IN CONTRAST TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE WISDOM THAT IS FROM ABOVE ARE THOSE WHO YIELD TO THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND SEEK TO BE FRIENDS OF A WORLD WHICH IGNORES CHRIST (JAMES 4:1). Having spoken of those who have received the wisdom from above, and through it have found peace, and a message of p... [ Continue Reading ]
‘From where come wars and from where come squabblings among you? Do they not come from there, even from your pleasures that war in your members?' He considers their wars and their squabbling and their belligerence with each other. From where, he asks, do they come? And then he answers his own questi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You desire, and have not. You kill, and envy, and cannot obtain. You fight and war; you have not, because you ask not.' He then builds up a picture which reveals how they go about obtaining what they want, for it is clear that they will do anything rather than ask God for it and fulfil His conditio... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You ask, and do not receive, because you ask for the wrong reasons, that you may spend (dissipate) it in your pleasures.' And even when they do sometimes ask God for it they still do not receive satisfaction of heart. And that is because their motives are wrong. The failure is due to the fact that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You adulteresses. Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.' Thus they are also like adulteresses craving what will satisfy their thirst for pleasure. For adulteresses as a vivid metaphor see... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Or do you think that the scripture speaks in vain? Does the spirit which he made to dwell in us go on enviously longing (or ‘longing until it envies)?' The second part of this verse can be translated variously, and it can be either a question or a statement. To give but five examples: o ‘Does the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he gives more grace. Which is why the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”.' ‘He gives more grace.' The One Who jealously yearns over their spirits, offers them more than the world can ever do. If they humble themselves He promises that He will cause His grace,... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A CONSEQUENCE THEY ARE TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO GOD, RESIST THE DEVIL, AND DRAW NEAR TO GOD BY PURIFYING THEMSELVES AND TRULY REPENTING (JAMES 4:6). The condition of some of God's professed people having been revealed somewhat emphatically, James now calls on them to get back to God, responding t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Be subject therefore to God.' The phrase is possibly based on Psalms 37:7 LXX. ‘Submit yourself to YHWH'. They are therefore to subject themselves humbly to God, as Joshua the High Priest had done before them when he stood at the bar of God (Zechariah 3:1), submitted before Him so that He might de... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.' Then they can once more approach God, and He will draw near to them. He will welcome them in friendship. Then they will be able to ask and He will give (contrast James 4:3), because their hearts will be right towards Him. In the same way once Joshua... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.' Included within the way of cleansing is true repentance in tears. They are, as it were, to have their own Day of Atonement. The word for ‘affliction' indicates ‘experiencing hardship' (as a good... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.' And the result of their humbling themselves before God is that ‘the Lord will exalt you.' He will lift them up to share His glory (Isaiah 57:15). It is left open as to whether ‘the Lord' is the Father (James 3:9) or ‘the Lord, Jesu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do not speak one against another, brothers.' The idea here is that they ought not to speak against one another critically or in condemnation, often without being aware of the facts. Thereby they could do them great harm, both personally, and in the eyes of others. Many an innocent man has been pers... [ Continue Reading ]
A WARNING AGAINST BEING JUDGES OF OTHERS AND THUS PRE-EMPTING GOD (JAMES 4:11 A). The passage commences with a warning. Aware that his strong words and his appeal to repentance could now result in some members of the church judging others James issues a strong warning against their doing so. We can... [ Continue Reading ]
HE NOW REMINDS THEM THAT THEY NEED TO SEE LIFE IN TERMS OF THE LAST DAY (JAMES 4:11 TO JAMES 5:12). From this point on until James 5:12 there will be an emphasis on judgment, and on seeing life in the light of it. The passage parallels James 1:9, with its references to judgment, to the rich and poo... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRISTIANS NEED TO FACE UP TO THE FRAILTY OF THEIR LIVES (JAMES 4:12). The contrast between man in his inability to act as judge in contrast with the great Judge Himself, now leads up to the question of the frailty of life and the need to recognise that our lives are at God's disposal. For men shou... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and make ourselves gains”, whereas you do not know what will be on the morrow.' ‘Come now.' This is the first of two ‘come now's which introduce two scenarios, both of which are intended to make... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Because you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that”.' They should therefore live each day as though it might be their last, and recognise that every day that they have after that, is a gift from God, (for the truth is that every day someone somewhere falls dead, w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But now you glory in your arrogant words. All such glorying is evil.' But instead of doing that they glory in their arrogant words. They say ‘we will do this and that' regardless of their mortality, and of God and eternity. But to glory in that way is evil. It is to be casual over what is very imp... [ Continue Reading ]
‘To him therefore who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.' So there is really only one conclusion that they should come to. They should recognise their mortality and put their efforts into what they know that God wants them to do, and that is to ‘do good'. For if they know what... [ Continue Reading ]