The Remedy to Worldliness: Part 7 - James 4:10

The Remedy to Worldliness: Part 7 - James 4:10
Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Having looked at nine imperatives, we have finally reached the tenth and final imperative that James has given as a remedy to the worldly indulgences that his readers were giving themselves over to. Their sinful state wasn't a pretty picture, but James has given them clear instructions over the course of these nine imperatives, showing them the steps that they need to take in order to return to fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our final imperative in James 4:10 serves as a summary of the previous nine and rounds out his instruction for overcoming worldliness. If hearts and minds are clear and prepared to study spiritual truth, then let us begin.

Quote :

James 4:10 (NASB) - Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

This verse gives us the ultimate remedy to worldliness and sin and serves as the culmination of all the other nine imperatives. The imperative that we have here in verse 10 is "humble yourselves." In the Greek this word is tapeinoo (Strong's #G5013) and it has the basic idea of making or bringing low. When we look at this passage, what we see James instructing his readers to do is lower themselves in the presence of the Lord. To further expound, the idea here is that James is expecting for his readers to lay aside their pride, turn from their sinful ways, and recognize who is in charge. This is much in the same light as in verse 7 when we are told to "submit to God;" that was a passive imperative, meaning that God was the one doing the action and we were the recipients of it. We have the same case here with "humble yourselves;" we are choosing and allowing ourselves to be made low, but it is really God who is performing the act of making us humble. This kind of action is the mark of someone who has been through the steps of the first nine imperatives from verses 7-9 and has genuinely put their focus back on the Lord. We can parallel this with Isaiah when he encountered the Lord; in Isaiah 6:5, when Isaiah realized that he was in the presence of the Lord he immediately humbled himself and recognized his unworthiness to be anywhere near the Lord. It is this kind of humility that James is speaking of and imploring us to have.

Not leaving it there, we are told that we're to humble ourselves "in the presence of the Lord." What exactly does that mean? First, it means doing what we saw Isaiah do, as well as what James has already instructed; from there, it is a matter of being totally conscious and aware that you are in the presence of holiness and infinite majesty. When that is at the forefront of our minds, we cannot help but to get down on bended knee before His throne and be made aware of our lowly stature. That is the picture of humility and what God requires of us. We can see all throughout Scripture that God is merciful towards those who humble themselves, as we see in 2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 23:12; and Luke 15:18-19. Let us also not forget Matthew 5:3 which gives us the end result of our humility, which we also see at the end of James 4:10. In essence, humility is the only way in which we can be forgiven of our sins and be made right in the sight of God; if we hold on to pride and feel that there is some way that we can justify ourselves, then we are not humble and submitting ourselves to God. God only forgives those who are humble and have come to the end of themselves, and Scripture makes that perfectly clear.

Now, at the end of this verse, we see the culmination and final result of our humility, which is exaltation, or being raised up. What's so great about this exaltation is that it happens in the same way as our humility, it is by and through God (Jesus Christ) as a result of our submission to Him. Now, it is important to note that this exaltation is yet future, and will come when we get to heaven. It is when we get to heaven that we are ultimately exalted as we are removed from our sin nature and made holy just as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Although this is a yet future event, there is a since in which we are exalted here in the earth, and we can see both aspects of this exaltation laid out for us in Ephesians 1:3-7 and 2:6. As a result of our salvation, we become exalted because God gives us His Holy Spirit and we go from being children of the devil (John 8:44) to children of Light (Ephesians 5:. Then, when we finally reach heaven, we are obtain the rest of the promises that come as being joint heirs with Christ. And, it is not only James that is making this promise, but Peter declares the same thing in 1 Peter 5:6.

In closing, the main thing that we want to take away from this passage is the utmost need for humility on the part of believers. There is no room for pride when approaching God and we have to give of ourselves to Him in a manner that says that we have nothing left of our own. It is only when we reach this point that God is able to forgive us of our sins and bring us back into fellowship with Him. Let us also be aware that we are always in the presence of the Lord, so we should always be walking in spiritual humility. Now, James could have very easily given us this verse alone as a means of remedying our worldly passions, but he chose to give us nine other imperatives to help us understand and appreciate this final one. When taken together, these ten imperatives give us a clear picture of what it means to turn and repent of sins and to then walk in humility before the Lord. This is how we remedy sin in our lives, no matter how big or small. It is my prayer that we would be able to apply these truths to our lives in order that we might serve the Lord with our all.

Until we meet again, walk in humility and guard yourself against sin!

devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/james072.php