Don’t take that personal! I was just using a catchy phrase to get you to read this blog article!

AI: “James 4 outlines the source of conflict (selfish desires, worldliness) and provides solutions: humble submission to God, resisting Satan, drawing near to God, proper prayer with pure motives, and acknowledging God’s sovereignty in future plans, warning against judging others and boasting about uncertain futures, as life is fleeting.”

BTW are all inner lusts and desires sinful? No. AI:”In the Bible, “lust” often translates Greek words (epithymeo, epithumia) meaning “strong desire,” which can be positive (like Jesus’ desire for the Passover) or negative, but usually refers to corrupted, selfish desires that lead to sin, especially sexual sin, greed, or idolatry, pulling people away from God and into gratifying base instincts rather than loving others. So, while the underlying word isn’t always negative, the context in which it’s used in the New Testament, especially by Jesus and Paul, points to evil, unrestrained desire that fosters sin and separation from God, not healthy longing.” In James 1:14-15 and 4:2 the word is used negatively.

In the last blog article, I covered 4:1-4. Our inner lusts that wage war in our bodies causes us to quarrel with others, envy others, murder others, not pray, pray with the wrong motives, and make friends with the world that is spiritual adultery. That first section of James 4 kinda leaves you feeling like Paul did in Romans 7:²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” The Greek word for “wretched” is talaipóros: Wretched, miserable. “talaípōros (an adjective, derived from talaō, “to bear, undergo” and pōros, “a callous,” J. Thayer) – properly, wretched (beaten-down) from continued strain, leaving a person literally full of callouses (deep misery) – describing a person with severe side-effects from great, ongoing strain (significant hardships). The word describes the deep inward misery of a soul that has come face-to-face with its own spiritual poverty.” (Biblehub.org) We might try to do what is right and not do what is wrong, but our inner lusts seem to win most of the spiritual battles that are constantly going on inside us. We end up feeling miserable spiritually. What hope is there for us spiritually?

Now here is where Paul answers his own question: Romans 7:²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

In other words, the offering of Jesus on the cross frees us from the constant, wearying condemnation that we have due to our sinful lusts and desires. We actually continue to sin due to our lusts, but now we have God’s grace. We will no longer be judged by how we keep God’s laws, but instead we will justified and made righteous by our faith in what Jesus did on the cross. In that sense, the requirements of keeping the Law are met vicariously through Jesus’ perfect law keeping. Even though we continue to sin and give in to our sinful lusts, we are contantly cleansed of our sins. 1 John 1:⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I compare this to washing very dirty hands under running water in the sink. Your hands stay clean as long as you keep your hands under the water. The water keeps washing them even if you throw some dirt on them. The constantly flowing water keeps your hands clean. That water is the blood of Jesus that keeps us clean in God’s eyes even though we sin. Hopefully, we will try not to sin, and we will ask forgiveness when we sin, but this is not an in grace, out of grace, in grace, out of grace, etc. cycle. We have this cleansing grace 24/7 unless we fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).

This is all important to understand. Salvation by God’s grace should give us eternal inner joy. Isaiah 35:10 And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” This verse is not predicting joy in heaven. It is predicting the joy that believers in the Messiah Jesus can have here on earth in this life. We still might cry and be sad on the outside, but on the inside we have everlasting joy and gladness. That joy should keep us happy spiritually no matter what difficulties we face. That joy should keep us happy spiritually even though we still feel the constant guilt of sin. That joy just makes us so grateful to Jesus that we give our lives over to him to live to please him and not please our own desires. That joy should keep us looking forward to eternal bliss after death. David said in Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, that we may sing for joy and rejoice all our days.” Preaching should make us painfully aware of our sinful lusts, but should also make us aware of God’s cleansing grace. It should leave us joyful spiritually if we have the right kind of hearts.

That is where James 4:5-10 comes in: ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” AI: “It’s debated whether the “spirit” yearning is God’s Holy Spirit, who desires our loyalty, or our own human spirit, which inclines towards envy and the world, with God’s Spirit opposing it. The most common view suggests God is intensely jealous for the Holy Spirit He placed within believers, yearning for the single-hearted devotion we owe Him, not the world.” Usually in the New Testament the phrase the “Spirit dwells in us” does refer to the Holy Spirit. God gives us the Spirit to help us in our war with our fleshly lusts and desires. Galatians 5:¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” The Spirit influences us to not yield to our sinful lusts, but it is still up to us to choose whether to sin or not. God is “jealous” when we don’t follow the leading of His Spirit that he has given us. A man gives his heart and love to the woman he marries. It makes him jealous when that woman gives her love and affection to another man. God wants our total devotion and love, and He gives us His Spirit to help us do that.

