In chapter 4, verse 7 there’s something of a summation of what he’s been saying: Submit to God; resist the devil. Both are essential and ultimately indivisible.
Submit to God - to his wisdom, to his loving ordering of all your days and his unbreakable commitment to your final salvation. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and will not revoke the promised rescue his Son secured on the cross. We submit to him by taking our struggle with sin seriously, confessing our faults and humbly asking the Lord to renew us in the strength of his grace. We surrender to his love.
As we do so, says James, as we come near to him - into the light of his presence - he will come near to us. Wonderful assurance! We are not rejected on account of our fallibilities, we are not despised because of our ongoing falls. If we humble ourselves before him, owning our all-too-frequent bouts of self-reliance, “he will lift you up.”
While we submit ourselves to God, we resist the devil. That might conjure up all manner of exotic ideas that easily morph into something bizarre. But James’ meaning is as clear as the rest of scripture: resist him by continuing to put God’s Word into practice. Not just listening to it but doing what it says. Keeping a tight rein on your tongue, caring for the vulnerable, being thankful for all God’s good gifts, putting pride to death, worshipping the living God. Resist him by a faith that shows itself to be alive through the deeds it performs.
James’ straightforward comment is that if you resist him in this way “he will flee from you.” Because your life is being lived in the presence of God, in fellowship with him, sweetened by his joy and sustained by his grace. The devil has little hope of influencing those of whom this is true.
Submit to God and he will come near; resist the devil and he will flee. James has stated his case, succinctly and memorably.
And in the maelstrom of the days we're living through, both within the pandemic and beyond it, we need such clarity and conviction. We are saved entirely by the grace of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we find ourselves up to our necks in the waters of trial, “he gives us more grace”. We are not left to battle through on our own, even when we're the ones who have put ourselves in harm's way. The Lord himself is our helper - always was and always will be.
We need to be patient, like the farmer who has sown his crops. The harvest will come. We need to put aside grumbling against each other; none of us are without fault. We need to persevere, learning from the example of Job, confident of what the Lord will finally bring about. Remember, says James, he "is full of compassion and mercy". (James 5:7-11)
In all this we are submitting ourselves to the Father of our spirits and will live. We are resisting the malign temptations of the devil to forsake faith in Christ, to kick over the traces of a life set on perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We are being held by hands of healing, having been washed in the pure waters of sacrificial love.
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God is my strong salvation;
What foe have I to fear?
In darkness and temptation
My light, my help is near.
Though hosts encamp around me,
Firm to the fight I stand;
What terror can confound me,
With God at my right hand?
Place on the Lord reliance;
My soul, with courage wait;
His truth be thine affiance,
When faint and desolate.
His might thine heart shall strengthen,
His love thy joy increase;
Mercy thy days shall lengthen;
The Lord will give thee peace.
(James Montgomery, 1771-1864)
