James 4:7

James 4:7. Now follow several exhortations to enforce humility and the subjection of the passions.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Because God resisteth the proud, therefore submit yourselves to Him. Submission is the first step of the sinner's return to Cod; and the same spirit of submission accompanies the believer in every succeeding stage. Submission is the parent of patience, contentment, freedom from petulance, trust, hope, and other blessed and peaceful graces; whereas the want of submission gives rise to ungoverned desires, envy, hatred, and all those passions which are the cause of bitter contentions.

Resist the devil. Submission to God implies resistance to all that is evil, and to the devil the spirit of evil, especially as the devil is the author of pride and contention. We must realize our spiritual enemy, and resist him with spiritual weapons (Ephesians 6:11; Ephesians 6:16), especially by the exercise of constant watchfulness and prayer on our part. Compare the words of St. Peter: ‘Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith' (1 Peter 5:8-9). and he will flee from you. ‘We may,' says Benson, ‘chase away the devil not by holy water, nor by the sign of the cross, but by steady virtue and resolute goodness.'