Draw near to God / James Bible Study (Part 12) / Chapter 4

In the final verses of chapter 4, James is calling for humility, repentance, and dependence on God in all aspects of life, urging believers to live in accordance with His will rather than their own selfish desires. He advises humility before the Lord, acknowledging His sovereignty and authority over our lives. Encouraging believers to allow God to lift them up in due time.

'Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

'Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of 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 one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

'Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

'Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.' (James 4.8-17, NKJV.)