(10)
Scripture Reading: James 4:6-17
In the foregoing message we considered three major problems found in James 4:1-10. These problems are pleasures, the world, and the Devil. In this message we shall go on to consider what James says in 4:6-17.
In verse 6 James says, “But He gives greater grace; wherefore it says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The pronoun “it” in this verse refers to the Scripture in verse 5. The latter part of verse 6 is a quotation from the Septuagint, Prov. 3:34. This verse says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” According to the context, this means to be proud toward God. Being proud toward God causes Him to resist us. To be humble is also toward God, and this causes Him to give us grace, as He desires.
We need to learn to draw near to God (v. 8) to receive greater grace. Instead of being proud and resisting God, we should receive in meekness the implanted word. Someone who is proud cannot receive God’s implanted word. If we are humble, we shall receive the implanted word, and we shall also receive greater grace.
In verse 7 James continues, “Be subject therefore to God; but withstand the Devil, and he will flee from you.” To be subject to God is to be humble toward God (v. 10; 1 Pet. 5:6).
To be proud toward God is to side with God’s enemy, the Devil. To be humble toward God, that is, to be subject to God, is to withstand the Devil, that is, stand against the Devil. This is the best strategy to fight God’s enemy; it always causes him to flee from us.
The flesh implied in verse 1, the world in verse 4, and the Devil in verse 7 are the three major enemies of the believers. They are related one to another: the flesh is against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), the world is against God (1 John 2:15), and the Devil is against Christ (1 John 3:8). The flesh indulges in pleasures by loving the world, and the world usurps us for the Devil. This annuls God’s eternal purpose in us.
In verse 8 James goes on to say, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-souled!” Here, as in 1:8, James uses the expression “double-souled,” double-minded. In 1:8, being double-souled is related to doubting in prayer. God made man only one soul with one mind and one will. When a believer doubts in prayer, he makes himself two-souled, like a boat with two rudders, unstable in direction. In 4:8 being double-souled is a matter of having the heart divided for two parties — God and the world. This makes people adulteresses (v. 4) and sinners, who need their hearts purified and their hands cleansed so that they may draw near to God and that God may draw near to them.
In verse 9 James says, “Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into dejection.” This verse is a solemn admonition to God’s adulterous spouse, who, under the usurpation of the Devil, indulges herself in fleshly pleasures by loving the world.
In verse 10 James concludes this section: “Be humbled before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” This word, as a conclusion to this section (vv. 1-10), is an exhortation against the fightings and desires mentioned in verses 1 through 3.
In verses 11 and 12 James gives us a word about not speaking against the brothers: “Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. One is Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and destroy. But who are you who judges your neighbor?” Notice that in these verses James mentions the law four times. In verse 12 he refers to God as the Lawgiver. James’ word here and in 2:8-11 regarding the Old Testament law and his words in 1:25 and 2:12 regarding the perfect law of freedom may indicate that in his understanding there is no distinction between keeping the Old Testament law and living by the perfect law of freedom, the inner law of life. But according to the divine revelation in the entire New Testament, there is a definite, clear distinction between the two. Keeping the Old Testament law merely makes us right with God and men so that we might be justified by the law. But living by the inner law of life (Heb. 8:10-11; Rom. 8:2) is to live and magnify Christ (Phil. 1:20-21) for the building up of His Body to express Him (Eph. 1:22-23) and for the building of God’s house to satisfy Him (1 Tim. 3:15). This is for the accomplishment of God’s eternal goal according to His New Testament economy. Though we become perfect by keeping the Old Testament law, we are still void of God’s eternal goal. Only living by the inner law of life avails for this. Such a living spontaneously and unconsciously fulfills more than what is required under the Old Testament law (Rom. 8:4), even to the standard of the constitution of the kingdom, as revealed in chapters five through seven of the Gospel of Matthew.
Thus far, we have covered nine aspects of the practical virtues of Christian perfection: enduring trials by faith (James 1:2-12), resisting temptation as God-born ones (James 1:13-18), living a God-fearing life by the implanted word according to the perfect law of freedom (James 1:19-27), having no respect of persons among the brothers (James 2:1-13), being justified by works in relation to the believers (James 2:14-26), bridling the tongue (James 3:1-12), behaving in wisdom (James 3:13-18), dealing with pleasures, the world, and the Devil (James 4:1-10), and not speaking against the brothers (James 4:11-12). In the next section (James 4:13-17) we have another virtue of practical Christian perfection: confiding not in self-will but in the Lord.
