Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mankato
Study of James -- Lesson #14
April 2, 2000
James 4:7-12

James 4:7-12 [NKJV]

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Verse 7a: Therefore, submit yourselves to God

Verses 7b-8a:

Set yourselves against the Devil and he will flee from you.

Come near to God and He will come near to you.

LUTHER: "In every temptation we should see to it that we do not yield ground by thinking about the matter. When this is done a fall into sin will surely follow; for if the snake gets its head into a hole, it will certainly slither in with its body. You cannot stop it from doing this. Therefore the rule is "resist the beginnings; and the apostle admonishes; "resist the devil" (James 4:7). It is true, of course, that we should be terrified by sin in great temptations, but we should not stay in terror; we should turn again to grace. Both extremes are harmful. Great joy creates security; great terror, despair. And it is known that our Lord God has forbidden both under the threat of severest punishment. We should not despair of Him and we should not be secure in ourselves [What Luther Says, CPH, #4338]

What is "drawing near"?

What is the opposite of "drawing near"?

What is the Means by which we draw near to God?

What is the Context of this passage in James?

Consider our liturgy: "Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God, our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness (TLH p. 5 & p. 15)

Verse 8b-9: Wash (your) hands, sinful ones; and purify (your) hearts, double-minded ones. Make yourselves miserable and grieve and cry. Let your laughter be changed into grief and (your) joy be changed into heaviness. Make yourselves low before the Lord and He will raise you.

Verse 10: Make yourselves low before the Lord and He will raise you.

THE PROGRESSION: Dead in sin, laughing and finding joy in sin -->--> ENTER LAW to reveal sin and condemn it thereby changing sinful joy into deepest heavy sorrow -->--> ENTER GOSPEL to change repentant sorrow back to joy—not in sin but in the LORD!

Verses 11-12: Stop speaking against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and who judges his brother speaks against law and judges law. Now, if you are judging law, you are not a doer of law but rather a judge. There is one Lawgiver—the One who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you—the one who judges (his) neighbor?

ZORN: Now where such a spirit (of the type described earlier by James) has crept into church bodies and congregations and Christians there inevitably follows loveless judging, backbiting among themselves and does not see and does not want to see one’s own sins and failings; but one always sees only the real or supposed mistakes and sins and failings of others. And thus follows loveless judging and backbiting (p. 69).

KRETZMANN: For a mere man to criticize and condemn his neighbor, except in cases where the Lord Himself has charged the congregation {WE adds "or individual"} with carrying out His condemnation, is altogether unwarranted, and is resented by God as an interference with His authority. The passage contains a warning which cannot be repeated too often (p. 511).

FRANZMANN: Turn from that refined form of murder (cf: James 4:2), the malicious word against your brother. Turn from your quarrel with God, which is what your words against your brother come to; for when you condemn your brother you condemn God’s Law which demands of you a whole and unbroken love for your brother. Turn in fear to Him who has power to destroy, the one Lawgiver and Judge whose office you dare not usurp. Turn in faith and hope to Him who is able to save as well as destroy [Martin Franzmann, Word of the Lord Grows, CPH, p. 34]

 

 

CONCERNING THE MISUSE OF THE ADMONITON TO "JUDGE NOT."

Jesus’ and the apostles’ admonitions to "judge not" are misused by the world to an incredible degree. This misuse results from taking the words out of their context. This is happily done by the world because when it wants to defend its position (in this case a position that excuses sin and turns a blind eye) it will quickly latch onto a passage from the Bible and never-mind what God intended it to say. Ironically, if a passage of Scripture condemns the world in something it wants to pursue, the world will quickly determine that the Bible is out-dated, and no longer pertinent to our "advanced" age

The context of Matthew, Romans, and James demonstrates that the admonition to "judge not" speaks against the kind of judgment that is determined by human pride. It is the kind of judgment that is loveless and seeks to harm rather than to help one’s neighbor.

Being a "doer of the law" in the context of James is to show love to our neighbor and toward God and His Word. Therefore, it is being a "doer of the law" and not contrary to the command to "judge not" when we use God’s Word to "judge" an action as being sinful. It is being a godly "doer of the law" when we point out the sin of our brethren in an evangelical way that seeks the repentance of the erring one (cf: Matthew 18:15ff; Galatians 6:1). It is sinful judging if we point out someone else’s sin for any other motive at all—all other motives come from pride. It is being a godly "doer of the law" when we identify the sin of the world, false teachers, etc. and speak against the error so as to warn those who are caught in the sin or who may be led into it (cf: Ezekiel 33:1ff). It is sinful judging if we are pointing out the error of others for our own self-satisfaction—another fruit of pride.

The world is sensitive to hearing God’s evaluation of its sin and His condemnation. So when sin is revealed the world is quick to say, "God says, don’t judge." Many people (even Christians) keep quiet in sinful situations because they have been led to this same misunderstanding. However, when we use God’s Word to

a) reach a decision about a certain action/word/philosophy and

b) convey that decision in the spirit of Christian love (which seeks the salvation of souls)

then it is not we who are "judging" but God. This kind of "judging" is not condemned by God, it is commanded. It is in this same way that we "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1)

{WCE}