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James Chapter
Four
I.
Content of the Chapter
The Trials of
Christians’ Faith ---- the Necessity of Fearing God
A. He who fears God obeys God, daring not to be
enmity with God (v.1-7);
1. Not follow the lust (v.1-3);
2. Have no friendship with the world (v.4-6);
3. Resist the devil (v.7)
B. He who fears God draws near to God, fearing
to be against God (v.8-12);
1. Cleanse his hands and heart (v.8);
2. Lament and mourn and weep for his own
condition (v.9);
3. Humble himself before the Lord (v.10);
4. Dare not to speak evil of or judge others
(v.11-12);
C. He who fears God looks upon God, daring not
to decide or act of his own will (v.13-16);
1. Know that he is little and limited
(v.13-14);
2. Live and walk according to the will of God
(v.15);
3. Dare not to boast in your arrogance (v.16);
D. He who fears God must act in keeping with
his mind (v.17);
II.
Verse by Verse Commentary
James. 4:1
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your
desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
YLT: “Whence wars and fightings
among you? not thence -- out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your
members?”
Meaning of Words:
“war”: battle,
warfare; “fight”: strive, striving, controversy; “desires”: lusts, sensual
delight, pleasure;
Literal Meaning:
“where do wars and fights come from among you?”
“Among you”: in the
“Do they not come from your desires for
pleasure that war in your members”, “desires”: the lusts of coveting for
happiness; “pleasure that war…”, it refers to the unceasing fights and
conflicts to satisfy the pleasures (see Gal. 5:17);
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The church ought to be full of fruits of
righteousness in peace (see 3:18). However, she is filled with “wars and
fights”. The problem does not lie in the external letter, but the internal
pleasures.
2) The wars and fights in the church are
firstly caused by the evil thought of war in man’s hearts. In other words, the
warring law in our members is the chief criminal of the wars and fights in the
church.
3) Three great enemies in this chapter are
mentioned: desires for pleasure (v.1-3), the world (v.4-6), the devil (v.7).
The first desire that is mentioned is in our body. An old saying goes like
this, “a thief in the family is difficult to detect”. Such desire is
influential and difficult to be conquered.
4) Desire for pleasure is the most basic reason
for the endless bitter battle of human beings. Besides, it is also the evil
source of destroying life and creating conflicts in the church.
5) The biggest element that decides our life
situation is to whom we choose to please ---- ourselves or God? If we choose
the former, our life must be full of cruel fights.
James. 4:2 “You lust and do not have.
You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have
because you do not ask.”
YLT:
“ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to
attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;”
Meaning
of Words: “lust”: desire,
covet, set the heart upon, long for; “murder”: kill, slay; “covet”: move with envy, be jealous over; “ask”: beg, call for,
crave, desire;
Literal
Meaning: “you lust and do not have”, “covet”: covet
for pleasure and apply one’s whole heart to it and put it into practice; “do
not have”: do not possess;
“You murder and covet and cannot obtain”, “murder”, here it does not
mean the real action of murder, but the thought of hurting men ---- go to every
expedient and even ignore the life of man in order to attain to a certain goal;
“covet”: be jealous of the success of others and all those who prevent one
achieving the goal;
“You fight and war”: please see the commentary of verse one;
“You do not have because you do not ask”, “ask”: pray to God and ask for
(see 1:5);
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) One surprising thing is that the more one
covets, the more conflicts and contentions will be caused. Finally, he receives
nothing.
2) Covetousness is the deep-rooted corruption
of human beings. In order to attain to such desire for pleasure, men strive for
what they desire by all sorts of means. That is why there is so much envy and
murder and fights and wars among men. However, they still gain nothing in the
end.
3) A man filled with desires for pleasure must
ignore prayers ---- do not ask.
4) God is a God who gives to all liberally and
without reproach (see 1:5). He is willing to give liberally to men, but men do
not ask. The manifestation of God’s riches is restricted by man’s not asking.
5) Thought many believers have the actions of
prayer, they do not ask ---- lack the goal of prayer. God does not hear general
prayers. Only the specific and explicit prayers are granted by God, dealing
with the troubles we have met.
James. 4:3 “You ask and do not
receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
YLT:
“ye ask, and ye receive not, because evilly ye ask, that in your pleasures ye
may spend .”
