Book of James 4 part 2

 

©lightwritingmatters 2015

Theme Scripture: --James 4:17 “Therefore, if one knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.”

Theme Scripture Chapter Four: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”-vs 10

In our first part of discussion of Chapter 4 of James we highlighted vs 6 → “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” It is from here we will move forward. 

With honest humility we begin our discussion with vs “7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The word 'resist' here in the Greek language is ‘to set one’s self against’, to withstand, resist, oppose – Strong’s G436 anthistēmi . The verbs used to demonstrate the power of this scripture if you look at the definition are all action words. WITHSTAND RESIST OPPOSE. Thus, in all humility, relying utterly on the Holy Spirit we are to actively deny the assault from evil through vigorous opposition. We are never to be passive in protecting our faith and love for our GOD, our Savior and Redeemer. ‘The one who was, who is, and who is to come…’ [Rev 1:8] 

James begins to outline the best way to accomplish this:  “8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” vs 8,9 

Oh, to unpack this. For a moment, let your mind, perhaps your believing mind, meander through the imagination these words conjure. Drawing near to GOD. How do you envision GOD? We have descriptions of those who have encountered their ‘drawing near’ experience. Burning bush, a hand, the back, seated on a chariot, seated on HIS Throne and many more. So many ways and all MAJESTIC in their own experience. You no doubt have your own. Now, as you meditate upon the true frailty of a human, again, in all humility, not pride, attempting to draw near to the ALMIGHTY Creator of all things, perhaps maybe even in apprehension. Pausing…now, if us drawing close to our Maker isn’t extremely huge, what James says next just takes us right off the richter scale into another entire acquaintance-sphere…’and He will draw near to you.’ Just typing this I am very aware of the privilege of dissecting this verse. I am cautioned by GOD to remind myself and you, the point of vs 8 is cause and effect: RESIST evil/DRAW close to GOD. The effect? “...and He will draw near to you…” 

I could stop here and it would be a profound consideration of HIS Word. But, our understanding must be deepened as we further examine the self James was addressing in vs 8: “...Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” We get the cleanse your hands, we understand we are sinners. Purifying our hearts is referencing the life that is morally clean. But James shows ‘in context’ with the entire chapter so far, many of us are ‘double-minded’. Also in keeping with the idea of being ‘friends with the world’ we have ‘divided interests’ which is what is meant here with the Greek word dipsychos Strong’s G1374 – meaning two souls. Let’s step back a second and read what vs 7 and 8 says:

•  “7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ← Action Required

• “8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ←Cause and effect

• Cleanse your hands, you sinners; ← Action Required

•  and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” ← Motive possibly compromised

It is a push and pull effort, all action required, to not only ‘do’ something mentally, emotionally and spiritually, but all to psychologically accept that we may be compromised deeply and it requires drawing very close to GOD and being humbled enough to desire HIM to draw close to us; using HIS Holy Spirit as the double edged sword to divide out our soul and spirit to surgically remove the desires of the flesh dividing our interests. [Hebrews 4:12]  

Our direct benefit when we humbly submit: “10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”--James 4:10 In the sense of the greek used for ‘lift you up’ it ‘encourages us by the blessings of salvation’; spiritual uplifting and revival. Who wouldn’t/doesn’t want this?! 

To sum up this portion of James 4. we have learned James begins Chapter 4 with a few verses chastising those among us who seek to divide and even destroy each other in arrogant activities of lust and friendship with the world, apart from GOD. Remember, solemnly, this counsel is to the ‘brethren’ in Chapter 1 of James. By Chapter 4 James is showing us that the action we take towards our brothers is supposed to be GODLY, humble, always self examining our deeper motives and acknowledging our obvious actions especially those which may hurt others and ourselves! That the answer James gives is for US to DRAW close to GOD and then GOD will reciprocate by drawing near to us. 

Final thoughts on this pulse of scripture is the conclusion of the portion of James to this point:

“ 11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”

I will leave these last words to be reviewed, prayed upon and discerned by you, the reader. They are succinct, to the point and leaves no wiggle room for the flesh.

Please consider this section of James Chapter 4 with humility and a drawing close to GOD that HE may draw close to you.

Please return October 4, 2023 for James Chapter 4, Part 3!

Questions? lightwritingmatters@gmail.com

NOTICE: If you are feeling inclined or feeling led to want Jesus as your Savior, your leader, your King, your source of Peace and Joy but are feeling woefully inadequate, uninformed on how best to get to know HIM, or find yourself at wit’s end because you believe yourself trapped and in need of GOD, please know Jesus stands ready to welcome you with HIS Holy Spirit. Believe these words: “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “—John 3:16

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” – Acts 3:19-20

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:3-8

If you need help, please feel free to leave a comment and I will respond.  †

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