James Ch4
A letter from James/Jacob. Ch4 is the shortest chapter of the 5; with only 17 verses.
James 4 -ASV
1. Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members?
1. |4159| From where |9999| {come} |4171| wars |2532| and |3163| fights |1722| among |5213| you? |3756| Not |1782| from this, |1537| from |3588| the |2237| lusts |5216| of you |4754| warring |1722| in |3588| the |3196| members |5216| of you? -Y Lit
Old English is certain hard to understand. Often I consider it easier to go back to the original.
|3190| -melos: limbs as members of the body. Not taken as individual people/brethren.
Lusts cause disagreement and conflict even within the same body. It is related to faction/heresy.
Lusts long/work for pleasures.
Conflict from the inside turn out to be conflict of the outside, all around.
2. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.
Lusting does not necessarily produce desired results.
Even christians could have lusted sometime. Admonition, reproof and warning is very necessary.
Out of love, people are warned and led back to the holy one. Nothing bad or evil about being judgemental. The bible does teach the people of God to be judgemental, differentiating, holy, separated from evil, set good example, be the light and the salt of the world.
Compromise is not taught here. It is either God or Satan, light or darkness.
The Lord is in control. The consequences are regulated by God.
3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.
People are not guaranteed to receive whatever evil they ask. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness. Not anything else first.
Private pleasure is selfishness. Self-centerness. Self-centering.
We should live our lives Godward. To live is Christ. Know only Christ and Him crucified. Be in the love of God.
4. Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
This part is addressed to female christians who turn to idols. There ought to be one God. People have found other centres for their living, and place their hope in something else.
Worldly things belong to Satan, and is opposing to God.
5. Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?
James certainly does not take or preach the view/idea that any part of scripture can be errant. All scripture is Godbreathed. There lies the authority of the Most High. Nothing else in writing do.
Nothing spoken in scripture is spoken in vain; even those that appear to be mistakes.
Humble people would be slow to condemn any part of scripture some see as mistakes/errant.
There is no substitution for its authority. No authorised judge to judge it wrong, spoken in vain, for people/reader to ignore, practice and teach against.
In the humour of God, things are made in ways as if they are wrong. No great writing should be absolutely straightforward and easy to understand by all.
6. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
Grace is given by God. Not created by men. It is received by the faithful.
The proud is resisted. They can not come to see the truth. They can not approach God.
God gives grace to the humble. That means the proud lacks grace. They lack God. They failed to appreciate God. They lack life.
7. Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
7. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -NIV
Strong's Ref. # 5293
Romanized : hupotasso
Pronounced : hoop-ot-as'-so
from GSN5259 and GSN5021; to subordinate; reflexively, to obey.
Not just to submit; but to subject (a military term). Obey God. It is not a matter of choice. Nothing partial about it. You are either with God or against God.
Some goodness, something good is not good enough.
Do not obey the devil, as in military situation. Christians are warring against the devil and evil.
The devil is not all powerful. He will flee from you if you resist him in the Lord God. He has no power to destroy you. He is limited.
8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.
The condition for finding and experiencing God is herein given. Your part first - draw near to Him. He does not promise to show Himself first everytime trouble comes to the unrepentant, and non-believers. But if you seek Him, you will find Him.
God requires active service. Satan is active too.
A new dedication is needed for believers who have turned away from God.
9. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Do not hold yourselves too high in esteem and have too much blinding joy. It is not enough to be and feel happy. It is essential to be with God.
Work out your salvation, your way/journey to holiness, in fear and trembling.
Do not lead loose living.
10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.
Do not exalt yourselves first, for you do not know the right time for exaltation.
Know that the Lord is in control.
11. Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Christians are not to destroy christians. We are here to edify.
We do not give new laws, or make new judgement. We are not able to save by ourselves. Things are not right because they are deemed right by ourselves.
We need no extra-biblical principles and judgement. Scriptures have all sufficient law and statute.
12. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?
Believers are no law-giver. Christians do not make up the law of God. Non-believers try to; and attempt to convince others that they make the law of nature and the law of God for God.
Liberals and Atheists are no law-giver. Theologians are no law-giver. Their laws do not stand. Their execution do not last.
13. Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:
People cannot even control their daily living to high degree of accuracy, left controlling eternal law and Godly paths.
Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one else is Christ Jesus.
The Anti-christ is going to give/show another way, something that looks like true; and allow some to live for a while. Living a while is not having the Life; the very Life itself.
14. whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
People make forecasts, but no one could tell for certainty. People are not in control of the world. People are reacting on changes. They are not authoring the changes and controlling them.
Non-believers are self-defeating. They cannot even control the environment they live in. No one can tell exactly when the near lightning bolt will be, when the next tornado is, when their offsprings must die, even when Y2K will hit hardest. Cannot control nature. Cannot control manmade computers and programmes. Yet they think they are the ultimate gods.
They consider themselves self-determining.
15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that.
Humble yourselves. Give glory to the Lord. He is worthy of all glory.
The Lord is in control of life.
16. But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil.
Self-centreness is evil. Self-promotion is evil.
Isolation of the self is not unity with the brethren. There is no sharing. There is no living for others.
17. To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
This is a definition of sin. Not asking for too much.
Acting against ones good conscience is sin. Sin is evil.
Turning into the self is evil.
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