James 4:7b-8a

In James 4:7b-8a he gives us another part of bringing our pride and selfish self into right relationship with God. To solve the problems of sin and the strife it causes, we must also resist the devil. This means to stand against devil’s deceptions and his efforts to intimidate. As we resist the devil, we are promised that he will flee from you. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James simply challenges individual Christians to deal with Satan as a conquered foe who can and must be personally resisted.

Clarke wrote “He who, in the terrible name of JESUS, opposes even the devil himself is sure to have speedy and glorious conquest. He flees from that name, and from his conquering blood.”

Resist comes from two Greek words: stand and against. James tells us to stand against the devil. Satan can be set running by the resistance of the lowliest believer who comes in the authority of what Jesus did on the cross. Barclay recorded a famous ancient Christian writer named Hermas who wrote, “The devil can wrestle against the Christian, but he cannot pin him.”

And Poole said “Resist, by faith, and the rest of the spiritual armor. Or, resist i.e. comply not with his motions and temptations.”

We are called to stand strong against the temptations and attacks of the enemy. When we resist, we will win.

So what’s the opposite of resisting? It is to draw near to God. The call to draw near to God is both an invitation and a promise. It is no good to submit to God’s authority and to resist the devil’s attack and then fail to draw near to God.

We have it as a promise: God will draw near to us as we draw near to Him. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

Clarke explains “When a soul sets out to seek God, God sets out to meet that soul; so that while we are drawing near to him, he is drawing near to us.”

The old saying goes ‘if you don’t feel close to God, guess who moved’. God is always there waiting for us to draw near.

What does it mean to draw near to God? Spurgeon considered a few ways:

• “It means to draw near in worship, praise, and in prayer.
• It means to draw near by asking counsel of God.
• It means to draw near in enjoying communion with God.
• It means to draw near in the general course and tenor of your life.”

This also shows what God wants to do for the sinner. It doesn’t say, “Draw near to God and He will save you” or “Draw near to God and He will forgive you,” though both of those are true. But what God really wants is to be near us; to have a close relationship and fellowship with us. From the rest of the chapter we see the results of drawing near to God:

• Drawing near to God helps us to resist the devil.
• Drawing near to God helps us to become pure.
• Drawing near to God helps us to sorrow for sin.
• Drawing near to God helps us to speak well of other people.
• Drawing near to God helps us to think of eternal things.

“Portions of this blog post have been taken from the Enduring Word commentary, (c) 2023 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com“

“Scripture (bold and italicized) has been taken from the English Standard Version, © ESV.org – www.esv.org”