BIble Study - James 4 Conduct

Continuing with the earthly wisdom discussed in Chapter 3,  Chapter 4 begins with consequences - the bad conducts....

Bad Conducts

1. Quarrels and fights for selfish gains - ask not or ask wrongly for selfish lusts.
   This verse teaches us God does not say 'yes' to all our prayer requests. God can only answer our requests according to His own character. Hence, if we ask for things that are no good to us or to others, God's answer will be no. God is not our magic charm and can be manipulated by us. We are to change our thinking and will to submit to God to be Christ like.
2. Friendship with the World
   Our values should follow God's and be not for the world. The Spirit of Christ in us will guide us. We have the responsibility of responding to His guidance. We just need to be humble and seek and listen to His voice. The easiest way is to start with reading the Bible and let God speak through the Bible to our heart. We will not be distracted or misled when guided with the Bible. For the matured, with many years of walking with the Lord, the Bible is internalized, and we can recognize who is speaking. But for the beginners, let start with the safer route - start with hearing God from the Bible.
3. Speaking against another.
   In the context, the speaking against, or speaking evil against in some translation, is about gossiping and saying bad things behind others' back. This is opposite of 5:16 where we are told to confess our sin one to another. The word 'judge' should be better translated as "condemn without fair investigations". Most Christians are confused and claimed that the Bible teaches us not to judge. That cannot be so because we are our brothers keeper and we are encouraged to 'save' our brothers from their sins. Without making right judgment, how could be know our brothers are in sins? see 5:19, Gal 6:1, 1John 5:16, see also To Judge or Not to Judge people? That's Irrelevant... for a set of guides to know how to judge rightly.
   
   How does speaking evil of another is being linked up with judging God's laws?
   
   a. Because we are using our own set of standards, rather that God's standards to speak evil of and to condemn another. When we do that, we actually considered our standards better than God's standards.
   
   b. If the standards we use are in fact God's laws, then we are not speaking 'evil' but are 'correcting' the bad behavior. But the way we correct another needs to be done properly, with love.
   
4. Omission is sin!
   5:17 Knowing what is right and failing to do it is sin! This is beyond the Law but within the New Commandment of Love. This is also true humility - see  Humility is Forceful Too

Repent and Change

1. Know that God cares about you - He gives you Grace-Power.
   We will not repent when we loose hope. But when we know someone cares for us and is able to help us, then we will change. That someone is God. God cares and He will give us the grace - the power to change. 
2. Ask God for the Grace Power to Change.
   God give grace to the humble - those who know they can't help themselves and acknowledge the reality, seeking help from the Source of Life. v8 assures us that we draw near to God, He will not reject us and draw near to us.
3. Submit to God - Obey God and Say NO to the Devil or Temptations.
   The Bible assures us that the devil will flee from us. But we must first draw near and obey God.
4. Attitudes for Drawing Near to God
1. Cleaning our hands i.e. repentant heart.
2. Pure - Single Minded i.e. only God not God and some sinful pleasure.
3. Remorseful - Sorry and disgusted with our sins
4. Humility - Admitting that we can't overcome our sinful habits. Ask Him for the grace-power.(Grace is power that God freely give to those who ask for it to do the right things that we could not).
5. Outcome - Victory.
   God will exalt you - vs 4:10

Living in Victory
The key to living in victory is to know the will of God daily. We don't boast about what we want to do and fall back to the devil's trap. Instead, we find out what God want us to do and do it heartily with His grace powering us.

Questions for Reflections

1. What are the bad conduct or sins?
2. What should we do about them?
3. Where is the strength based development? Are we too sin conscious to be stuck in sin all the time?
4. Should we plan since we can't be sure of the future?
5. What is a best idea that you learned? What action can you take to put this idea into practice?

See the discussion of this chapter at Bible Study James Chapter 4 Discussion