# James 04 đź“–: Draw Near to God
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
## Passions and Pride
**Principle**: Walk away from the brokenness of sin and depend on God.
[[#Verse 01.]] Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?Â
[[#Verse 02.]]Â You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;Â
[[#Verse 03.]]Â you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.
[[#Verse 04.]] Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.
[[#Verse 05.]] Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”?Â
[[#Verse 06.]] But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “**_God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble_**.” [[Proverbs 03]]
[[#Verse 07.]]Â So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.Â
[[#Verse 08.]]Â Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded.
[[#Verse 09.]] Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair.Â
[[#Verse 10.]]Â Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
[[#Verse 11.]] Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge—the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor?
## Our Will and God's Will
**Principle**: Rest in God's will.
[[#Verse 13.]] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”Â
[[#Verse 14.]] You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”Â
[[#Verse 16.]] But as it is, you boast about your arrogant plans. All such boasting is evil.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. James calls his readers adulteresses (4:4), echoing the prophets who described unfaithful Israel as an unfaithful wife (Hosea 1-3).
2. James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 from the Greek Old Testament. Peter quotes the same verse in 1 Peter 5:5.
3. James 4:5 is one of the hardest verses in the letter to translate because no Old Testament verse matches its wording exactly.
4. James 4:7-10 contains ten commands in a row, a rapid call to repentance.
5. "Wash your hands" (4:8) recalls the priests washing before serving at the altar (Exodus 30:19-21).
6. Traveling merchants who planned year-long trading trips (4:13) were common across the first-century Roman world.
7. The word for vapor or mist in 4:14 is the same word used for smoke in Acts 2:19.
8. The phrase "if the Lord wills" (4:15) later became the Latin *Deo volente*, sometimes abbreviated D.V. in old Christian letters.
9. James 4:17 is a classic verse on sins of omission, failing to do the good we know to do.
10. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (4:8) echoes Zechariah 1:3, "Return to Me, and I will return to you."
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the one Lawgiver and Judge (4:12) who gives greater grace to the humble (4:6). Through His blood we can draw near to God with confidence (Hebrews 10:19-22).
## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. James says quarrels come from desires that battle within us (4:1-3). What desire tends to drive conflict in your relationships?
2. James gives a string of commands in 4:7-10: submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, humble yourselves. Which one is the Lord pressing on you today?
3. James warns against planning without God (4:13-16). What would it look like to say "if the Lord wills" about your plans this week?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 4: Friendship with the world is hostility toward God.
- đź“– verse 6: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
- đź“– verses 7-8: Submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
- đź“– verse 10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- đź“– verse 14: Life is like a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes.
- đź“– verse 17: Knowing the good we ought to do and not doing it is sin.
## đź”— Related Passages
- 🔗 4:1 → Galatians 5:17 and 1 Peter 2:11 – Desires that wage war against the soul.
- 🔗 4:3 → 1 John 5:14 – Asking according to His will.
- 🔗 4:4 → 1 John 2:15-16 and Matthew 6:24 – Do not love the world; no one can serve two masters.
- 🔗 4:6 → Proverbs 3:34 and 1 Peter 5:5 – Grace to the humble.
- 🔗 4:7 → Ephesians 6:11 and 1 Peter 5:8-9 – Stand firm and resist the devil.
- 🔗 4:8 → Psalm 24:3-4 and Zechariah 1:3 – Clean hands and a pure heart; return to Me and I will return to you.
- 🔗 4:10 → Matthew 23:12 – Whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- 🔗 4:11-12 → Matthew 7:1-5 – Do not judge.
- 🔗 4:13-15 → Proverbs 27:1 and Luke 12:16-21 – Do not boast about tomorrow; the rich fool.
- 🔗 4:14 → Psalm 39:4-5 – My life is but a breath.
- đź”— [[Hebrews 10#Verse 22.|Hebrews 10:22]] - Let us draw near with a sincere heart.
- đź”— [[Luke 18#Verse 13.|Luke 18:13-14]] - The humble tax collector goes home justified.
- đź”— [[Philippians 02#Verse 05.|Philippians 2:5-8]] - Christ humbled Himself.
- đź”— [[Psalm 51#Verse 10.|Psalm 51:10]] - Create in me a clean heart, O God.
- đź”— [[Isaiah 57#Verse 15.|Isaiah 57:15]] - God dwells with the contrite and lowly.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[James 04 - SOAP|An Amazing Promise]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes