THE ENEMY OF GOD - JAMES 4:2b -4

Verse 2b - 4: 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.

This is where verse divisions can disrupt the development of thought. In the first phrase (v.2b), James’ contends that they do not have because they do not ask in their own interest—by inference he means in their own best interest. On the other hand (v.3), James explains that when they do ask the essence of their asking is for the wrong motives: to spend on your own pleasures. He never specifies what the conflicts involve, neither does he state for what they are asking. But you can be certain that the pleasures are something they crave and will fight for—this is the picture of raging hedonism.

What we have here is a failure to pray to God with His will in mind and for what will ultimately glorify Him. It is praying from a position of weakness. In the midst of strife, we should be asking for wisdom—divine viewpoint—which would be in our best interest. This issue was already covered in chapter 1:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5; cf. Philippians 4:19)

That which we ask of God must be in agreement with His will and that it will glorify Him. When praying accordingly, it places the believer a position of power—and only then are we able to understand how to be peacemakers and not quarrelsome fighters.

Friendship with the World

James continues his rebuke of their cravings for pleasures: you adulteresses. This is used figuratively, just as murder in verse 2. This refers to believer’s who are spiritually unfaithful in their relationship with the Lord. The readers affections and allegiance to their Lord has been exchanged with a frantic search for the details of life—food, sex, material goods, entertainment, power, etc. There is nothing wrong with the details of life, but believers must not allow them to be the central focal point of their lives. This is not a new indictment against God’s people—this goes back to the Old Testament when the Jews gave away their affections for the Lord to other gods (Ezekiel 16:15). The Lord Jesus characterized His day as “an evil and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39; 16:4; cf. Mark 8:38) because the religious leaders had debased the Jewish faith.

James’ question to them—“Do you not know, etc.?”—has an underlying implication that they certainly must know1 that friendship with the world constitutes that they are hostile to God. This is stated as an absolute fact. The word world denotes Satan’s kingdom. What it means is that since “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19) we become Satan’s friends. When believers exchange their faithfulness to God for an allegiance to the details of life they become friends with Satan and are hostile, or at enmity with God. The apostle Paul is of the same opinion when he states:

Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. (Romans 8:7)

Satan infiltrates the believer’s mind with demonic wisdom (3:15) and as Paul also mentions:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)

 Notice that the consistent theme so far in chapter 4 has to do with the believers’ trend toward pleasures—a life of hedonism—a manic search for happiness with the details of life. And now James finishes this verse by equating their hedonism with their desire (wishes) to be friends with the world. It is an apt conclusion stating that by this mentality the believer has appointed (literally, makes2) himself to be an enemy of God.

It is essential that we evaluate daily our motives, endeavors and affections to ensure that they do not disrupt our relationship with the Lord. 

Are we faithfully observing what the apostle Paul commanded?

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

---

1 Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, 10.628

2 Greek word kathístēmi/καθίστημι means: make or appoint. In Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1957). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. University of Chicago Press, p. 391.

 © 2023 David M. Rossi

QUARRELS AND CONFLICTS AND STRIFE - JAMES 4:1-2a

Verses 1-2a: 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.

At the outset, it should be noted that chapter, verse and sentence divisions in the Bible are only about 500 years old and that they are not a part of the divine inspiration of the Bible. The original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts of the Bible had no divisions and no spaces between the words. The King James translators followed chapter divisions made by Archbishop Stephen Langton in 1551 and the verse divisions of Robert Estienne.1 The first entire English Bible to have verse divisions was the Geneva Bible in 1560.2

Example of an Original Greek Manuscript

 We are now confronted with the 4^th division of James’ epistle. It should be reminded that the entire epistle is to be taken as a whole—a seamless letter with a cohesive message. James is a compilation of the Christian’s code of conduct, containing those characteristics which ought to be avoided and those which should be embraced.

The following are some of the issues examined in What James Tells Us: that there is a reward for victory over the trials of life (1:2-12); the importance of being doers of the Word (1:22-24); the sin of partiality (2:1-16); the necessity of faith and works (2:17-26); the sin of the unbridled tongue (3:1-12); the evidence of true wisdom (3:13-18).

Now, in chapter 4, James picks up on an earlier theme of cautioning believers “to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27). Now he expands upon this warning and the complications of a friendship with the world and the believer’s relationship with God.

*   *   *   *  *   *   *   *  *   *   *   *  *   *   *   *  *   *   *   *

James begins by asking two questions. First, he asks what the basic cause for their quarrels and conflicts. The Greek word for quarrels is the word for wars—actual battlefield conflict. The word is used this way in the New Testament except for here it takes on the figurative meaning of dissentions which cause strife. They must have been some pretty heated quarrels for James to use this particular word. Also, the mention of conflicts may well refer to disputes about the Jewish Law, which was typical in the 1^st Century church where Jews had difficulties breaking away from Jewish legalism. Paul mentioned this in his letter to Titus:

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (Titus 3:9)

His second question is rhetorical and intended to draw attention to the fact that the cause of these antagonisms is a result of their pleasures. The word for pleasures in the Greek is hēdonḗ, from which we get our English word hedonism. It means “the gratification of the natural desire or sinful desires.”3 These desires can be numerous—food, drink, sex, art, music, power, revenge. In other words, whatever excites or arouses someone.

James says that for these readers their pleasures are constantly waging war—like a continual battlefield campaign. And specifically it is going on within their members. It should be noted that this does not refer to members of the church but of those “members of the body as the seat of the desires and passions.”4 What James seems to imply is that this war is an internal struggle of the various emotions striving to obtain what one desires. This battle is between the emotions and the intellect just as the apostle Paul wrote:

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 7:23)

Next, James exposes a number of their emotional trends. First they are continually lusting. Our modern usage of this word tends to infer inordinate sexual desires. But the word is often used of a desire for something good (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1; Hebrews 6:11; 1 Peter 1:12). But within this context of inner emotional turmoil their desires are far from something good. These desires are a source of frustration because they cannot have what they want.

Secondly, they commit murder. Their quarrels and conflicts may have resulted in murder, for that is a sin even a believer might commit. However, this may also be a figurative use of the word describing the mental attitude of hatred, as John pointed out:

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15, cf. Matthew 5:21-22)

Thirdly, they consistently covet—envious, jealous. This was mentioned in the last chapter concerning their “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” (3:14). This attitude views that what someone else has “should be mine and not theirs!” And they are frustrated because they cannot get what they want. It may not be a physical object; it could be a desired position, like a teacher or a leader in the church or business.

So their inner frustration comes forth in fighting and quarreling with those who have. It is a form of tantrums which we see children having when they don’t get their way.

James is discussing problems within the 1^st Century church. But do they mirror what goes on today? Do we realize that James is telling us that human nature is no different in his day than it is today? We must be attentive to how our own inner emotions respond to the situational challenges we are confronted with—as well as to our desires and ambitions. The trends pointed out by James are reactionary—disregarding divine viewpoint. Proactive thinking would consider God’s wisdom:

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, cf. Romans 8:28)

Our desire should be to seek and embrace His wisdom and His perfect will for our lives. Are we following Paul's advice of renewing our minds by the study and application of His Word (Cf. Romans 12:1-2; 2Tinothy 2:15)?

---

1 Packer, J. I., Tenney, M. C., & White, W., Jr. (1997). Nelson’s Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, p. 57.

2 Willmington, H. L. (1987). Willmington’s Book of Bible Lists. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, p. 35.

3 Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2.475.

4 Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G3196

 

 © 2023 David M. Rossi

THE WISDOM FROM ABOVE - JAMES 3:17-18

Verses 17-18: But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

The wisdom from above is consistent with James’ teachings, for he stated in 1:17 that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above.”

But what exactly is wisdom? Dr. Geisler explains:

Wisdom has to do with the ability to choose the right means for the desired ends. Knowledge is the apprehension of truth in the mind, while wisdom is the application of truth to one’s life.1

Geisler goes on to state that “as applied to God, wisdom refers to His unerring ability to choose the best means to accomplish the best ends.”2 God’s 'unerring ability to choose' is based upon His vast knowledge. God did not acquire or assimilate His knowledge through experience, reading or by the scientific method. He is omniscient and cannot learn anything new, since for Him, there is nothing new to be learned.

Louis Berkhof explains the relationship of God’s wisdom with His knowledge:

The wisdom of God may be regarded as a particular aspect of His knowledge. It is quite evident that knowledge and wisdom are not the same, though they are closely related. They do not always accompany each other. An uneducated man may be superior to a scholar in wisdom. Knowledge is acquired by study, but wisdom results from an intuitive [discerning] insight into things...We may be a little more specific and call it that perfection of God whereby He applies His knowledge to the attainment of His ends in a way which glorifies Him most. [Emphasis his]3

So there is an immense difference between God’s wisdom and the wisdom of man. Since God is omniscient, He knows everything that is possible to be known, therefore His knowledge and wisdom are perfect. Whereas man’s knowledge is limited and imperfect since he is incapable of knowing everything. What man does know, he must attain through the learning process.

God’s wisdom is one of His attributes and “implies correct judgment and the right use of knowledge.”4 The theologian Charles Hodge asserts that this is substantiated by His work in creation:

As there is abundant evidence of design in the works of nature, so all the works of God declare his wisdom. They show, from the most minute to the greatest, the most wonderful adaptation of means to accomplish the high end of the good of his creatures and the manifestation of his own glory.5

It is further exemplified by His benevolence toward His creatures. The greatest demonstration of this is that of His plan of redemption. Chafer maintains that “here God is seen to have solved His greatest of all problems, namely, how He could be just and at the same time be the justifier of sinners,”6 without compromising His character.

So, this wisdom from above that James is talking about is true wisdom—divine wisdom, God’s wisdom. It is utterly divergent from the wisdom derived from the demonic doctrine referred to in verse 15. James continues by describing the qualities of God’s wisdom.

• It is pure: Lacking moral corruption or any taint of human viewpoint, 1 John 3:3.

• It is peaceable: Completely harmonious with His character of righteousness, Matthew 5:9.

• It is gentle: Meaning fair and equitable “because the attributes of [His] rule are appropriate”,7 Psalm 66:7.

• It is reasonable: Because He is ever “willing to listen”8 to all of our requests (cf. Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22).

• It is full of mercy: compassionate in His relations with His creatures, providing salvation and all that believers need to sustain and empower them to glorify Christ in this age and in the age to come (cf. Luke 6:36).

• It is full of good fruits: This refers to His accomplishments in time and eternity; the results of His works are beneficial towards man being in accord with His righteous character. We are commanded to walk as children of Light and therefore produce the fruit of the Light: goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:8-9; cf. Galatians 5:22ff).

• It is unwavering: It expresses the distinctive assurance and resolution of faith, and also the reliability of Jesus Christ. The best rendering is perhaps “without wavering,” “unshakable”9 (cf. Hebrews 13:8).

• It is without hypocrisy: The phrase denotes that which is genuine or sincere. Christian love is rooted in this concept by being sincere and authentic and not deceitful, Romans 12:9; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 1 Peter 1:22.

These qualities of God’s wisdom are the ones which we should aspire to emulate. But it is impossible to do so unless we allow the Holy Spirit the control of our lives,

The Fruit of Righteousness

It should be noted at the outset that the New American Standard Bible translators added a clarifying phrase: the seed whose, and rightfully so, for it is only logical that it takes a seed to begin the germination process. The necessary seed is Godly wisdom, comprised of those qualities which James has just enumerated. We learn Godly wisdom (righteous fruit) from the study of Scripture. It is implanted into our hearts and minds by the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, just as Our Lord stated:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

This implanting work of the Holy Spirit is accomplished in a peaceful, orderly manner—not in the disorderly and disruptive manner as outlined in verses 14-16. For God’s work is never undertaken in confusion, as the apostle Paul maintains:

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14:33a)

The final phrase can be translated, according to the principles of Greek grammar10, that this implanting is accomplished in association with those who are making peace. However, this may be a little misleading, for the word make here does not mean the same as constructing something (i.e. a car, a house, etc.). Within the context of something being sown, it follows that the word make actually denotes cultivating. In other words, the believer must be active in the cultivating process. It is true that the Holy Spirit is our teacher, implanting His Word (cf. James 1:21) so that it will flourish and produce His fruit of righteousness. But we have a responsibility to cultivate this seed by our positive choice to pursue His truth. The daily study of His Word allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us all things is essential to this process. The Holy Spirit is willing and able to teach us, but we must be willing to avail ourselves to His teaching.

The question should be stated again: What is wisdom?

Based upon these last two verses of James chapter 3, I offer this definition:

Wisdom is the sum total of the teaching of Bible doctrine by God the Holy Spirit and the positive response by the believer to that doctrine, resulting in believers’ perception and purpose of God’s plan; the assimilation of His truth into the believers’ stream of consciousness; and the application of Bible doctrine in the believers’ daily life.11

Are we willing to pursue His truth? 

Doing so will impart divine wisdom in our lives and flood our culture with His much needed truth.

---

[1] Geisler, Norman (2003). Systematic Theology, Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2.213

[2] Geisler, 2.213.

[3] Berkhof, Louis (1996). Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 68-69.

[4] Chafer, L.S. (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1.198-199

[5] Hodge, Charles (2001). Systematic Theology, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1.401).

[6] Chafer, 1.199.

[7] Preisker, Herbert (1888-1952). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W., Eds.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 243.

[8] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996).  Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (electronic ed.). United Bible Societies, 1.422.

[9] Büchsel, F., & Herntrich, V. (1964–). ἀδιάκριτος. In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 3.950.

[10] Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, p.159.

[11] An adaptation of a definition by R.B. Thieme, Jr., Spiritual Dynamics, Lesson #1577,  8/29/99

 

  © 2023 David M. Rossi