But we still sin and do not follow the leading of the Spirit perfectly. That is where grace comes in. 4: ⁶ But He gives a greater grace.” But that is where a humble heart comes in: 4:6 Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God does not require perfection, but He does require a humble heart. Jesus said: Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” What is the humility of a child that Jesus demands:? The humility of a child means having an open, teachable spirit, willing to yield to a parent or a teacher. It is a heart that focuses on the love given it by a parent or teacher instead of a proud arrogant spirit. In the Church of Christ, the plan of salvation is “hear/believe/repent/confess/baptism.” But shouldn’t that start with “humility/hear…etc. with humility as the first step of salvation”? James had already spoke of the need for humility in 1:²¹ Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

James adds “submit then to God”. Yield your will to God’s will. Obey Him. Resist the devil and he will flee. Come close to God and He will come close to you. But you must cleanse your hands, i.e. try to keep your life free from sin. You must purify your hearts, removing all impure and insincere lustful motives. James 1:27 to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James calls those he is writing to as “sinners, double-minded” so he is rebuking them. The Greek word for “double-minded” is dípsyxos (an adjective, derived from 1364 /dís, “two” and 5590 /psyxḗ, “soul”) – properly, “two souled”; (figuratively) “double-minded,” i.e. a person “split in half,” vacillating like a “spiritual schizophrenic.” Double-mindedness describes the internal division that renders a person spiritually unstable, hesitant, and ineffective in faith and practice.” (Biblehub.org) James had already spoken of this double-minded state in 1:8. It’s a Jekyll/Hyde spiritual personality, constantly alternating between an evil and a good personality. It is interesting that James tells his readers to “⁹ Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.” Isaiah 35 said that believers can have everlasting joy with no more sorrow, but here James tells them to quit being joyful! That is b/c he knows that their hearts are not right. They need to repent and humble themselves before God. They need to repent of their worldliness. Apparently they are not even trying to fight their sinful lusts. The solution: ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

James then addresses judging one another. ¹¹ Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, 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 of it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?” An humble person will not judge other’s motives or deed. He will constantly be looking at his own sins instead of the sins of others. An humble person does not set himself up as judge and jury of others. Jesus said, Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!”

James 4 closes with another quality of an humble heart. A humble person will not arrogantly think that he is in control of the future. An humble person will be aware that his future plans are controlled by God. 4:¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.” AI: “”Life is but a vapor” is a powerful metaphor, emphasizing life’s brevity, fragility, and transience, like a morning mist that quickly disappears. It serves as a call to live purposefully, value each moment, focus on eternal matters, and recognize our dependence on God, rather than presumptuously planning for an uncertain future.” David spoke of this transiency of life in Psalm 39: “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. ⁵ Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Certainly all mankind standing is a mere breath. Selah ⁶ Certainly every person walks around as a fleeting shadow; They certainly make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.” Are you caught up in the “rat race” all around us? Do you plan for the future as if you can be sure that your plans will come to pass? There is nothing wrong with planning for the future, for future health and medical needs, for retirement, for securtiy, but always humbly plan acknowledging that God is in control of our futures. The last verse in 4: ¹⁷ So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin” really challenges us. How many times do you know the right thing to do and don’t do it? James 1 had already spoken of those who hear the word but who aren’t doers of the word (hearers only). Again, were it not for the grace of God, we would all be hopelessly condemned. But when we have the grace of God, we can rejoice spiritually b/c we know we are saved even though we are guilty of the sins of omission (not doing what we know is right) as well as the sins of commission.

I don’t know about you, but James 4 is humbling for me. It makes me more aware of my sinful lusts. It makes me want to submit my will to God and allow the Spirit to lead me to victory over more of those lusts. It makes me want to focus on spiritual joy instead of earthly possessions and accomplishments It makes me plan for the future but acknowledge that life might end at any time. It makes me want to find spiritual joy every day. It makes me want to quit judging others. James 4 is the type of sermon we need to constantly hear instead of some of the feel good, philosophical sermons that we hear on Sundays. It challenges us to quit being spiritual schizophrenics.