James 4:1-12 Bible Study Notes

Bible Study Notes – James 4:1-12

We continue our study of the book of James, a New Testament study in wisdom.  James encourages the Jewish Christians of the first century with practical methods and means of persevering in the Christian faith despite the persecution they suffer.  In our study, we glean from his practical advice and appropriate these principles to our twenty-first century contexts.  This week’s passage concerns “Submit Yourselves to God” in which we explore the quest for genuine humility as a believer in Christ.  James supposes that humility is a prerequisite to developing and enjoying mutually respectful and beneficial relationships with people.  We will define collectively humility and determine how we acquire it.

Consider the following thoughts and ideas as you study the passage.

• Howard Thurman says “No one wins a fight.”  Do you agree?
• Allude to the fight with TCCU.  Talk about the worthlessness of engaging in meaninglessness fights.  “Discretion is the better part of valor.”  “You don’t kill a gnat with a sledgehammer.”  What are the principles that you hold? Are they worth fighting for?
• James asks about the source of fights and quarrels.  He suggests that the origins of arguments are “desires that battle within you?”  Could self-centered fear and self-seeking motives be the origins of many quarrels?
• Fear emerges when you suspect that you will lose something that you value very much or you will not get something that you desperately want.
• Instead of surrendering to fear, you may ask God for your heart’s deepest desires which He grants in accordance with His “good, pleasing and perfect” will for your life.  One author offers that God’s will for you is the thing that you most want to do that you are capable of doing.
• Allude to fear and courage which one author defines as fear that says its prayers.
• James cautions against asking God for blessings with the faulty and ulterior motives of using the blessings for your personal preferences and physical instincts.
• James forcefully calls his audience an “adulterous people” because of their friendship with the world which he describes as hatred toward God.
• Adultery is synonymous with infidelity and idolatry.  Discuss the origins of these negative attributes.  Allude to Gomer, the wife of the prophet, Hosea, whose personifies Israel’s adultery with the other gods of the Gentiles and other pagans.  Consider the modern day examples of adultery with the prevalent secular humanistic and economic values of the civil government.
• In the fifth verse, James alludes to God’s jealousy for the hearts and souls of all disciples.  Refer to the footnote in the NIV.  Allude to Exodus 20:17.  God describes Himself as a jealous God who will have no other gods before Him.  Second, He forbids idolatry in any form.  Third, He prohibits the use of His Name in vain.  Hence, James warns his audience against asking God for blessings with self-centered motives.  Allude to Jephthah in Judges 10:6 to 12:13.  Summarily, God envies the soul of humankind.  Refer to the hymn, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”
  In the next verse, James 4:6, he reminds the readers that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  Pride and ego are form of self-sufficiency.  Instead, believers genuinely rely upon the unquestionable faithfulness of Almighty God.  For those persons who humbly submit their wills to the will of God, He faithfully extends His unmerited favor.
• In the next three verses, James offers very practical and pragmatic advice for spiritual growth and personal development: resist the devil with the assurance that he will flee; draw nigh to Almighty God “with a sincere heart and the full assurance of faith” realizing a greater intimacy and increasing righteousness; wash your hands from sin; and purify your hearts from double-mindedness.  Washing your hands symbolizes repentance, a genuine effort to cease the patterns of behavior that undermine your character.  Purification of the heart is the surest means of preventing adultery with the world and the idolatry that perpetuates it.  Note that double-mindedness is the source of the sin that emerges from divided loyalty between the world’s delights and delicacies and the kingdom of God. 
• Then, James straightforwardly encourages his readers to “grieve, mourn and wail.”  Interestingly, he exhorts them to “change [their] laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”  How do we understand the contradiction in this verse?
• The tenth verse is the opposite of the seventh verse.  I f we humble ourselves before the Lord, He exalts us.  The prevalent “rugged individualism” of American society instructs us to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.  We strive to be self-made and self-reliant.  These ego-driven attitudes are not compatible generally with genuine reliance upon God.  When we assume the latter approach, God exalts us in His time and in accordance with His will.
• Let’s define humility.  What does it look like?  How do we obtain it?  Let’s share some concrete examples of humility.  Do we know any really humble people?  Allude to Dr. 3M, Magic Johnson, Mother Teresa, FDR’s bout with polio, “Mister” in The Color Purple, the Amish people who forgave the murderer of their school children, the woman in New York City who was crippled by an adolescent’s rock that was dropped from a bridge and parents of murdered girl in Texas who requested that the State forego seeking the death penalty because they did not want the parents of the cadets who killed their daughter to be without their children.
• James addresses slander in the eleventh verse.  Vigorously, James exhorts believers against slandering each other.  Allude to John 13:33-35.  Actually, what is the meaning of this verse?  Let’s tease it out.  How does judging a brother equate with speaking against the Law? 
• James reminds us that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge.