Into Thy Word Bible Study in James

Into Thy Word Ministries www.intothyword.org

James 4: 1-6: “God hates Pride!”

General idea: Our human nature loves to be in competition and fight, but God
has a higher call for us. James takes us directly to the root cause of fights and
quarrels, wars and conflict; they all come from one source, and that is the conflict
that resides in our own hearts! Our desires are at war with the precepts of our
Lord and the call He gives us. This is the war of good and evil of man versus God,
of our sinful nature and that of the new life in Christ. These desires converge and
conflict with the desires of other people and escalate into interpersonal conflict
and all out war.

We lust after what we do not have, so it controls us; that which is wrong becomes
our passion and quest. Then we become jealous of others, hording what we have
and coveting what they have. We engage in fighting like wild dogs and tear at
one another in conquest of the demented goals we have. In all of this, we ignore
God and forsake His call and wisdom. When we do ask of Him, our motives are
skewed and our passions misdirected, as we seek personal pleasures and the
self, not Christ and His mission for us.

Then James tells us out right that our desires which are contrary to God’s
desires are adultery; we are cheating on Him with the mistress of our notions and
evil plans. We become enemies of the very God who created us and loves us
and is holding a perfect plan for us which we forsake for futility. God wants us to
be His friends, not His enemies, but the choice is ours to determine, and the path
is ours to undertake.

Vs. 1-3: James is addressing the oppressed poor who are in insurrection,
displaying violence toward their masters. James is telling us that our selfish
inclinations that bubble up from our pride are causing divisions, destroying our
relationships, and giving our Lord a bad name. Our warring attitudes come from
the war we have within our very own hearts and minds. We are seeking the
world’s wisdom and ways and not God’s way. It may not be popular to seek real
Christ-centered wisdom, as the world’s wisdom tends to be more appealing just
as it was in James’ time (James 2:14-26; 3:13-18). But, what will that get you in
life and in eternity?

• What causes. James is stating a rhetorical question to direct their attention

away from their false mindsets and aligned them with God’s. Such things are
contrary to God; they are not from Him, but rather from our sinful nature and
evil desires!
• Wars is hyperbole here (exaggeration emphases), meaning great military
campaigns like the Cesar’s. Here, it refers to the war of desires wavering
between options, and the seeking of destructive passion and not wisdom.
Plato stated that all wars are from the desires of our physical body, our lusts
as well as our hearts. Jewish wisdom stated that our “evil impulses” will
dominate all actions unless it is controlled.

• Fights are the divisions we have with one another; they cause strife and never
solve the underlying problem. The root is the same: envy and evil desires.
Consider this; if we choose to act in love from the precepts of 1 Corinthians
13, then fights will not occur or even be considered! Real love creates perfect
peace! Imagine your life and connections at peace or having more peace
because of the love you bring others!

• Murder, here, is hyperbole and rhetorical, and refers to hate and the logical
ends of quarreling and fights. James’ readers had not murdered anyone
literarily, at least not yet! But, being exposed to violent teaching will lead to
violent attitudes, and then actions (James 3:13-18).

• Desires, refers to hedonism, what gets in the way of our growth in Him and
His call for us. We are to desire the gifts from the Lord (1 Cor: 12) not the gifts
of the world. We know our desires are off His path when they do not align with
His love, grace, and teachings. Personal desires are usually the target toward
which we shoot our lives. Honesty is crucial to seeing them. (For more info
see study James 1:12-18.)

• Covet. James’ readers desired violence, even craving it and rationalizing that
it was OK. We have to be careful that we do not reason and rationalize our
desires, thus making them happen. This would show we do not realize God is
the One who gives wisdom and gives it liberally. The counter to coveting is to
be in prayer seeking reconciliation and not division. They were seeking wealth
and status to satisfy lustful desires, but such things only bring temporary relief
and not meaningful or eternal outcomes (Prov. 10:24; 13:23; Phil. 4:12).

• Cannot obtain. We cannot take hold of God’s promises when we are full of
false promises or selfish desires. Nor, can we follow Him when we are full of
envy, because envy blocks our gratitude toward Him for what He has given us.
It may seem God gives to those who are evil and selfish, but remember, what
they receive is mere straw to what you will receive for faithfulness!

• You do not ask indicates the neglecting of prayer and seeking our way to deal
with life and conflict, not God’s wisdom and call. It was Jewish custom to ask
God for daily needs as well as crisis intervention; it is foolish not to do so. We
are called to seek Him and His ways, and not envy (Matt. 6:11, 33; 7:7-8;
John 5:30; James 1:5).
• Amiss is to miss the mark God has for us—like the definition of sin. God will
not grant us our requests when we are filled with bad motivations or seeking
what is wrong or bad for us and/or others. Nor, are we to use faith or prayer to
manipulate, deceive, or conspire (Rom. 14:23; Heb. 11:6).

• Prayer is far better than fighting, as we are seeking God. He will give us what
we ask. However, if we do not receive it, then it was not meant for us and not
in our best interests!

When we are only concerned with pleasing ourselves and living for the
pleasures of life, we miss out on what Christ has for us. Even when we seek to
please others, we tend to be only seeking to lift ourselves up. So, we need to
watch our attitudes, even how and what we are praying for, to make sure they
are centered on His goodness not our selfish desires. If not, we show that we are
self-centered and just end up hurting others and forsaking God’s feelings and call.
However, our call is clear and our path is lit. His light will keep us from
tilting into temptation and into disobedience. If we really want homes that honor
God and churches that teach and model His precepts, we must ask ourselves if
our deepest desires and pleasures in life are devoted to pleasing Christ or
pleasing ourselves. We need to take a hard look at our motivations and see how
we are honoring or perhaps, dishonoring God.

Vs. 4-5: We are at war and war stands for we are right; but, in fact, we are wrong.
Only God is right. We have to see where our aim in life is pointed; is it at God,
His love, and His percepts or the foolishness of our whims? When we ignore His
Scriptures, we forsake our loyalty and betray our loving Lord. He is faithful with
us; we need to remain faithful in Him and not allow our desires to rule our hearts
and minds.

• Adulterers: This means spiritual betrayal. In the OT, it meant being called to
serve God in a covenant with Him, then rebelling in disobedience with idols
(Jer. 31:32; Hos. chaps 1-3; James 2:23). This means adultery, betraying
God by the mistress of our malevolent desires and loving the world rather
than God. It also means claiming to be friends with God and then being
disobedient with His principles. We are giving our love away cheaply and to
the wrong place or person! Don’t give the world love that is meant for Christ!

• Enmity with God means to be unfaithful, spiteful, and immoral. It is to share

the world’s values, rejecting Him and His truth. We are at enmity with God
when we are being rigid, inflexible to others, and seeking to squash His work
in other’s lives as well as ours (Eph. 4:30).

• Makes himself indicates our self-directed motivations that are contrary to

God’s, and are, as the Jewish wisdom stated, “evil impulses.”
• Scriptures says refers to not a specific passage, but the veracity of God’s
Word as to the consequences of sin (Gen. 6:3; 8:21; Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24; Isa
55:1; Gal. 6:1).

• In vain means that we allow our evil impulses to override the principles of
God’s Word (1 Pet. 1:7).

• Yearns jealously. God calls us to seek Him and to desire His ways; thus, we
ought to and should long for God and His wisdom and truth, and not the ways
of the world (Psalm 42:1-2; 63:1; 84:2). Also, in this context, it refers to the
jealousy of God; He is a jealous God and will not tolerate any competition (Ex.
20:5; Duet. 32:21; Joel 2:18).

• Humble. This passage quotes Proverbs 3:34, and is referring to submitting to

the sovereignty of God. God’s plan for our life is far better than any desire—
evil or good—we could ever have; thus, it is logical and beneficial to be
humble in Him (1 Pet. 5:5)!

Our desires can be overwhelming at times, and the world seems to fuel
them more and more. But, we still have faith. God will increase our faith when we
develop more dependence on Him and less dependence upon ourselves. To get
to this, we must abandon ourselves to Christ as LORD, and never hesitate with
worldly reasoning and logic, bow to our emotions, or hide in our own thinking and
rationalizations. Our drive must be to see Christ’s supremacy so we follow Him
and lift Him up as LORD and supreme in our lives (Col 1:18)! Reaching this point
will be when our interests are surrendered to His; His interests will be mine
(Romans 1:1; Gal. 1:5; 2:20-21). We will not even want our own pleasure
because it is more gratifying to serve Him (John 15:13; 1 Cor. 9:22; 2 Cor. 12:15)!

If a new person comes to visit your church, what would they observe?
Would they see your church as an example of how to love and care for one
another or how to bicker and fight with one another? What about your home, your
family? Is it one that quarrels or one that loves? What glorifies our Lord and leads
to a better life for us: conflict and violence or love and peace?
Ask yourself this: what brings about the quarrels warring at you and your
church or home? Then commit a way, His way, to dissolve the fight and replace it
with His love so it overflows to those around you! Why is it so hard to get along
with other people who are also in Christ, whom He loves, whom He has called
and saved and empowered, too? The answer is what is motivating our hearts
and directing our passions! The choice, His way or our way, will determine how
every relationship and encounter we have in life will be affected! The result is we
will seek God’s wisdom and live our lives in love, bringing growth and
reconciliation.

It is good for a car to be on a road; that same car should not be under or in
the road. If so, it is useless. The church is called to be salt in the world, to be in
the world as His influencers (Matt. 5:13-16). However, the church is not called to
have the world in it or to be influenced by it! We can overcome; we have the
ultimate tool, the Holy Spirit, within us. Let us live as we should, and seek to
please God, forsaking our warring ways. God gives us the strength! He stands up
with us and gives us the ability to win the war of the flesh so our sinful nature is
subdued and we are victorious in Him. It all comes down to pride; will it belong to
His pride or will we dwell in our pride? Pride in Him is amity, like a kinship of lions.
Pride without Him is making the lion our enemy; pride lifts us up to think we are a
god and do not need the one true God as our Lord. We must allow His grace to
penetrate our envy and desires so we are poured out to Him and not to ourselves
or the world. He will make us more than conquerors, but we have to seek Him
and allow Him to do so (Rom. 8)!

The Essential Inductive Questions (for more Inductive questions see Inductive
Bible Study):

1. What does this passage say?

2. What does this passage mean?

3. What is God telling me? How am I encouraged and strengthened?

4. Is there a sin in my life for which confession and repentance is needed?

5. How can I be changed, so I can learn and grow?

6. What is in the way of these precepts affecting me? What is in the way of my
listening to God?

7. How does this apply to me? What will I do about it?

8. What can I model and teach? What does God want me to share with
someone?

Additional Questions:

1. Why do you suppose it is so difficult for God’s people to get along? Consider
all the fights and divisions and denominations throughout church history to the
conflict in your church right now.

2. Have you ever considered that when your desires are bad, you are cheating
on Him? Literally, it is adultery against God by the mistress of our malevolent
desires!
3. Why do you suppose our human nature loves to be in competition and conflict?
What can you do to seek God’s higher call and prevent and solve the fights,
quarrels, wars, and conflict?

4. Do you think that using a rhetorical question to get their attention worked for
James? What needs to happen to get you away from false mindsets and be
aligned with God’s?

5. How have you seen conflicts in the church that seem like the logistics and
tactics of military campaigns?

6. Do you think most Christians are deliberately seeking destructive passion and
not wisdom when they fight in church? Why, or why not?

7. What desires and passions have you had trouble with that get in the way of
our growth in Him?

8. How does neglecting prayer and seeking our own way of dealing with life and
conflict get us ahead in life and with God’s good graces? Then, why do so
many people do it?

9. How do bad motivations or seeking what is wrong or bad for us and others
cause a bad reputation to the church?

10. What causes quarrels in you and your church or home? What can you do to
commit to a way to stop them before they escalate?

11. How can you take a hard look at your life’s motivations and see how you may
be honoring or perhaps dishonoring God?

12. Our desires can be overwhelming at times, and the world seems to fuel them
more and more. So, what can you and your church do?

© 2004 R. J. Krejcir Into Thy Word Ministries www.intothyword.org

What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will
be granted. Proverbs 10:24