Scripture

A Look at James 4

Saul

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts¹Strongs G2237 Desire for Pleasure that war in your members²Strongs G3196 Given to criminal intercourse, a harlots body? ⁱ

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask³G154 Desire not. ⁱⁱ

3 Ye ask⁴G154 Desire, and receive not, because ye ask⁵G154 Desire amiss, that ye may consume⁶G1159 Spend it upon your lusts⁷G2237 Desire for pleasure. ⁱⁱⁱ ref. 2 Timothy 3:3

4 Ye adulterers⁸G3428 Faithless, apostate,harlot and adulteresses, know⁹G1492 Perceive ye not that the friendship¹⁰G5373 Friendship,Fondness of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend¹¹G3584 Wish well,associate, assisting the bridegroom of the world is the enemy¹²G2190 Bitter enemy of God. ^iv

5 Do ye think¹³G1380 Judge that the scripture saith in vain¹⁴G2761 Without purpose, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy¹⁵G5355? ^v

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth¹⁶G498 Wage in battle against ¹⁷1 Peter 5:5 King James Version (KJV)

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

the proud¹⁸G5244 Seeking Pre-eminence, but giveth grace unto the humble ¹⁹G5011 Not rising from the ground.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist²⁰G436 Withstand, set against the devil, and he will flee from you. ^vi

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse^vii your hands, ye sinners ²¹G268 Wicked men, sinful, needing Christ; and purify ²²G48 Levitical cleansing to make acceptable to God by our obedience to the truth, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:3 your hearts, ye double minded.^viii

9 Be afflicted²³G5003 Realize your misery, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness²⁴G2726 Shame.

10 Humble ²⁵G5013 yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

11 Speak not evil one of another, bretheren ²⁶G80 believers in Christ, of the same people. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law²⁷G3551 Observance of what is approved by God, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

13 Go to now²⁸G3568 Now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:^ix

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

1. The fighting is from ourselves because of iniquity[←]
2. We don’t desire what is good therefore we fight[←]
3. You desire what is wrong to satisfy your lusts[←]
4. Being faithless and helping the world is against God[←]
5. Our natural spirit is full of iniquity[←]
6. Other uses of G436 used in Matthew 5:30, Romans 13:2, Acts 6:10[←]
7. Through Christ, Matthew 8:2 King James Version (KJV)

   2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

   [←]

8. This verse tells us what to do, how to do it and what will prevent us from doing it[←]
9. As opposed to tomorrow, since we have the ability to do it now, we don’t know the future[←]