Page 26 - General Epistles (James through Jude) Textbook

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an adulterous wife (Psa. 73:27).” They still remained His people but turned to be unfaithful to Him at
some point. At that time, Judah became friends with the world. So, in the same way, the Jewish
Christians who were “scattered among the nations” (Jas. 1:1b) became friends with the world (by world
we mean doing what the fallen world requires one to do) while simultaneously becoming enemies of
God. To state God’s deep love beyond human understanding to them, James stated in James 4:5 that
“God, as a husband, reacts jealously (cf. Exod. 20:5) when his people, as his bride, live according to the
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world’s standards.” On the spirit, no one knows which one is that. Since the sentence points to a
jealous God, I would fall back on the Holy Spirit whom He has allowed to indwell Christians. “Thus. . . it is
not in vain that the Scripture says God’s Spirit is jealous over believers. This is surely the meaning of this
text although no single Scripture contains exactly the words used here by James.”
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Solution to Problems Raised by James in James 4:1-5 (James 4:6-10).
James is calling for humility (v6) because God “mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and
oppressed” (Prov. 3:34 [NIV]). In His grace, that is God giving us not what we deserve, He opposes the
proud and shows favor to the humble. “God’s grace is greater than the human inclination to sin.”
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These sheds light on “God’s opposition toward the proud who disregard Him and despise others. . .
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stresses God’s kindness to the lowly—those who recognize their insufficiency and depend on Him.”
Second, James encourages his recipients to submit themselves to God (v7). That is “a voluntary act of
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placing yourself under the authority of someone else to show him respect and obedience.” That
submission would pay spiritual dividends in their walk with Jesus. Doing so would be crucial in their
triumph over Satan’s resistance to their submission to God. James promises them that Satan would truly
flee from them. Zane C. Hodges notes that “As great as are the powers of seduction employed by Satan,
he is not invincible. A Christian firmly committed to God and the authority of His Word can rely on the
help of the Spirit who dwells in him and expect Satan to end his assaults and flee when he meets this
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kind of resistance.”

Third, they needed to continue drawing near to God (v8). Then, as a result, God would draw near to
them. Osborne notes that when one comes close to God, he or she can be “assured that he will “come
close to you,” reminiscent of 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about
you.” The gracious and forgiving God accepts our contrite spirit and in turn casts his loving presence
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upon us.” Fourth, James asked his audience to wash their hands and purify their hearts (v8b). Why?
Because they were sinners and double minded people. Remember that James had in the previous
chapters described the meaning of a double minded person as someone who doubts if he/she can
receive anything from God even after asking God. Such people are unstable in all (not only in one) they
do (cf. Jas. 1:7). He has also stated that failure to received anything may be caused by wrong motives
within them (cf. Jas. 4:3). The continued mention of these things shows that some among those who
were dispersed among the nations were struggling how to overcome those vices. Hence the need for
James’ admonition to remember and incorporate (by means of expression) what the priests were doing
in the Old Testament before their entrance in the tabernacle in order to have their sins remitted (cf.
Exod. 30:17-21).

Fifth, in place of laughter and that probably signified contentment with their way of life, James
encouraged them to grieve, mourn, and wail (v9) because their conduct was not godly, hence, sinful. It
was allowing them to be ripe for the outpouring of God’s wrath on them. They needed to demonstrate
that they were sorrowful because of their conduct that was marked by a lack of awareness of God’s
wrath that could come or any other possible and undesirable consequences. On grieving, mourning, and
wailing, Grant R. Osborne observes:

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