Let’s go right into our verses for today:

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:1-10 NASB95)

This is a rather complex section and I think it will be helpful to read it in The New Living Translation:

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful? He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble." So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. (James 4:1-10 NLT)

James contends that it starts inside us…it’s intrapersonal (inside us) conflict before it becomes interpersonal (between others and us). Later, Paul would say the same thing:

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:22-23 NASB95)

I like the way Wayne describes it: "Christianity is not you overcoming sin; it’s Jesus overcoming you!"

You may recall that in our last lesson, we looked at verses 7, 8 and 10 as examples of drawing different conclusions by reading the same texts with different assumptions.

Verse 10, especially in the New Living Translation, is the clearest statement I’ve found in James to support his limited understanding of "the Christ life". I hope that today we will see how understanding the context can help us avoid approaching the Bible using wrong assumptions.

Conflict is a reality, both outside and inside the church. The approach James takes toward this reality is typical of the approach often seen in Christianity today…let’s acknowledge that conflict exists and then take the necessary steps to eliminate it inside the church so that we will not blaspheme the fair name by which (we) have been called. (James 2:7 NASB95)

I believe this scenario began at Mount Sinai when God gave the law to Israel…here are the rules…they tell you what is right and wrong…now obey them! History reveals the repeated failure of Israel to maintain a proper relationship with God by obedience…look at Paul’s description:

If you are a Jew, you are relying on God’s law for your special relationship with him. You boast that all is well between yourself and God. Yes, you know what he wants; you know right from wrong because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a beacon light for people who are lost in darkness without God (does that sound familiar?). You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that in God’s law you have complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you do it? You condemn idolatry, but do you steal from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, "The world blasphemes the name of God because of you." (Romans 2:17-24 NLT)

That last statement is a quote from Isaiah 52:5…by the time James comes along, are believers doing any better than Israel had using the obedience approach? James certainly doesn’t seem to think so!

I think the key is found in verse 6: But He gives a greater grace. (James 4:6 NASB95)

The New Living Translation makes it even clearer: He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. (James 4:6 NLT)

James seems to believe that since Jesus had come, paid the penalty for sin with His death and sent the Holy Spirit, believers were now empowered to obey the law…they just needed to make the decision to do so! Just do it! I think I see were Wayne gets the idea that "grace is not the freedom to do as you please, it’s the power to do as you should."

With all due respect to Wayne, grace is not about our being empowered to do anything! Grace is the unmerited favor of God…it’s God showing forgiveness, mercy and acceptance to the unrepentant, rebellious, and independence-loving humans He created. Eventually, that grace wins us to Him…we are finally reconciled and put back where we belong! When that is finally accomplished, this promise of God will be fulfilled: I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. (Isaiah 45:23 NASB95)

In verses 7, 8 and 10, the words submit, draw near and humble all carry the idea of surrender. And while I certainly think we should submit, draw near and humble ourselves before God Almighty, we must guard against our fleshly tendency to focus on ourselves. It matters little the words we use (surrender, commitment, faith, obedience, etc.), but it matters greatly the focus we adopt. If our focus is egocentric (self), we cannot be focused on Jesus. And if we are not focused on Jesus, the object of our focus matters little! Anything and everything apart from Him will only lead us to become self-absorbed and when we are self-absorbed, we cannot abide in Jesus.

I find it interesting that James says to be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom (v. 9) while Paul says rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NASB95) According to my count, Paul uses the word rejoice 33 times in his letters to the churches.

Perhaps it’s because James takes a "law" approach and Paul takes a "grace" approach. Different assumptions will lead to different conclusions!

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