Meaning
of Words: “amiss”: wrong, evil; “spend”: waste, be at
charges, consume; “pleasures”: sensual delight, desires;
Literal
Meaning: “you ask and do not receive, because you ask
amiss”, “ask amiss”: wrong prayer that includes three mistakes: a) wrong
motivation ---- satisfy the pleasures; b) wrong object ---- worldly wealth to
spend; c) wrong way ---- not “ask”, but “covet and fight” (see v.2);
“That you may spend it on your pleasures”, “that…”, it reveals the
motivation of “asking amiss”; “spend”: spend what one has obtained on worthless
things; “pleasures”: all the pleasures that satisfy the lusts, including the
enjoyment of eating and drinking as well as all the entertainment that
satisfies one’s physical and mental need; the key problem is that whether it is
moderate or extreme.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) All that we ask should be in keeping with
the will of God. Otherwise, we should receive nothing. The prayers shall be
effective only when we ask according to the will of God (see 1John 5:14).
2) “Ask”, it is used from a lower level to a
higher level. Therefore, we have to ask for God in a humble and godly heart and
mind. Otherwise, we shall not be accepted by God.
3) If our prayer has passed our need and
capacity, it has become “asking amiss”. And if we ask flippantly and
pointlessly, we have also “asked amiss”.
4) The spiritual prayer is “let the will of God
be done”. A selfish prayer is “let my desire be fulfilled”.
5) No good thing will God withhold from them
that walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11). Therefore, we have to pray to God in a clear
heart and shall find favor before God (see v.8-10).
6) Any prayer for man himself, not for the
glory of God and profit of others, is a kind of waste. Therefore, God does not
need to hear.
7) The normal food and leisure activities of
believers are permitted by God (see Matt. 6:11; Eccl. 3:13; 1Cor. 6:12; 10:31).
If they become excessive without control, they turn to pleasures unpleasant to
God.
James. 4:4 “Adulterers and
adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy
of God.”
YLT:
“Adulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an
enemy of God he is set.”
Meaning
of Words: “adulterers”: whore, scarlet woman; “friendship”: fondness; “enmity”: hatred, hostility;
Literal
Meaning: “adulterers and adulteresses”, “adulterers”,
it shows that believers have a husband ---- Christ is our husband (2Cor. 11:2);
here, it refers to infidelity to God ---- believers love and desire that which
is outside of God.
“Do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” “Do you not…”: ought to know; “have
friendship with the world”: love the world and be associated with things in the
world so as to be defiled (see 2Cor. 6:14-18); “is enmity with”, offend against
God for reasons as follows: 1) If man loves the world, the love of God is not
in him (1John2:15); 2) the love of the world is out of the mind of the flesh
(Rom. 8:7); 3) the love of the world makes a man leave his spiritual works and
companions, which displeases God (2Tim. 4:10) 4) he that loves the world will
serve mammon, and mammon is the adversary of God (Matt. 6:24);
“Whoever
therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God”, “therefore”, here it repeats the previous sentence in a
positive and emphatic tone.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Our relation with God is not only king and
servants but also husband and wife. A conjugal fellowship demands spiritual
love and virginity and allows in no wise unfaithfulness.
2) If a believer covets for the pleasures of
flesh, he has committed spiritual adultery, for his mind is corrupted from the
simplicity and purity that is toward Christ (2Cor. 11:3).
3) If believers love the world, he has
committed spiritual immorality (see Hos. 4:6, 12; Ps. 73:27).
4) The world is enmity with God, so we cannot
receive both. Anyone who desires to have friendship with the world has been
enmity with God, for his heart has been turned to the world.
James. 4:5 “Or do you think that the
Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns
jealously"?”
YLT:
“Do ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the
spirit that did dwell in us,'”
Meaning
of Words: “think”: seem, suppose; “dwell”: inhabit; “yearns”: earnestly desire, greatly long; “jealously”: envy;
Literal
Meaning: “or do you think that the Scripture says in vain”, “that the Scripture says”, it refers to the old scriptures. However,
there is no scripture that is exactly the same with the following words.
Therefore, here, it quotes the meaning of the verse “God is a God of jealousy”
(Ex. 20:5) in order to raise a warning. “In vain”, the word shall not return
unto Him void, but shall do that which God pleases unto the end (see Is.
55:11).
“The Spirit who dwells in us”: the Holy Spirit, God dwells in believers through
the Holy Spirit (see
“Yearns jealously"?” The biblical expositors have given both positive
and negative explanations: 1) the positive one is: that Spirit yearns to gain
the whole of our heart. Otherwise, He will be jealous; 2) the negative one is:
the Spirit is the upright and sincere Spirit that will not covet or envy like
men (see v.1-2). The editor of this book agrees with the first one, for it is
consistent with the teachings of the New Testament. Therefore, we shall not
commit “adultery” (see v.4) nor be double-minded (see v.8).
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) The Holy Spirit dwells in us for the purpose
of gaining the whole person of us. He does not allow any slight distraction of
our heart, so He is jealous (see 2Cor. 11:2).
2) God earnestly desires to draw near to us
(see v.8). He cannot bear our love toward Him and also toward the world (see
v.4), and our service to the true God and also to idols (see Jos. 24:14-15).
3) “Love” not only pays but also demands. The
true love does not allow any stranger to step in. The love between God and us
absolutely rejects the interruption of the world.
James. 4:6 “But He gives more grace.
Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the
humble."”
YLT:
“and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones
doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'”
Meaning
of Words: “more”: greater,
richer, more abundant; “resist”: oppose, reject, exclude; “proud”: arrogant;
“humble”: low;
Literal
Meaning: “but He gives more grace”, “but”, though
there is the previous warning, it is still difficult for many people to keep
fidelity to God with whole heart. Therefore, the abundant grace of God is
sufficient enough to help believers to meet God’s requirements, so we ought to
love God. “More grace”, it indicates that the grace of God is more and greater
than the weakness of believers (see 2Cor. 12:9).
“Therefore He says”, the following words are quoted from the Book of
proverbs (Pro. 3:34), the Septuagint (the Greek translation).
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble”, “proud”: be
proud before God and despise the warning of God; “humble”: be humble before the
Lord (see v.10) and confess one’s need of God’s gracious help;
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) God seeks men to turn to Himself for the
purpose of giving more grace to men.
2) Grace has its persistent characteristic ----
if one thinks that he does not need grace nor ask God for help, he will receive
no grace of God.
3) Though we have innumerable transgressions,
the grace of God is more than our sins (
4) A proud man is an ignorant man, for he
thinks he is morally superior and does not know he is full of sins before God.
Besides, he regards himself excellent in intelligent and does not need to seek
others. However he does not know his life is not reigned in his own hands. More
than that, he believes he lacks nothing, but does not know the great need of
man is God.
5) Only the humble man can receive the grace of
God (see 1Pet. 5:5-6). If we desire to be given grace by God, we shall be
humble before God and confess his weakness and infirmity and pray to God for
mercy.
James. 4:7 “Therefore submit to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
YLT:
“be subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from
you;”
Meaning
of Words: “submit”:
subordinate, obey; “resist”: stand against, oppose, withstand;
Literal
Meaning: “therefore submit to God”, “Submit”,
according to its meaning in the original it starts from the inner mind of
“obedience” and then manifests the external attitude and activity of
“submission”. The whole verse means that we have to obey God with a willing
heart and receive all his arrangement.
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you”, “resist”: it is not only
disobedience but also positive resistance; “resist the devil”: stand against
the artifices of the devil (Eph. 6:11) and put on the panoply of God and not be
deceived by the devil (see Eph. 6:11-17); “he will flee from you”, it shows
that the devil can do nothing to those who submit to God and only flee away
(see Luke 4:13).
Controversial Clarification: “submit to God”, here, we shall submit to
“God” instead of “men” who confess that God has set them as the representative
authority. We have to know the principle of “mutual obedience” of one another
is obedience to Christ in us instead of men. Today, in the church, the devil
often infuses some teachings against the will of God into the leaders that
believers will unconsciously be deceived by the devil and think they are
obeying God. Therefore, we have to still respect leaders and not despise them
but prove their teachings (1Thess.5:20-21). Thus we shall not go against the
principle of “obedience to God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Submission to God is saying “yes” to God.
Resistance to the devil is saying “no” to the devil.
2) Submission to God is the precondition of
resisting the devil. He who does not submit to God can by no means resist the
devil.
3) The biggest enemy of believers is the devil.
We can in no wise compromise. We have to know all its devices and not be taken
in by the devil.
4) The best way of dealing with the devil, the
enemy of God, is to be humble before God and submissive to God’s will. We
cannot resist the devil by ourselves but have to appropriate God’s grace and
strength.
