Main Idea
Draw Near To God!
Sermon Notes
Zondervan Exegetical
Connections with still earlier material in James likewise appear. The “lusts” of 4:1-3 recall the evil desires of 1:14-15. The “warring” in one’s “members” in 4:1 utilizes the identical term in 3:5-6, in which the tongue proved so dangerous among the various parts of the body. The combination of muder and adultery in 4:2 and 4 echoes the pairing in 2:11 of the two commandments of the Decalogue that prohibit these actions. Becoming God’s friend (4:4) reminds us of Abraham’s similar commendation (2:23). The humble person who receives God’s grace (4:6) parallels the “humiliated” of 1:10 who will be exalted, a thought repeated in even more parallel language in 4:10. Cleansing hands and hearts (4:8) applies the language of ritual purity to moral issues, just as 1:27 did when it enjoined keeping oneself unstained by the world. The command for the wicked to humble or humiliate themselves in repentance (4:9) employs the same concept (and a partially synonymous verb) as 1:10 when it predicts the eschatological humiliation of the unrepentant wicked.
The double-minded of 1:8 shows up in the purify your hearts you double-minded
James 4:1-6 presents a key problem for those who would exhibit wisdom from above. They still fight with fellow Christians. How can this be? James raises and answers his own question–from the lustful desires that remain part of humanity’s fallen nature, even after redemption (v.1). These desires regularly attach themselves to what people do not already possess, leading to all kinds of quarrels–from verbal assaults to literal warfare (v. 2a-b). One reason many lack what they want is that they have not asked God in prayer (v. 2c). Alternatively, they have asked him but with self-centered motives (v. 3). Such behavior resembles the characteristic behavior of the unredeemed, not the regenerate (v. 4)! If this sounds too harsh, James backs up his claim by paraphrasing (vv.5-6a) and then quoting (vv. 6b-c) Scripture that supports him (Pr 3:34 LXX).
James then unleashes a staccato barrage of short commands, identifying the solution to these sinners’ plight (vv. 7-10). Vv. 7a and 10a create an inclusio around this paragraph with his call that they submit and humble themselves before the Lord. With the first call, he promises that resistance to the devil will ensure his flight (v. 7b); with the final one, that God will exalt such an individual (10ab). In between, he unfolds what is involved in the submission and resistance of v.7: drawing near to God with cleansed hands and hearts (changed attitudes and actions–v.8). Then he anticipates his final command by explaining what the humbling oneself of v.10 means: appropriate mourning for past sins (v.9).
Verse 1
James begins this next section with another rhetorical question for his audience. In direct contrast to the previous discussion of peace in 3:18, he here addresses the infighting in his audience. Johnson sees this as the continuation of the preceding contrast between quarreling and peacemaking, following a Hellenistic topos or set-piece discussion of envy.
The word for “passion” is the source of the English word hedonism, but in James’ day it simply implied an intense pleasure or enjoyment, though more and more it was coming to have connotations of lusts, especially involving improper sexual desires. The expression “warring in your members” could refer to internal strife within a person, external conflict between fellow Christians, or both.
Verse 2
The term “desire” does not have to be negative, but, as with “passions” in v.1, seems here to imply a strong and unhealthy craving to secure something not currently one’s own. The term “murder” proves more difficult, because there is not much evidence of a figurative meaning for this world. Yet James may use this harsh language to shock his audience, but at the same time echo Jesus’ teaching in Mt. 5:21-22 that to hate another person is to commit murder in one’s heart (cf. also the vivid metaphorical language of Ps. 59:6)
Throughout these verses, the common theme is selfish desire and envy.
In this way, James' thoughts hark back to 3:14-16 and the evil effects of a selfish focus.
It is possible again that James is echoing his brother’s teaching in Mt. 7:7-8 and expanding on the theme of asking. Jesus taught his followers that those who asked from God would receive, and it seems reasonable to envision that twenty years later some are upset because they are not obtaining what they want.
Verse 3
In this verse he gives another reason for unanswered prayer. Here the issue involves evil motives–asking “wrongly”.
They are apparently asking for material “things” so that they can spend their money and flaunt their possessions. James makes it clear that believers ought not to be asking for selfish gain and that God does not honor those requests.
Verse 4
James brands those in his churches who are behaving so selfishly with the intentionally insulting term “adulteresses”, invoking language from OT prophetic literature in which Israel and Judah were likened to adulteresses flaunting themselves in relationships with idols while claiming to worship God.
While the feminine term sounds odd when referring to men and women together in a group, in keeping with biblical tradition James personifies the entire church as the “bride” of Yahweh or Christ. At best she has become distracted from and at worst unfaithful to her groom.
“The world” and “God” are objective genitives, following the active nouns “friendship” and “enmity”.
