James 4:1-6
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with 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 dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
After talking about the need to be agents of sowing peace amongst one another, James goes on to address the issue of conflict. He begins by asking what the root of wars and fights are, and that’s a great question to ask. So often we try to deal with the symptoms without getting to the root cause for it. When we deal with the root, we are able to deal with the issue itself.
He then goes on to answer his question saying that the conflicts arise from the desires we have for pleasure and adds that these desires themselves are at war within our bodies. It’s this internal battle that results in external battles. Most of us are unconscious of these battles that rage within us and so don’t do anything about them.
James says that the first thing about these desires is that they are those of pleasure. We desire to please ourselves in every way, have the best that this world has to offer, and to satisfy our sensual and temporal desires, that we are willing to do anything to have them satisfied. We are never satisfied with what we possess – we always want more, thinking that we will eventually reach a place of contentment with possessions. The sad truth is that possessions will never bring us to the point of contentment – we will always want more.
James goes on to mention various things people do to possess things. Firstly, he says that they lust (desire) to have things but don’t have, meaning that merely desiring something does not mean that one can possess it. Secondly, he says that they take one another’s lives to possess and they even covet their things and with all that, they still do not have. Thirdly, they fight and go to war to possess, and yet they do not have. How many battles and wars have been fought with the intent of colonizing someone else’s lands and how much blood has been shed in the process?
He then gives the reasons why they do not have. One might be expecting a rather complicated answer to the question, “Why do I not possess what I desire?” But the answer James gives is rather simple. “You do not have because you do not ask.” Is that all it takes to receive something – ask? Ask who? He’s referring to asking God, who is the giver of all good gifts.
He then goes on to say that even those who do ask, do not receive, and the reason for them not receiving is that they ask for things with wrong motives. They merely want to use their possessions on themselves, to satisfy their own sinful pleasures and not to bring glory to God through them. He seems to say that even though the method of wanting to possess things might have changed, where one is seeking God for the things he desires, one thing has not changed and that is the selfish desires behind wanting to possess things.
James then gets a bit strong with them calling them adulterers and adulteresses, and goes on to give a reason why calls them so. When we hear the words, ‘adulterers and adulteresses,’ the first thought that comes to our minds is that of infidelity in marriage. But let’s look at what James is using these terms to refer to.
He asks them whether they don’t know that if one desires to be in a friendly relationship with the things of this world, then that person is at enmity with God. What he seems to be implying is that people have chosen to have a relationship with the things of this world, instead of with God. So in that sense, they have forsaken their covenant with God and entered into another covenant with the things of this world, much like a person who forsakes the relationship with his spouse to enter into a relationship with another person instead – hence the name, ‘adulterers and adulteresses.’ He is saying that if one chooses to be friends with the world, he is simultaneously choosing to be an enemy of God. This is a very serious issue and something we need to take to heart in our day and age, when life is all about possessions and so often, God is the One we seek to increase our possessions. Have we traded our relationship with God for a relationship with money and possessions?
No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The Lord Himself was teaching His disciples (and us), that one cannot serve both God and money. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus goes on in Matthew 24:25-34 to tell His disciples (and us) that God is able to meet our needs for food, water and clothing if only we seek Him, much like James is teaching here, that we can have what we need if only we ask God?
James goes on to make reference to a quote from Scripture that is not explicitly found anywhere but there are passages that allude to it though. He talks about the Holy Spirit of God in us that so longs for us to be in relationship with God that He will do all He can to help us grow in that relationship. He loves us with a jealous love, meaning that we belong to God and should never belong to another.
When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses to give to the people of Israel, the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:5-6 reads like this, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” From this passage, it’s evident that God was saying that we were not to replace our worship or reverence for God with anything and we were not to bow down to it or serve it. And so, if one was making an idol of money or possessions and ‘worshipping or serving it,’ as it were, then one was choosing to walk away from his relationship with God and was entering into a relationship with the things that God provides. So, if one were to choose to reject God and rather embrace the things He provides instead, then one was choosing to receive the punishment that God gives to such people who reject Him.
On reading this passage by James it might seem to some of us that these are difficult things to live by, since most people around us live this way and even in the church today, the love for things seems to be so prevalent. To such of us, James goes on to say, that God gives us the grace to live the life He has called us to live, even if it is difficult. It’s similar to the incident in Matthew 19:16-30 when Jesus was approached by a rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus then had this conversation with him where it was discovered that this man was so obsessed with his possessions that he was not willing to part with them to follow Christ. At that time Jesus said these words in Verses 23-24, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this statement, they were shocked, (much like some of the readers of this letter of James would have been), and they asked Jesus this question in Verse 25, “Who then can be saved?” It seemed like the love for things was so prevalent even back in the day that they felt that no one would qualify to be saved because everyone loved money and possessions more than God. It’s at this time that Jesus said in Verse 26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
James seems to be saying that though this might be a difficult thing to do, given the influence of the world around us, God is able to give us the grace to live this life, where we choose Him over everything else. James goes on to make a reference to several scriptures, but closest to Proverbs 3:34, when he says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” This verse seems to say that if one is humble enough to come to the Lord, acknowledging his inability to resist the love for money and possessions, and seek His help to develop a love for God, that God is willing to help that person to do so, but if one chooses to pretend that he does not love pleasure, money or possessions over God and so does not seek God’s help, then such a person cannot receive help from God.
James 4:7-10
7 Therefore submit to God. 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 and 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 lift you up.
Since a love for pleasure, money and possessions is such a big problem that even children of God have to deal with, James then goes on to offer a solution to this problem – one that’s noteworthy for us even today, where many of us are caught up with the same sin of idolatry.
The first thing James suggests is that we submit ourselves to God. We need to move from a position of rebelling against God and choosing things that make us at enmity with God, to submitting to God in every area of our lives. It’s only when we submit to God, that life takes on new meaning, purpose, and direction. He is not talking about merely believing in God, but rather bringing every area of our lives into submission to God’s authority and will, where doing what God desires is our only desire.
The second thing James suggests we do is to resist the devil so he will flee from us. Notice that this is not the first thing, but rather the second thing, as none of us can resist the devil in our own strength. We can only do it with the strength that the Lord provides and this strength is available to us when we submit to God and walk in obedience to Him. He tells us that once we submit to God and then resist the devil, he will certainly flee from us. We should never forget that the temptations to possess things is always from the devil so as to lure us away from God.
Remember the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4, when “the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Notice he was trying to lure Jesus with pleasure, money, and possessions, if only he would bow down to him. Notice how Jesus resisted the devil with these words, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”Jesus made reference to worshipping and serving no one but God. Jesus overcame the temptation by the devil to become a slave to pleasure, money or possessions – a temptation each of us needs to overcome in our daily lives even today.
Notice what happened when Jesus resisted the devil with this 3rd and final temptation. “The devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” The Lord is able to strengthen us to resist the devil’s temptations to become enslaved and the devil will flee from us.
The third thing, James suggests is that we draw near to God, and adds that if we do so, then God will draw near to us. It isn’t sufficient that we merely enter into a relationship with God, as is the case with an earthly marriage relationship as well – we need to move into deeper intimacy so as to enjoy the relationship to its fullest. So also, we need to move into deeper intimacy in our relationship with God so that we may gradually and eventually be transformed into His image, and thereby reflect His character/nature.
The fourth thing James suggests is that sinners cleanse their hands. Let’s remember he’s talking to believing Christians when he mentions all that he does in his letter, which means there were sinners within the church then, as there are even today. And to such, he says, “Cleanse your hands.” We know he’s not talking about the external washing of our hands as is the norm during this global pandemic but is rather talking about changing the way we use our hands in our everyday living – in our dealings, in our actions, and in every possible use of our hands. We need to use our hands to bring glory to God and not to gratify our sinful desires like we used to before we came to know Christ.
The fifth thing James suggests is that we cleanse our hearts, and he refers to such who have sinful hearts as being double-minded. Let’s look at those two phrases separately. We know that when the word, ‘heart,’ is used, it’s used with reference to the seat of all desires. He seems to be saying that we need to ensure that our desires are clean, pure, and holy and not selfish, evil, and sinful. When our desires are clean, then our thoughts will be clean. When our thoughts are clean, then our words and actions will be clean as well. So here too, he’s getting back to the root of our behavior – our hearts.
He goes on to refer to such people who have sinful hearts as being double-minded because at certain times, they appear to have good desires, while at other times they appear to have evil desires. They are never steady in the way they think in life – they lack in integrity of character. Earlier James said that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8) Since we are children of a God who does not change like shifting shadows, we too cannot afford to be double-minded.
The sixth thing he suggests is that they lament and mourn and weep. The enormity of their sin is such that they need to be so deeply convicted of their sin to the point of lamenting, mourning, and weeping so that God will have mercy on them. It appears that there were believers then as there are now, who had gone so far from the Lord that their sinful lives were no different from those of the world around them. He was calling them to repentance – to a complete turning back into an intimate relationship with God. If this pandemic has taught some of us one thing – it’s that we need to get back into a deep intimate relationship with God.
The seventh thing he suggests is that they exchange their laughter for mourning and their joy to gloom – both expressions of repentance on account of sin. He was not saying that there was anything wrong in laughter or in joy per se, but for the people he was writing to then, and for many of us today, this is exactly what is needed. We cannot afford to pretend all’s well between us and God when our relationship is so strained and distant, on account of our selfish and rebellious ways. We need to turn back to God in repentance.
The eighth thing James suggests that they (and we) do is to humble ourselves before the Lord and adds that if we do so, the Lord will lift us up. The opposite of this would be that we exalt ourselves before God and portray ourselves to be in an intimate relationship with Him and stand in danger of being put down by Him. We need to come before the Lord with honest hearts that are open to the searching of the Holy Spirit and let Him convict us of areas of our lives where we permit sin to dwell. Some of these sins are conscious, while others maybe not so conscious, but all the same, we need to let the Lord reveal these areas of our lives to us and we need to turn away from this sinful, selfish lifestyle. If we come before the Lord with such an attitude of humility, seeking His forgiveness, He will forgive, restore, heal, and exalt us once again to where we used to be in our relationship with Him. Let’s not understand the word, ‘exalt’ to mean that we will begin to possess things of this world as if that were a sign of the intimacy of our relationship with God or as our sign of godliness, as Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:5, to be careful of those who consider godliness as a means to financial gain.
