James expands on his thought from 3:14-16, where he introduces “bitter envy and selfish ambition” as causes of disorder and every evil practice in the church.  This passage conveys three main thoughts.  First, James defines the causes of the dissention among the members (1-3), next, he reproves spiritual unfaithfulness (4-6), and finally, he makes a plea for submission to God  (7-10).

(1-3) – 1.  James’ readers were living in an environment of constant “fights and quarrels.”  These two words were usually used in relation to nations at war with one another, however, could be used for any major antagonism.  James uses a rhetorical question to answer his first question of where these fights and quarrels come from. They come from our human or fleshy desires.  The Greek word for “desires” here is the root for our English word “hedonism,” which is a philosophy that “views pleasures as the chief goal of life.”  James portrays these desires as the overriding goals of their lives.  

            2.  They want something and don’t get it.  What do they want and how badly do they want it.  Speaking of these overwhelming desires, they are consumed with anxious longing and come up empty.  The intensity of their desire was such that they could “kill and covet” to get what they want.  Did they literally kill?  Could this be a word used to show the degree of their depravity?  Matt. 5:21-22; 1 Jn. 3:15 – may help us see how serious hatred is, and that it its judged as murder, and their salvation may be in question (this is the church, we’re talking about).   Yet with all this consuming desire, they were not able to obtain what they wanted because they were going after it in the wrong way.  They didn’t ask God!  They were lusting and fighting instead of praying! 

            3.  Even if they would pray in desperation, it was only to get for themselves these desires or pleasures.  Their goal was to satisfy their own pleasures and when this didn’t happen, they would be wrestling over how to get what they wanted.  They might even get to the point where they would resort to prayer, but even prayer didn’t work for them.  They wanted to gratify themselves rather than please God and help others.

(4-6) – 4.  “You adulterous people” is a feminine form indicating them as the “adulteress.”  The people of God are the bride of Christ (N.T. – Eph. 5:23-32) and the wife of the Lord (O.T. – Jer. 31:32).  Since we are the bride of Christ and spiritually married to God, then unfaithfulness to God is adultery in His eyes.  Therefore, “adulteress” in this verse is a figure of speech for spiritual unfaithfulness.  This is a “shock treatment” attempt by James to shame and shock his readers into realizing the gravity of their sin.  They were aware of the concept of spiritual adultery from the Old Testament Scriptures (e.g. Hos. 2:2-5; 3:1-5; 9:1).  Believers are faced with two possible objects of our attention and devotion, the world and God.  These two areas are opposed to each other.  James refers to the “world” as anything controlled by Satan that detracts us from God.  Jesus said we cannot serve two masters (Mt. 6:24), and this concept is supported in   1 John 2:15.  James also includes all that is wicked and opposed to God on this earth (world).  He is more specifically thinking of the pleasures and desires of our hearts that lure us away from following God.   He uses the term “friendship” which connotes a warm affection toward.  So, if we choose to befriend the worldly pleasures that lure us away from God, we have become an enemy of God.  If we align ourselves with God’s enemy, then we have also become God’s enemy.  5.  This is a difficult verse to grasp and understand.  NIV has alternate translations, and one of these is very fitting for the context:  “… that God jealously longs for the spirit that He made to live in us?”  God does not want to share us with anyone else, especially His enemy!  If we love the world and the things of the world then we are guilty of spiritual adultery.  It would make sense that God jealously wants and waits for our total devotion to Him.  (Ex. 20:5; 34:14).  Our God is a jealous God!  James uses this verse to solidify his point in verse 4.  They are guilty of spiritual unfaithfulness, and his use of “or” turns them to realize that Scripture supports his accusation because they know that Scripture does not “say without reason” that if they love the world they become the enemies of God!  6.  This verse concludes this heavy thought.  God gives “more grace!”  God expects and requires wholehearted devotion, which s very difficult in the face of the appealing pleasures offered by the world.  However, God gives us the grace we need to live for Him.

We can resist the appeal of the world because He gives the grace necessary to compensate for the demand He has put upon us.  James then quotes the Proverb to show that this is a promise of God so we will not pridefully pursue the pleasures of the world and commit spiritual adultery. 

(7-10) – 7.  James now goes on to issue ten commands for the believers to do something about this dilemma he has revealed.  In light of Pr. 3:34, they need to take action if they want God’s help that is offered to the humble.  Therefore, they must “submit to God¹.”   Submission is yielding our will to Him.  Rather than resist God’s will, they should resist the devil (the enemy, the world, pleasures), and this will lead to obedience.  As powerful as Satan may be he can be resisted and he will flee.  He seems to be the influence in their spiritual unfaithfulness, and this can be corrected.  8.  “Come near to God²,” is a command James gives to his readers who have drifted away from God.  God will welcome them back even though they have been separated because He is jealously waiting for their devotion.   Next he commands them: “wash your hands³,” which is an effort to purify their conduct.  He then addresses their motives and thoughts by saying: “purify your hearts⁴.”  He calls them “you sinners” showing to what level they have fallen by entertaining pursuit of their pleasures, which resulted in sins of the heart and their actions.  He calls them: “double minded” because they claim to love God and yet have attempted to satisfy these worldly desires at the same time.  9.  He now gives four commands to repent.  “Grieve⁵” – they are to repent in misery even though they were seeking pleasure originally.  They are commanded to “mourn⁶” or passionately grieve outwardly, and similarly “wail⁷” aloud.  Before, they were seeking pleasures and laughing in joy, but now they are to changes their “laughter to mourning⁸” and their “joys to gloom⁹.”  Their burning desire for pleasure led James to issue this powerful call to all-out repentance.  10.  James’ final command is referring back to the proverb that prompted his commandments.  He says to “humble yourself in the sight of the Lord¹⁰.”  They are to repent before God for seeking after pleasures of the world rather than seeking God.  They are reminded in with the command that “He will lift you up” as they humble themselves before Him.  (Mt. 23:12; Lk. 14:11; 18:14; Php. 2:5-11; 1 Pt. 5:6).