Friendship in antiquity was usually taken far more seriously than in today’s Western world, as a lifelong pact between people with shared values and loyalties.
The closest parallel to this is 1 Jn 2:15
Friendship in James’ day indicated identification to and relationship with something or someone, so to be friends with the world means to identify with its standards and priorities.
Verses 5-6
There is no OT passage that closely parallels v. 5b.
The UBS cites Ex 20:5 as a possible parallel, which states that God is “a jealous God” (cf. also Ex 34:14, Zec 8:2), so Jas 4:5 could reflect an expanded paraphrase as such.
A few scholars have detached v. 5a from 5b, creating two separate sentences: “Or do you think the Scripture speaks in vain [referring back to the teaching of v.4]? The Spirit tends toward envy…[or however this clause is rendered].” Yet, after “the Scripture says,” we expect to discover the contents of that reference. And without this, v.5b follows on from v. 5a with no obvious logical connection.
The majority of commentators, therefore, understand v.5b to reflect the quotation of “Scripture”, however allusive (and elusive)! There are three main translations suggested:
The spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely
The Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously
God jealously longs for the spirit he made to live in us
Given that the immediate context is the hostility between God and the world, the latter two options seem stronger.
A God who is jealous in such a way as to consume his people with fire, burning in anger against them and bringing disaster on them when they rebel against him (cf. Dt 4:24; Jos 24:19; Isa 26:11; Ez 16:42), can surely be said to long enviously for their spirits to return to him.
Option (3) thus remains best
We are still left with the odd “quotation”.
Perhaps vv. 5b-6a together represent the Scripture that does not speak in vain, because they paraphrase the very passage from Proverbs 3:34 that James then cites explicitly in v.6b.
But no interpretation is free from problems, so preachers and teachers should beware of making any major point in a message dependent on the unique form of any one of the approaches to vv. 5b-6a presented here.
Verse 7
While “submit” is a loaded term in our culture, here perhaps the best understanding would be the image of ordering our lives under God’s authority and will. The commands He has promulgated we must obey.
Conversely, James orders his followers to “resist the devil”, an interesting command in light of his other injunctions on fleeing temptations.
Often we must run away, either literally or metaphorically. In other situations, we must simply live morally in the midst of immorality.
Submission to God is itself an act of resistance to the devil. As James already spelled out in v. 4 by calling his audience “adulteresses”, submission to God and allegiance to the devil are mutually exclusive.
God promises us the ability to bear up under the devil’s wiles without yielding to them (1 Co 10:13)
Verse 8
James calls for movement toward God and promises that God will reciprocate.
But drawing near to God is not just a mental or emotional activity for James. Instead, it is a practical response to God: controlling one’s tongue (1:19, 26; 3:2), caring for the poor (1:27; 2:16-17), growing in wisdom and peace (1:5; 3:16-18), and communing with him in prayer (4:2-3, 15; 5:13-18).
The more we seek to live according to God's wisdom, the closer we will grow to his purity and holiness
James takes these terms of ritual purity and transposes them into a moral context.
Bakes points out that these two commands indicate both the “external changes” and the “internal cleanup that is required” in a repentant sinner.
“Double-minded” we first saw in 1:8. Here its meaning is broadened to refer to the two-natured person of 4:4.
Purity applies to that which is unmixed, untainted, and single in its devotion and actions (cf. 3:17).
James calls them to remove everything from their thoughts and actions that show them not single-mindedly pursuing God and his will in the world.
Verse 9
James does not claim that there are never times for joy, but he maintains that this is the time for repentance, a “reaction…for purposes of restoration. Those who follow such a path will be qualified to laugh and rejoice at the time of the eschatological reversals.
Once we realize the grievous nature of our sins, we ought to be upset and show it when we realize just how far away we let ourselves get from God, crying at the horror of our sins.
Verse 10
Finally, we reach the conclusion of the discussion of humility versus pride, started in 3:14, as James rephrases his call for submission and God’s promise of exaltation. It is not for us to compete for position for the sake of our own selfish ambition; instead, it is for God to exalt as he wills.
God gives grace to us when we are humiliated and exalts us, but we in turn are asked to humble ourselves.
People who are humble do not seek their own “rights” to positions of leadership, but all God to encourage and lift them up as he sees fit. Thus, humility comprises an essential attribute for community.
Humility is not passivity; but receptivity. It is certainly not groveling before God or others; it is simply accepting truth, learning from every situation, growing in simplicity and in wisdom.
Barclay
Verses 1-3
James is here setting before his people a basic question–Whather is your aim in life to submit to the will of God, or to gratify your own desires for the pleasures of this world? And his warning is that, if pleasure is the policy of life, then nothing but strife and hatred and division can possibly follow.
