James 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it i...  Read More

James 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren.             If misinterpreted, James’s words will contradict other NT teachers, including Jesus Himself. Contextually, James teaches against Christian brothers speaking ill of one another and slandering each other based upon their jealous and selfish ambitions. But to conclude that James was against all forms of judgment would be to negate the...  Read More

James 4:11-12 He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?            Since many in James’ audience were in conflict with each other, full of jealo...  Read More

James 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren.            The verb “speak against” (Gr. katalaleō) refers to slander—a malicious tongue (cf. 3:1-12) driven by jealousy and selfish ambition (3:14; cf. Pss. 41:7-8; 109:3). In James’ context, such slander was occurring among Christians—James specifically addressing Christians in the church, referring to them in v. 11 as “one another,” “brethr...  Read More

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (ESV).           Paul spent three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31). During that time “God was performing extraordinary miracles” through him and casting out demons (19:11-12). Ot...  Read More

1 Peter 5:5-7 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.            Peter’s words in 1 Peter...  Read More

James 4:9-10 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.            James 4:9-10, if taken out of context, sounds downright morbid. Does God want His people miserable, mourning, and weeping? In a sense, yes, He does! But these imperatives are part of a greater context wher...  Read More

James 4:8b Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.In addition to submitting to God and resisting the devil (4:7), James calls those spiritual adulterers in his audience to “cleanse your hands…and purify your hearts.” Such people are to radically repent of their sinful ways in order to restore their fellowship with God. The fact that these people are called “doub...  Read More

James 4:7-8a Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.If God gives to His people all that He requires of them—“greater grace” (v. 6), then all we need to do is “submit” (Gr. hupotassō) to Him—to subordinate our lowly selves to God by putting ourselves under Christ’s lordship. We know we need this when we finally realize th...  Read More

James 4:4-6 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. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gi...  Read More

James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? (NASB95)           James 4:5 presents two interpretive problems in the second half of the verse. First, the NASB’s rendering differs from other English translations, attesting to its difficulty. The fact that “jealously” and “desires” can have both negative and pos...  Read More

James 4:4 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.            Although James called his readers “beloved brethren” (1:16, 19; 2:5), in 4:2 he accused them of murder. Now in 4:4 he calls them “adulteresses.” Why? Because of their penchant to stray from God—their “frie...  Read More