Submit to God James 4:7-12 Part 8

Read James 4:7-12

Our text today follows James telling us that God gives us grace to do what we need to do. He will give us grace for the things that James is going to talk about next as well. A truly humble heart will be obvious by its submission to God. By nature, we do not seek Him, and we oppose His authority but James is telling us that if we truly submit to God and align ourselves under His authority then the devil will flee from us. 

How do we draw near to God? We must actively seek God, search His word and resist sin, temptations and the devil. We do all this in humility knowing that God gives grace upon grace when we fail. Often, we think we can handle things but until we realize we can’t then we won’t truly be able to say that we can. Only by the grace of God, the sacrifice of Jesus and the working of the Holy Spirit can we truly draw near to God and submit to Him. Drawing near to God means we must be humble, have moral purity, internal devotion, we must guard our hearts and daily repent. Intimacy with God is not going to happen by chance; it takes an active and conscientious effort. The Bible calls us to action here and in Deuteronomy 4:29 where it says, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek with all your heart and soul.” We are given a command and a promise. – the command is to seek God, and the promise is that He will draw near to you. Public, personal and private devotions all matter. Those who choose not to sing and worship in public are not going to take the time to do it privately. Our world wants instant answers but Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Seek the LORD and wait for His answers.

Next, James reminds us to cleanse our hands. In the Old Testament God gave very specific instructions regarding cleanliness. This was a way to remind God’s people of His absolute holiness and purity. In the New Testament it is applied figuratively to moral cleanliness. Our hands represent our actions; therefore, James is calling us to confess our sins so that in our actions we won’t continue to sin. If we are submitting to God, then our actions and affections must be brought in alignment with God’s will. The washing of hands is a call to action; we cannot passively submit to God; we must actively pursue Him. While the Holy Spirit gives us the ability, He doesn’t actually wash our hands for us. We must purify our hearts in Christ Jesus. If we allow ourselves to be influenced by the world, we can find ourselves to be “double-minded”. If we become double-minded we will be torn apart. James is reminding us of what he said in chapter 1:7-8 when he said, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Either we repent and change our lives to be in line with God’s will, or we will continue living an immoral and unrepentant life. You cannot have and please both God and the world. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 6:24 when He said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” John also spoke about this in 1 John 2:15 when he said, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” You cannot have it both ways. 

James goes on in verse nine to teach us the posture of a true Christian. If we truly want to submit to God, we need to learn to mourn our sins. If we sin without feeling guilty or being struck by the gravity of our sin, we should be concerned! There’s no such thing as a respectable sin. Sin is sin and we should not laugh it off. Only when we learn to prostrate ourselves and mourn about our sin can we truly understand the magnitude of our salvation. We must mourn and weep the gravity of our sinful actions in order to truly feel joyful in the forgiveness of our sins. When we submit to God and see ourselves with the right perspective, we can’t help but fall on our knees before Him. We can cleanse our hands by acknowledging the severity of our sins and laying them at the foot of the cross in humility. We are graciously being called back to Him. Again, we have a command and a promise in verse ten where it says, “Humble yourselves before the LORD and He will exalt you.” The command is to humble ourselves and the promise is that He will exalt you. Peter also spoke about this in 1 Peter 5:6 where it says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.” Both James and Peter are echoing Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

What we see next in our text is another type of sin that is the opposite of humility and submission to God. James tells us not to speak evil against one another. Slander is a subtle form of self-exaltation and as Christians we must have a controlled tongue. Once your words are out there it is virtually impossible to take them back – slander cannot be undone. When we talk down about others, gossip and lie, we are putting ourselves before them and it makes us dirty. In the context of the surrounding verses, we can see this comes after being told to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, cleanse ourselves and bow down in humility before God. Thus, keeping ourselves from slandering others is a form of submission to God. If we forget who we are in Christ we may find ourselves engaging in unhelpful talk and slander. We can take this one step further and say that even repeating stories about the wrong doings of others is slander. We should never say things that would hurt another person unless they’ll be harmed more by our silence. None of us can deny that we are guilty of this sin in some form. In the greater context of the book and the Bible we can see there are many verses that talk about controlling the tongue. James has already told us to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19) and that the tongue is “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). If we look to Proverbs 15:4 it says, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever keeps his mouth, and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Our tongues can condemn us. Jesus said, “I tell you, on the day of judgement people will give an account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Just as our hands get dirty and need cleansing, so too, our hearts get dirty, and this can come out in the things we say about ourselves and others. Jesus summarized the law as loving God and our neighbors, therefore, when we slander, we are breaking God’s law. Romans 13:10 says, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” When we judge others and put them down, we are not showing a true submission to God. We must examine our attitudes and thoughts about others as what is inside is often what comes out. Again, there is no such thing as a respectable sin. Gossip and slander are wrong. It is truly an amazing gift that “there is only one lawgiver and judge” (James 4:12). We’re all tempted to make ourselves the center of the universe but thankfully, by God’s grace, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit we are cleansed from the guilt and power of sin. What we are unable to do for ourselves, another has done. 

The Bible takes slander very seriously, but this does not mean we are not to think critically. We are still to hold things up to the light of God’s word. Verse eleven shows us a pattern of sin we need to fight. Often, we are quick to pronounce judgment on others without even knowing all the facts. The pattern is that of jumping to conclusions and then spreading those conclusions. If we’re honest and acknowledge how retched our hearts are we will be less likely to pronounce judgment, and more likely to stay silent about others. God is the only one who can honestly know the heart and judge it fairly. He can judge and save or judge and condemn. It is presumptuous of us to think we can take His place as judge and just because something may be true, does not mean it should be said. Wisdom is knowing when to keep your mouth shut. 

Only when we submit to God and have the Holy Spirit can we resist sin, temptations and the devil. We are called to action, commanded to come near to God, wash our hands and purify our hearts. You cannot serve God and still seek your own sinful desires. Our sin should cause us to mourn and grieve and we must acknowledge the huge debt we owe because of it. We must search our hearts and see whether our motives are pure and in line with God’s will. Only by coming to God in humility will He lift you up. When we acknowledge our great debt we will be less likely to try to judge others. In all things, we are to submit to God for He is the only judge and lawgiver.

1. What can you do to actively try and draw near to God?

2. What does the Bible say about seeking God?

3. List some examples of how we can be double-minded. What do you struggle with that’s in opposition to God’s will?

4. Why must we mourn our sin?

5. What are the two commands and promises in our text?

6. What is often the motive behind slander? Find a few more verses in the Bible that talk about the use of the tongue.