James 4:4-5: Friendship of the World
2025-03-30
James 4:4
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. (James 4:4)
James calling his audience “adulterers and adulteresses” is quite bold. But what is an adulterer? It is one who has relations with someone other than one’s spouse. He is not accusing them of committing that kind of adultery, but of spiritual adultery. They belong to the LORD, but they are pledging allegiance to another. That other allegiance is to the world. Jesus calls His disciples “friends,” but these disciples were calling the world their friend.
What is the “world” here? People often define worldliness by doing various activities that the world normally enjoys. This may or may not be, depending on the case. The world is really the world system that we live in.
The world is ruled by Satan, and every unsaved person is his subject. “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The entire world is therefore evil and corrupt, and nothing good resides in it. Consider 1 John 2:15-17. We are told by the Spirit not to love the world. Everything in the world appeals to our five senses and our pride and does not direct us to the Lord. All those things are passing away and soon will be gone, but the Christian, having a root outside this world, lives forever beyond this world. “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19).
The world, though originally created without blemish by God, was defiled by one act of sin. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Adam died spiritually that day, but his shift in allegiance also invited Satan to rule over the world instead.
Later, when Jesus came, the world that He made did not recognize Him. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10). And again, “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). The citizens of the world, being sold under Satan, had to be rescued by the Lord who physically entered the world. “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word” (John 17:6).
Now that we are friends of the Lord, why do we go back to being friends with the world? The world killed the Lord Jesus Christ; we cannot go back there. We are citizens of heaven, but we impersonate citizens of another country.
But what is friendship with the world most specifically in this context? We spoke of controlling the tongue, wisdom, and fighting among Christians. We compared the worldly way and the “above” way. This is the difference. In every matter, it is either from the Lord or from the world. And we are presented with that choice each time to trust Him or run our course without Him.
James 4:5
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (James 4:5)
Where is this quotation from? It is hard to find the exact quotation. In my reading up on this, some seem to say that this is just a generalized conclusion from the Scriptures. There is truth in this. Some have proposed this: “But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10). Consider Isaiah 63:7-10. He served His people in every possible way, yet they continued in sin. This fits our context in James 4:5. He gave us His Spirit, but we can walk contrary to Him. James’ audience surely had.
The potential problem I see with this interpretation is that the word “envy” is used and not “jealousy.” God is jealous, but He is not envious. God is rightfully jealous when His people serve other gods or sin despite His kindness to us. He is never covetous in any way. This makes the interpretation a little difficult.
The bottom line, I think, is this. Being born again with the indwelling Holy Spirit, when we try to walk contrary to our being and calling, there is tension and friction.
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). Consider the larger context in Galatians 5:16-26. To escape the strife with others and personal sins, the answer is walking in the Spirit. Again, we cannot beat the dead horse enough, there are two sources. From above, or from the Spirit, and from the world beneath, or from the flesh. We have an innate desire to do good because of the Lord, but we never accomplish those desires when we try. When we read “works of the flesh,” we should read, “from our own strength.” Everything from our own strength results in those things on the list here. When we read, “the fruit of the Spirit,” we should read it as it is written: this fruit is from the Spirit, not us! Since we belong to the Lord Jesus, we “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” This is an objective fact. Therefore, for us to appropriate this truth into subjective reality, we depend on Him. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” We live in the Spirit (objective truth that rests on the historical fact of our rebirth in Christ). We must now walk in the Spirit (subjective truth that rests on our faith in Christ).
Notice the apostle started off by saying “Walk in the Spirit.” Later, he says, “led of the Spirit.” We walk in the Spirit when we follow His leading. He calls from within day after day, and that requires a response. When we follow the Spirit’s leading by faith, He produces more of the Son in our experience.
Consider the last verse: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26). Being full of self results in such conflict with others.
So it is all about source every time. Above or below. Walking in the Spirit or the flesh. And there is an inner conflict that continues to vie for our attention.