4:5
The Old Testament is clear that “God is a jealous God” (Ex 20:5), and this is not just an Old Testament concept. God is our creator, He is our source of life, He is our saviour. He has every right to be jealous, to demand that we worship only Him. Moreover, it would be utterly stupid of us to worship anyone or anything else. Going along with the world makes no sense, as it leads only to trouble and destruction. “The spirit He has caused to dwell in us”. This could be taken in two ways. On the one hand it could refer to our status as beings created in the image of God. We are unique among all of creation in this sense. Or it could refer to the Holy Spirit. Either way we are completely dependent upon the Lord and should live in the light of this.
4:6
“But He gives us more grace”. God would have been quite within His rights to have obliterated us many years ago. He did not do this because of His grace. Now that some in the churches that James was writing to were going off the rails, they still had time to repent. “God opposes the proud, but shows favour to the humble”. The world, and our human natures, encourage us to be proud and not humble. But we need to humble ourselves before God. If we do so He is merciful towards us.
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