From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? WHENCE. The cause of quarrels is often sought in external circumstances: internal lusts are the true origin. WARS ... - contrast the "peace" of heavenly wisdom. "Fightings," the act... [ Continue Reading ]
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 LUST, [ epithumeite (G1937)] - a different word from James 4:1; ye set your mind or heart on an object. HAVE NOT. Desire does not ensure possession. For this "ye kill... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Some are supposed to object, But we do "ask" (cf. ). James replies, It is not enough to ask for good things, but we must ask with a good spirit. "Ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it (your object) upon (literal... [ Continue Reading ]
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. 'Aleph (') A B omit "adulterers and" (which C has): read simply, Ye adulteresses.' God is the rightful husband; the men of the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? IN VAIN - no Scripture can be so. The quotation, as in Ephesians 5:14, seems not so much from a particular passage, as gathered under inspiration from the general tenor of the Old and New Testaments (Nu... [ Continue Reading ]
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. BUT - Nay rather. HE - God. GIVETH MORE GRACE - ever increasing, the further ye depart from "envy" (Bengel). HE SAITH. The same God who causes His Spirit to dwell in believers (James 4:5)... [ Continue Reading ]
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE TO GOD - so ye shall be among "the humble" (; also ; ). RESIST THE DEVIL. Under his banner pride and envy are enlisted: "resist" (stand against) these his temptations. Faith, prayers, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. DRAW NIGH TO GOD - so "cleave unto Him" (Deuteronomy 30:20): namely, by prayerfully (James 4:2) 'resisting Satan,' who opposes our access to God. HE WILL DRAW NIGH - propit... [ Continue Reading ]
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. BE AFFLICTED ... [ talaipooreesate (G5003)] - endure misery; i:e., mourn over your wretchedness through sin. Repent with deep sorrow instead of "laughter." A blessed mourning. Contrast Isaiah 2... [ Continue Reading ]
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD - as continually in the presence of Him who alone is to be exalted: the truest incentive to humility. The tree, to grow upwards, must strike its roots downward; so man, to be exalted, must have his min... [ Continue Reading ]
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. (James 3:1.) Evil speaking flows from the same spirit of exalting self at th... [ Continue Reading ]
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? THERE IS ONE LAWGIVER. 'Aleph (') A B, Vulgate, 'and judge' [ ho (G3588) nomothetees (G3550) kai (G2532) kritees (G2923)], 'There is one (alone) who is (at once) Lawgiver and Judge; (namely), He who is... [ Continue Reading ]
Go to 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: GO TO NOW - `Come now:' to excite attention. YE THAT SAY - `boasting of the morrow.' TODAY OR TOMORROW - as if ye had the free choice of cipher day as a certainty... [ Continue Reading ]
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. WHAT, [ poia (G4169)] - 'of what nature is your life? - i:e., how evanescent. IT IS EVEN. B reads 'For ye are.' A reads 'For it shall be' (Jam... [ Continue Reading ]
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. Literally, 'instead of your saying.' etc. WE SHALL LIVE. 'We shall both live and do,' etc. The boaster spoke as if life and the particular action were in their power; whereas both depend entirely on the will of the... [ Continue Reading ]
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. NOW - as it is. REJOICE IN YOUR BOASTINGS - ye boast in your arrogant presumptions that the future is certain to you (James 4:13). REJOICING, [ kaucheesis (G2746)] - boasting.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. The general principle is here stated: knowledge without practice is imputed to a man as presumptuous sin. James reverts to James 1:22. Nothing more injures the soul than wasted impressions. Feelings exhaust themselves a... [ Continue Reading ]