In verse 13 James says, “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city and spend a year there, and do business and make a profit.” This verse begins with the words “Come now.” James uses this expression a second time in 5:1, where he speaks to the rich. What does the expression, “come now,” mean? It may be an idiom somewhat equivalent to saying, “Listen to me.”
In reading verse 13 we need to pay attention to the word “will.” Fighting for fleshly pleasures (v. 1), making friendship with the world (v. 4), speaking against a brother, that is, judging the law (v. 11), going to do business according to one’s own will, and boasting in arrogance (v. 16) are all signs of the ungodly and presumptuous confidence of a God-forgetting person. James taught all this based, probably, upon his view concerning practical Christian perfection.
Once again, I would like to point out the contrast between James’ emphasis on practical Christian perfection and Paul’s emphasis in his Epistles concerning the experience of Christ for the producing of the church. If we have a clear view of this comparison, we shall see the need to go on from the human level, stressed in the book of James, to the divine level, stressed in the Epistles of Paul. On the divine level we know Christ, experience Christ, and possess Christ for the building up of the church, His body, as His expression. I hope that the book of James will help us to see this contrast.
In verses 14 and 15 James continues, “You who do not know what your life will be tomorrow; for you are a vapor, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing — instead of your saying, If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.” James’ word here again sounds somewhat like the tone of the Old Testament (see Psa. 90:3-10). In any case, his word arouses a fear of one’s self-will and a confidence in God, as expressed in verse 15.
In 4:16 and 17 James concludes, “But now you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” The word “arrogance” in verse 16 also means pretentiousness, vainglory.
The word “therefore” in verse 17 indicates that this verse is a concluding word to all the charges in the preceding verses. This concluding word indicates that if the recipients have been helped by James’ writing and yet will not do as he has written, to them it is sin.
Many Christians treasure 4:13-17, especially James’ word in verses 14 and 15. In verse 14 James says, “You are a vapor, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing.” This statement may be considered a proverb. Then in verse 15 James encourages us to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.” Here James is saying that instead of declaring that today or tomorrow we will go to a certain place, spend time there, do business, and make a profit, we should simply say, “If the Lord wills....”
The word of James in verse 15 sounds very much like a maxim. When I was young, I had the thought of making a sign with this maxim on it to remind me always to say, “If the Lord wills.” Although I still appreciate this saying, I can recognize that it has an Old Testament tone.
Christians sometimes use this verse in writing letters, saying that they will go to a certain place or do a particular thing “if the Lord wills.” I know from experience that this clause can be a protection to us. For example, I may be invited to a certain place and accept the invitation. But in my letter of acceptance I may add the clause “if the Lord wills.” This protects me in the sense that if eventually I am not able to go to there as planned, I cannot be condemned by others for not coming. Therefore, to say “If the Lord wills” can be a protection.
What James says in these verses is different in tone from what is found elsewhere in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. Perhaps you can think of certain verses written by Paul that are similar to James’ word in 4:15. Nevertheless, the basic tone of Paul’s writing is different, for he charges us to walk according to the Spirit. For example, in Galatians 5:16 Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Then in Galatians 5:25 Paul goes on to say, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Furthermore, in Romans 8:4 Paul tells us that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to spirit.”
In the book of Acts we see that Paul was led by the Spirit and walked in spirit. Acts 16:6 says that they were “forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.” Then verse 7 says that the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bithynia. Here we see that when Paul was traveling for the preaching of the gospel, he was restrained and directed by the Spirit. On other occasions Paul was stirred in his spirit (Acts 17:16), was pressed in the spirit (Acts 18:5), and purposed in spirit (Acts 19:21).
To say, “If the Lord wills,” is rather objective and is quite much according to the tone of the Old Testament. But to be led of the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, and to do what our spirit constrains us to do are subjective and are much more according to the New Testament.
I certainly have no intention of belittling James or his Epistle. However, I must truthfully point out that after many years studying this book, I have learned that this Epistle is very Jewish and has a strong color, tone, taste, and atmosphere of the Old Testament. If we did not have the fourteen Epistles of Paul, we might be influenced by the book of James to go back to Judaism. Although we appreciate and need James’ emphasis on practical Christian perfection, we still need to be very clear that much of his Epistle has the tone, color, and atmosphere of the Old Testament.
