You may be curious about the title of this counseling corner. Sin is the culprit that removes our peace, our sound minds, and our biblical identity. The apostle James addresses several issues concerning his flock of Jewish sheep, the twelve tribes scattered abroad. (James 1:20) He is passionate about bringing his sheep to maturity. “For we all stumble in many things. If any one does not stumble in word, he is a mature man, able to bridle the whole body.” (James 3:2) James is addressing the tongue. “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6) So many believers have ungodly tongues. They are not mature. James then addresses the sin of jealousy. “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.” (James 3:14:16)
James addresses fighting one another. “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (James 4:1) Paul addresses the wounding of the Spirit that dwells in them by such behavior. Paul writes to the Corinthian believers of the indwelling of the Spirit. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Corinthians 6:19)
James flashes a bright light into the Jewish believer’s souls. “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks in vain. The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?” (James 4:5) There is a difference between the jealousy of man and that of the Spirit. The jealousy of a man strikes like a viper. He strikes the victim with fangs of anger, poisoning the victim’s soul ending in destroying the dignity, hope, and the innate desire for love. The only remedy to this viper in the soul is repentance at the cross, looking unto Jesus. Asking forgiveness for one’s own sinful outburst and asking forgiveness for the slander of the slandered one that was destroyed with the jealous outburst.
The jealousy of God is righteous. “The verse speaks to the nature of God’s jealousy, (Or better, ‘jealousy in a good sense’), which is not a negative emotion but rather a passionate desire for his people’s exclusive devotion to Him. The verse highlights that God, through the Holy Spirit, dwells within believers and desires to be their ultimate love.” (AI Overview)
In the Works of Christopher Love (1618-1651), Volume One, he has written 27 sermons entitled: The Combat Between the Flesh and the Spirit. He talks of being led by the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. It is a progressive work in the soul of sanctification. “So that he who would walk in the Spirit must follow the motions and instructions of Him. Therefore, if you would walk in the Spirit, you must not follow the impulses of your own spirits. It is the error of many in these times that instead of being led by the Spirit of God, which they pretend to, they follow the instincts of their own spirits.” He writes of the departure of the Spirit at times with willful sin. When “holy motions are declining and transient with distractions they will not have a fixed abiding on the heart as before. This is a gradual departure of the working of the Spirit. For where the Spirit of God is, there He establishes and fixes the heart in holy duties.”
A final admonishment from the book of James. We may stumble, but we must press on to maturity. (James 3:2)
Where the grace blows,