James 4:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

NIV: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

NASB: Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

CSB: Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

NLT: So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

KJV: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

NKJV: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

In the previous verses, James spelled out how his Christians readers had been living lives of worldly self-reliance, as many of us do at times. They had committed themselves to getting what they wanted at all costs, even to the point of fighting with other believers. They believed God, but they refused to trust Him to provide good for them and to accept that He was still providing good when He withheld what they wanted most.

God sees this as adultery, cheating on Him with the world. He takes it personally. He opposes us in our pride when we live that way, but He doesn't reject us. In the previous verse, James wrote that God gives more grace. He gives grace to the humble.

How should we respond when we realize we've been on the world's path again? This verse reveals the beginning of James's answer: submit to God again. Give up getting what you want, and willingly receive all the good He gives. We must surrender our battles to achieve our own desires, and turn to serve others instead.

Finally, we must resist the devil. In chapter 3, James revealed that this worldly wisdom we've been following is, in part, from the devil, God's enemy. Satan has been instrumental in engineering this system of self-service from the very beginning of human history. James's promise is clear: If we quit the path of the world and resist the devil, he will run away from us.

We must resist, though. Resistance requires us to actively pull away. It demands we continually counter his lies by telling ourselves the truth about our God's goodness, love, and power. The devil won't remain in the presence of our submission to the truth of God's Word.

James 4:1–12 builds on the end of chapter 3, describing how living according to the world's wisdom has led to great conflict among James's Christian readers. They were fighting with each other because they couldn't get what they wanted. James says that living that way is adultery. It's ''cheating'' on God. He calls them to quit their friendship with the world, humble themselves, repent from their sin, and receive God's grace. God is the Lawgiver and Judge, not man.

What was causing fights and quarrels among the Christians to whom James was writing? They were living by the world's wisdom. This false perspective says human beings should do whatever it takes to get what they want in this life, even if it hurts other people. James says that to live that way is adultery, but God gives grace. Christians should repent and move close to God again. We should trust Him to provide, to be the Judge, and to lift us up in His time. In humility, we must acknowledge that all of our plans are dependent on Him, and He can change them at any moment.

The book of James is about what it means for a Christian to live a life of complete trust in God. Chapter 4 builds on the end of chapter 3, where James described the self-seeking wisdom of the world. Following this worldliness was the cause of fights among James's Christian readers. He called them to repent and, in humility, receive God's grace. He called them to stop making their plans for business as if they could accomplish anything without God. In chapter 5, he will continue to talk about the dangers of trusting riches instead of the Lord.

The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer's life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers. Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus' half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus' birth. James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.