clearly as we should is because we give into this battle more often than
not. The hedonistic lifestyle is more natural to us than its Godly
counterpart. Since we live more hedonistically and less Godly, we don’t
recognize it. To put it the old fashion way, "we are more worldly
than we think".
James goes on to say that "you want something … you kill…
you quarrel and fight". And in the midst of all this wanting
"you cannot have what you want". In light of all this wanting
and our hedonistic way of living, we ask God for all sorts of things,
which for the most part, He does not give us what we ask for. And we
wonder why our prayers aren’t answered. James says that they aren’t
answered because "we ask with wrong motives". We ask God for
things with selfish reasons, wanting more of what we really don’t need.
There are many Scriptures that tell us that we should ask of God
anything and He will give it to us. John 15:7 is an example of one of
these verses where it says that if you abide in Jesus, you can ask
whatever you will and it will be given unto you. Other Scriptures tell us
to ask in "His name". There is an important point here. To
receive what we ask for has certain qualifications to it. We must abide in
Jesus. We must "live in His name". We represent Jesus in this
world. You might compare this to an employee employer relationship today.
Your employer will give you all that you need to do the job He asks you to
do. If you need something for that job, you ask, and then you receive. Yet
the employer is not obligated to give you anything you ask for. He is not
obligated to give you such things as a new TV, car, or anything for
personal use. He may at times give you a bonus that goes beyond what is
needed for the job, but this is out of the goodness of his heart only. The
same with Jesus. We need to ask for things that partain to His Kingdom and
He will give it to us. Things outside of His Kingdom, things for our
pleasure only, are given to us according to His will and desire only. I
don’t believe Jesus is obligated to give us a new TV, or car, or any
other thing to satisfy our own hedonistic lifestyle.
In verse 4 James makes a very strong statement. He says, "you
adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship towards the world is
hatred towards God". First of all, James calls these Christians
"adulterous people". I think that he is speaking about more than
just sexual adultery here. Such adultery may be included in his thinking,
but I think that James is using this term in a much broader sense. He is
saying that your hedonistic, self gratifying lifestyle is in fact the
worship of a god that is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In a real sense, you are worshipping yourself. This self worship
interferes with our relationship with God. It breaks down our loyalty we
should have with God. He is not happy with broken loyalties. The reason
why God does not like unfaithfulness in a marriage is because of the
broken relationship that results. The breaking of the marriage covenant in
adultery is worse than the actual physical sin of adultery itself. God
always seemed upset with Israel in the Old Testament because they were
forsaking Him for other gods, or just forsaking Him to do their own thing.
I always have said that idolatry is spiritual adultery. This is what James
is talking about here.
James says that Christians were committing spiritual adultery by
becoming to friendly with the world system. Once again, there is the old
saying that says "we are to be in the world but not of the
world". We are to love the people of the world but not participate in
all of their activities as they do. There should be a clear line of
distinction between the world and us. If this distinction is not seen, and
if we are too worldly in our lifestyle, James says that we have hatred
towards God. James is very pointed by using these words. It reminds me of
God Himself in Old Testament days where He gets very angry at Israel for
becoming to much like the secular nations that surround them. This was
indeed their downfall. It is also the downfall of the church throughout
the ages.
Verse 5 is not easily understood by a brief reading. It says,
"or do you think that Scripture says without reason that the spirit
He caused to live in us envies intensely". First of all there is no
precise Old Testament Scripture that says these exact words. Where James
comes up with this, we really don’t know.
Theologians and Bible Scholars have two ways of looking at this
verse. The questions to ask here is, whose spirit is James talking about
and what is meant by the use of the word "envy"?
I think we tend to think of the word "envy" in a negative
way, meaning envying as a sin. Yet in this case, the first way of viewing
this verse, the word envy is not being used as a sin. Many commentators
suggest that the spirit that is spoken of here is the Spirit of God that
He places within us when we are truly born again. All true Christians have
the Holy Spirit or else they do not belong to Christ. (Rom. 8:9) Therefore
it is the Holy Spirit within us that "envies intensely". Now if
this is the case, then the word "envy" doesn’t mean a bad
thing. It is not a sin.
The point that James may be making in these verses is that we, who
have the Spirit of God within us, should not be giving ourselves whole
heartedly to the world. We should be giving ourselves unreservedly to the
Lord. The Holy Spirit within us is intensely envying after us. God is a
jealous God. He wants us to be His and His alone. He does not want the
world to have us. The KJV actually uses the word "lust" here
instead of "envy". Obviously the word "lust" is being
used in a positive way. We lust after bad things. God lusts after us,
which is a good thing. He desires to have us with a "great
intensity", as a result James uses the word envy or lust to make the
point clear.
If we indeed claim to be God’s and then we give ourselves to the
world, then we are committing a type adultery. Instead of devoting
ourselves to our God, we forsake Him by giving ourselves to the world. God
is a jealous God and does not think well of this.
The second way of looking at this verse is to say that the spirit
being spoken of is not God’s Spirit, but man’s spirit that he placed
in us at creation. It is our spirit that envies after things it shouldn’t'.
For this reason James continues in verse 6 by saying that God "gives
us more grace". So when we are tempted to be more worldly in our
lifestyle than we should be, there is grace available for us to overcome
this temptation.
It is quite difficult to say just what way James means. Whatever way
you conclude, both ideas are Scriptural. The question remains, what did
James have in mind when he said these particular words.
James quotes Prov. 3:34 which says, "God opposes the proud and
gives grace to the humble". Pride is demonstrated in a variety of
ways. The fact that Israel at times made their own gods to worship is an
example of pride. They believed quite proudly that they were capable of
inventing their own gods. God opposes such people He did it in Old
Testament days and he will do it today. We will get no where with God when
we have pride in our hearts.
In verse 7 James concludes that we should submit ourselves to God.
We should not submit to the world. We should not be proud in our own
thinking, but submit all things to God. Then along with this submission,
we should resist the devil. As we resist him, he will flee from us. "Anthistemi"
is the Greek word that is translated as "resist". It means
"to stand against". It suggests that when tempted by the devil,
"we stand up strongly and confidently in God’s power and don’t
give in to him". This will result in him fleeing from us in quick
measure.
Once we resist the devil James tells us "to come near to God’,
and if we do that, God "will come near to us: As we step towards Him
in trust, He will come close to us. We will know His presence. We cannot
resist the devil and stop at that. We need to draw close to Jesus.
In verses 9 and 10 James speaks about true repentance, although he
does not actually use the word repent. Look at what he says, because what
he says gives you a clear definition of what repentance is all about. He
says, "wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughing to mourning,
and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift
you up". We often say that when we come to Jesus we will experience
joy, but before we experience this joy we must first experience mourning,
wailing, and gloom because of our sin. Repentance is key to becoming a
Christian, but is not spoken of too much in many circles. I don’t
believe you can experience God’s joy without first experiencing gloom as
a result of our sinful state that we are in. When we recognize our fallen
state before God, we then can appreciate the love He shows us in
salvation. Without understanding who we are without Christ, we cannot
appreciate His love, and who we are in Christ.
The question was always asked in my teenage years at church,
"why do we not see the miraculous today as we see in the New
Testament"? I think at least one answer is found in these verses. It
may well be the real answer to this question. Our friendship and love of
the world hinders God’s activity in our society and lives. When as
Christians, we are so in love with the world, it really must make God
jealous. We must realize that God can be jealous. He wants us. He envies
for us as James says.
In Matt. 19:24 and Mark 10:24 and 25 Jesus says that it is easier
for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the Kingdom of God. The idea that Jesus is speaking of a small 2 foot high
door in the wall of a city when He uses the words "eye of a
needle" is somewhat of an new idea. What Jesus most likely meant is
what He said. It is hard for a camel to go through a sewing instrument
called a needle. The point Jesus is making, no matter what way you
interpret it, is that it is impossible for a camel to pass through an eye
of a needle. Therefore it is highly unlikely that a rich man can enter the
Kingdom of God. Jesus did not say that it is impossible for a rich man to
go to Heaven. Heaven and the Kingdom of God are two different things. A
rich man can be a Christian and on his way to Heaven. Yet a rich man with
all of the love he has towards his riches cannot enter the present reality
of the Kingdom of God. He cannot participate in the miraculous aspect of
the Kingdom. He is not fully devoted to the Lord. He loves the world too
much. All of what he has gets in the way of effectively entering the
Kingdom of God. This is most likely why we here of the miraculous in poor
countries, yet don’t see it in our own nation.
Therefore, our worldly and rich society that we live in hinders us
from seeing the reality of the Kingdom of God. Thus the answer to our age
old question concerning why we do not see God’s power at work in our
lives.
I think that we in North America are so engrossed in what we have,
the good life, that we don’t even realize what it means to love the
Lord. We may say that we love Him on Sunday mornings in our hymns and
songs, yet I am not convinced that we understand what loving God is all
about. Our hearts and minds are clouded by the world around to such a
degree that we simply cannot enter the Kingdom of God in all of its
fullness.
In verse 11 James brings the law back into the picture. He says that
if you slander one another you become a judge of the law. You are not only
breaking the law but expect that the law should be judged by your
standards, setting yourself above the law. You are thus becoming a judge
over the law.
If we in our slandering and judgement of our brother believe that we
are above the law, then we must feel that we are above the true Judge, the
One who made the law. James gives a warning. He basically says that if we
think like this, then we will be judged by the Judge Himself, who is able
to save or destroy us. James is bringing a sense of the fear of God to his
readers who seems to love the world and slanders his fellow Christian at
the same time. This is a grave warning.
Boasting About Tomorrow (ch. 4:13-17)
The idea of loving the world is seen again in verse 13 which says,
"you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,
spend a year there, carry on business and make money". These words,
at least to me, paint the picture of one who is caught up in the world
around him. He has his plans of going here and there doing his business,
making money and living the good life, without any thought to Jesus.
James tells these people that you don’t "know what will
happen to you tomorrow". You cannot predict the future. You may not
even be alive tomorrow. "You are a mist that appears for a little
while and then vanishes", he says. (ch. 4:14)
James tells his readers that the way we should live our lives is to
stay in communion with Jesus, and acknowledge His direction in our lives.
This is what is meant by his words, "if it is the Lord’s will, we
will live and do this or that". By saying these words, if they are
also the attitude of our hearts, then we are acknowledging that we are in
submission to Jesus. We are looking to Him for our future and not
ourselves.
James is not saying that we should not go about and do business and
earn a living and make money. He is telling us how we should go about our
business, the attitude we need and the inclusion of Jesus in all we do.
One who is in love with the world makes his own plans without giving
any consideration to what Jesus might have to say about things. Such a
lifestyle is a boastful lifestyle, and James calls this "evil".
This is not some little sin. This is very evil.
"Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t
do it, sins". This is how James closes this chapter. I think that
James knows that his readers once knew these things yet have departed from
them. He thus concludes that they are sinning because they know how they
should live, yet they have fallen into a worldly lifestyle instead of a
Godly lifestyle, thus they live in sin each and every day.
Warning To Rich Oppressors (ch. 5:1 - 6)
In the beginning of this closing chapter James shows his
dissatisfaction with those of wealth who don’t treat those who are poor
with dignity and love. Once again James uses some strong words against the
wealthy of his day, yet eludes also to a future generation of wealthy
people as well.
He opens verse 1 by saying, "now listen". These words are
used for emphasis sake. He is saying that he wants his reader to place
close attention to what he is about to say. He says, "you rich
people, weep and wail for the misery that is coming upon you." What
James is telling these people to do, is to repent. Once again, this is
what true and deep repentance looks like.
He continues on by saying, "your wealth has rotted and moths
have eaten your clothes". It makes you wonder if James hasn’t heard
these words before from his brother Jesus. You might remember Jesus saying
that we should not store up treasures on earth where moths and rust
corrupt them.
In verse 3 he says that "your gold and silver are corroded.
There corrosion will testify against you…" He goes on to say in
this verse that they "have hoarded wealth in the last days".
Could this possibly be prophetic? Maybe James believed he was in the last
days, or maybe this is a direct prophecy for those who will live in the
last days. If we are in the last days, you can certainly see how these
verses would apply to our society today.
Wealth in itself is not bad. The people that James is talking about
are rich people who take advantage of the poor and those who work for
them. He says, "their cries … have reached the ears of the
Lord". This implies that judgment will come upon these people for
their selfishness and the way the have treated others.
Verse 5 and 6 says, "you have lived on earth in luxury and
self-indulgence. You have fattened yourself in the day of slaughter,
(alternate reading – fattened yourself in the day of feasting). You have
condemned and murdered innocent men who were not opposing you". The
picture that James paints here is of those who while, supposedly
worshipping the Lord, are also over indulging in the pleasures of life
while they not only ignore the poor, but condemn and kill them because
they get in their way. Obviously James is condemning such activity.
Patience In Suffering (ch. 5:7-12)
In the last section James was saying some very harsh things against
rich people who took advantage of the poor. It sounded like James was
implying that they would be judged accordingly and not make heaven as a
result. The question then can be asked. Were these rich people real
Christians? Remember, one of the main points to James’s letter is that
real faith saves, and false faith doesn’t. He therefore proceeds by
giving examples of those with false faith. These rich people have false
faith that doesn’t save. That is why James says that they will receive
judgement on the Day of Judgement.
Back in chapter four James told these rich people to wail, and turn
their laughter into gloom. He was telling these people to repent, because
without repentance there is no salvation. It is clear then that these rich
people were Christian in name only. They believed they were Christians but
they did not have true faith.
Now in the section to come James speaks to his poor brothers, the
ones that are suffering at the hands of the rich. You will see clearly
that these people are true Christians, with true faith. The two groups of
people are in sharp contrast to one another.
In verse 7 James encourages his readers to "be patient".
In verse 8 he says the same yet adds the words "stand firm". The
admonition to "be patient and stand firm" is given in light of
all the hedonistic living that was ramped in their society. Standing firm
implies not giving into the ways of the world. Being patient suggests that
these people, while standing firm, may find the task difficult and simply
wish that Jesus would come soon and rescue them from all of this
worldliness. Yet he compares their plight to that of a farmer who plants
crops in his field. The farmer must be patient and continue his job in
order to reap a harvest some time in the future.
James says that Jesus will return, and return soon. What soon meant
to James is not really known. If by soon he meant within his lifetime,
this might say something about Jame’s eschatology. If James indeed did
think that Jesus would return in a year or so, or even in his lifetime, he
would then believe in the "imminent return of Christ", which
many Christians have believed in over the centuries. Yet not all
Christians believe in this teaching. They believe certain things must
happen, must be fulfilled before Jesus returns. In many cases these things
that must happen would take considerable amount of time.
Once again in verse 9 James speaks to relational issues by saying
"don’t grumble against one another" . Even though the readers
were saved people they still grumbled, just like the Children of Israel in
Old Testament days. The reason why these people should not grumble is
because "the Judge is standing at the door". This is in
reference to the return of Jesus. He does not want to see God’s people
grumbling against one another as Jesus returns to judge such activity.
Not only did James want these people to be patient and stand firm
against worldly desires, but he wanted them to "be patient in the
face of suffering". (ch.5:10) James knew well what suffering meant.
Many Christians fled Jerusalem because of the persecution of Christians,
but James stayed behind to look after the church that was left. I can only
imagine and guess that James loved his city so much, and what it
represented that he would stay their until the very end.
James uses the prophets and Job as examples of being patient and
receiving good things from God in God’s due time. He uses the words
"finally brought about". Sometimes we have to wait and be
patient before God "finally brings about His goodness" to a
situation.
In verse 12 James says, "not to swear (make an oath), not by
heaven or by earth or by anything else". I think what James is saying
here is that people should recognize that Christians are truthful and
honest in the way they live. They should not have to make oaths and
covenants, as was the case in the pagan world. It should have been evident
that if a Christian said he would do something, it would be done. The
reliability of a Christian’s word gets to the heart of his religion.
Christianity is based on trust, trust in Jesus. Therefore trust in all
areas of life should be clearly seen in a Christian.
The Prayer Of Faith
(ch.5:13-20)
In verse 13 James asks, "is any of you in trouble?" The
KJV uses the word "afflicted" instead of the word
"trouble". The Greek word used here is the word "kakopatheo"
which means to suffer from evil. Therefore James is addressing his point
to anyone who is suffering, maybe due to persecution. If this is the place
the reader finds himself in then James says "to pray".
He continues by asking, "is anyone happy? The answer is,
"he should sing songs of praise". These two questions put
together as they are suggest, at least to me, that not all are happy while
suffering, therefore they need to pray.
Then James goes on and says that if anyone is sick, he should call
the elders of the church together so that they can pray for him. Note the
word "elders" is plural. Elders were a group of leaders in the
local church. They were always a group and not a single person.
The elders would anoint the sick person with oil, lay hands on the
sick person, and "the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well". There are many ways and means found in the New
Testament that can make sick people well. This is one way. That is to say,
elders come and pray for the sick person, and as the elders pray and trust
Jesus, the sick person gets better. Note that the faith, or the trust is
on the part of the elder in this context.
James says that "the Lord will raise him (the sick person)
up". I have often heard that "prayer changes things". To be
a little technical, is it really "our" prayers that change
things, or is it the Lord Jesus Himself that changes things in response to
our prayers. I believe the second to be true which places the emphasis on
Jesus instead of our prayers.
In verse 16 James says that if "he has sinned, he will be
forgiven". Some might suggest that the illness here is a result of
sin because of this sentence, but that is not clearly stated. It may be
possible that some sickness is a result of sin, but not necessarily.
Jesus, in Mark 2:5-11 basically says that it is just as easy to say that
your sins are forgiven than to say "rise and walk". James says,
"if" he has sinned, suggesting that maybe he has or maybe he
hasn’t sinned, but if he has, he will be forgiven. This is not a text
suggesting that all sickness is due to sin. It is a text stating that some
sickness is a result of sin.
The Greek word "parapimoa" is the word that is translated
as sin in verse 16. James tells his readers to confess your sins to one
another and pray for one another. The Greek word here means "to slip
up", or "a fall, a blunder", not necessarily a willful
disobedience. The same word is used in Gal. 6:1 where Paul speaks of a man
overtaken in a fault, a blunder, a mishap. James is encouraging us to
confess such failures in our lives to each other and then to pray for one
another concerning these failures.
When praying in such situations healing is a result, whether
spiritual or physical healing. James seems to link confession and
forgiveness, with healing of our physical bodies. Yet we cannot make this
the only condition for physical healing since there are other comments
made in other Scriptures concerning the subject. There are many ways in
which the Lord can heal people. The confession of sin or faults is only
one of these ways.
The prayers of a righteous man are very powerful James says.
Righteous prayers would have to fit into the equation before someone was
healed. The elders praying, must be of a righteous nature in order for
their prayers to be righteous and answerable. This could be one of many
reasons why some of our prayers aren’t answered.
In verse 17 and 18 James uses Elijah as an example of a righteous
man. James says that "he was a man like us". He was no different
than us. Elijah was a righteous man. God answered his prayers, and He will
answer ours too.
Unlike Paul, James has no elaborate ending to his letter, no words
that we would call a doxology. James simply says, "whoever turns a
sinner from the error of his ways will save him from death, and cover over
a multitude of sins". When we as sinners come to Jesus our sins are
covered over and at the Day of Judgement our Lord will not hold us
accountable for these sins. Therefore if we help others to come to Jesus,
we save them from judgement and the resulting penalty. James leaves us
with this thought, which can be said is the greatest thing that we could
do for someone. After all that James has said, he leaves us with the idea
that we should be thinking of others and there eternal salvation, just the
opposite to the hedonistic lifestyle that comes so natural to us.