James 4: Friendship With the World
James traces our quarrels to selfish desire, names friendship with the world as enmity with God, and calls the proud to humble repentance.
James 4 (WEB)
1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
2 You lust, and don’t have. You kill, covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”
14 Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
15 For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”
16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
17 To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
James 4 (KJV)
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 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.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 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.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 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.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 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:
14 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.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
James 4 (ASV)
1 Whence comewars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.
4 Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
5 Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
7 Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.
11 Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?
13 Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:
14 whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that.
16 But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil.
17 To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Summary
James asks where the wars and quarrels among them come from and answers: from the passions battling within. They covet and cannot obtain, they fight and war, yet they do not have because they do not ask, and when they do ask, they ask wrongly, only to spend it on their pleasures. He calls them adulterers, for friendship with the world is hostility toward God; whoever befriends the world makes himself God's enemy. Yet God gives more grace, for though he resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. The remedy is sweeping: submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee, draw near to God and he will draw near, cleanse your hands and purify your hearts, you double-minded. They are to grieve over their sin, turning laughter to mourning, and to humble themselves before the Lord, who will lift them up. James then forbids speaking against and judging one another, since to judge a brother is to judge the law and usurp the place of the one Lawgiver who can save and destroy. Finally he confronts presumptuous self-confidence: those who boast of business plans for tomorrow forget that life is a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes. Instead they ought to say, “If the Lord wills,” for all such boasting is evil, and the one who knows the good he ought to do and fails to do it sins.
Key Figures
- James — The author, who diagnoses conflict and worldliness as fruit of selfish desire and pride, and calls his readers to humble repentance and dependence on the Lord.
- The worldly and the proud — Believers tempted by friendship with the world, quarreling, judging, and boasting in their plans, summoned to grieve over sin and humble themselves before God.
- God the Lawgiver and Judge — The one who resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, the sole Lawgiver able to save and destroy, who draws near to all who draw near to him.
Key Verse
James 4:10 (WEB)
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Lessons Learned
- Our conflicts with others usually begin with unruly desires battling within us.
- Friendship with the world is not neutral; it is hostility toward God.
- God opposes pride but pours out grace on the humble who draw near to him.
- Our lives are a passing vapor, so we plan and live in humble dependence on the Lord's will.
- Conflict comes from craving within. “Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?” (James 4:1, WEB). Outer strife exposes inner desire.
- The world and God cannot both be befriended. “Friendship with the world is hostility toward God” (James 4:4, WEB). Love for the world's values sets us against the Lord we claim to serve.
- God lifts up the humble. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10, WEB), for he “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (4:6).
- We live at the Lord's pleasure. Since life “is a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes” (James 4:14, WEB), we should say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that” (4:15).
- According to James, where do our quarrels and conflicts really come from?
- What does James mean by “friendship with the world,” and why is it described as hostility toward God?
- Trace the commands in verses 7-10. What does genuine repentance and submission to God look like here?
- Why is boasting about tomorrow's plans foolish, and how does “If the Lord wills” change the way we live?
- Where do you sense the pull of the world or the grip of pride in your life, and what would humbling yourself before God look like this week?
- James points inward: wars and fightings come from “your pleasures that war in your members” (4:1). Unmet cravings drive coveting, conflict, and even prayerless striving (4:2-3). Help the group see that the road to peace with others often runs through honest dealing with our own desires before God.
- Friendship with the world means embracing its values and appetites in place of God's, which James calls spiritual adultery (4:4). Because the world is organized against God, loving it makes one his enemy. This is sobering but not hopeless—“he gives more grace” to those who turn (4:6).
- The chain of commands—submit, resist the devil, draw near, cleanse, purify, mourn, humble yourselves (4:7-10)—describes wholehearted repentance. It is both turning from sin and turning toward God, who promises to draw near and lift up. Let the group feel the tenderness of the promise within the call.
- James reminds the confident planners that life “is a vapor” (4:14). Boasting in our plans ignores our creatureliness; saying “If the Lord wills” submits every plan to God's good purpose (4:15). It is not paralysis but humble dependence. Encourage planning that holds its plans with open hands.
- This is a gentle personal-application question. Invite members to name, even silently, a worldly pull or a proud place in their heart, and one concrete step of humility. As leader, keep the focus on the promise that the God who resists pride gives grace to the humble (4:6).