By Neil Earle
James, the brother of Jesus, summarizes these verbal lightning bolts and they are pretty demanding for Christians who want some iron in their blood.
Mention the “ten commands” or the Ten Commandments and most people think of the ten “Thou shalt nots” summarized in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.
Here is probably the most famous code of laws in history, quoted much more extensively than Hammurabi’s Code or the sayings of Confucius. Only a pastor asking for trouble would say they are “done away” or no longer relevant for New Testament believers. Such ordinances as “don’t kill”, “don’t steal” “don’t commit adultery” are the timeless prerequisites for the basis of decent community living, something like what the U.S. forces are trying to impose in Iraq – the rule of law.” Very important. Never doubt that.
The commands against idolatry and “no other gods” are vital prerequisites to spell out the parameters for worshipping the true God, a God revealed even to ancient Israel as a pure Spirit (Isaiah 61:1). Even the supposedly “anti-law” apostle Paul quoted the fifth commandment favorably as a “commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2).
Police departments, town mayors, insurance companies, parents, home-room teachers – many would stand by the basic tenets of the Ten Commandments as a pillar and stay of decent society.
Great as they are, however, the Ten Commandments are not enough for New Testament Christians. There is a reason why Jesus never endorsed them altogether as a stand-alone code when the rich young ruler asked him to outline the road to eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Take a closer look. The Fourth Commandment, for example, dealing with the Sabbath, subtly endorses slavery with its stipulations that even “manservants and maidservants” would not have to do hard physical labor one day in seven. There is even the point raised by one astute lady in my congregation (admittedly with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek) that the woman or the wife is not specifically and literally exempted from working on the Sabbath.
Even speaking in a humorous vein, the lady has a point. The Ten Commandments were given to a nation of slaveholding farmers in a male-dominated society. This is reinforced by the requirement of the tenth commandment not to covet, wherein wives are lumped in with fields, houses, “manservant, “maidservant,” oxen or asses as collateral to be declared off limits to greedy neighbors (Deuteronomy 5:21).
No way would Jesus even implicitly uphold the latent racism (Israel could legally make slaves of the surrounding nations – see Deuteronomy 20:14), sexism or patriarchal assumptions of a society rooted in the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age. The Ten Commandments are great, in other words. They can make good citizens, but are not deep and probing paths to the spiritual life for Christians who want more depth in their relationship with God. Here is where the book of James comes to the rescue once again.
We have been learning so much about James in this cornerstone book of Christian Living. It is truly a book of surprises. When we come to James 4:7-10 we encounter a section some have called the Ten Commands for Christians. J.A. Motyer states that “there are no less than ten commands to obey” (The Message of James, page 150). Here they are, listed in that compressed simplicity for which James is famous:
This is quite a compendium. Consider that they were given by James the Just, the leader of the Jerusalem Church and the eventual martyr who stood on the pinnacle of the temple and named Jesus as the One, True Messiah as opposed to the militant Messiah the radical Jewish Zealots expected to come and destroy the hated Romans. This certification from the Lord’s brother himself gives us an almost unsurpassed and practical guide to that Biblically-based holiness by which devout Christians can pursue a deeper walk with God (Hebrews 12:14).
James, the superb realist (James 2:19), hated self-righteousness and he knew that slavish, outward adherence to a stringent legal code was not enough. He would pity shallow Christians who came to church each week feeling they were “pretty good” because they hadn’t broken the outer letter of the law. “I haven’t robbed a bank, I must be doing O.K.”
Ugh. As we have been seeing, James had no use for such shallow Christianity (James 2:14-17). As Motyer says, James knew of “no easy victories.” He was like Paul in this. “The same God who says, ‘Here is my grace to receive,’ says in the same breath, ‘Here are my commands to obey’” (Motyer, page 151).
If you’ve read this far in James you know that what J.I. Packer later elaborated as the true meaning of submission to God, to digging deeper in the Christian life, strikes very close to what the rugged James would have endorsed. How does Packer define Command One, for example, that “spirit of joyful submission?” Like this:
“It means knowing oneself to be a sinner and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one’s natural enmity and rebellion against God…through the renewing of one’s heart by the Holy Ghost [to] look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are, confess your sins, your impenitence, your unbelief and cast yourself on his mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and faith; ask him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from him”(John Owen’s Death of Death: Introductory Essay).
That’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it, but it is only starts to answer the “how” of submitting to God.
What about resisting the devil? James promises that this despicable foe can flee from us. As Ralph Martin shows, James has already indicated how the devil gets to us. This includes listening to demonic wisdom (3:15), pursuing absolutely selfish ambitions (3:16), politicking and plotting against others (4:2) and friendship with the evil world system that is totally dedicated to Self above all (4:4). These are prime ways to become a tool of Satan, to become caught in his web of deceit (Martin, James, Volume 48, Word Commentary, page 152). The friend of the world system – its commercialism, its standards and practices – is the enemy of God.
Next command: “Draw near to God.” Packer explains this: “Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly, use the means of grace expectantly (the Communion, the ministry, church attendance)…watch, pray, read and hear God’s word, worship and commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put into you” (page 15).
Amen, to all that. Once again, the promise is there that God will then draw near to us. James is a good New Testament preacher – he never leaves us without hope! Oh how important that is!
Even though God is drawing us by His grace, we can respond or let it go. Thus the “cleanse and purify” commands (four and five) refer to the outer removal of obvious sinful practices (swearing, lying, etc.) and the inner striving for a better motive in life than Self, a motive in harmony with God’s purposes for us – to love justice and fair play and to be merciful in our daily dealings with others, walking humbly with God on the job and in the traffic and as we converse and travel (Micah 6:8). To do that we need to stay in constant prayerful supplication for God’s wisdom and guidance. Wisdom is, we know from James 1:5, a primary trait we all need. Desparately.
Commands six, seven, and eight, the being wretched, being mournful and going about in a weeping posture are not the every day, every hour experience of Christians. Overall they are called to a joyful life. But when God’s Spirit convicts us with the assurance that we have been straying from him, that we have fouled our own nests (and who doesn’t from time to time?), then we have assurance that if we are truly sorry for our sins, if we take these sins before God in heaven with a smitten heart and a broken spirit, then Jesus stands by us as our Legal Defence Counsel. You’ll never find a better lawyer. You can read that marvelous promise in 1 John 1:2.
There are seasons of sorrow and heaviness in every Christian’s life. Jesus said, Blessed are the mourners. James teaches us that such appointments can be our most valuable moments. Disappointments are his appointments. The Psalmist testified that God’s loving kindnesses were better than life itself (Psalm 63:3)! Think about that.
James the Just knew this: There is no effortless path to true holiness. Every great saint was conscious of being a sinner. Legend has it that James himself had knees as hard as a camel’s from his incessant praying for others. Such spiritual masters knew a lot about the “dark nights of the soul.” Study almost every Christian biography. Their searchings in the night watches are often looked back at later as the most valuable of all in the attempt to pursue the upward call to true holiness.
Hence command number nine – the move from joy to dejection. There is no easy way through troubles, sometimes, except straight through them. Trouble is a required course for Christians. This is part of what is meant in Christian living as the way of the cross. But be of good cheer: Jesus knows the route. He has gone before us. The path is stained with his blood. We have the divine assurance at such times that if we humble ourselves, truly yield to his chastisement, then he will lift us up. Command Ten ends with that promise: the way down is the way up (James 4:10).
There they are. Ten commands for Christians. They are not for everyone. But they help define the way of the true Christian. Anything else is a lie. You have James’ word on that. Here endeth the lesson.