5) Believers shall not volunteer to struggle
against the temptations of the devil, but shall escape and pray to God for the
deliverance from evil (see Matt. 6:13). However, we have to resist but not
escape the devil (see 1Pet. 5:9).
6) The devil shall flee from us, for he is fear
of God, not us. When we are willing to submit to God, God Himself has been the
resisting power of us.
7) Though the devil may cheat Christians, it
cannot hurt Christians. Though the devil may prevail for a while, it will fail
at the end.
James. 4:8 “Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.”
YLT:
“draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and
purify hearts, ye two-souled!”
Meaning
of Words: “draw near to”: come
near, make near, approach; “cleanse”: make…clean, purge; “double-minded”:
two-souled; “purify”: sanctify;
Literal
Meaning: “draw near to God and He will draw near to
you”, “draw near to God”, it is the fellowship with God (see 1John1:3, 7) that
makes men understand the will of God and devote oneself to God and obey the
will of God in daily life and be willing to serve God. “And He will draw near
to you”, since men have been back up to God and far away from God, God cannot
draw near to men. But now if man turns to Him and draw near to Him, Hw will
turn to draw near to him (see Mal. 3:7; Zech. 1:3; Luke 15:20).
“Cleanse your hands, you sinners”, “sinners” here do not refer to
sinners who have not believed the Lord, but believers who still live in sins
and lusts and customs of the world; “hands” symbolize activities; “cleanse your
hands”: deal with the transgressions and sins;
“Purify your hearts, you double-minded”, “double-minded”: the mind of
seeking and pleasing God and the other mind of having friendship with the world
and seeking the pleasure in the world; “purify your hearts”: not love the world
but love God only out of heart;
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Only those who often draw near to God can
understand God is our constant help. And only those who commit themselves to
God can know God will not leave those who trust in Him.
2) All spiritual overcomers have blameless
hands and a pure heart (see Ps. 24:4). Therefore, if we desire to please God,
we have to firstly cleanse ourselves, for no one can see God without holiness
(Heb. 12:14).
3) Purification of ourselves shall begin from
our mind (heart) and then hands (works). Keep your heart more than anything
that is guarded, for out of it are the issues of life (Pro.4:23).
4) He who is pure in heart shall see God (Matt.
5:8). The way of obtaining God’s help lies in seeing God, and the way of seeing
God is pure in heart.
James. 4:9 “Lament and mourn and
weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.”
YLT:
“be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be
turned, and the joy to heaviness;”
Meaning
of Words: “lament”: be
afflicted, be wretched, be distressed; “mourn”: grieve, wail; “weep”: wail,
bewail, sob; “laughter”: a mark of gratification; “turn”: turn across, change;
“joy”: cheerfulness, delight; “gloom”: heaviness, demureness, sadness;
Literal
Meaning: “lament and mourn and weep!” Here, one shall repent and mourn and even weep
for his own condition ---- mind and conversation (see v.8); “lament and mourn
and weep”: the distressing feeling becomes ever deepening from inner heart to
outer appearance.
“Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to
gloom”, the mind of
pleasure shall be turned to gloomy mourning and repentance before God.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) God does not despise a broken and a contrite
heart (Ps. 51:17). If we find any slight uncleanness of our mind or conduct, we
have to be distressed and mourn before God and repent and weep and pray before
Him, and God will help us.
2) Though we have sorrow and distress, we can
still rejoice in the Lord (Phil. 3:1). And moreover, God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes, and there will be no more grief or cry (Rev. 21:4).
James. 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
YLT:
“be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.”
Meaning
of Words: “humble”: humiliate;
“life up”: raise up;
Literal
Meaning: “humble yourselves in the sight of the
Lord”, “humble”, one is humbled before God and believes that he can do nothing
without the Lord. Therefore, he trusts in the Lord with whole heart.
“And He will life you up”, “life up”: the rising up in spiritual realm,
namely, the exaltation before the Lord (see Luke 18:14) and improvement of
spiritual condition;
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) When believers humble themselves in the
sight of the Lord and regard them powerless, it is the proper time to
appropriate God’s strength to become powerful.
2) When believers enjoy the rich provision of
the Lord and become spiritually joyful, they will have a feeling that “our
wings are on the wing”.
3) Believers’ spiritual energy and victory are
totally obtained by reliance of the Lord (Zech. 4:6), but not our own power.
James. 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one
another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother,
speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are
not a doer of the law but a judge.”
