Prefatory comment: When God offers you something, always take it, because it's from Him.
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,
and this defiles a person.
For out of the heart come
1. Evil thoughts (may be referring to the next six)
2. Murder (6th commandment)
3. Adultery (7th commandment)
4. Sexual immorality (7th commandment)
5. Theft (8th commandment)
6. False witness (9th commandment)
7. Slander (Related to 9th commandment)
These are what defile a person. (Defilement is and should be defined by God, not us)
But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
(Taken from Matthew 15:18-20 ESV)
"But each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (Our sinful hearts generate sinful desires)
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, (Sinful desires bear the fruit of sin)
and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." (The end state, maturity of sin is death)
(Taken from James 1:14-15 ESV)
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? (These are sinful behaviors)
Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (This is the sinful root)
You desire and do not have, so you murder. (Cause and effect, selfish desire, murderous intent)
You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. (Cause and effect, envy, fights)
You do not have, because you do not ask. (Prayerlessness leads to sinful desperation)
(Taken from James 4:1-2 ESV)
I take from these passages:
1. If God does not change my heart, then I will be powerless to stop my own sinful behaviors.
2. These sinful behaviors are not isolated incidents but part of a growth process that is leading somewhere. Every time I sin, it's helping me get better at sinning, become a better sinner, love sin more, delight in sin more, know sin on a deeper level. All of this is deadening my soul and if God does not intervene to sanctify me, it will lead to hell, the eternal torment of the second death.
3. On the flipside, godly behaviors are not isolated incidents but part of a growth process that is leading somewhere! Every time I do good, it's helping me get better at doing good, become a better child of God, love God more, delight in God more, know God on a deeper level. All of this is bringing my soul to life and if sin does not interrupt it, it will lead to heaven, the eternal pleasure of true unity with God.
4. When I argue and fight, it is not morally neutral, but it is animated and colored by the passions within me, my own discontentment, selfishness, envy and pride.
5. Discontentment, joylessness, lack of love for God in the life of a believer all lead to sin!
6. The answer to this "not having" is prayer and close fellowship with God. This is further explained later in James 4:5-10 (ESV):
"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says,
'He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us'?
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'
Submit yourselves therefore 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.
Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."
James describes for us the solution to our problem of selfishness, discontentment, envy and bitterness as believers. He tells us that God wants our hearts and He wants to be close to us, which is shocking given the sinful activities just described.
1. Submit yourself, humbling yourself, to God, in prayers of confession like Psalm 51.
2. Draw near to God with godly sorrow, confession, a contrite heart, wretchedness, mourning, weeping and gloom.
3. In this humbling, receive the forgiveness in Christ (1 John 1:9).
4. The Lord will exalt you, by making you clean, pure and fruitful for His glory.
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