In James 3:13 the apostle had contrasted the wisdom which is from above with that which is from beneath. The former is peaceable, pure, and gentle, leading to universal kindness and order; the latter earthly, sensual, and devilish. The points suggested in this chapter grow directly out of the remark... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM WHENCE COME WARS AND FIGHTINGS AMONG YOU? - Margin, “brawlings.” The reference is to strifes and contentions of all kinds; and the question, then, as it is now, was an important one, what was their source or origin? The answer is given in the succeeding part of the verse. Some have supposed tha... [ Continue Reading ]
YE LUST, AND HAVE NOT - That is, you wish to have something which you do not now possess, and to which you have no just claim, and this prompts to the effort to obtain it by force. You desire extension of territory, fame, booty, the means of luxurious indulgence, or of magnificence and grandeur, and... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ASK, AND RECEIVE NOT - That is, some of you ask, or you ask on some occasions. Though seeking in general what you desire by strife, and without regard to the rights of others, yet you sometimes pray. It is not uncommon for men who go to war to pray, or to procure the services of a chaplain to pra... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES - These words are frequently used to denote those who are faithless towards God, and are frequently applied to those who forsake God for idols, Hosea 3:1; Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:7; Ezekiel 16; Ezekiel 23. It is not necessary to suppose that the apostle meant that those... [ Continue Reading ]
DO YE THINK THAT THE SCRIPTURE SAITH IN VAIN - Few passages of the New Testament have given expositors more perplexity than this. The difficulty has arisen from the fact that no such passage as that which seems here to be quoted is found in the Old Testament; and to meet this difficulty, expositors... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE GIVETH MORE GRACE - The reference here is undoubtedly to God. Some have regarded this clause as a continuation of the quotation in the previous verse, but it is rather to be considered as a declaration of the apostle himself. The writer had just spoken of envy, and of the crimes which grew ou... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE TO GOD - That is, in his arrangements for obtaining his favor. Yield to what he has judged necessary for your welfare in the life that is, and your salvation in the life to come. The duty here enjoined is that of entire acquiescence in the arrangements of God, whether in... [ Continue Reading ]
DRAW NIGH TO GOD, AND HE WILL DRAW NIGH TO YOU - Compare 2 Chronicles 15:2. This declaration contains a great and important principle in religion. If we wish the favor of God, we must come to him; nor can we hope for his mercy, unless we approach him and ask him for it. We cannot come literally any... [ Continue Reading ]
BE AFFLICTED, AND MOURN, AND WEEP - That is, evidently, on account of your sins. The sins to which the apostle refers are those which he had specified in the previous part of the chapter, and which he had spoken of as so evil in their nature, and so dangerous in their tendency. The word rendered “be... [ Continue Reading ]
HUMBLE YOURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD - Compare Matthew 23:12. See the notes at James 4:6. That is, be willing to take your appropriate place in the dust on account of your transgressions. This is to be “in the sight of the Lord,” or before him. Our sins have been committed against him; and the... [ Continue Reading ]
SPEAK NOT EVIL ONE OF ANOTHER, BRETHREN - It is not known to whom the apostle here particularly refers, nor is it necessary to know. It is probable that among those whom he addressed there were some who were less circumspect in regard to speaking of others than they should be, and perhaps this evil... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS ONE LAWGIVER - There is but one who has a right to give law. The reference here is undoubtedly to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Legislator of the church. This, too, is a most important and vital principle, though one that has been most imperfectly understood and acted on. The tendency ev... [ Continue Reading ]
GO TO NOW - The apostle here introduces a new subject, and refers to another fault which was doubtless prevalent among them, as it is everywhere, that of a presumptuous confidence respecting the future, or of forming plans stretching into the future, without any proper sense of the uncertainty of li... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREAS, YE KNOW NOT WHAT SHALL BE ON THE MORROW - They formed their plans as if they knew; the apostle says it could not be known. They had no means of ascertaining what would occur; whether they would live or die; whether they would be prospered, or would be overwhelmed with adversity. Of the trut... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THAT YE OUGHT TO SAY - Instead of what you do say, “we will go into such a city,” you ought rather to recognise your absolute dependence on God, and feel that life and success are subject to his will. The meaning is not that we ought always to be saying that in so many words, for this might beco... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW YE REJOICE IN YOUR BOASTINGS - That is, probably, in your boastings of what you can do; your reliance on your own skill and sagacity. You form your plans for the future as if with consummate wisdom, and are confident of success. You do not anticipate a failure; you do not see how plans so sk... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD, AND DOETH IT NOT, TO HIM IT IS SIN - That is, he is guilty of sin if he does not do it. Cotton Mather adopted it as a principle of action, “that the ability to do good in any case imposes an obligation to do it.” The proposition in the verse before us is of... [ Continue Reading ]