With Submission Believers are to be committed to living out God s will.

Transcription

1 Session 12 > James 4:6-17 With Submission Believers are to be committed to living out God s will. James gave believers guidelines for living out their faith-commitments to Christ. He urged them to persevere through trials and to respond to Jesus work in their lives with obedience and compassion. He exhorted them to demonstrate their faith through good works and to exhibit godly maturity by disciplining their speech. Then, in an attempt to remove conflicts among believers, James gave them two overarching directives: Submit to God (4:7) and you should say, if the Lord wills (4:15). James s two exhortations were given to Christians living in pagan environments. Those exhortations span the centuries and come to us today with fresh urgency and force, for we also live in a culture that desperately needs models of living under God s rule and consistently seeking His purposes for life. What does this mean for you and me as we move through an increasingly secular society? I think it first means that we continually acknowledge God s sovereignty. I do not remember where or when I was introduced to a basic Christian confession, but it has become part of my prayers: You are God, and I am not. To me, the statement means that I place myself under His beneficent authority in the recognition of my need for His guidance and grace. Second, in facing the demands and challenges of living Christlike lives, we need to be intentional in prayerfully trying to recognize His purposes for us. Sometimes, determining His will in specific circumstances is difficult. Two suggestions have helped me. When I cannot get a clear indication of God s will, I seek to identify the need and opportunity nearest me and act to meet it. Often, out of that response come further indications of His will. The second bit of counsel that has helped me is that when I am not sure what God wills for me in light of a number of options, I can prayerfully settle on one and pursue it. If my choice turns out to be wrong, I can simply take another path. I can count on God s patience and His understanding of my humanity. I try to remember that the Christ I seek to serve is the model for submission to God s will. In Gethsemane, under the dark shadow of the cross, Jesus prayed. He did not want to experience excruciating death by crucifixion, but He accepted God s will rather than insist on His own (see Mark 14:36). If He 120 Explore the Bible

2 could pray that prayer in the face of death, I certainly can make it a consistent part of my daily efforts to follow Him. UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT JAMES 3:13 4:17 In 1:5, James wrote, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly and it will be given to him. The condition was that the petitioner ask without wavering or hesitation. In 3:13-18, James returned to the subject of wisdom and contrasted wisdom from God to earthly wisdom. He likely had in mind prospective Christian teachers he cautioned in 3:1-12. James admonished teachers to exhibit or demonstrate by their morally excellent manner of life that their good works were performed in the controlled strength wisdom provided. Evidently some prospective Christian teachers harbored and exhibited bitter envy and selfish ambition (3:14). They were jealous of others and sought personal gain by unethical means. James admonished them not to brag about their supposed wisdom, for it was false wisdom. These teachers attitudes and conduct would deny the truth they taught. James contrasted the false wisdom that engendered jealousy and selfseeking with authentic wisdom (3:15). False wisdom did not come from God (see 1:5,17). With three withering descriptive terms, James denounced false wisdom. First, it was earthly limited and prone to error. It was concerned with worldly things. Second, false wisdom was unspiritual ; it was on the animal level, of a sensual nature. Third, such wisdom was demonic ; its source was evil. James stressed that when jealousy and a drive for personal gain by any means were present, the results were disastrous (3:16). In contrast, the wisdom God gives is essentially free from defect in inner quality (3:17). From this sterling quality flow additional Christlike character traits. James declared that people who lived in peace and tried to promote peace exhibited their right relationship with God (3:18). In 4:1-5, with pointed questions James addressed conflict among believers and their ineffective praying. The phrase wars and fights (4:1) reflected hostility and conflict in the form of quarrels and disputes. Such infighting came from wrongly directed desires. Their self-centered drives to get what they wanted and did not have caused them to inflict injury and desire to obtain others possessions (4:2a). James focused on the believer s prayer-relationship with God. He charged that some believers did not receive because they did not ask God in prayer. Session 12 : With Submission 121

3 He did not mean God would fulfill their selfish desires but rather would give what was needed and best according to His will (4:2b). Even when they did pray to receive from God, they asked with evil intent. They wanted to squander what He gave for their self-gratification (4:3). James addressed believers as adulterous people (4:4), probably referring to their unfaithfulness to God rather than to marital unfaithfulness. Were they not aware that embracing the lifestyle of unfaithfulness positioned them as God s enemies? Anyone who chose to live in an ungodly manner chose to live as God s enemy. We cannot identify with certainty the Old Testament verse to which James referred in 4:5, but his emphasis is clear. God intensely desires that His people remain faithful to Him. EXPLORE THE TEXT THROUGH HUMILITY (Jas. 4:6-10) VERSE 6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In light of God s intense desire that Christians maintain faithfulness, He gives greater grace ( more grace, KJV; ESV; NIV) to them to meet that demand. The Greek term rendered grace has the sense of God s favor, His goodness in action. For believers who are open to receive it, God gives strength to remain steadfast in their commitment to Him. To undergird his statement of assurance, James quoted Proverbs 3:34 from the Septuagint [sep TOO uh jint] (a major Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures). God sets Himself against (as in military formation) the proud arrogant people who consider themselves above or better than others and ignore or reject God. Conversely, God gives grace to the humble people who recognize their dependence on Him for salvation and for strength to persevere. VERSE 7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In light of God s readiness to give believers strength to remain faithful, James urged them to submit to God ( submit yourselves, KJV; ESV; NIV). James used ten commands in 4:7-10 in his counsel to believers. The Greek word 122 Explore the Bible

4 translated submit is the first of these and has a note of urgency. The term means to place or arrange under, to subordinate, to render obedience. James urged Christians to place themselves under God s authority. James further instructed believers to resist the devil. The Greek term for resist is a form of the word James used in 4:6 for God s opposition to haughty people. Believers were to set themselves against the devil in battle array. The Greek word translated devil means slanderer and comes from a root term that means to accuse or to defame. The Old Testament term Satan (meaning adversary ) was used to designate God s (and people s) enemy. New Testament writers consistently presented the devil as a powerful spiritual being violently opposed to God and His redemptive purpose. Matthew wrote that the Spirit led Jesus into the desert, where the devil tempted Him (Matt. 4:1). John stated that the devil led Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2). Paul urged believers not to give the devil a foothold in their lives (Eph. 4:27) and to withstand the devil s evil schemes (Eph. 6:11). Peter characterized the devil as believers enemy, a hungry lion looking for prey (1 Pet. 5:8). As God s archenemy, the devil works to thwart God s redemptive purpose. As believers stood their ground against the devil, he would flee from them. Underlying this confident assertion was the assurance God would give believers the strength they needed to reject the devil s overtures. God would grant the necessary grace (see 4:6). Now, as then, only through submitting to God can believers gain victory over temptation, sin, and the devil. VERSE 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James exhorted Christians to draw near to God ( draw nigh, KJV; come near, NIV). The Greek term rendered draw near has the sense of approaching God in reverence and worship. It also involves praying to Him. When believers humbly turn to God in trust and obedience, He responds to them; He acts to assist them. Instead of quickly passing over James s statement, we need to pause in wonder that when we approach God appropriately, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer is present with us to render aid. In Psalm 24:3-4, the psalmist asked: Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Then he answered his questions: The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully. James may have had these words in mind as he laid out the conditions required for drawing near to God and experiencing His presence. James admonished believers to cleanse ( wash, NIV) their hands and purify their hearts. He addressed them as sinners, Session 12 : With Submission 123

5 people who had missed God s mark or goal for them. They had deviated from the straight path of right living. For Jews, the washing of hands had a background of ritual cleansing. James s application had to do with believers repenting and being forgiven for their wrong conduct. Because the heart was viewed as the center of the self, purifying it meant having unmixed motives (see Matt. 5:8). James characterized faltering believers as double-minded, using the same Greek word he previously employed in 1:8 that has the sense of alternating between trust and mistrust of God. Drawing near to God requires moral cleansing and total trust in Him. I often begin my prayers by asking God to cleanse me from sin, for only then can I enter His presence with confidence. My drawing near to Him can never be casual or taken for granted; it must always be accompanied by reverence and humility. I am able to enter His presence only because of His sheer grace extended to me. VERSE 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. James used extremely strong language to admonish believers to express deep, sincere contrition. He exhorted them to be miserable ( afflicted, KJV; wretched, ESV) to experience sorrow for sins, to lament. They were to mourn to grieve. Most likely, behind this admonition lay Jesus statement that people who mourned because of their sins received God s approval (blessing) because they were on the right track (see Matt. 5:4). Believers were to weep ( wail, NIV) as an expression of their sorrow and grief. The Greek term has the idea of wailing in deep lament. An alternate view is that James was urging believers to voluntarily give up the luxury they were pursuing, to grieve over their sins, and shed tears of sympathy for others needs. In any case, James was calling for an about-face in Christians attitudes and actions. James further instructed believers to change their laughter (mirth, merriment) into mourning (grief). They were to change their joy (gladness, rejoicing) into gloom (a downcast look, dejection; heaviness, KJV). James s words, bordering on harsh rebuke, reflected the seriousness of the crisis among believers. He was not advocating that Christians live somber, gloomy, joyless lives. Rather, they were to turn from being friends with the world (engaging in unbelievers practices; 4:4) and to be disciplined, faithful followers of Christ. VERSE 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. 124 Explore the Bible

6 James exhorted believers to humble themselves before the Lord ( in the sight of the Lord, KJV). The Greek term rendered humble is a command and means to assume a lower rank. The phrase before the Lord has the sense of seeing oneself as God sees. Humility is having a proper, healthy sense of self. As persons created in God s image, we have worth and abilities. Yet we are totally dependent on God for life, grace that sustains, and mercy that forgives and restores. He is God; we are His dependent children. To assert independence from God is to invite disaster that results from dependence on one s limited, frail, and flawed self. The person committed to the Lord and relying on Him will be exalted. The believer s elevated status in Christ is God s gift, not the result of self-effort. It is a present condition in the sense of having spiritual power for Christian living. It will be a future experience when believers share in Christ s triumphant return. EXPLORE FURTHER Read the article titled Humility on page 777 in the Holman Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded. How does a proper view of self keep you from considering yourself better than others? How does it play a part in your service to others? THROUGH GRACE (Jas. 4:11-12) VERSE 11 Don t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. In 4:6, James assured believers that God gave greater grace to enable them to be Christ s faithful followers. In 4:11-12, he emphasized that people who received grace were to be gracious. He exhorted them not to criticize ( do not slander, NIV) one another. The Greek term translated criticize means to speak (evil) against someone; it has the sense of backbiting, of speaking negatively of someone, particularly in their absence. The form of the Greek word conveys a command to either avoid developing the habit of using such damaging speech or stop doing so. To me, James s familiar address brothers and sisters ( brethren, KJV; brothers, ESV) at this point had a double force. On one hand, James used the address to balance his strong admonitions with a reminder that he identified with the people to whom he wrote in the community of faith. Session 12 : With Submission 125

7 On the other hand, he firmly reminded them that they were not to demean one another but were to build one another up. They were to extend grace to believers who were struggling with obedience to God. James pointed out the seriousness of believers speaking against one another. Evidently, some of them were habitually attacking one another verbally. Their doing so not only severely damaged church unity but also was a detriment to their witness to unbelievers. The Greek term rendered defames is the same word previously translated criticize harsh, hurtful words directed at another person. It could convey the sense of slander or insult. The word judges has the idea of passing sentence on someone, of expressing a harsh opinion of the person. The phrase a fellow believer literally is his brother, again emphasizing relationship in the family of faith. James s words echo Jesus command: Do not judge, so that you won t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use (Matt. 7:1-2). James declared that a person who verbally attacked and pronounced a hurtful assessment of another believer actually was guilty of defaming and judging the law. He may have referred to God s law; the perfect law of freedom (Jas. 1:25) that is, the gospel and its guidelines; or the royal law prescribed in the Scripture that they love their neighbors as themselves (2:8). In effect, believers who slandered and judged one another were ignoring God s law, declaring it to be inadequate and characterizing it as bad. They placed themselves above the law and deemed themselves as qualified to decide to accept or reject particular laws. James further charged that presuming to decide which of God s laws were valid and which were to be ignored or discarded made believers selfappointed judges. Instead of putting God s law into action (living by it), they evaluated it. James stressed that if a believer decided which of God s laws to obey and which to reject, the person assumed superiority to God s law and ceased being a doer of the law. Members of James s mostly Jewish- Christian audience were aware that God s directives were valid as guidelines for living. To obey God s law was (and is) to practice His commands in the give and take of daily life. VERSE 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? James forcefully reminded believers that when they presumed to judge the law, they were claiming God s prerogative as lawgiver and judge. In effect, they claimed to be wiser than God. With ominous overtones, James 126 Explore the Bible

8 emphasized that one and only one lawgiver and judge is able to save and destroy. God and nobody else can establish guidelines for life and sit in judgment. He alone has complete knowledge and power over life. The Greek term rendered save means to rescue, to heal, and to deliver from sin. James probably used the word in the sense of delivering from sin. The term rendered destroy means to kill and can have the sense of eternal ruin. James likely emphasized that God alone is sovereign and the final court of appeal. James s climactic question to believers who were judging one another can be framed in a question often heard today: Who do you think you are? Implied is the question: Who appointed you to the judge s bench so you can pass sentence on your neighbor? The word neighbor ( another, KJV) referred to another believer. James emphasized that engaging in destructive, demeaning speech was no light matter. Today, many of us fail to take seriously our judging others for their sins while failing to see and deal with our own. Criticizing other Christians is extremely harmful to the community of faith and to Christ s redemptive purpose. EXPLORE FURTHER Read the article titled Judging on page 939 in the Holman Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded. How do you distinguish between making proper value judgments of others and critically judging them? How do you avoid the temptation to cloak being judgmental as offering constructive criticism? THROUGH SUBMISSION (Jas. 4:13-16) VERSE 13 Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit. James s transition from a stern warning against believers judging one another to merchants planning to do business seems at first reading to be abrupt and disconnected. Yet, he likely was giving an additional example of worldly living that is, of believers leaving God out of the equation of their lives and charting their own courses. The phrase come now ( go to now, KJV; now listen, NIV) is a command that draws attention to what follows and emphasizes its importance and seriousness. Session 12 : With Submission 127

9 The phrase you who say referred to traveling merchants. One view is that they were Jewish merchants. An alternate view is that James addressed Jewish-Christian merchants. At any rate, the merchants carefully laid out plans for the future. They would travel ( go, KJV; ESV; NIV) to a selected city, stay for a year, conduct their business ( buy and sell, KJV) and rake in a profit ( get gain, KJV; make money, NIV). One suggestion is that their words expressed arrogant self-confidence and greed. An alternate view is that James was warning against their becoming so absorbed in their business activities that they excluded God. If James addressed Christian merchants, he was emphasizing that God needed to be included in every aspect of believers lives. They were not to leave Him out of their daily work activities. VERSE 14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. James reminded believers that even as the presumptuous merchants could not guarantee themselves one tomorrow, much less a year, so Christians could not assume the gift of another day. No one could know with all certainty what even the immediate future tomorrow would hold. James probably was echoing Jesus parable in Luke 12: There Jesus told of a rich man whose land yielded an abundant harvest. Because he could not store the large crop, he proposed to build bigger barns to hold it. Then he would live a life of ease and enjoyment. He did not include God or others needs in his plans. God declared that the things with which the man was absorbed required his life. As Jesus warned against the danger of greed, James similarly warned against an arrogant self-sufficiency that excluded God. Some interpreters view the phrase what your life will be as a question: What is your life? that is, what kind is it? The Greek term rendered vapor ( mist, ESV; NIV) means smoke, steam, exhalation of breath. It is visible for a moment and then vanishes. James pointed out that life is short and uncertain, implying that leaving God out of one s life is utter folly. VERSE 15 Instead, you should say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. Rather than making plans without including God and confidently assuming life would go on, believers should say, If the Lord wills. In giving these 128 Explore the Bible

10 words to say, James did not intend to introduce a catch-phrase that sounded pious but could be voiced with little or no thought. Rather, James meant that in all areas of life, believers were to ask for and submit to God s will and purpose in their deliberations and proposed actions. James viewed life and activity as being under God s control. Each day is a gift, as is the strength to make the day productive. VERSE 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James contrasted (but) what should have been true with the actual situation he addressed. The phrase as it is (literally now ) indicated some believers indeed failed to include God in their plans and actions. James leveled a withering charge: you boast in your arrogance ( ye rejoice in your boastings, KJV). The Greek term rendered boast means to glory, to rejoice, to exult as well as to boast. The word translated arrogance has the senses of haughtiness, presumptuous speech, and boastful exhibition. James declared that such deluded exhibitionism was evil. Some believers empty bragging in their misguided self-reliance made them dead wrong. THROUGH OBEDIENCE (Jas. 4:17) VERSE 17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. The word so (therefore) connects James s indictment of people who excluded God from their plans, who did not seek His will in all areas of their lives, with what follows. They knew to do the good, to seek God s will in all their activities, but neglected to do so. James stressed that such failure was sin missing God s mark for their lives by a wide margin. The sober truth is that sins of omission are as serious as sins of commission willful disobedience to God s will. James made clear that God wants His people to be obedient followers. For Christians today, obeying Him means more than not committing blatant sins; it means doing the good we know we are to do. EXPLORE FURTHER Do you consider sins of omission to be as serious as the willful sins you commit? Explain. Why do you think downplaying the seriousness of sins of omission is easy? What opportunities do you have to do good? Session 12 : With Submission 129