James 4
About JamesWritten by AI
James is a practical letter, closer in style to Proverbs or the Sermon on the Mount than to Paul's long arguments. It moves quickly from topic to topic: trials, wisdom, wealth, speech, prayer. The writer calls himself simply James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tradition identifies him as James the brother of Jesus, who led the church in Jerusalem. If so, it was likely written before his death in about AD 62, and it may be one of the earliest New Testament writings. Some scholars date it later.
It is addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, most likely Jewish believers living outside the land of Israel, many of them poor and under pressure.
James's great concern is that faith be real, shown in how we treat people and use our words. His famous lines about faith and works (chapter 2) are best read alongside Paul, not against him. Watch for his steady call: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
Before you read James 4Written by AI
Quarrels come from desires at war within us. James calls friendship with the world hostility toward God, but promises that God gives grace to the humble. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Do not slander one another, and do not boast about tomorrow, because life is a mist. Say instead, if the Lord wills.
A Warning against Pride
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? But He gives us more grace. This is why it says:
“God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”
Drawing Near to God
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do Not Boast about Tomorrow
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.