James 4:7-10
In the previous session we looked at James’ argument as to why we fight, and wage war, and the root cause is that we want something we don’t have. Our passions are often what controls us and from previous chapters in this letter, we know that our passions are a result of our sinful nature.
James went on to call the people adulteresses because, as the bride of Christ, they were being unfaithful to God. The way of being unfaithful was by trying to be friends with the world at the same time they were trying to be friends with God. This does not work because we cannot serve two masters as Christ tells us.
With all the negativity talked about it would be easy to become discouraged and stop trying but James gave them the greatest hope that there is. God gives us a greater grace.
Here, James is going to show us how we can obtain that grace. The grace itself is free and God gives it freely, but we must be in a proper position to receive it. James is telling us how to put ourselves in that position.
James begins in verse 7 with, “Therefore, submit to God.” The very first thing we must do to put ourselves in a position to receive this greater-than-anything grace is to submit to God. What does it mean to submit to God? At the heart of the idea of submission is to stop resisting. Stop trying to find another way, stop trying to go your own way, stop listening to your passions, and do it God’s way.
In a sense, James is saying that our conflicts with other people are a symptom of our conflict with God. We want something to go a certain way and it isn’t, i.e. God has a different agenda, so we fight and quarrel with other people because we know we can’t fight and quarrel with God. We might not frame it that way but that is because we are not honest with ourselves and our motives. It goes back to last week’s discussion about not always knowing our own true motives.
The second half of the verse says to resist the devil and he will flee from you. How do we resist the devil? Many times we think of resistance as a passive idea but here James is using the word in an active sense. Resistance to the devil is really taking an active stance against the devil.
James is not giving the devil power in this statement. We previously saw James lay the blame for people’s temptation at the feet of their own evil desires (James 1:14). James therefore is not saying the devil is to blame for our sin but is pointing out that where our sin is found, the devil is right there encouraging us to continue in it. When we fight and quarrel with fellow believers, the devil is going to be found in the middle of that. He is not responsible for the fighting but he is making is more difficult to overcome it because he is feeding off our passions and desires to get what we want.
The way we actively resist the devil is to submit to God. In the face of this active resistance, the devil cannot stand. He is like the bully in the schoolyard who picks on the weak and helpless but once someone stands up to him he runs away. While this might look like two steps in the process of putting ourselves in a position to receive God’s grace it is really one because when we submit to God we are resisting the devil.
The second step is then found in verse 8. The word for “draw near” speaks of approaching. As believers, we should not be afraid of approaching God because He calls us to Himself. No matter what we have done we must always remember that His grace is greater. Therefore, no matter what we have done we should always seek Him out. Notice what happens when we draw near to or approach God, He in turn reciprocates the gesture toward us. God does not look at our sin and run away. He is not so disgusted by whatever it is that we have done that He moves as far away from us as He can get. No, when we draw near to Him he draws near to us. What a beautiful promise we see here.
The rest of this verse is how we go about doing that. We cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. James uses the phrase double-minded again. It has been a while but the solution to being double-minded is to be single-minded, only focusing on God’s will and submitting unto Him.
Verse 9 sounds backward to us. I thought we are supposed to be joyful and happy when we submit to God and draw near to Him but now James is saying to be miserable and mourn and weep. What is going on here?
James is speaking from the position of being in opposition to God. When we are in active rebellion against God, and that is what fighting and quarreling amongst believers comes down to, we should not find joy and happiness in that. If that is how feel then we need to turn that around. Being in conflict with other believers should leave us feeling miserable and cause us to mourn and weep.
James is calling on those double-minded people to wage war against themselves here. These people need to attack their own hearts and grieve the wretchedness that is found there. The KJV is a bit more explicit here when it says that such a person should be afflicted. It should not bring joy and excitement to be in conflict with other believers. Sadly, this is what we see a lot in the Church today, especially here in America.
Verse 10 wraps us up and summarizes everything James has said in these last few verses. It all comes back to humbling ourselves. Until we do that, we will never submit to God, we will never resist the devil, we will not try to approach God, and we will continue to be happy to follow our own passions and lusts.
According to the world’s standard and the world’s wisdom, this is backward. It is not the humble that is exalted but the person who goes out and makes it happen. Humbleness is not looked upon positively in our society. James, however, is not concerned with how the world thinks, to do that is to be double-minded. His sole concern is how to be faithful to Jesus Christ.
Jesus declares that it is the humble who will be exalted. Matt 23:12.
If we want to experience this grace that is greater than everything else we must be in a position to receive it. We are not paying for it and we are not earning it but we must be in a position to receive it. That is what James is explaining in these verses we have just looked at.