James 4:6-10: Humble Yourselves
2025-04-04
James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)
The reference is from Proverbs 3:34 LXX. In our Bible, the original reference reads, “Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.” The Lord extends grace even in times we befriend the world and grieve the Spirit. When does He show grace, but when we are humble? When we turn from ourselves and toward Him, we realize this grace.
In pride, in a state of loving the world, we can see that God resists that person. He fights against you. The preceding verses demonstrate this. We want this or that, and God fights against us. We fight harder, and He blocks us more. But when we surrender and realize the futility of our efforts, aligning with whatever the Lord has for us, His grace is realized.
Consider the original context in Proverbs 3:31-35. First, we see the froward versus the righteous. The froward is an abomination. An abomination is something so awful, you do not want to have anything to do with it. Get that awful, disgusting stuff away from me! The secret is with the righteous. There is an intimacy between the Lord and His people. They are close and confide in one another. There is friendship and peace. Where one is, you find the other.
Consider the wicked versus the just. Curse versus blessing. We looked at this in the past. Blessing is God’s enabling of His creation to flourish and be everything they were intended to be. Cursing is the resistance of the same.
Again, we see the scorner versus the lowly. We see that the Lord mocks the mocker. He scorns the scorner. He fights the proud and bestows grace on the lowly, as we have seen.
Finally, we the wise versus the fool. Consider the inheritance versus the promotion. What the wise man can expect from his wise ways is glory. They are honored and respected. The fool is shamed and debased. If this does not seem to be the case in this life, they can expect it in the next life.
The apostle Peter quotes this verse as well. Consider 1 Peter 5:5-7. He shows how we ought to submit to one another. We can surmise from this group of verses that we can only really submit to one another as much as we can submit to the Lord. Also, we can see that true exaltation comes from first humility and submission.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
This verse and the subsequent verses build on and give a practical implementation of the previous verse. Here is the path: Submit, resist, draw nigh, cleanse, purify, be afflicted, mourn, weep, mourn, become heavy, humble. All this is abandoning the old man, grieving the state we were in, and embracing the new man afresh.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.” What do we mean by submit? Elsewhere, the word is translated “be subject to,” “be under obedience,” “put under,” “subdue,” and “obedient.” In the world, they do not think that being under authority is something good. The world tells us it is good to be in charge and to be your own boss. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). By nature, we cannot submit to Him. This verse naturally refers to the born again and the redeemed only. Remembering His calling, we drop whatever bit of self we cling to and submit, even if it feels painful and awkward.
Consider the Jews according to the flesh. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). These men from the first century wanted their own righteousness apart from God. However, there is no such thing. They need to submit to God’s righteousness. We must do the same, for we are no different from them.
Consider Ephesians 1:20-23. Jesus Christ, our Lord who submitted Himself to a shameful death for our life, has been exalted above everything. Everything has been placed under Him. We will either willingly submit or we will be forced to. It makes the most sense to willingly submit. “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God” (Acts 5:38-39).
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Resisting implies there is something to resist. Elsewhere, it is translated “withstand.” There is someone out there that is attacking, persuading, coaxing, and resistance is necessary. The devil is such a one, and we must resist. There are temptations and traps. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9). The enemy is looking for the one who will stumble. Every Christian in the world is a target for him. Resisting the temptation to fall into his trap is the answer.
James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (James 4:8)
“Draw nigh to God.” Previously, we saw the command to submit to God. Now the command is to draw near. We submit to God as the highest Lord of lords in the universe. However, we draw nigh to the heavenly Father and Friend. When we submit to the Highest and resist the devil and his world system, we are restored to a fellowship and a friendship to be nurtured and cherished.
This command comes with a promise: “...and he will draw nigh to you.” Leaving the elements of the world and turning to the Father, He will be and feel nearby. What comes with drawing near but cleansing and purifying?
“Cleanse your hands, ye sinners...” Clean hands imply righteousness, specifically practical righteousness. David says in his song, “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me” (2 Samuel 22:21). Because David lived righteously, he was rewarded. Job similarly says, “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9). The Hebrew parallelism defines clean hands as righteousness.
See another picture of coming near to the Lord. Consider Psalm 24:1-10. The Lord’s glory and power are everywhere. If He is so high and lifted up, how can we see Him and experience Him? He is the mighty warrior and king. What can we do in His presence? “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:4-5). Only Christ was truly like this in practice. By faith and walking His ways, we will see the Father like He did.
“...purify your hearts, ye double minded.” We have seen the phrase “double minded” before. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:6-7). This was in the context of asking the Lord for wisdom. We see the mutual exclusivity of trusting the Lord and following our heart and the world. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). We seek what we treasure, whether that is the Lord or something else.
James 4:9
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (James 4:9)
The prosperity gospel proponents don’t want you to read this one. Why would the brother of our Lord want us to feel miserable? He wants his audience to feel remorse and sorrow and pain rather than joy and happiness. Having exhausted themselves fighting against God to no avail, trying to get their own way and stepping on others to get it, they should realize their own sin. These things sent our Lord to the cross. What will the Jews do when they realize they have crucified and rejected the Lord of glory? “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). This is not written for the Jews alone, but for every saint who realizes the magnitude of his sin.
James 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10)
The way up is down. Mourning for sin and drawing near to the Lord is the way to be lifted up from our circumstances. Though the Lord was always without sin, great trial and pain preceded His exaltation. How much more would it be so for us? To know the presence of the Lord and the things of God, we empty ourselves and allow Him to lift us up. Any lifting of ourselves up is pride.
The word for humble is also translated as being abased and being brought low. Can one be truly humble and not embrace being abased for the Lord’s sake? The Scriptures say that the Lord Jesus was likely crucified naked or close to it. We know this because the Spirit says, “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots” (Matthew 27:35). However, by His humiliation, He was also exalted, for the Spirit says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14-15). Abiding in Christ, the story is the same for us.