Another Ten Commandments
After God rescued his people, the nation of Israel, from Egypt he brought them through the desert to Mt. Sinai. There God gave the law, or instruction, to his people which showed His will for them. The beginning of this law is what many people know as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21). They were given as the mountain was covered in a cloud, with thunder and flashes of lightning, a fear inducing scene as God communicated. These ten commands formed the foundation of the Old Testament law.
In James chapter 4 another list of ten commands is given. This list wasn’t given with as big as a cataclysmic flair as the original ten, but they are still equally as inspired and valuable to us. In fact, just as I didn’t recognize it until recently, you may have never even noticed there were ten commandments listed in James 4.
James is addressing hostility between people (4:1) and how we also act hostile in our relationship with God (4:4). In order to turn in repentance to God and also heal hostility between one another he gives a new ten commandments.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” - James 4:7-10
Each of these bolded words or phrases is an imperative which in grammar is a command, it is is something you should do. If you and I are going to be serious about God, our sin, and how we love one another then we must learn to apply these 10 commandments. Here are a few brief explanations on what that looks like.
First, submit yourself to God. Submitting is putting yourself under authority, making less of yourself and making more of God. Practically, this means that we first have to hold God’s written word, the Bible, as the highest authority in our lives. That’s why one of the 5 core values of King’s Hill is Bible over Opinion. The Bible gets the final word, not us. That is submitting to God through his word. It also means that we submit to making much of God and not ourselves. If he is worthy of all praise and glory then we aim to reflect that glory back to him. This means we submit by stopping what brings us glory, and instead focusing all of our energy on bringing God glory.
Second, “resist the devil.” If we are submitting fully to God then it follows that we also cannot submit to another. We instead must oppose an enemy that is against God. How do we do that? First, do not be swayed by his lies. If we submit ourselves to God’s word as our final authority then we reject the false truths the enemy tries to tell us. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the armor of God to fight this spiritual battle. This armor is truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. As we pursue these things in obedience, as we worship, as we treasure Jesus more than anything else we resist the devil.
Third, “draw near to God.” For the Christian, God’s Spirit lives within you so in one sense God is always near. Unlike in the Old Testament, where the law gave exact processes for creating a place for God to come and dwell with his people, now God dwells in his Spirit in his people. To draw near then is not physically going some place to be near to God but is instead an act or posture of the heart and soul. When we truly cry out to God for him and we seek the joy that is only found in him then we are drawing near.
Fourth, “cleanse your hands” and “purify your hearts.” We can take these together as they encourage us to address both our deeds and our affections. While Christ has died for our sins and already given us cleansing and purification from our sins, it’s necessary that we continue to confess and repent of sin, both those that we physically do as well as attitudes of the heart.
Fifth, “Be wretched and mourn and weep.” Each of these point us to how we should view our sin. They each emphasize the seriousness of sin. To “be wretched” could have also been translated to be miserable, distressed, or possibly to be grieved. James asks us to feel miserable because of our sin, to not be flippant or dismissive of it, but instead to feel the cost of sin in our lives. We mourn because of the pain and seriousness of sin, especially as we consider it from God’s perspective. Our pain and mourning leading to weeping. Sin is very serious and we should act like it. James also tells us to turn our laughter into mourning. James isn’t against joy or laughter as he expressed his joy in those he is writing to in James 1:2. Instead, when read with the previous three commands it encourages us not to laugh at things that make light of sin as we should be mourning those things.
Sixth, “humble yourself.” This is almost a summary of everything above. It forces us to consider God and our position before Him. God is the almighty, the Holy One, and He that deserves all glory. We are wretched sinners, deserving of punishment, but who have instead received grace from God. Humility is first recognizing this position and not reversing it and thinking we deserve all the glory. It is instead recognizing our sins and shortcomings. It is living a life of service first to God and then to others, never seeking something for yourself.
Left to ourselves we think we are of greatest importance. As a result we do what is best for us. This is hostility first against God who deserves the glory and not us. A self over others attitude will then always lead to hostility with one another as well. In a world filled with hostility, lies, greed, and evil James gives us these new ten commandments. These are how God says he is glorified through us which will end all hostilities.
If you’re looking for a church to call home, we’d love for you to visit King’s Hill.