YLT:
“Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother,
and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if
law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;”
Meaning
of Words: “speak
evil”: speak against, slander; “judge”: condemn, determine, try; “doer”: performer; “judge”: justice, the
one who makes judgment in a law court;
Literal
Meaning: “do not speak evil of one another,
brethren”, “speak evil of”, it is subjective and unkind rebuke; “do not speak
evil of one another”: do not have evil speakings among all (1Pet. 2:1). However
it is another case of exposing the evil works of man for the purpose of
protecting the saints (see 2Tim. 2:17-18; 2John 9-10).
“He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of
the law and judges the law”, “judges”: make judgment that is objective and
partial and cause the loss to man’s reputation; “speaks evil of law and judges
the law”, there are two reasons for this conclusion: 1) he who speaks evil of a
brother and judges a brother has put himself above the law and replaces the law
to make judgment. Therefore, he has despised and ignored the law that is just
like speaking evil of and judging the law; 2) he who speaks evil of a brother
and judges a brother has obviously offended the law of “loving oneself as his
neighbor”, but refuses to confess that he has disobeyed the law (for if he
confesses so, he will not speak of the law or judge the law). Therefore, such
actions of speaking evil of brothers and judging brothers have indirectly
spoken evil of the law and judged the law ---- thinking that the law is
incomplete.
“But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge”.
“Not a doer of the law”: a man that is not restricted by the law; “judge”: the
expositor of the law that condemns others;
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) A Christian who is really humble in the
sight of the Lord (see v.10), he must be a humble man and dare not speak evil
others of or judge others flippantly.
2) Any believer who has really been lifted up
by the Lord (see v.10) and spiritual mature and prosperous will by no means
speak evil of those who are spiritually low and young with contempt.
3) He who speaks evil of others forgets that he
himself is also a man condemned by the law. Man has reversed the position of
the host and the guest if he condemns others when he is also condemned.
4) Speaking evil of a brother and judging a
brother equal to speaking evil of the law and judging the law ---- despise the
authority of the law.
5) Though believers in the New Testament are
not bound by the law in the Old Testament (Gal. 5:1), we have to keep “the law
of Christ” (Gal. 6:2; 1Cor. 9:21) and be governed by Christ in our spirits in
our conversations (
James. 4:12 “There is one Lawgiver,
who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
YLT:
“one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; thou -- who art thou
that dost judge the other?”
Meaning
of Words: “Lawgiver”: the One
who establishes the law; the One who gives the law; “destroy”: annul,
ruin;
Literal
Meaning: “there is one Lawgiver”,
“there is one”, it refers to God Himself;
only God is the maker and judge of the law.
“Who is able to save and to destroy”.
“Save”: judge someone sinless; “destroy”: judge
to death;
“Who are you to judge another? “Who are you”, we have to prove our own identity
and qualification (see Rom. 2:1; 14:4);
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) He who judges others regards him as the
judge of the law. He who takes him as the judge offends God and violates the
authority of God. Therefore, God will judge him.
2) We may think judgment upon others has
nothing to do with sin. However, since it hurts those whom are judged in the
sight of God, it is an action of “destroying men”. And it is a serious thing
that only God can do.
James. 4:13 “Come now, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there,
buy and sell, and make a profit";”
YLT:
“Go, now, ye who are saying, `To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a
city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;'”
Meaning
of Words: “come”: please hear;
“go to”: travel; “buy and sell”: be a businessman; “make a profit”: earn money;
Literal
Meaning: “come now, you who say”, men who say such
words shall pay attention to it.
“Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year
there, buy and sell, and make a profit”, in the short sentence, a complete plan
is listed: 1) “we” (who), it refers to the objects involved except for God; 2)
“go to such and such a city”, it refers to the place and location (where); 3)
“today, tomorrow … spend a year there”, make sure the allotted time (when); 4)
“buy and sell”, establish the content of works (what); 5) “make a profit”:
stipulate the mark and result (why);
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Though many believers believe there is a
God, they conduct in a way similar to an “atheist”.
2) A proud man thinks his life and future are
gasped in his own hands and need not God.
