Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

The “purity” theme carries over from James 3:17, the “heart” theme
from James 3:14, and the “single-mindedness” theme from both James 1:8
and James 3:17. When the heart is purified through the cleansing presence of
the Spirit, all envy and selfish ambition will be gone. So will the doublemindedness,
whether in prayer (Jam. 1:8), in relating to the poor and the rich
(Jam. 2:1-4), in blessing and cursing (Jam. 3:10-11), and, most appropriate in
this context, in facing God and the world (Jam. 4:4). The readers should not
be “pulled and torn” between allegiance to God and loyalty to the world,
whether in “external behavior” or “internal attitude” (Moo, 1985, 149)!
Note well, James calls all his readers, members of the Church of the
Savior, “sinners” and “double-minded.” The term “sinners” in Scripture (Mt.
9:10; Lk. 7:37, 39) is usually reserved for those “who live a flagrantly immoral
life,” or “who follow a dishonorable vocation” (Karl Rengstorf, quoted
in Kistemaker, 140). The expression double-minded “connotes instability,
fickleness and vacillation” (Kistemaker, 140). The fact that this twofold terminology
is applied to “saints” is telling. “Here it is used of Christians who
fail by sins of commission or omission to fulfill the law of Christ,” and in
their moral defilement and failure are called to repentance against the backdrop
of the truth of 1 John 1:7 (Tasker, 94). They are, and must be,
“wretched” (Rom. 7:24). Apparently there is always a presence of sinning to
be found among them (Mt. 11:9; John 9:31). This is rooted in the fact that due
to the power of the flesh their hearts are too quickly and too easily divided
between God and the world (Jam. 4:4). Furthermore, the double-mindedness
that is too often in evidence in the prayers of the Christian (Jam. 1:8), is part
of a broader pattern! Apparently there is a blurred vision of the seriousness of
sin which resulted in compromise with the world and displayed itself in divided
loyalties, objectives, and patterns of conduct. Singleness of heart, purity
of purpose, and consecration of life are hardly the order of the day. At he
same time “vapid hilarity, false heartiness, unseemly gaiety, a light and
frivolous spirit—these are wholly out of place in the life of the converted man
or woman” (Tasker, 95).
In short, James calls members of the covenant community “sinners,” not
to deny that they are “saints,” but to remind “saints” that they are and remain
“wretched” as an open sewer by virtue of indwelling sin, and doubly
“wretched,” when that sewer spills over or overflows in actual sins. It is the
presence of this “double wretchedness” that makes saints deserving of the appellation
of “sinners.” 338 In other words, their sainthood is never a reason, and
338 Believers are frequently, well over 50 times, called “saints” in the NT. Only once they are
characterized as “sinners.” Right here in James 4:8! This is most likely the case to emphasize
the seriousness as well as heinousness of sin, especially in believers. It is rather clear, however,
that the term sinners when applied to unbelievers, is not identical to the use of this term
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