James 4

    4:1-3.  The first place to look for the source of conflicts among us is not at the flaws of our brother.  The source is the war raging within us (1).  We have not subdued the lust and envy of the spirit of Cain within us, so we strike out at our brother who is more righteous than us (2; cf. 5:6).  Instead of looking to God for the things we really need, we ask with wrong motives for the wrong things, and thus receive nothing (3).

     4:4-5.  There is no OT quote in v.5, but James alludes to the many passages where God says that he is a jealous God.  The point here is that those who commit harlotry with the world are unfaithful to their Husband, who having become one body with us, will tolerate no rivals (cf. Ex. 20:4-5; 2 Cor. 11:2).

     The word world (Gr. “Kosmos”), as it is used in the NT, is said to have seven distinct meanings.  The meaning in v.4 is of the world system under the sway of Satan (cf. John 12:31 etc.).  (See Arthur W. Pink, Appendix III, in The Sovereignty of God.)

     4:6-10.  V.6 is a key verse.  The devil’s sin is pride, but unlike his condition, it is not yet too late for us to humble ourselves, for to such God is gracious.  Submit once more to God our true husband, and resist the seducer (7).  If we cleanse ourselves of our attraction to the world we are fleeing, we will not be double-minded, stopping and looking back like Lot’s wife (8; cf. 1:8).  The sorrow of repentance will be rewarded when the Lord lifts us up (9, 10; cf. 2 Cor. 4:17; and contrast the fate of the world’s harlot with the consolation of the Lord’s pure bride, Rev. 18:7; 21:4).

     4:11-12.  Cf. Mt. 7:1 ff.; Ro. 8:33.  The one who judges his brother speaks against the law, because the foundational law regarding our brother is the royal law that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (2:8).  The King is the Lawgiver and Judge.  We must not usurp his place, as our accuser, the devil, tries to do.

     But compare 1 Cor. 5, where the church failed to discipline flagrant sin.  Obviously wisdom is called for, and it is our duty to admonish those who stray from the truth (5:19-20), both for their soul’s sake, and for the safety and reputation of the church.  The first instinct of any sinner is to charge his brothers with being judgmental, which is in itself judgmental.  Proper discipline is an act of love (cf. Heb. 12:6, 12-13).  We do not judge the worth or the soul of our brother, but we owe it to one another to give and receive due admonishment, even rebuke when it is called for, and to give due submission to those in authority (Heb. 13:17).

     4:13-17.  This is admonishment to those who are arrogant and boastful in the pride of life.  It is not a rebuke to prudent planning, but a reminder of who we really are, and that we are not God.  “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Sin is not just doing bad things, but failing to do what we know we should (17).  We should be about the business the Lord gives us to do, whether it seems great or small in our own eyes.