- Watch Your Mouth
- Watch Your Mouth, part 2 – Be positive!
- Your Desires that Battle Within You
- How to Win the War Within You
- From the Archives: Trials and Cozy Coupes
The Bible says that each of us is in a constant state of battle. This conflict is within us, and it’s a battle between what God wants for us and what we want. It’s a battle over whether to submit to God or our selfish desires, over what we want to do and what we should do.
A grandpa was complaining to his grandkids about inflation. He said that back in the good old days, his mom would send him to the store, and he’d leave with eggs, milk, bread, meat, fruit, and a comic book — and only spend $1. He said, “You can’t do that nowadays. They have too many security cameras.”
Even Grandpa isn’t immune to this battle. If you’re honest, you recognize things in your life that aren’t pleasing to God. It could be things you know you shouldn’t do or things you know you should do, but you see them. And you fight a battle against them every day.
Let’s pick up where we left off in James last time:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” (James 4:4-6)
James is still talking about the evil desires within us, and now he says that choosing to live for those desires means being a “friend of the world” and an “enemy of God.” The world, the entire system of humanity organized against God, doesn’t like God or his children, and those who choose the world over God are his enemies.
There are times, James says, when even Christians choose the world over God. We follow our selfish impulses instead of our Father, and that breaks God’s heart.
So, is there any hope for us? Is there any way we can win this battle between us?
Yes, there is, because God “gives us more grace.” Grace is God’s undeserved favor to us. Usually, when we use that word, we’re talking about the grace that God shows us in offering us salvation. But grace also means the gift of God’s strength and power. Paul uses the word this way in 2 Corinthians 12:9. Grace is the free, undeserved, active power of God in the lives of his children. It’s power, as John Piper says, “to work in us all that God requires from us.”
Only by God’s grace and power can we overcome our selfish desires. As followers of Christ, we have the amazing gift of God’s constant attack against our sinful nature. You have the Creator of the universe fighting on your behalf. God, though, never forces himself on his children. To experience the victory God provides, we must live in surrender to him.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7-10)
James is giving us the complete recipe for repentance. Repentance means to change our direction, to make a U-turn. This is how we turn from our rebellion and turn toward obedience to God. This is how we allow God’s power to help us in battle.
First, we need to surrender to God by choosing to obey. As God’s children, we’re free from the power of sin. Sin does not have to control us. When you became a believer, your old person, who was a slave to sin, died, and you became a brand new person with a brand new heart. You’re no longer a slave to sin. You don’t have to sin.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)
Since you no longer have to sin, you can face temptation by saying, “I don’t have to do that!” And this is where the grace and power of God come in.
We also must start resisting the devil and stop resisting God. When Satan is tempting us, all we have to do is choose to follow God’s will. Our enemy cannot force us into sin. When we obey God, Satan has to flee. He has no choice.
Choosing to obey and resist the devil includes breaking away from whatever things in your life are leading you to bad decisions. Is that even possible? Yes, because you have the Holy Spirit in your life. Remember, you have the Creator of the universe working in you, giving you his power. Your part is to surrender and decide to obey and resist. Kill those evil desires (Colossians 3:5). Know who you are in Christ and that you are free from sin’s control. You don’t have to sin.
James then tells us to “come near to God.” Probably the greatest gift we have as believers is access to God. So, are you praying? Are you regularly asking God to cleanse you and use you to bring him glory?
Are you regularly reading the Bible? If you humble yourself, God will use the Bible to change your life. So read it. Measure all of your selfish impulses by what God says.
God has all the power we’ll ever need to grow in holiness, but we must come to the end of ourselves and admit that we need him to do this. This isn’t a one-time decision that’s valid for the rest of your life. It’s a decision you may have to make moment by moment each day. God gives us his Holy Spirit to give us all the power we need, but we must submit in humility to his leadership.
James ends this section on a high note: “He will lift you up.” When you see your sin for the evil it is, he’s there for you. When you repent and turn to God, he’s there for you. When you humble yourself before God, he will lift you up as you experience the joy of his forgiveness.
That’s a promise, and God always keeps his promises.