Fights, quarrels, lust, hate, envy, pride, and sin are words that stain this portion of James’ letter like inkblots. In stark contrast with the closing words of chapter 3, “a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.,” chapter 4 opens with “fights and quarrels.” James confronted this despicable behavior with valor. Furthermore, he gave clear advice on how to quell the storms that are so detrimental to spiritual growth and maturity. A believer must turn hatred into humility, judgment into justice, and boasting into belief.
The appearance of conflict among the followers of Jesus stirred James to intense indignation. The severity of his tone in verses 1-6 is accented by the absence of the words “my brethren” or “my brothers,” which James used so frequently in other parts of the letter. He revealed the cause of conflict, outlined the consequences of conflict, and proposed a cure for conflict
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? (ESV)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- People who make their own desires the chief goal of their lives stifle their walk and relationship with God
- James’s readers lacked what they sought because they failed to ask God.
- They yearned after satisfaction, but they looked in the wrong places. They did not ask God as Jesus had taught (Matt. 7:7). They allowed their lives to be governed by pleasure, selfishness, and greed
- We must be careful that we are not serving both God and the world. We must be completely loyal to God.
CLOSER LOOK:
Verse 1: Characteristically, James introduced this new section with a rhetorical question, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” Where do “fights” (literally, “state of war,” polemoi) and “quarrels” (literally, individual disputes or “battles,” machai) come from? James answered his own question: the passions that are “at war within you.” Conflict comes out of inner sensual lusts or pleasures (hēdonōn; cf. v. 3). The Greek word translated “desires” is related etymologically to the English word, hedonism, the philosophy that the chief purpose of living is to satisfy self. Jesus used the same word to describe people “choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and … do not mature” (Luke 8:14). Their “pleasures” described any personal goal such as money, reputation, or success, which contributes to personal accomplishment rather than God’s will. The conflict within us is between our sinful desires for pleasure and the desire for God’s will, an attitude the Holy Spirit has placed within us (v. 5)
Verse 2: War is the fruit of illicit wants. Lust brings about murder. Covetousness results in the frustration of not obtaining the hotly pursued desires. It all leads to the “fights” and “quarrels,” that wage war against people, mentioned in verse 1. In the last part of verse 2, “You do not have, because you do not ask” God, is best taken with what James follows up with. James did not contend that the reason lust was not gratified was because people failed to ask God to fill those desires. The source of conflict among believers is often material things. James attributes fighting, murder, and war to materialism. John also warns believers of lusting after the things in the world (1 Jn 2: 15, 16). James simply revealed the clear source of conflict deep in covetous human hearts.
“Lust” is frequently used in the New Testament in a bad sense to describe the act of coveting something belonging to someone else (see Matt. 5:28). “Envious” (NASB; “covet” in ESV) in this context refers to a quest for position, rank, or fame—an evil expression of personal ambition.[1]
What type of “killing” did James have in mind? James was probably not thinking of physical murder. The Roman government would have executed murderers as criminals. Jesus linked an attitude of hatred and contempt with murder (Matt. 5:21–22). Hatred and jealousy produced by greed and worldliness are potential acts of murder because they can lead to actual murder. The inner attitude is wrong just as is the outward act of murder. Thus, James was not likely accusing his Christian readers of actual murder but was showing them that their fights and disagreements were as offensive to God as killing.
Verse 3: Verses 3-4, lay out the consequences of conflict. The correct way for Christians to have their legitimate needs met is by asking God. One reason a believer does not receive what he/she asks for is that he/she asks wrongly[2] or with wrong motives (lit., “evilly” or “amiss,” kakōs). The verb ask is in the middle voice, meaning, “ask for yourself.” The purpose clause that follows further clarifies, that “you” may “spend it on your passions.” “Spend” could be translated as “waste” or “squander.”[3] “Passions” is again the Greek word hēdonais (v. 1), which means pleasure or something one is fond of doing.[4] God will never provide for “hedonistic squandering”! Some might have protested James’s admonition (vv. 1-2) by claiming that they had not received an answer to their prayers (Matt 7:7).
James responds by suggesting that they were praying for the wrong things. Instead of praying for their sinful desires, they should have been praying for God’s good will for them. Often the reason God does not supply what a person desires is simply that He knows it would not benefit that person (Phil 4:19). God is not obliged to answer our prayers in the affirmative. He will not act in ways that are contrary to His will, even if He is besieged by fervent prayers. Anytime we seek to further our personal pleasures through prayer, we are asking wrongly (Matt 6:33). In prayer, God does not bow to our will; instead, we submit to His good will for our lives. Scripture suggests that God listens to the prayers of the righteous (Ps. 34:15; 1 John 3:21–22). Those who are upright must voice their requests in accordance with God’s will (1 John 5:14–15). We will not receive prayer answers from the Lord unless we ask with the right motives in accord with God’s will.
