This Week with the Word

The Uniform Lesson for August 24
Background & Commentary by Sam E. Stone

People haven’t changed much over 2,000 years. That is one thing we learn studying the letter of James. When the half brother of our Lord writes to first-century Christians, he “tells it like it is.” No wonder we feel he is speaking directly to us when we read this practical epistle. We have considered one chapter of James each week this month, and will conclude our survey of the book next Sunday.

Selfishness/James 4:1-6

Verse 1. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Jesus pointed out this same truth: “From within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’” (Mark 7:21-23). The word desires is sometimes translated lusts. Other New Testament writers warn of this danger as well (see. Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 2:11).

Verses 2, 3. You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. A little child demands, “I want what I want and I want it now!” Unfortunately, many people don’t outgrow this selfish streak. When people can’t get what they want by fair and honest means, their demands and desires often bring confrontation and even death. Covetousness leads to calamity (consider the incident surrounding Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21). You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. When we want something, we should pray, not plot. But we must pray, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). God is not a personal genie, ready to grant our every whim. He has told us what kind of prayers he is ready to accept (see Psalm 34:15; 145:18; Luke 18:14; 1 John 5:14).

Verse 4. Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. In essence, James declares, “You have broken your ‘marriage covenant’ with God by loving the world more than him.” Of course, the people could be adulterous in a literal sense as well. When speaking of the world, James is referring to those alienated from God (see 1:27), all who are under the devil’s rule (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19).

Verse 5. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? Bible scholars are not sure which biblical reference James is referring to. The idea may be that God has placed a strong desire in the heart of man to have a close relationship with him (see Psalm 42:1, 2; 84:2) or that God himself strongly desires our souls, not wanting the devil to have us (Luke 22:31).

Verse 6. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This reference is easier to locate (Proverbs 3:34; see 1 Peter 5:5). In contrast to following his own selfish desires, the Christian is to humble himself before God. The Lord grants additional grace to all who submit to his will.

Submission/James 1:7-12

Verses 7, 8. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Who rules your life? That is the ultimate question. James begins this series of 10 commands by calling for submission to the Lord’s will (see 1 Peter 5:6-9). When this is done, God responds by coming near his child. Coupled with this voluntary submission to God is the counterpart—resisting the devil (see Ephesians 6:11-18). The promise that Satan will retreat when he meets resistance was demonstrated in the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Just as the Old Testament priest went through a symbolic washing before entering the sanctuary, so the believer must approach God with clean hands (see 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3; Psalm 24:4).

Verse 9. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. While true laughter is itself a gift of God (Job 8:21), some laughter can be flippant, scornful, and selfish. This is a call for repentance and sorrow for sin. Jesus emphasized the same principle in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:4; Luke 6:25).

Verse 10. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. The sinner must have this spirit in order to approach God (see 1 Peter 5:6). Jesus often mentioned this basic principle: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). The sinner who turns toward God in humble repentance can rest assured that the Lord will exalt him.

Verses 11, 12. Brothers, do not slander one another. James returns to his earlier emphasis on one’s speech (see 1:26; 3:1-12). He specifically warns against judgmental observations rendered against other Christians (see Matthew 7:1). There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Jesus is the great legislator for the church. One day he will be our judge. Rather than judging our neighbor (Romans 14:4), we should be loving him (James 2:8). |L

Sam E. Stone is the former editor of Christian Standard. He continues his writing and speaking ministry from his home in Cincinnati, Ohio.