1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:1-6 KJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JAMES CHAPTER 4
In this chapter we are directed to consider some causes of contention not mentioned in the previous chapter, and to watch against them (James 4:1-5), the need to abandon friendship with this world and fully submit to God (James 4:4-10), the avoidance of detraction and rash judgment of others (James 4:11-12), and maintaining proper respect for divine providence (James 4:13-17).
Pride Promotes Strife
The previous chapter focused on envy as the root of strife; this one exposes how lust for worldly things and placing too much value on worldly pleasures and friendships leads to shameful divisions.
The apostle reproves the Jewish Christians for their wars and how their lusts, not zeal for God, caused them: “Where do fights and quarrels among you come from? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1). They pretended zeal for country or religion, but their pride, malice, covetousness, ambition, and revenge were behind it. Their internal passions—lust for power, pleasure, riches—began the wars within individuals and then erupted into actual fighting. The cure is to mortify those internal lusts.
James points out the futility of their desires: “You want something and don’t get it. You kill and covet and cannot obtain”—they thought victory would bring pleasure, but instead were consuming each other for nothing. Lusts rob satisfaction.
Furthermore, selfish motives cripple prayers: “You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so you may spend it on your passions” (James 4:3). If we pray for success in business or life but our ends are selfish—vanity, indulgence—God may deny those requests. But if we seek to glorify Him or benefit others, He may grant the need or else give contentment. When prayer aligns with God’s purposes, we find either blessing or strength to endure without it.
We are warned to avoid criminal friendship with the world: “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). Loving the world’s pleasures is unfaithfulness to God—idolatrous and treasonous. “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Where there is no peace with God, there will be conflict among people. Envy naturally comes from the world’s spirit: “The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy” (James 4:5). Human nature is prone to constant evil imaginations (Genesis 6:5). Worldly-mindedness breeds pride and stinginess. But where grace is given, a new spirit—grace, generosity, community—replaces the world’s spirit.
James contrasts pride with humility: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6), reflecting Old Testament teaching (Psalm 18:27; Proverbs 3:34). God resists those who resist Him—as traitors rejecting His authority—but extends grace to those who humbly acknowledge their need. Pride brings disgrace; humility brings strength.