The War Within and the Way Out Text: James 4:1-10
Introduction: The Inexplicable Quarrel
There are few things more bewildering in a Christian community than the inexplicable quarrel. One moment, there is fellowship, peace, and productive work. The next, a firestorm. Relationships that were once warm and amicable suddenly turn rancid. Brothers who once worked together smoothly are now at loggerheads. And when you are in the middle of it, it often feels like you are caught in a whirlwind of confusion, with accusations and hurts flying like debris. When we find ourselves in such a conflict, wondering how on earth we got there, we rarely turn to the one chapter in the Bible that asks and answers the question directly. We don't want to go to James for the answer because James, being a faithful pastor, does not flatter us.
James begins this chapter by asking, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?" He doesn't point to external pressures or blame the devil, at least not initially. He doesn't say the problem is a misunderstanding or a failure to communicate. He puts his finger directly on the pulsating, rotten center of the problem: the war within our own hearts. The conflicts we have with others are simply the externalization of the war raging within our own members. Our churches, our families, and our relationships are not torn apart by what is outside of us, but by what is inside of us.
This is a deeply humbling diagnosis. We would much rather believe that our conflicts are noble, that we are fighting for truth, for righteousness, for the good of the church. But James pulls back the curtain on our sophisticated self-justifications and reveals the grasping, lustful, envious child that is driving the whole affair. This passage is a divine diagnostic, and it is followed by a divine prescription. If we have the courage to face the diagnosis, we will find that the prescription is a potent and glorious grace. But we must take the medicine as prescribed.
The Text
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 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 sets himself as an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Be subject therefore 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. Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
(James 4:1-10 LSB)
The Battlefield of the Heart (v. 1-3)
James begins with a question that cuts right to the bone.
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)
The source of our external wars is our internal wars. The word translated "pleasures" is where we get our word hedonism. It refers to our desires, our lusts, our cravings. These desires are not passive wishes; they are militant. They "wage war" in our members. Your heart is a battlefield, and your lusts are insurgent armies seeking to conquer your soul and, by extension, your relationships.
James then gives a brutal, rapid-fire diagnosis of how this works. "You lust and do not have, so you murder." This is not necessarily literal murder, though unchecked envy certainly leads there, as with Cain. This is the murder of reputation, the assassination of character, the hatred in the heart which Jesus equated with murder. You want something, you don't get it, and so you lash out at the person you believe is standing in your way. "You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel." Envy is the engine of conflict. You see what someone else has, a position, a reputation, a blessing, and you want it. But you cannot simply take it, so you fight. You quarrel. You create a conflict in order to get what your envy demands.
Then James exposes the folly of our prayerlessness and the corruption of our prayers. "You do not have because you do not ask." So often we will scheme, manipulate, and fight for something that we could have simply asked God for. We want it by conquest, not as a gift of grace. We want to earn it, to deserve it. But even when we do ask, our prayers are often just another tactic in our hedonistic war. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." We try to use God as a cosmic vending machine to satisfy our lusts. We treat prayer as a way to get God to sign off on our worldly ambitions. And God, in His mercy, often says no.
Spiritual Adultery (v. 4-5)
James now raises the stakes. This worldliness is not a minor character flaw; it is spiritual adultery.
"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 sets himself as an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us'?" (James 4:4-5)
He calls them "adulteresses." The church is the bride of Christ. When we cozy up to the world, when we seek its approval, adopt its values, and chase its pleasures, we are cheating on our Divine Husband. This is not a casual flirtation. Friendship with the world system, which is organized in rebellion against God, is hostility toward God. You cannot have it both ways. To be a friend of the world is to declare yourself an enemy of God. Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). The choice before us is stark: friend of God, or friend of the world.
Verse 5 is notoriously difficult to translate, but the sense of it is clear within the context. Whether it means that our own human spirit, which God has placed within us, tends toward envy, or that the Holy Spirit whom God has placed within us yearns for us jealously, the point is the same. God is a jealous God. He will not share His bride with the world. He has placed His Spirit in us, and He desires our wholehearted, exclusive devotion. This is the jealousy of a loving husband for his wife, a holy jealousy that will not tolerate rivals.
The Great Reversal: Grace for the Humble (v. 6)
Faced with this intense diagnosis of our sin and God's holy jealousy, we might be tempted to despair. But right here, James introduces the glorious remedy.
"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.'" (James 4:6)
Our sin is great, but His grace is greater. Our tendency to envy is strong, but His grace is stronger. How do we access this greater grace? James quotes Proverbs 3:34, a principle that runs like a river through the entire Bible. God actively resists the proud, but He pours out His grace upon the humble. If you want to get God on the other side, to have Him actively opposing you, all you need to do is puff up your chest, stiffen your neck, and insist on your own way. Pride is the sin that turns God into your adversary.
Humility, on the other hand, is the posture that opens the floodgates of grace. To be humble is to see yourself as you truly are: a creature, a sinner, utterly dependent on God for everything. It is to agree with God's diagnosis of your heart. When you do that, when you stop defending yourself and justifying your lusts, God does not crush you. He gives grace.
The Path to Restoration (v. 7-10)
James concludes with a series of ten sharp, staccato commands that lay out the practical path of repentance and return to God.
"Be subject therefore 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. Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:7-10)
First, "Be subject therefore to God." This is the foundation. Stop fighting Him. Surrender. Submit your warring desires, your ambitions, your quarrels to His authority.
Second, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Notice the order. You cannot effectively resist the devil until you have first submitted to God. The devil is the great accuser, the one who whispers justifications for your envy and accusations against your brother. To resist him is to resist that spirit of accusation. When you are submitted to God, your resistance has authority, and the devil must flee.
Third, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." This is a breathtaking promise. As you move toward Him in humble repentance, He moves toward you in grace. It is a reciprocal relationship initiated by His grace.
Fourth, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Repentance must be both external ("cleanse your hands," your actions) and internal ("purify your hearts," your motives). The "double-minded" man, who we met in chapter one, is the one who wants to be friends with both God and the world. James says you must choose. Purify your heart from its divided loyalties.
Fifth, a series of commands to take your sin seriously: "Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom." This is not a call to a joyless life, but a call to godly sorrow that leads to repentance. In a world that treats sin lightly, we are called to feel the weight of our spiritual adultery. We must stop laughing off the very things that nailed Jesus to the cross. This grief is the necessary prelude to true joy.
Finally, the summary and the promise: "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." This is the great paradox of the kingdom. The way up is down. If you exalt yourself, God will bring you down. If you humble yourself before Him, in His time and in His way, He will lift you up. He will restore you, vindicate you, and pour out His grace upon you.
This is the way out of the inexplicable quarrel. It is the path from the war within to the peace of God. It begins with an honest look in the mirror that James provides, and it ends with you on your knees before a God who gives greater grace.