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Summary

James has just set two kinds of wisdom side by side. One sows peace. The other leaves “disorder and every vile practice” behind it (3:16). Now he asks a plain question. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” (v. 1). And he answers it himself. The fights come from within. Our passions are at war inside us. We desire and do not have, so we fight (v. 2). We do not ask God. Or we ask wrongly, to spend it on our own passions (v. 3). These are not outsiders. James calls them “brothers” (v. 11). The quarrels he describes were happening inside the church.

Then James uses a hard word. “You adulterous people!” (v. 4). Friendship with the world is enmity with God. God does not share His people with other loves. He yearns jealously over us (v. 5). That is a warning, and we should hear it as one. But the very next line turns the whole passage. “But he gives more grace” (v. 6). James quotes Proverbs 3:34. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So James calls us home (vv. 7-10). Submit to God. Resist the devil. Draw near to God. Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts. Grieve over sin. Humble yourselves before the Lord. Each command carries a promise. The devil will flee. God will draw near. The Lord will exalt. Then James returns to the tongue (vv. 11-12). We must not speak evil against one another. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. “But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (v. 12).

Meditation Points

1. Passions at war within (vv. 1-3)

When a quarrel breaks out, we usually look outward. Who said what. Who started it. James looks inward. The word he uses for “passions” means pleasures, the things we crave. The fight across the table usually begins as a fight inside the chest.

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” (v. 1)

Internal Family Systems (IFS) makes a similar observation. It sees the mind as made up of many parts. Much of our inner conflict, it says, comes from parts pulling in opposite directions, each trying to protect us.1 An angry part may be standing guard over a frightened one. I find this observation helpful. I think it agrees with what James saw long ago. There is more than one voice inside us, and those voices are not at peace.

But James does not stop at the observation. He names what drives the war. It is desire that has turned away from God. “You do not have, because you do not ask” (v. 2). Even when we do pray, we can ask “wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (v. 3). So our inner conflict is a wound that needs gentle care. It is also a heart that needs to come back to God.

Perhaps, then, the first question in any conflict is this. What do I want so badly that I am willing to fight for it? And the second follows close behind. Have I brought that want to God? James has already told us how God answers those who ask. He “gives generously to all without reproach” (1:5).

2. But he gives more grace (vv. 4-6)

Verse 4 is hard to read. “You adulterous people!” James borrows an old picture from the prophets. God is the faithful Husband. His people keep running after other lovers. We may never bow to an idol of wood or stone. But we can still want the world’s approval, comfort, and success more than we want God.

God does not shrug at that. He told Moses that “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). His jealousy is the love of a Husband who will not share His bride.

Then comes what I believe is the heart of this chapter.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (v. 6)

Our sin is great. His grace is greater. And notice where that grace lands. Pride keeps grace out. Humility lets it in. We see what humility looks like in Jesus. “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The proud world crucified the humble Son. And through that very cross, God gives more grace to people like us.

3. Draw near to God (vv. 7-12)

Verses 7 to 10 can sound like a drill sergeant. There are ten commands in four verses. But read them again slowly. Right in the middle sits one of the warmest promises in the Bible.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (v. 8)

We take a step. He runs the rest of the way. Jesus told of a father who saw his son coming home from far off and ran to meet him (Luke 15:20). And even our first step is the fruit of His grace at work in us.

Drawing near to God also changes how we see one another. James closes this section with the tongue again. “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers” (v. 11). When I judge my brother, I climb into a seat that is not mine. “There is only one lawgiver and judge” (v. 12).

Here is the good news. That one Judge has already given His verdict on those who are in Christ. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). A person who knows he is not condemned does not need to condemn others to feel safe.

Coaches learn something of this. One of the ICF core competencies is “Embodies a Coaching Mindset.” ICF describes it as a mindset that is “open, curious, flexible and client-centered.”2 Curiosity and judgment rarely sit in the same chair. When we stop judging, we can finally listen. Our neighbor becomes a person again.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (v. 10). Lifting us up is His work.

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