3) Though Christians’ life and works need
careful plan (see Luke 14:28-32; Acts 19:21; Titus 3:12), the most important is
relying on the guidance of God (see Acts 18:20-21;
James. 4:14 “whereas you do not know
what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that
appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
YLT:
“who do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a
vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing;”
Meaning
of Words: “know”: understand;
“vapor”: fog, mist; “appear”: be seen;
Literal
Meaning: “whereas you do not know what will happen
tomorrow”, “what will…tomorrow”: the condition of tomorrow; “you do not know”:
it means that man is unable to predict things in the future, including two
aspects: 1) unable to predict what will happen tomorrow; 2) unable to predict
his life condition tomorrow;
“For what is your life?” According to the original, there are two
translations: 1) “whereas you do not know what your life is tomorrow”, it
suggests that life is fragile and your life may no longer exist in the world;
2) “your life is a vapor”, it suggests that life is unstable and your life is
not in your own hands.
“It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes
away”, “a vapor”, it describes that the nature of life is easy to disappear;
“appears for a little time and then vanishes away”, it shows that life is
extremely short.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you do
not know what a day will bring forth (Pro. 27:1). Therefore, we have to
properly use today, for today is a gift given by God.
2) The unstable future and uncontrollable
condition of life should not be excuses of our doing nothing. Instead, they
shall be the best reason for our complete reliance on God (see v.15).
James. 4:15 “Instead you ought to say,
"If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."”
YLT:
“instead of your saying, `If the Lord may will, we shall live, and do this or
that;'”
Meaning
of Words: “ought to say”: have
to say;
Literal
Meaning: “you ought to say, ‘if the Lord wills’”, it
is the necessary attitude that we have to adopt; “if the Lord wills”, it is not
our will, but the will of the Lord, containing two aspects of meaning: 1) if
the Lord wills, I will still live; 2) if the Lord wills, I will do this and do
that.
“We shall live and do this or that”, “shall live”, the decisive power of
life or death lies in the Lord. “Do this or that”, we cannot decide do or not
do, or do this or do that, for all of them are in the hands of the Lord.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Life is not in our own hands. “Live”, it is
the grace of God. Therefore, we have to catch every “living” hour (Eph. 5:16;
2) Christians should give priority to the will
of the Lord throughout their life in all dealings with all their affairs. All
the hope and expectations of this life should be in keeping with the will of
the Lord.
3) “If the Lord wills”, Christians ought not to
say it only by mouth, but shall earnestly desire to keep the will of the Lord
in everything.
4) It should be known that we are actually not
certain of things that we are able to do or unable to do, and yet God rules the
way of our life.
James. 4:16 “But now you boast in your
arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
YLT:
“and now ye glory in your pride; all such glorying is evil;”
Meaning
of Words: “now”: in fact,
actually; “arrogance”: haughtiness, lordliness; “boast”:
rejoicing;
The Background: “arrogance”, the word in the original is used to
describe those charlatans who boasting of their medicine that can heal diseases
and even raise the dead up.
Literal
Meaning: “but now you boast in your arrogance”,
“boast in your arrogance”: boast of uncertain things (see v.13);
“All such boasting is evil”, “is evil”, there are two reasons: 1) one
has no God, but Himself only in his heart; 2) one ignores God and replaces
“God” with Himself;
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) If we success, it is due to God’s careful
and wise appointment. If we boast about our own capability, we have become
foolish in arrogance.
2) He who likes boasting thinks everything can
be done flippantly. Such man is evil, for he does not know he is only a
creature and even thinks that he can replace the sovereign status of God and
govern all things.
James. 4:17 “Therefore, to him who
knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
YLT:
“to him, then, knowing to do good, and not doing, sin it is to him.”
Literal
Meaning: “to him who knows to do good and does not do it”, “do good”, here it
has two meaning: 1) do the will of the Lord (see v.15); 2) do all good works
(see Matt. 19:16).
“To him it is sin”,
doing good is the duty of man before God. If man knows to do good and does not
do, he has failed to fulfill the duty of man before God. And that is sin and
transgression before God.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Once we have “known” something, we have to
do it. If we do not do “what we have known”, it is better to be “ignorant”.
2) Knowledge is for the purpose of performance.
One who has really understood the Lord’s teaching, he will perform the Lord’s
teaching faithfully and put the Lord’s word into practice with diligence.
3) He who knows the will of the Lord and fails
to keep it, he has committed
grievous sins, for he has disobeyed the will
of the Lord and failed to keep the Lord’s teaching. And to Him it is sin.
4) To Christians, it is the sin of commission
if we do what we ought not to do, and it is the sin of omission if we fail to
do what we should do. “Transgression” is sin, and “defection” is also sin.
III.
Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons
Three Hard Enemies of Christians
A. One’s self ---- desires for pleasure that
war in your members (v.1);
B. The world ---- commit spiritual adultery
(v.4);
C. The devil ---- be deceived by God’s enemies
(v.7);
Reasons for the Confusion of Man’s Life
A. Desires for pleasure in the flesh (v.1-3);
1. Desires for pleasure cause struggle (v.1);
2. Desires for pleasure cause covetousness (v
3. Desires for pleasure cause murder and
jealousy (v.2b);
4. Desires for pleasure make one ask amiss (v
B. Have friendship with the world (v.4-6);
1. Covet for things outside of God (v.4-5);
2. Be proud before God (v.6);
Signs of the World
A. Compromise with three enemies (v.1-10);
1. Indulge the desires for pleasure (v.1-3);
a.The wars and fights of men are caused by the
desires for pleasure (v.1-2);
b.That men ask and do not receive is caused by
the desires for pleasure (v.3);
2. Have friendship with the world (v.4-5);
a.Having friendship with the world has
committed spiritual adultery (v
b.Having friendship with the world is enmity
with God (v.4b-5);
3. Be deceived by the devil (v.6-10);
a.Proud, and unable to be humble before the
Lord (v.6, 10);
b.Unable to resist the devil (v.7);
c. Filthy hands and hearts prevent men from
drawing near to God and submitting to God (v.7-9);
B. Speak evil of and judge one another
(v.11-12);
1. Concerning brotherly relationship, do not
speak evil of or judge one another (v
2. Concerning the law, do not speak evil of or
judge one another (v.11b);
3. Concerning the status before God, do not
speak evil of or judge one another (v.12);
C. Draw up the future presumptuously (v.13-17);
1. Make one’s own plan (v.13-14);
2. Disregard the will of God (v.15);
3. Self-boasting (v.16);
4. Know but not do (v.17);
The Sign of the Men’s being Enmity with God
A. War and fight for the purpose of satisfying
the desires of the flesh (v.1
B. Dislike prayer and ask amiss (v.2b-3);
C. Be proud and not fear God and not submit to
God (v.6-7);
D. Speak evil of brothers is judging the law
(v.11-12);
E. Act according to one’s own will and boast in
arrogance (v.13-16);
Three Tactics against the Enemy
A. Be not proud (v.6);
B. Do not speak evil of brothers or sisters
(v.11);
C. Do not covet for profit (v.13);
The
A. Submit to God (v.7);
B. Draw near to God (v.8);
C. Humble in the sight of the Lord (v.10);
Steps of Overcoming Trials
A. The first step: submit to God and resist the
devil (v.7);
B. The second step: draw near to God and
cleanse your hands and purify your hearts (v.8);
C. The third step: lament and mourn and weep
(v.9);
D. The fourth step: humble before the Lord
(v.10);
Seven “Imperative Sentences” and Four
“Negative Imperative Sentences”
A. Seven “imperative sentences” (v.7-10);
1. Submit to God (v
2. Resist the devil (v.7b);
3. Draw near to God (v
4. Cleanse your hands (v.8b);
5. Purify your hearts (v
6. Lament and mourn and weep (v.9);
7. Humble in the sight of the Lord (v.10);
B. Four “negative imperative sentences”
(v.11-17);
1. Do not speak evil of or judge one another
(v.11-12);
2. Do not act according to one’s own will
(v.13-15);
3. Do not boast in arrogance (v.16);
4. Do not ignore doing after knowing (v.17);
Three Faults of Speaking Evil of One Another
A. To the law ---- speaking evil of brothers is
speaking evil of the law (v
B. To man himself ---- he is not a keeper of
the law, but a judge (v.11b);
C. To God ---- man has replace the maker and
judge of the law, namely, God Himself (v.12);
Views upon Sins in the Book of James
A. Speaking evil of one another is sin
(v.11-12);
B. Boasting in arrogance is sin (v.13-16);
C. Knowing but not doing is sin (v.17);
What is Self-boasting?
A. Self-boasting is making one’s own plan
without any reliance on God (v.13);
B. Self-boasting is ignorance of the
uncertainty of life (v.14);
C. Self-boasting is not confessing that man
needs God (v.15);
D. Self-boasting is boasting in arrogance
(v.16);
E. Self-boasting is sin (v.17);
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Mary Zhou