A Community of Holiness & Grace

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 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. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? - James 4:1‭-‬12 ESV

Rev. Ryan Egli

Adulterous slanderous people are in need of God grace

Nature of adulterous people

James confronts people. These are not the enemies of James. They are loved and are a concern for James. He calls them adulterous. There's infighting in these new churches. Why? Because they are under the control of their passions and desires, not only that, but they had the wrong desires. James is confronting friends. Their bitter envy, rivalry, gossip, and back biting is adulterous. They point to other loves in our lives that are not God.

A gracious God

How does God react to an adulterous people? When they come to Him, he gives grace. God calls us to himself to give ourselves, submit ourselves to God. He calls his people to lament their sins and repent. Then he empowers us and forgives us.

Stop judging each other

Those who have received grace from God are called to not stand in judgement over others. We are commanded instead to love our neighbors. We cannot stand over people in judgement at the same time we are loving them. We can't do both. This is different from the orderly judgement of church leaders to treat unrepentant sinners. We are called to stop malicious and vengeful judgement.