Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

may not be used as an excuse, to minimize the gravity of grievous sins. In
fact, saints are bluntly told, and should be, that they end up in hell, when they
commit sins that according to Scripture shut the door of the Kingdom of God
in their face. If they are “the genuine article,” rather than counterfeit saints,
such message of admonition and rebuke will administer the grace of repentance
and restoration. The complementarity of truth that does not fit into the
human intellect, but is royally accommodated by the regenerate heart, is once
more in abundant evidence.
It would be wise for Christians to be alarmed about James’ challenge,
and to face it honestly and frankly. James writes to them! They should not
simply ask “Is there a presence of sinning and a divided allegiance in us?”
They should believe that there is invariably and continuously such presence
in each one of them because James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells them
that there is! Therefore they will not ask whether, but where this presence of
sinning, and where this divided allegiance is to be found. “Search me, O God,
and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24).
The presence of indwelling sin “guarantees” that the Christian will always
come up with something, and therefore always will be a work-underconstruction.
If he recognizes and acknowledges is, he is a work-in-progress
and act upon it. If not, he is a work-in-regress. In the light of all this he is told
“to grieve, mourn and weep” (See Ps, 6:6; Jer. 4:8; Joel 2:12-13; and also
Rev. 18:11, 15, and 19).
The first verb (talaiporesate), only found here in the NT, is quite telling
as well as all-significant. It is literally “to wretch oneself,” that is “to afflict
oneself in order to get a deep sense of one’s miserable condition” (Manton,
373; Calvin, 336; Grosheide, 1955, 397). This is intimately intertwined with,
if not the direct result of, the permanent presence of indwelling sin, pinpointed
in James 4:5b, as well as the “sewage” it produces. Incidentally, the
corresponding noun (talaiporia) occurs twice in the NT in a more general
sense (Rom. 3:16; Jam. 5:1). However, its derivative, the adjective (talaiporos)
is used by Paul in his Letter to the Romans (7:24) and by Jesus in his
Letter to the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:17) in a context identical to that of James. In
Paul and Jesus indwelling sin results in the permanently “wretched” state of
every believer. This state lasts until the moment of death. Believers must rec-
as it relates to believers. Of course, James could imply that the only way his addressees can
be sure that they are not “wretched sinners” is by heartfelt repentance. It is undeniable that
James puts pressure on his readers. But it is godly pressure that must be duplicated in analogous
circumstances, if Christ’s Church is to avoid (further) regress, and to succeed in turning
the tables in a Recovery mode!
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