James Expounds on Faith Volume 41

 The Warning Against Worldliness Part 3

James 4:5-6 Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

In Volume 40 we learned from the Apostle James that our Father in Heaven will actively work against any of us His adopted sons and daughters who pull away from His loving arms and open up our affections to this easy, empty, and evil world system run by the devil, for when we do such a thing we become enemies of our own Heavenly Father. The Apostle James now continues with his ⚠ warnings to us by not only reminding us who we belong to and whom are affections most surely belong to, but that our Helper (John 14:16, John 14:26, John 15:26) and Comforter is Himself  jealous for all of our affections to be upon Him, therefore, we now read these words from the Apostle James to us, "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:5-6) (KJV). Let us examine four (4) key words in this verse 5, first (1) the little phrase 'in vain' which is translated by the Greek word kenōs (used this one time only in the New Testament) meaning vainly, that is, to no purpose: - in vain. The second (2) English word 'spirit' or 'Spirit', for it should be capitalized because it refers to God the Holy Spirit and it is translated by the Greek word pneuma (meaning as used here) (divine) God, Christ's Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The third (3) English word 'dwelleth' is translated by the Greek word katoikeō meaning to house permanently, that is, reside (literally or figuratively): - dweller, inhabitanter. The fourth (4) English word 'lusteth' is translated by the Greek word epipotheō meaning (to yearn); to dote upon, that is, intensely crave possession: - (earnestly) desire (greatly), (greatly) long (after), lust. Therefore, let us summarize our findings herein, we see that we who have been born again (John 3:3-8) and made new creatures in our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) have received His Holy Spirit within us (Ephesians 1:13) and He (God the Holy Spirit) yearns for, that is, desires strongly and persistently all of our affections and our surrender to His leading and guiding us into all truth. He (God the Holy Spirit) intensely craves complete control over all of our thoughts 💭 so as to lead us into that which is the good and perfect will of God the Father for our lives daily, as it is so wonderfully written by the Apostle Paul to the believers @ Rome with these words, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2) (NKJV). God the Holy Spirit lives within us permanently and His desire is not to be grieved by us because when we do we sadden Him and He then withdraws His power from our daily lives because we have yielded not to Him, but instead to another (the world 🗺) and it is not His will, want, or way to force us to yield to Him, but He waits patiently for our repentance (the changing of our minds about our conduct and behavior and the turning back to Him and allowing Him full control within our inner man 👨 or inner woman 👩). The world, our flesh or old nature, and the devil are all three (3) our enemies and not our friends, therefore, when we begin to befriend the world 🗺, we then make ourselves the enemy of the very One who loves us so much that He earnestly and greatly desires all of our affections and longs for us to give complete control to Him always for His Joy 😂 and for our good. Amen!!!

Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of James 4:5-6, "This verse is exceedingly obscure. We cannot tell what Scripture St. James refers to; many have been produced by learned men as that which he had particularly in view. Some think Genesis 6:5 : 'Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.' Genesis 8:21 : 'The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.' Num_11:29 : 'Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake?' and Proverbs 21:10 : 'The soul of the wicked desireth evil.' None of these Scriptures, nor any others, contain the precise words in this verse; and therefore St. James may probably refer, not to any particular portion, but to the spirit and design of the Scripture in those various places where it speaks against envying, covetousness, worldly associations, etc., etc. Perhaps the word in this and the two succeeding verses may be well paraphrased thus: 'Do ye think that concerning these things the Scripture speaks falsely, or that the Holy Spirit which dwells in us can excite us to envy others instead of being contented with the state in which the providence of God has placed us? Nay, far otherwise; for He gives us more grace to enable us to bear the ills of life, and to lie in deep humility at His feet, knowing that His Holy Spirit has said, Proverbs 3:34 : God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Seeing these things are so, submit yourselves to God; resist the devil, who would tempt you to envy, and he will flee from you; draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.' I must leave this sense as the best I can give, without asserting that I have hit the true meaning. There is not a critic in Europe who has considered the passage that has not been puzzled with it. I think the 5th verse should be understood as giving a contrary sense to that in our translation. Every genuine Christian is a habitation of the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit excites strong desires against envy; a man must not suppose that he is a Christian if he have an envious or covetous heart. But He giveth more grace - A greater benefit, than all the goods that the world can bestow; for He gives genuine happiness, and this the world cannot confer. May this be St. James’ meaning God resisteth the proud - Sets Himself in battle array against him. Giveth grace unto the humble - The sure way to please God is to submit to the dispensation of His grace and providence; and when a man acknowledges Him in all his ways, He will direct all his steps. The covetous man grasps at the shadow, and loses the substance."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…