Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
Who’s Friend are You?

Who’s Friend are You?

September 11, 2017 by Zane Hodges in Blog

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

What emerges from the epistle is a portrait of Christian readers many of whom are materialistic in outlook, cultivating connections with the wealthy while pursuing financial success for themselves. But all of this was worldly to the core. Did his readers not realize, James asks, that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Did they not know that whoever … wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God?

Often in the NT the term world (kosmos) is used of a system or entity that is hostile to God and is manipulated by Satan (e.g., 1 Cor 1:20–21; 2:12; Gal 6:14; 2 Pet 1:4; 1 John 2:15–17; 3:1; 5:19). Materialism, immorality, and spiritual blindness are all components of this wicked entity and are in sharp conflict with God’s interests and purposes on earth. James is insistent here (as is John in 1 John 2:15–17) that one cannot be on good terms with both God and the world. One must choose the side he is really on, and when one opts for friendship with the world, he automatically opts for enmity with God. He has chosen the status of an antagonist toward his Maker and Redeemer. This is just like when a married man decides to engage in immorality with a woman to whom he is not married. In that very decision he chooses to reject fidelity to his wife. Thus in their craving for worldly acceptance and standing, James’s Christian readers are committing spiritual adultery and renouncing friendship with their Lord. It may have surprised many of them to hear it put this way, but James’s aim is to wake them up to the sad depth to which their spirituality and devotion had sunk.

Zane C. Hodges, “The Epistle of James,” in The Grace New Testament Commentary.

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Zane Hodges

by Zane Hodges

Zane Hodges taught New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Dallas Theological Seminary.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Cart

Recently Added

May 31, 2023

Aren’t People Who Believe in Works Salvation Saved?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin and David Renfro are answering why works systems will not and do not bring eternal salvation....
May 31, 2023

Do You Know What the Scriptures Mean When They Talk about Money?

I’m scheduled to speak to a group of kids, ages five to twelve, at VBS. I’m speaking on the feeding of the 5,000 in John...
May 30, 2023

What Did Jesus Preach in the Four Gospels? Was It a Call for People to Repent of Their Sins? Was His Teaching About the Kingdom?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin and David Renfro are answering a question about the content of Jesus’ teaching during His earthly...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • Romans: Deliverance from Wrath $24.99 $15.00
  • The Gospel Under Siege: Faith and Works in Tension $16.00 $10.00
  • The Epistle of James $15.00 $10.00
  • A Gospel of Doubt: The Legacy of John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus $22.00 $11.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube