James 4:5

"Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealousy desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us'?"the Scripture speaks to no purpose" -"do you consider this an idle word of Scripture?" (Mof). The word Scripture can at times mean more than one Scripture (1 Timothy 5:18), or Scripture as. whole (John 2:22; John 7:38). "James meant that the gist of the Old Testament teaching supports this concept, just as persons may say today, 'The Bible says'…without intending to refer to. particular chapter and verse" (Kent p. 146). The idea that God will brook no rival and that He demands our complete devotion is found in many Old Testament passages (Exodus 2:5; Exodus 2:14; Deuteronomy 6:15; Deuteronomy 32:19).

Point To Note:

But there are many people, even religious people who would argue that the Scriptures really do speak to no purpose. That is, that God will change His mind and will simply save everyone, or that hell doesn't really exist, or God will save people outside of Christ and that Jesus isn't the only way. The above argument, which is made by James cannot be made by those who argue that time and culture have made irrelevant many of the teachings found in Scripture."He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us" -The Spirit here could be either the Holy Spirit or our own spirit. Remember the word rendered spirit was given. large "S" or. small "s" by the translators. While the ASV and NASV has "Spirit" the King James translators thought that the human spirit was under consideration, hence the rendering "spirit".

Points To Note:

1.. don't think that it makes any sense to interpret the above passage as saying that God jealously yearns for the Holy Spirit. 2. It would be correct to say that the Holy Spirit yearns for our loyalty and devotion. But it makes the most sense to me that the Holy Spirit is included in the "He" of the above passage. That Deity as. whole (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) jealously yearn for the complete devotion of our spirits, that we would love God with our entire being. This truth is taught in many other Scriptures, in fact, it is the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind"). God will not take second place in our lives (Matthew 6:33). And God won't share our devotion with someone or something else (Matthew 6:24). There isn't any gray area here. God either is our primary object of worship-or we are His enemy (Matthew 12:30). "God….who will brook no rival in the human heart, and that He must receive from us. love which is beyond all earthly devotion" (Barclay p. 123). 3. This verse also includes. great comforting truth, that is, God really yearns for our devotion. Our devotion, our love really means something to God! Why do we insist on putting all our devotion into things and people which fail to reciprocate and appreciate such love? "It is. great encouragement to know that God is interested in everything we think, everything we do, everything that captures our imaginations, every word that we speak, every thought that comes into our minds" (Draper p. 121).