Verses 7-10: For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
But James isn’t finished. For the one who does not ask in faith without doubting, he cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord. ‘Ought to expect’ is one word in the Greek, plus the negative ‘not’ this construction is a prohibition, one that could be translated: “The man who does not ask in faith, shall have no basis to expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
So faith is the key ingredient in an established
relationship with Our Lord – believing what He says is truth and acting upon it
and applying it in our moment-by-moment walk. This is not an isolated truth of
doctrine, the writer of Hebrews expresses this also:
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
James describes this faithless man as being ‘double-minded.’
This word is used only by James in the New Testament, here and in 4:8. It
literally means ‘double-souled.’ His analysis of this faithlessness goes deep
into the psyche of a person. This person thinks, as it were, out of both sides
of his mouth. He says he has faith in God, yet when the need for wisdom arises,
he either believes that God will withhold that which he needs for an effective
Christian life, or that God’s wisdom is too difficult to obtain and understand.
Yet, Scripture teaches that the wisdom of God has been
provided for us in understandable and meaningful manner.
But just as it is written,“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,And which have not entered the heart of man,All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
In the epistle to the
Ephesians Paul states that the Spirit’s work is to empower and strengthen the
inner man:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)
The belief and implementation of this doctrinal truth is the
corrective solution for the double-minded believer, providing stability in his
advance to spiritual maturity.
The Humble and the Rich
James now points out two types of believers who suffer trials
mentioned in verse 2. The one ‘of humble circumstances’ in this verse compared
with the rich man in the next verse.
The ‘brother of humble circumstances’ refers to the
believers’ social standing. He is not what one would call rich by the standards
of society. In order to relate this to our present social structure, it would include
all who are able to make ends meet financially and those on down the social
ladder.
This brother is commanded to glory
in his high position. How does one ‘glory?’ The word means to exult or boast.
James states in 4:16 that there is a boasting that is arrogant, so it is
obvious that this boasting is not to be arrogant. What James means here is that
this man is to rejoice and be thankful, and to demonstrate this by obedience to
the Lord.
Yet, anyone who reads this verse must wonder how it is that
this humble brother is commanded to glory in his ‘high position.’ James wants
us to comprehend that we attain this high position not by anything we do, but
by the grace of God. And this is evidenced by His working in our lives with the trials to bring us to spiritual
maturity, enabling us to be adequately equipped1
for His service.
The lesson here is that we should be in awe and not
disparage the working of the Lord in our lives; being ever mindful that He is our
Creator and we are His creatures. We should have the same conviction as James
does – that we are bond-servants of the God of the universe!
The rich man is to glory also, but it is ‘in his
humiliation.’
The King James expresses this a little more precisely: in that he is made low
(or humbled). This is not to mean that he is being knocked off a high position
because there is something inherently evil in being wealthy. What is really
meant is that in spite of his social standing, he is equal in God’s estimation
with those who are not wealthy. And that he, just as the brother of humble
circumstances, must learn in the exact same manner how to advance to maturity
in the Christian life. He too must rejoice and be thankful that God provides
direction and sustainment for this life.
And just in case anyone might lose sight of a universal
truth, James adds that as a certainty those who are rich ‘will pass away,’
just like the flowering grass.
© 2023 David M. Rossi
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