Worldliness/World System
James 4:1-10
Jas 4:1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
-wars: fight, quarrels
-fights: strife, contention
-pleasure: desires for pleasure (English word for hedonism is derived from this)
-members: parts of the body
In these next verses, James is addressing the issue of worldliness among believers. But what is worldliness? Many believers associate it with what you do. But those are just the symptoms. In order to understand what it is, we need to go to chapter 3 and the wisdom from below:
Jas 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
Jas 3:15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
Jas 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
-From below:
-bitter: harsh
-envy: contentious rivalry
-self-seeking: used one seeking political office, desire to put one’s self forth
-earthly: from the earth
-sensual: from the soul; of the sensuous nature
-demonic: of Satanic character (rebellious, independence against God)
-confusion: instability, state of disorder
-evil: worthless, of no value
Paul also addresses the wisdom of the world in 1 Corinthians:
1Co 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written: "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND BRING TO NOTHING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRUDENT."
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Now let’s look at the definition of the world as it relates to its system, its philosophy:
world affairs; the whole circle of earthly goods, riches, advantages, pleasures, which hollow, frail and fleeting, stir desire and seduce from God and obstacles to the cause of Christ (world system)
So the problem of worldliness begins in us believers when we, in our thinking, move away from the person and work of Jesus Christ (i.e. the gospel/1 Cor. 15:3-4) and embrace the wisdom/philosophy/viewpoint of this world system and its wisdom with its emphasis on uplifting self, fulfilling our plans and desires, and operating independently from our Father.
Jas 4:2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
Jas 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures
-lust: covet, of those things forbidden
-murder: kill
-covet: to strive after, to zeal
1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The driving force behind the world system is its lust/desires:
-lust of the flesh: the world system works hand in hand with our sin nature
-lust of the eyes:
Eve saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes. Remember also that Satan showed the Lord Jesus Christ all the kingdoms of this world. Let me tell you, they are very attractive, and they are in the hands of Satan. This is an attractive world that we live in, with all of its display, all of its pageantry, all of its human glory (J. Vernon McGee).
-pride of life:
-pride: an insolent and empty assurance, which trusts in its own power and resources, or in the stability of earthly things which issues in a contempt of divine laws
-life: not eternal life (which come from the Father), but that by which life is sustained, wealth, resources and goods
This is the manifestation of the wisdom from below which is self-seeking and contentious.
-amiss: improperly, wrongfully
-spend: to waste, squander
James’ point here is not to use prayer to fulfill our desires and lust; but rather to point out the contradiction between us as believers and worldliness. In chapter one, we are commanded to ask continuously for the wisdom from above in responding to trials that the Lord uses to mature us and provide opportunity for eternal reward (1:2-12). Here James is exposing the foolishness of worldliness and the wisdom from below and how they are in complete contrast to who the Father is and who we are as his children.
Jas 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
-adulterers: one who is faithless toward God
-adulteresses: unclean
-friendship: fondness, companionship
-enmity: hatred, opposition
The adultery that James is referring to is that of spiritual adultery. If a believer chooses to have the world system as his companion, a system that hated Jesus Christ and whose wisdom is diametrically opposed to our Lord’s work on the cross, shouldn’t it be obvious that it will have an impact on our relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son?
Joh 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
Jas 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
-yearns jealously: desires us enviously
It’s not clear what portion of Scripture James is referring to, but it is clear that the Spirit of God who indwells in us is jealous of us and desires of us and our time just as the Lord was jealous of Israel in the Old Testament:
Exo 34:12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
Exo 34:13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images
Exo 34:14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Exo 34:15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,
Deu 32:19 "And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
Deu 32:20 And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.
Deu 32:21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.
Jas 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
-resists: to oppose, to battle against
-proud: showing one’s self above others, haughty, an overestimation of one’s merits
-humble: lowly in spirit, of low degree
What is the solution to the problem of worldliness? God’s grace. But there is one condition. We must admit of our need of it just as when we received the gospel.
Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
-submit: to subordinate, to subject one’s self, to yield to another
-aorist active imperative
-resist: see above
-aorist active imperative
-devil: false accuser, slanderer
-flee: to vanish
Use of the aorist active imperative:
-The use of the aorist active imperative is a command to begin an action. In contrast, the present active imperative is a command to continue an action.
Submit is a military meaning to arrange under just as the troops are arranged under its commander. Submission is a sign of obedience (which is a characteristic of the wisdom from above/James 3:17, willing to yield). The soldier that operates independently is considered AWOL and worthy of discipline. When the believer clothes himself mentally with the wisdom from above, he is able to resist the accuser’s temptations to walk apart from the Father and His will.
2Ti 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
Jas 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
-draw near: to approach
-aorist active imperative
-Heb. 7:19
-cleanse: to consecrate, free from the defilement of sin
-aorist active imperative
-purify: to set apart
-aorist active imperative
-hearts: the seat of spiritual life, thoughts, affections, purposes, understanding
-double-minded: two-souled, of two minds (see James 1:8); indicating those who are tossed between the wisdom from below and the wisdom from above
Notice that the cleansing and the purifying follow the believer drawing themselves or approaching the Father. We cannot be cleansed by our own means. We must come to our Heavenly Father to allow Him to do that. But that will not happen unless we come to Him.
Jas 4:9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
-lament: to endure labors and hardships
-aorist active imperative
-mourn: to grieve
-aorist active imperative
-see Matt. 5:4
-weep: weeping as a sign of pain or grief
-aorist active imperative
-Rom. 12:15
-be turned: to turn around
-aorist passive imperative
-joy: gladness
-gloom: downcast, shame
For these believers, it was time for them to stop indulging themselves in sin and worldliness and look honestly at their spiritual condition. The result of that would not be laughter and joy, but sorrow and shame. We all need to be able to allow the Lord to expose us when it is necessary to do so. It is far better to experience shame down here and allow it to correct us than experience shame at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Rev 3:17 Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
-humble:lowly in spirit, of low degree
-aorist passive imperative (allow yourself to be humbled)
-lift: to exalt; to raiseup to dignity, honor and happiness; to raise up to the very summit of opulence and prosperity
-future active indicative
Luk 14:11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The key is humility. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. The way up is down. The lowly one becomes the lifted one. There is a marked advantage to humility — eventually it brings honor (Bible Knowledge Commentary).
The lifting up is in the future tense most likely indicating future rewards. But I can safely say that the future exaltation will greatly eclipse the humbling that we allow the Lord to perform on us.
1Pe 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
1Pe 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
1Pe 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
-casting: to throw or place upon
-care: anxiety; to be drawn in different directions; anxiety of things pertaining to this life
-Mark 4:19
World:
- Defined:
-the inhabitants of the earth
-the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Jesus Christ
-world affairs; the whole circle of earthly goods, riches, advantages, pleasures, which hollow, frail and fleeting, stir desire and seduce from God and obstacles to the cause of Christ (world system)
- It’s Ruler
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
Eph 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
- It’s Character
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Joh 7:6 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "HE CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS";
Jas 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
2Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
2Pe 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
- The Believer and the World system
1Co 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none,
1Co 7:30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
1Co 7:31 and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.
-use: to receive a loan, to borrow
-misuse: to use much or excessively, to use up
Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.