Verse 4: Instead of the customary “my brethren,” James bristled with the adulterous people. Again he asked a pointed question: Do you not know that friendship (philia) with the world is enmity (may be translated hatred) toward God? Then he added, “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” The consequence is worse than ending up empty-handed; a rebellious Christian who has an adulterous relationship with the world is at hostility with God! This verse does not speak of God’s attitude toward the believer but of the believer’s attitude toward God. The difference between the world and God is so vast that as we move toward the world we alienate ourselves from God. In the world, many sins are considered acceptable and pleasurable. Ultimately believers lose their awareness of sin, and thus sin has become habitual. James’s concern is not for occasional sins but for the attitude of heart that leads a person to turn their back on God and their face to the world. Rather than knowing sin by observation or personal experience, a Christian is supposed to use their God-given mind to discern good from evil without tasting of evil itself.
Verse 5: In verses 5-6, James gives the cure for conflict. This is one of the most difficult verses to translate in the entire letter.[5] A very literal translation would be, “Or think you that vainly the Scripture says to envy yearns the spirit which was made to dwell in you, but He gives great grace.”[6] The NASB translates this verse as: Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us’?” Is the “spirit” the Holy Spirit or the human spirit? Is the spirit to be taken as the subject of the verb “yearns” or as its object? Is “envy” to be seen as “unrighteous desire” or as “righteous jealousy”? Numerous translations are possible: (a) “The Spirit who indwells you jealously yearns [for you] and He gives more grace.” (b) “He [God] yearns jealously for the Holy Spirit which indwells you and He gives more grace.” (c) “The [human] spirit which indwells you yearns to envy, but He [God] gives more grace.” Some say it is the latter translation that is correct. Some say it is the Holy Spirit the verse is referring to. There are pros and cons to all sides of the argument. Galatians 5:16 describes the Holy Spirit as the opponent of “the desires of the sinful nature.” This picture is consistent with the translation that points to it referring to the Holy Spirit (NASB). James was saying that God’s Spirit earnestly desired our undivided allegiance to the Lord.
James was probably asserting that God had placed his Holy Spirit within believers. The Spirit was intensely concerned about any rival in the Christian’s heart. “yearns jealously” (ESV) or “Jealously desires” (NASB) translates a strong word describing an intense longing or desire. It underscores the idea that God is a jealous God and allows no rivals. God refuses to share our commitment with any other so-called god. He wants our total loyalty and devotion. It is vitally important for us to remember that God makes great demands of His people.
Not only is the translation of the sentence a problem, but also the apparent indication that it is a part of Scripture poses difficulties. James’ question, typically rhetorical, “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says” (the word “purpose” is from κενῶς (kenōs), literally, “vainly”),[7] introduces the section. The ambiguous sentence that follows is not a direct quotation of any passage in Scripture. Rather than assume that James quoted some other sacred book or some unknown Greek translation of the Old Testament, some seem to break this quotation down into two groups. Some say James probably does not have a specific OT reference in mind; instead, he is speaking of a general concept/sense in Scripture. The jealous yearning in this verse most likely refers to God’s jealousy for His people, a concept prevalent in the OT (Ex 20:5; 34:14; Pss 78:58; 79:5) and an idea that fits the context. The friendship with the world mentioned in verse 4 would naturally provoke God’s jealousy. However, the expression “spirit that he has made to dwell in us” could also indicate our individual human spirit. Then the jealous yearning would be the covetous desire of people, recalling the theme of verse 2.
Another camp says it seems more reasonable to assume that James focused on the quotation in verse 6, a statement clearly taken from Proverbs 3:34: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (also quoted in 1 Peter 5:5).
[1] Thomas D. Lea, “James,” in Homan New Testament Commentary: Hebrews & James (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999), n.p.
[2] pertaining to being bad in a moral sense, wrongly, wickedly. Evil, badly. Strong’s 2560.
[3] δαπανάω (dapanaō); Strong’s 1159. BDAG – “not a matter of mere spending, but of living luxuriously, and squandering and wasting one’s estate.”
[4] BDAG – “state or condition of experiencing pleasure for any reason, pleasure, delight, enjoyment, pleasantness.”
[5] J. Ronald Blue, “James,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 830.
[6] J. Ronald Blue, “James,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 830.
[7] BDAG –“pertaining to being without effect or to no purpose, in an empty manner, idly, in vain”