Podcast 101, James, “Pt 4, Ch 4”

A writer once said words to the effect, ‘Write not to be understood, but that ye be not misunderstood.’ It is paradoxical but to the point. James was such a writer. Another writer was asked, “What are the three greatest principles of writing? He reportedly answered, “clarity, clarity, clarity.” Again, James is equal to the task. Consider:

James 4:1-3

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Do you ever wonder the source of temptation. A popular comedian made the following common phrase even more popular, “The devil made me do it.” In other words, he blamed everything on the devil as if somehow, the devil, not him, was responsible for his behavior. The devil himself loves such a doctrine. He is perfectly willing to take the blame for our behavior for it keeps us from repenting. However, temptation must have a catalyst. The only reason we have agency, for example, is because we are enticed to do good by Christ and enticed to do evil by Satan. Until Lucifer entered the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were never tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit. One would naturally be tempted to say, “Remove Satan from the earth and all would be well.”

We are told that Satan will be bound for a thousand years. We call it The Millennium. Christians consider it a utopia, paradise, ideal society, heaven on earth. Can one know the good without knowing the evil. Can one know joy without knowing sorrow?

Christianity, perhaps, is the most paradoxical religion on earth for it is filled with attractive opposites. The fall brought about the natural man which introduced lust. The fall also allowed Satan to enter the world which introduced cunning. Satan has many names: the destroyer, the tempter, the adversary, serpent, dragon, the wicked one, liar, enemy, There is a third source of temptation. It is from man himself who adopts the wiles of the devil to deceive others for personal gain. But agency still exists. The three groups above will go to their own place, but we will stand alone at the judgment bar. They will not be there to take the blame. When confronted, Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent, but all three were held equally accountable by God, and each had to pay his or her own price.

Notice that in the above James declared, “come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members.” We can all relate to the internal turmoil that boils within each of us. James points out the futility of giving in to the lusts of the flesh. For clarity, lust does not simply refer to sexual desire. Lust symbolizes burning desire, whatever the object may be: sex, money, power, fame, position, prestige, control, etc.

Wants define themselves for they usually come in attractive packages, but few things can be more important than to define our desire. Desires are not always so transparent. We usually don’t mind confessing our wants, but often, due to hidden and forbidden feelings, we camouflage our desires. We like to dress our desires in respectable clothing for we are ashamed. That is, I think, what James meant when he said, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

James gives us a clear way to define our desires.

James 4:4

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Why would we ask amiss? Perhaps we ask amiss because we are ashamed of our desires. James gives us the key to recognize unrighteous desires, “that we may consume it upon our lusts.” Our motives are not pure. They are selfish. In a way we try to fool God which is impossible. James adds,

James 4:5

Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

Envy violates the 10th Commandment.

Exodus 20:17

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

But, as always, when a prophet condemns, through the spirit of the Lord, they offer the remedy.

James 4:6-8

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

James continues,

James 4:9-12

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Remember what James called The Perfect Law of Liberty:

James 1:25

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

So many see Christianity as restrictive. The entire purpose of Christianity is to make us free. In Jesus’s own words.

John 8:31-32

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

In the preamble to the Ten Commandments, which James calls, “The Law of Liberty” Jehovah states the following:

Exodus 20:1-2

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Egypt, the house of bondage, is often referred to as the world in the same sense that Babylon is referred to as the world. Christ taught that we should be ‘in the world but not of the world.’ The world offers both a temporal bondage and a spiritual bondage. The Jews were slaves to the Egyptians; however, even when they escaped Egypt they tried to take Egypt with them by adopting their gods. Christ was the only truly free person to ever live on the earth because he obeyed the Father in all things. Satan had no power over Christ. In addition, Christ is eternally free. He is omnipotent and omniscient, and he wants all of us to become like him.

Like Isaiah and like Solomon, James teaches us of the temporal nature of mortality.