It is the cares and riches and pleasures of this life which combine to choke the good seed (Luke 8:14). A man can become a slave to lusts and pleasures, and, when he does, malice and envy and hatred enter into life (Titus 3:3)
The ultimate choice in life lies between pleasing oneself and pleasing God; and a world in which men’s first aim is to please themselves is a world which is a battleground of savagery and division.
A man allows himself to desire something. That thing begins to dominate his thoughts; he finds himself involuntarily thinking about it in his waking hours, and dreams of it when he sleeps. It begins to be what is aptly called a ruling passion. He then begins to form imaginary plans and schemes of how he may obtain it; and these plans and schemes may well involve imaginary ways of eliminating those who stand in his way. For long enough all this may go on in a man’s mind and thoughts and heart. But then one day the imaginings may blaze into action; and he may find himself taking the necessary and the terrible steps to obtain his desire.
Moo
Verse 1
The beginning of chap. 4, then, does not introduce a new topic, but a shift of focus within discussion of the same topic. James’s commendation of peacemakers in v. 18 flows naturally into a discussion of the community problems that created so strong need for peacemakers.
The quarrels of James’s day have too often marred the Christian church. The seventeenth-century Jewish philosopher Spinoza observed: “I have often wondered that persons who make boast of professing the Christian religion—namely love, joy, peace, temperance, and charity to all men—should quarrel with such rancorous animosity and display daily towards one another such bitter hatred, that this, rather than the virtues which they profess, is the readiest criteria of their faith.”4 Some battles, to be sure, need to be fought. But even then they must be fought without sacrificing Christian principles and virtues. We do not know what the disputes that James refers to were about.5 The fact that James does not comment directly on the issues involved suggests that his concern was more with the selfish spirit and bitterness of the quarrels than with the rights and wrongs of the various viewpoints.
The former is a bit more likely when we consider the close parallel to this language in 1 Pet. 2:11: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
Verse 2
Two main alternatives exist.
A three-clause structure:
“You want something but don’t get it.”
“You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.”
“You quarrel and fight” (NIV; see also KJV).
A two-clause structure:
“You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder.”
“And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts” (NRSV; see also REB; NASB; TEV; NLT; NJB)
For these reasons, therefore, we should follow the majority of modern translations and punctuate as in the second option above
What is it that James’s readers want to have? He nowhere says in these verses, but the context suggests an answer: the kind of wisdom that will enable them to gain recognition as leaders in the community. James has rebuked his readers for wanting to become teachers (3:1) and for priding themselves on being “wise and understanding” (3:13). They apparently want to lead the church, but don’t have the right kind of wisdom to do so. Moreover, James’s language here reminds us inevitably of his earlier encouragement: “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God” (1:5). James attributes the failure of these people to gain the power and prestige they want to their failure to do just this: ask God.
Verse 3
The Greek is more indefinite than the NIV translation: “you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend freely on your pleasures.” “Spend freely” (the verb is dapanaō) can have a neutral sense (Mark 5:26; Acts 21:24; 2 Cor. 12:15), but the meaning here is negative, as in Luke 15:14, where the prodigal son is said to have “freely spent” all of his father’s inheritance. Jesus had promised, “Ask, and it will be given you” (Matt. 7:7). But clearly Jesus had in mind that asking which has as its focus and motive God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will (Matt. 6:9–10)—not an asking that had the purpose of the indulgence of those “pleasures” (hēdonai) that are at war with our souls (cf. v. 1). Hort comments: “God bestows not gifts only, but the enjoyment of them: but the enjoyment which contributes to nothing beyond itself is not what He gives in answer to prayer; and petitions to Him which have no better end in view are not prayers.”
Verse 4
The abrupt and harsh you adulterous people marks the beginning of one of the most strongly worded calls to repent that we find anywhere in the NT. James warns his readers about flirtation with the world and its consequences for their relationship to God (v. 4). He reminds them of God’s jealousy for his people and the availability of his grace (vv. 5–6). And on the basis of this, he urges his readers to repent (vv. 7–10).
Throughout the section James depends heavily on the OT, quoting it twice and reflecting its vocabulary and themes in every verse.
In the midst of his exhortation about speech, envy, and divisiveness, James breaks out in a passionate summons to his readers to turn away from their worldly ways and submit themselves wholeheartedly once again to their gracious but jealous God. James gathers up all the specific issues that he deals with in his letter into one all-embracing demand. Here, if anywhere, we find the heart of James’s letter.
The Greek word James uses is actually feminine; see “adulteresses” in the NASB. Some manuscripts, indeed, have both the feminine and masculine forms (hence KJV: “adulterers and adulteresses”), but this reading is pretty obviously an attempt to avoid the problem of the feminine form. A literal reading would suggest that James is accusing his female readers of engaging in adulterous sexual activity.18 But this is unlikely. Nothing in the context would suggest such an accusation, and James goes on in vv. 5–10 to castigate his readers quite generally. The clue to the feminine form and to the accusation that James is making here is found in the OT, especially the prophetic books.19 The prophets frequently compare the relationship between Yahweh and his people to a marriage relationship. See, for instance, Isa. 54:5–6: “ ‘For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected,’ says your God.” As this text suggests, the Lord is consistently portrayed as the husband and Israel as the wife in this imagery. Accordingly, therefore, when Israel’s relationship with the Lord is threatened by her idolatry, she can be accused of committing adultery; see Jer. 3:20: “ ‘But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,’ declares the Lord” (see also Isa. 57:3; Ezek. 16:38; 23:45). But it is in Hosea that this imagery reaches its pinnacle. The Lord commands Hosea to marry a prostitute so that her unfaithfulness might poignantly and painfully reveal the tragic alliance of Israel with foreign gods. Israel, God claims, has “been unfaithful,” going after other lovers, Baal and other false gods (Hos. 2:5–7). This marital imagery for the covenant relationship between God and Israel is picked up by Jesus, who called those who rejected him “a wicked and adulterous generation” (Matt. 12:39; 16:4). James, following this tradition, uses “adulteresses” to label his readers as unfaithful people of God. By seeking friendship with the world, they are, in effect, committing spiritual adultery
Verse 5
Since, therefore, in our view the exegetical data of the verse are not conclusive, context becomes a key deciding factor. A reference to human envy can, of course, fit into this general context, for James has warned them about this sin three times (3:14, 16; 4:2). And it could be argued that a statement about human sin in v. 5 provides a more natural contrast with the “greater grace” of God in v. 6. But the immediate context provides strong, and, in our opinion, decisive, support for the “divine jealousy” interpretation.
We are now in a position to return to the beginning of the verse and identify the “Scripture” to which James refers. The difficulty is that the words that James “quotes” do not reproduce any OT text—or even any noncanonical Jewish text, for that matter. Many scholars therefore suppose that James is citing a lost apocryphal text.25 But scripture (graphē) is limited to references to the canonical OT in the NT. If we interpret the verse, as we have argued, as a reference to the jealousy of God, OT support is, of course, abundant (e.g., Exod. 20:5; 34:14; Zech. 8:2). Some insist that the singular “scripture” must introduce a single OT text. But this is not clear; “scripture” in John 7:37–39 refers to an allusive reference or theme (and cf. also, possibly, Matt. 2:23, Gal. 3:22). This being so, we can identify that which graphē speaks about as the biblical theme of God’s jealousy for his people.
Verse 6
If, however, as we have argued, v. 5 depicts God’s jealousy for his people, then James here is reminding us that God’s grace is completely adequate to meet the requirements imposed on us by that jealousy. Our God is “a consuming fire,” and his demand for our exclusive allegiance may seem terrifying. But our God is also merciful, gracious, all loving, and willingly supplies all that we need to meet his all-encompassing demands. As Augustine has said, “God gives what he demands
But, in keeping with his strong emphasis on exhortation throughout the letter, James does not let this word of grace stand by itself for long. God’s grace demands response: the response of humility. James introduces this note via his quotation from Prov. 3:34: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (This text is quoted also in 1 Pet. 5:5, another example of the close relationship between James and 1 Peter.) The humility introduced in this quotation becomes the dominant motif in the commands in vv. 7–10.27 God’s gift of sustaining grace is enjoyed only by those willing to admit their need and accept the gift. The proud, on the other hand, meet only resistance from God. God’s opposition toward the arrogant person is a recurring motif in the OT (see, e.g., Ps. 18:27; 34:18; 51:17; 72:4; 138:6; Isa. 61:1; Zeph. 3:11–12). Worth mentioning is that “pride” (hyperēphania) is often associated with jealousy and envy in Hellenistic writings.28 Perhaps James would want us to see here an implicit condemnation of these jealous and selfish people whom he has criticized in 3:13–4:3.
Verse 7
And, while not related verbally (the Greek verbs are different), submit yourselves to God and humble yourselves before the Lord are conceptually similar, forming an inclusio. Between these two “bookends” we find a carefully structured series of commands that spell out some of the aspects and implications of the overall call to “submit to God.”
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (7b)
Come near to God and he will come near to you. (8a)
Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (v. 8b)
Grieve,
Mourn,
and wail. (v. 9a)
Change your laughter to mourning
and [change] your joy to gloom. (v. 9b)
What James writes in vv. 6–10 is strikingly similar to 1 Pet. 5:5–9. Peter also quotes Prov. 3:34 (v. 5b), following it with commands to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s almighty hand, that he may exalt you in due time” (v. 6) and resist the devil (v. 9). These parallels suggest that what James says here may reflect a widespread early Christian call to repentance.
To submit to God means to place ourselves under his lordship, and therefore to commit ourselves to obey him in all things