James 04

Passions and Pride

Jas 4:1 Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?

The Greek word for "conflicts" is πόλεμος (polemos), meaning wars, battles, conflicts, and strifes. This Greek word has to do with the battles between nations.

The Greek word for "quarrels" is μάχη (machai), meaning strife, contentions, and quarrels. This Greek word has to do with the battles that are within churches. 

What is the origin of wars between nations and the battles inside of churches? These conflicts do not come from the devil. They come from the passions that are inside the totally depraved and evil nature of men. The Greek word for "passions" is ἡδονή (haydonay), meaning sensual pleasures. This is the origin of "hedonism." Man is born with a hedonistic personality, meaning that he wants to live in his sensuality pleasures rather than with the righteousness and purity of God.

Basically, men are carrying out wars and killing others in order to satisfy their sensual pleasures. They are causing conflicts in churches because of their sensual pleasures. 

4:2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

Sensual men want to crave their sensual pleasure. When they cannot get their sensual pleasure, then they murder others so that they can obtain them. They murder, steal, rape, kill, and plunder so that they can take what they do not have. Instead, the believer needs to continually ask God in the battle of prayer for their needs and wants. They should debate God in prayer, not men on the battlefield.

4:3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

There were some believers who were asking in prayer, but with the wrong motivation. They were praying that God would fulfill their sinful passions. Believers who are not grounded in the Word of God will pray for the wrong things. They will pray with the wrong motives. This is why it is important for the believer to ground himself in the entire counsel of the Word of God, so that he can pray for the correct things and with the right motives. So, when Christians boast of their prayers and if they do not know the Bible very well, they will actually be praying by way of their human viewpoint. Human viewpoint builds the kingdom of Satan.

4:4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.

James was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He asked another question, but expecting no answers in the Greek. He called the Jewish messianic believers "adulteress." Israel was supposed to be the wife of Jehovah. She was supposed to be "the Israel of God" that was mentioned in Galatians 6. However, James accused them of having a sexual and sensual love affair with the world. The Greek word for "world" is κόσμου (kosmos), meaning the satanic world system. James accused his Jewish brothers of committing adultery with the satanic world system.

Not only were the Jewish messianic believers involved in adultery, but so is America. This is the number one sin of the modern day American churches. American believers love the world more than they love Christ. They spend more time watching secular movies, reading secular literature, listening to secular music, and participating in secular activities than they do in the Word of God. They profess to "love Christ," but He gets little attention. The modern day church spends more time with her other lovers than she does with Christ. 

Those who make friends with the satanic world system are enemies of God. Why? Because instead of being ambassadors of Christ, they are flirting with the enemy. Instead of becoming soldiers of Christ, they have joined the other side. Instead of being the wife of Jehovah, they have become adulterers. Instead of becoming the bride of Christ, they have become fornicators. Instead of becoming children of God, they have become children of the devil. Instead of sharing the gospel, they are promoting the lifestyle of the satanic world system. Instead of lifting up other believers, they are seducing them into an evil lifestyle. Instead of being an example to others of the Christian lifestyle, they have become pornographic models of the satanic world system. Instead of fighting the good fight, they are carousing with the enemy. Instead of being a friend of God, they have become His enemy. God must spank this kind of believers, or bring them home. Believers cannot sit on the fence. They cannot become loyal to God and to the world.

4:5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”?

Skeptics will point out that this "quotation" is not found in the New or Old Testament. First of all, the Book of James is the first book of the New Testament, so this verse cannot come from any of the New Testament books. Second, this is not a "quotation," but a summary of many passages that are found in the Old Testament.

The Holy Spirit that lives inside the wife of Jehovah is a very jealous husband. He will not allow his wife to commit adultery with the satanic world system.

4:6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”

The proud are arrogant and they do not think that they need God's grace. They think that they are in control of their own destiny. This is a dangerous attitude to have because they are opposing God.

Those who are humble know that they must count on God's grace to get by in this life. Therefore, God gives them more grace than He gives to the proud.

4:7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Most of these verbs throughout this chapter are aorist imperatives meaning a string of commands that the soldier of Christ is to immediately execute in an urgent matter.  

The Greek word for "submit" is ὑποτάσσω (hupotasso’), an aorist passive imperative verb, meaning to immediately and urgently submit to God, because He is their friend, their commander, and their king. This is a military order, meaning to rank under, attend your station, and perform your military task. This is the same Greek word that is used for Jesus submitting to His parents (Lk. 2:51); of believers submitting to government (Rom. 13:1); of a wife submitting to her husband (Eph. 5:22–24); and of slaves submitting to their owners (Tit. 2:9). 

The Greek word for "resist" is ἀνθίστημι (amthistaymi), an aorist active imperative, meaning to immediately, urgently, and actively resist the forces that are coming against the soldier. 

The Greek word for "the devil" is τῷ διαβόλῳ (to diabolown), meaning the one who slanders and falsely accuses others in order to harm them. The devil is constantly accusing the believer at the throne of God but the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God as the believer's advocate. Jesus is a Jewish lawyer who has never lost a case. 

One of the most important chapters of the Bible for a believer is Ephesians 6, because Paul teaches the Christian soldier how to stand and resist the enemy. The Christian soldier is not to attack the devil, but he is to resist the devil with Bible doctrine. When Satan attacked Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus just simply quoted Scripture and the devil ran away from Him. The only defense against demonic attacks is knowledge and application of Bible doctrine.

4:8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded.

The Greek for "draw near" is ἐγγίζω (hegniznow), an aorist active imperative verb, meaning a command to immediately and urgently approach God in extreme closeness. To approach God in extreme closeness, one must tap into the mind of Christ.

To draw intensely close to God, one must cleanse their hands. Hands are cleansed by continually confessing sins, as taught in 1 John 1:9. When one continually confesses his sins the believer moves back into fellowship with God. When a believer moves back into fellowship with God, he is a clean vessel who can then understand and apply Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.

James was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He called the Jewish messianic believers "sinners." However, he did show them the way out of their sin. Most carnal believers do not want their pastor-teachers condemning them in this way. They would rather get another pastor or switch churches. This is why there are so many church-bouncers today. They do not like a pastor who teaches the entire counsel of the Word of God. They want encouragement and ear tickling, but they do not want to hear about their sin. They will not support a pastor who reminds them of their sin nature. They would rather have a cheer-leading pastor who makes them feel good. These kinds of pastors are not following the will of God, because they are not preparing soldiers. They are preparing casualties and traitors.

It is the study of the Word of God which makes the mind "pure." Those who do not study the Word of God will boast of their love for Christ, but they will actually be "double-minded." Most of the time, they will not have enough Bible doctrine to know the mind of Christ. The lack of Bible doctrine will cause one to become spiritually fragmented.  Fragmentation will cause the sin nature of the individual to control them. Since every believer has two personalities inside him, the wolf which is fed the most wins. Sadly, most believers feed the wrong wolf.

4:9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair.

Mature believers grieve, mourn, and weep when they sin. The Greek word for "laughter" is γέλως (glows), used only once in the New Testament. It means a flippant laughter of those foolishly indulging in worldly pleasures of the satanic world system. These kinds of people give no thought to God, life, death, sin, judgment, or holiness. James calls on these kinds of people to mourn instead of flippantly laugh about their sin.

4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

Those believers who cast away pride will be exalted.

4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge.

The Jewish messianic believers were commanded not to speak against a brother in Christ. The Greek verb is in the present tense, meaning to continually speak against a fellow believer. Paul called out the names of false teachers, such as Alexander the Coppersmith. However, he never spoke out against fellow believers by name. 

Those who speak out against a brother-in-Christ is speaking against the law of Christ. There is no Greek article, so this is not the Mosaic Law. Those who speak against a fellow believer are sitting in the place of God. God is the judge of believers. Believers are not to judge other believers, because this is putting them in the place of God. This is an attribute of God that He does not share with other believers. 

4:12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor?

The Lawgiver is God, because He made the laws. He did not ask anyone for their advice. As Lawgiver, God is able to save or destroy the souls of His creation who are under His law. Anyone who judges another believer is putting himself in the position of Lawgiver.

James asked a question to believers. "Who are you to judge a neighbor?" God is the only one who can judge a neighbor. 

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”

Some of the Jewish messianic believers were boasting about what they were going to do with their lives. These believers were planning their life without God, which is a violation of the divine principle mentioned in Proverbs 27:1. They had planned their lives to the very detail, even scheduling the day of departure and their length of stay.

4:14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

James reminded the Jewish messianic believers that God may not allow them to live another day. Therefore, they should not plan such a detailed schedule without God. 

The Greek word for "puff of smoke" is ἀτμίς (atmis), meaning a breath of vapor in cold air which disappears in a split second. Believers should not plan their life without God, because they are just a vapor of breath in cold air that disappears in a split second.

There was a similar rabbinic tradition which conveys this same spiritual concept:

“Rabbi Simeon ben Halafta, who trusted in his own [moral] strength, left at midnight to return to his city. On the road, the Angel of Death met him and Rabbi Simeon noticed that he was looking strange. He asked him: ‘Who are you?’ And the latter answered: ‘I am God’s messenger.’ He asked him: ‘Why are you looking strange?’ He replied: ‘On account of the talk of human beings who say: ‘This and this we will do,’ and yet not one of them knows when he will be summoned to die …”

4:15 You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”

These Jewish messianic believers need to check out the Lord's will first. They need to be flexible to change if He demands it.

4:16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He flat out told these Jewish messianic believers that they were boasting, they were arrogant, and what they were doing was evil.

4:17 So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.

The Jewish messianic believers knew their Bible doctrine, but they practiced negative volition. They refused to apply what they had learned.