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James 4:4
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Discord threatened to tear apart the churches to whom James wrote his epistle, for many of his addressees lacked the heavenly wisdom needed to maintain peace and righteousness among them. The readers had not asked the Lord for such wisdom or had asked with wrong motives, and the result was men and women controlled by their passions instead of submitting their desires to God in holiness (James 4:1–3). Today’s verse gives us further indication of just how bad the problem actually was.
James calls his audience an “adulterous people” (v. 4). Literally, the Greek labels the people “adulteresses,” which might seem like an odd way to refer to a group of men and women until we consider Old Testament theology. Frequently, the old covenant prophets liken the relationship between God and Israel to that of a married couple, with God as the Husband and Israel as the wife (e.g., see Isa. 54:5–6). God and His people were to live in an intimate relationship and to be completely faithful to one another. While the Lord is always faithful to His people, the old covenant community as a whole often failed to reciprocate. Instead, they chased after other gods, leading the prophets to compare Israel to an adulteress. Hosea in particular makes much of this metaphor. In any case, James’ point is that his audience was continuing the long tradition of God’s covenant people’s being unfaithful to Him.
James’ audience evidenced spiritual adultery in their partiality, misuse of the tongue, and pursuit of envy and other passions (James 2:1–13; 3:1–4:3). Such things, we see in James 4:4, are marks of friendship with the world, which is enmity with God. Friendship in the ancient world was often regarded more seriously than it is today, involving deep loyalty and shared allegiance. Thus, one cannot be a friend with both God and the world. John Calvin elaborates on this, explaining that “the friendship of the world [is] when men surrender themselves to the corruptions of the world, and become slaves to them.”
Friendship with the world does not refer simply to enjoying things in the world. Matthew Henry comments, “A man may have a competent portion of the good things of this life, and yet may keep himself in the love of God.” We become friends of the world when we allow our desires to pull us away from the Lord into disharmony, unjust discrimination, jealousy, and a host of other ills.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Matthew Henry writes that “he who sets his heart upon the world, who places his happiness in it, and will conform himself to it, and do any thing rather than lose its friendship, he is an enemy to God; it is constructive treason and rebellion against God to set the world upon his throne in our hearts.” Let us regularly ask ourselves whether we have become friends of the world, and may we pursue friendship with the Lord with all that we are.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 5:7
- Ezekiel 16
- 2 Timothy 4:10
- 1 John 2:15
The bible in a year
- Mark 10:35–52
- Numbers 32–34