James
4:1-10 - A Plea for Purity
The epistle of James could be
considered NT wisdom literature. Like the OT book of proverbs, it is filled
with pithy practical statements, which can prove invaluable for those seeking
to practice “pure religion” (1:27). Addressed to a Jewish audience, James
reflects a Hebraic outlook – including heavy reliance on OT Scripture. One
could easily imagine James writing with the Hebrew Scriptures in one hand and a
pen in the other. Yet, this epistle is perhaps the most catholic of all the NT
letters.
Structure can be difficult to discern
in this epistle. In fact, at times there seems to be no connection between
adjoining units of thought. Practical godliness may be the one unifying theme. This
epistle is not about theology proper. It is about theology incarnated.
Presupposed
I
come to this text with a number of what I believe to be helpful
presuppositions. Most importantly, I believe that the God who is Truth inspired
all Scripture. I also believe the epistle of James to be Scripture. Therefore, I
believe that the entire epistle of James is a true and authoritative word from
God.
I
believe that language is one of God’s good gifts to us. Though He does use
other means of revelation, our Lord has chosen reveal the particulars of His
will through words. If God has spoken to us in Scripture in an intelligible way,
all meanings cannot inhere within the text. I do believe that He has spoken to
us meaningfully. I am optimistic concerning the understandability of the
epistle.
I
come to this text as a believer. I am prepared to “be a doer” of these words.
From within an obedient love relationship with God, I expect to understand His
expectations as revealed in Bible doctrines (John 7:17; 1 Cor 2:9-16). Only
within such a relationship can Scripture be understood as it ought to be
understood (Zimmerman, 97-107).
Author/Text/Reader
The traditional view (beginning with
Origen) is that this epistle was written by James, the brother of our Lord. Tradition
(Josephus and Eusebius amongst the witnesses) also holds that he ultimately
died a martyr’s death. If tradition is correct in this instance, we can
conclude that the epistle was written prior to A.D. 62, when, according to
Josephus, James was martyred (EBC, 162). James, the brother of our Lord, was
raised in a godly Hebrew family in the town of Nazareth. There is much
contention about exactly which of his phrases are Hebraisms. It is agreed,
however, that he makes use of them. Apparently, he was quite familiar with both
the Greek and Hebrew versions of the OT Scriptures (Adamson, 18-19). James’
pastoral passion shines throughout the epistle. He wants to see his readers put
the “royal law” into action.
The vocabulary of this epistle
consists of 570 words. Of these, 73 occur only here. It is believed that at
least ten words of the letter were first coined by James himself. This text
expects action. Within 108 verses are found over 50 imperatives (Adamson,
18-19).
The epistle assumes a Christian
audience well-versed in the OT Scriptures. Shared theological understanding is
largely assumed. Readers will be confounded by much of what James says if they
do not bring these theological concepts with them to the text. The epistle is
not introducing new concepts as much as it is challenging readers to obey what
they already know. Right action is emphasized as a higher priority than right
belief (2:19).
Literary
Form
James is considered epistolary literature. It
is much more a general religious tract than are most of the NT letters. Its
lack of unified argument and assortment of ethical admonitions make it look
less like a letter than a sermon. Dibelius considered James to be a collection
of homilies. And Luther went so far as to say that James guilty of ‘throwing
things together…chaotically.’ Others, such as Adamson and P. B. Davids, have
seen much more unity in the book (Moo, 38-40).
Though the entire NT is occasional,
James is less occasional than perhaps any other NT book. It does not appear to
be written to correct specific situations. It includes no personal greetings. And
it ends abruptly, with no farewell.
Finally, the imagery of the book
deserves mention. This epistle is filled with pictures – the rolling sea, flowering
grass, a vapor, wars, a ship, a woman giving birth to sin, a mirror, a horse, wild
animals, springs of water, a farmer, businessmen, people without food or
cloths, a rich man with fancy clothes and a gold ring, rusted gold and silver, and
moth-eaten clothes. The concrete imagery of the book adds to its power and
appeal.
Unit of
Thought Under Consideration
The focus in this paper is James 4:1-10. This
unit of thought is typical of the general atmosphere of the epistle. The entire
pericope is an exhortation to practical godliness. The OT is very much in the
forefront. Hebraic expressions make an appearance. As usual, the writing is very direct.
Outline of James 4:1-10
I.
Lust
a. Lust is the source of contention
b. Pray for the things you want
c. Do not pray selfishly (a reason for unanswered
prayers)
II.
Love for the
World
a. Considered spiritual adultery
b. Can be overcome by God’s grace
i.
Be humble
ii.
Submit to Him
iii.
Resist the devil
iv.
Draw nigh to God
1. He will draw nigh to you
v.
Cleanse your
hands
vi.
Purify your
hearts
vii.
Be afflicted
1. Mourn
2. Weep
3. Humble yourself
Verse by Verse
Verse
1: From whence come wars and fightings
among you? It is not hard to
imagine the sort of wrangling that was taking place within those ancient
communities. What is the source of such strife? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? The
word translated lusts is h`donw/n and refers to pleasure or enjoyment. Greek philosophers
and diaspora Jews both disapproved of lives lived in pursuit of pleasure.
Plato, Plutarch and Philo all considered wars to be the result of physical
passions (Keener, 698). Following the example of the rabbis, James points to
the physical members as the locus of the passions (Adamson, 166). These
Christians failed to live harmoniously because they were living for pleasure
rather than exhibiting the self-giving love exampled by our Savior.
Verse 2:
You lust, and have not: you kill, and
desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because
you ask not. James makes good use of hyperbole in this verse. Their
divisions are magnified to the point of absurdity, making the imprudence and
ungodliness of their strivings plain to see. Rather than seeking good gifts
from the God from whom every good gift descends (1:17), these wayward believers
were greedily grasping for the things they perversely desired – and yet found
no satisfaction. This lack of satisfaction, as it so often does, gave way to
violence (143-146, Moo).
Verse 3: You ask, and receive not,
because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts. The depth of
the covetousness buried within the hearts of those James addresses is a solemn
warning of the extent to which sin can lead to delusion. These people were
bringing their greed to God in the form of petitions. God wants us to make our
requests known to Him, but, if our desires are selfish and destructive we
cannot expect for Him to hear us. May the Lord preserve us from such
self-deception.
Verse 4:
You adulterers and adulteresses, know you
not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Apparently, copyists
were confused by the original text which only referred to adulteresses and therefore added the masculine. However, the OT
regularly refers to Israel as an unfaithful wife to God (e.g. Hos. 1-3) –
explaining James’ use of the feminine alone. Adulteresses without the accompanying masculine counterpart is
witnessed by Alexandrian and Western witnesses (Metzger, Textual
Commentary on the Greek NT). According to the Expositor’s Greek Testament, “…the weight of the evidence is
strongly in favor of this reading.” Regardless, the point remains the same – if
you choose (boulhqh/|) to be a friend of the world (in NT generally refers to
humanity in rebellion against God) you become the enemy of God.
Verse 5:
Do you think that the Scripture says in
vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy? This text has been called
“one of the most difficult in the epistle” (EBC, 193). NT writers sometimes
interweaved various OT texts to suit their contemporary purposes (Keener, 699).
This may be an example of such meshing. Though this quote does not exactly correspond
to any OT text, the general idea is likely that conveyed in Exodus 20:5, 34:11,
etc. The God who bought us with an infinite price earnestly desires to keep our
devotion.
Verse 6:
But he gives more grace. Wherefore he
says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God’s jealous
devotion to us (and the demands that come with it) is not a problem since he
gives us more grace. James continues to demonstrate his internalization of the
OT Scriptures, quoting Proverbs 3:34. This begins a call to action that is
expected to produce responses from God Himself. James’ perspective is
synergistic. Charles Hodge gives this helpful insight, “Sanctification does not
exclude all cooperation” but instead demands “unremitting and strenuous
exertion” (Oden, 215). The cooperation expected is not apart from God’s grace.
As Arminius put it, “Free will is unable to begin or to perfect any true and
spiritual good, without Grace.” (Olson, 144). This sort of cooperation is
summarized by Paul in Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation…For it
is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.” Grace does
not destroy freedom. Rather, “divine grace is most truly itself when it is
enabling human freedom. God is both the source and goal of human freedom”
(Wainwright, 84). Since God resists the proud, it behooves us to humble
ourselves and receive greater grace.
Verse 7:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. The
first step in the process of cooperating with grace in order to receive more
grace is to submit to God. By yielding to His will we glorify God and draw
grace to ourselves. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. By submitting to God we resist the devil. Satan fell
by pride and is constantly seeking to draw others away from God through pride
and other folly. When the enemy sees that you are yielding to God he knows to
fear the one who works in you.
Verse 8:
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh
to you. The theme of cooperation with divine grace continues. This drawing
near is reminiscent of OT language referring to the activities of the
priesthood (Ex. 19:22; Lev. 10:3; Ezek. 43:19; Adamson, 174). These verses do
not prescribe a lazy fatalism. Earnest pursuit of God is rewarded. Those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (Mat. 5:6). Those who seek
God with all their power will find him (Jer. 29:13). Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double
minded. In the OT, priests were to wash their hands when entering the
tabernacle (Ex. 30:19). Anyone responsible for the shedding of blood (even if
only guilty by association) was to wash their hands (Deut. 21:6). Now those who
had defiled themselves through lust, envy, fighting, and friendship with the
world are called to follow suit. A divided mind is contrasted with a pure
heart. It is the pure in heart who will see God (Mat. 5:8). The double-minded
cannot even expect to have their prayers answered (1:5-8). This “harsh diatribe
rhetoric” (Keener, 699) is employed to bring God’s people to the purity that is
essential to life with a holy God.
Verse 9:
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let
your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. These
pursuers of pleasure are now called to a zealous repentance. If they will replace
their gusto for sin with an equally earnest repentance, there is hope for their
souls.
Verse
10: Humble yourselves in the sight of the
Lord, and he shall lift you up. Orientals showed their repentant attitudes
by rolling in the dust. When they felt that they had received forgiveness they
would arise and cleanse themselves (Beacon, 234). This principle of humility
before honor is found time and again throughout Holy Writ. Even our Lord
humbled himself before He was exalted. If it was fitting for our Lord to abase
Himself, how much more appropriate is it for those who have committed spiritual
infidelity to humble themselves?
Conclusion
James has some hard words
for us. Those who resist the temptation to reject such a pointed message will
be rewarded with peace with God and neighbor. James reveals that, through
specific, divinely ordained, methods, sin and strife can be overcome. Those who
make use of their grace-enabled freedom to submit to God will be delivered from
their oppressors and exalted in due time.
References
Adamson,
James. (1976). The New International
Commentary on the New Testament: James.
Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI
Burdick,
Donald. (1981). The Expositor’s Bible
Commentary: James. Zondervan: Grand Rapids,
MI
Harper,
A. F. (1967). Beacon Bible Commentary:
James. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City: Kansas City, KS
Keener,
Craig. (1993). The IVP Bible Background
Commentary: New Testament. InterVarsity
Press: Madison, WI
Moo,
Douglas J. (1985). Tyndale New Testament
Commentary: James. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL
Oden,
Thomas. (1992). Life In the Spirt:
Systematic Theology: Volume Three. HarperCollins
Publishers: New York, NY
Olson,
Roger. (2006). Arminian Theology: Myths
and Realities. InterVarsity Press: Downers
Grove, IL
Wainwright,
Geoffrey. (1980). Doxology: The Praise of
God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life.
Oxford University Press: New York
Zimmermann, Jens. (2004). Recovering Theological Hermeneutics: An Incarnational-Trinitarian
Theory
of Interpretation. Baker
Academic: Grand Rapids, MI
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