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Wednesday, June 22, 2022

INDISPUTABLE COMMANDS, PART I: JAMES 4:7

 Indisputable Commands 1-2

James 4:7-10 encompasses 10 Indisputable Commands for the rehabilitation of spiritually unfaithful believers—it is a call for decisive action.

In the opening verses of chapter 4, James summarized the mindset of the believers to whom he is writing: entangled in quarrels and conflicts; engaging in improper requests in prayer; persistent friendship with the world. This is the epitome of an unfaithful people towards God. James attempts in the next 4 verses to provide the Biblical approach for correcting the error of their ways.

#1→ 4:7a: Submit therefore to God.

Submit is a military term in the Greek meaning to subject oneself, be subordinated, obey.”1 However, it does not infer inferiority of the one submitting. This is the same word Peter uses when he commands that wives should be submissive to their husbands (1 Peter 3:1). The implication being that wives are not inferior to the husbands, but instead, that there is a divinely instituted orderliness in the marriage relationship.  

There is also a divinely instituted order in God's relationship with His believers. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:20: For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” And since that price is the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:19), it is only right that we should obey James’ directive: submit to God and diligently glorify Him with our lives.

The question is: How do we submit to God? What must specifically be done?

The answer is in the context of the preceding verses: they must relinquish their allegiance to jealousy and selfish ambitions (3:11); stop their quarreling and conflicts (4:1); cease their frantic search of pleasures (4:3); and untangle themselves from their unfaithful friendship with the Satan controlled world (4:4).

Submitting to God is a mental attitude that concentrates on obedience to divine directives, which can only be acquired by an intense and consistent study of His Word. There is a clever saying: “7 days without prayer makes one weak.” Although this is true but a more astute maxim would be: “7 days without studying God’s Word will make one weak and spiritually destitute.”

In addition to a daily consistent study of God’s Word, a total reliance upon the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is essential for a victorious walk of faith (Galatians 5:16). Lenski correctly states that submitting to God means that we should “do this effectively, definitely, once for all.”2 It is not something to be done some of the time, but all of the time.

 

#2→ 4:7b: Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The Greek word James uses for resist (anthístēmi) means to “take a stand against”3—specifically, against the devil. But who is the devil? He is Satan, the one “who deceives the whole world...the accuser of our brethren...before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:9-10). So, while he is doing his accusing, his legions of demons are troubling believers today. And as James has already pointed out, they have influenced his readers with earthly, natural, demonic wisdom (3:15), making them friends of the world—which lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19)—and therefore enemies of God (4:4). We believers should be aware of the devil’s powerful diversion from God’s truth and our place of fellowship with Him.    

How do we resist the devil? First, be alert. Peter warns us that we should recognize the reality of our adversary:

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

And secondly, we are to be firm in our faith:

 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:9)

This goes back to the first command to submit to God, which necessitates consistent study of His Word to acquire divine wisdom and to eliminate demonic wisdom.

Thirdly, we must fully arm ourselves for our spiritual battle. This is a real battle, one that can be won. But it can also be lost by those who are unaware that they are even in a battle. The apostle Paul states that God has provided the armament for an assured victory.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)

Paul goes on to assert the reality of the adversary:

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Paul commands us to “take up the full armor of God, so that we will be able to resist in the evil day...to stand firm (Ephesians 6:13).” And in doing as we are instructed, Paul concludes that by arming ourselves with the shield of faith—divine wisdom, sound doctrine—we will be able to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).

James adds that the devil “will flee from you.” But the certainty of this is only true if we resolve to follow the Biblical guidelines on how to resist the devil.

Do we truly believe the Bible that we have an adversary?

Are we active in standing firm in our knowledge of our faith—sound doctrine?

Are we securing the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17)?



1 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. 855.

2 Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, 10.631.

3 Blue, J. R. (1985). James. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Eds.). Victor Books, 2.830.

 

© David M. Rossi 2022

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