Repentance & Humility Pt 1

For my eighth birthday, I was given a bright yellow t-shirt that read in sparkly letters, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” As an eight-year-old, I thought it was a fantastic shirt. My parents probably thought it was a fitting shirt for my pride. As an adult, it makes me cringe in part because it is a prideful, sinful way to think and live, but also because I often think I am great but would never broadcast it like I did as an eight-year-old.

Let me share a very different story.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” [1]

Isaiah 6:1-7

We are working our way through the book of James, but this account in Isaiah complements what we will be studying in James today. Isaiah was given a vision of heaven with God seated on the throne, high and lifted up. Seraphim declared the holiness and glory of God. There was shaking and smoke. Isaiah wasn’t distracted by the glories of heaven. He didn’t think it was his greatness that earned him this experience with God. No. He was in the presence of holy, Almighty God, and he knew his own sinfulness. He cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips.” Isaiah was humble and repentant. He was dependent on God for his life. And God, in His mercy and grace, sent a seraphim to touch Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal that his guilt would be taken away and his sin atoned for.

James has been challenging us at heart-level. Will we seek earthly wisdom or godly wisdom? Will we choose envy and selfish ambition or the things of God? Will we pursue friendship with the world or friendship with God? James continues to challenge us in today’s verses, but he also gives us hope and encouragement. He places humility and repentance within the larger theme of the two ways of living. We will take two weeks to cover these next verses.

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. [2]

James 4:6-10

This section of James echoes phrasing and structure often used in Hebrew poetry. One structure technique used in Hebrew poetry is to enclose a set of verses within a repeated phrase. Verses 6-7 and 10 enclose the other verses with the theme of humility. Charts are often helpful in understanding a text, so I appreciate Daniel Doriani’s chart in giving us an overview of our verses.[3]

4:6-7a  Warning: God opposes the proud,

            Promise: but gives grace to the humble.

            Conclusion: Submit yourselves, then, to God.

4:10     Command: Humble yourselves before the Lord

            Promise: and he will exalt you.

Verses 7b-10 elaborate on humility and submission to God.

Command 1 Resist the devil, Positive command

Result and he will flee from you. Positive Result

Command 2 Come near to God and Antithetical (contrasting) command

Result 2 he will come near to you. Antithetical result

Command Wash your hands, you sinners, and Direct address

Command purify your hearts, you double-minded Direct address

Command Grieve, mourn and wail. Triple command

Specifying Change your laughter to mourning Command elaborated

Specifying and [change] your joy to gloom. Parallel elaboration

Command Humble yourselves before the Lord, Climax, with new structure

Result and he will exalt you. Climatic result

Now, let’s dig in. “But he gives more grace.” Our understanding of verse 6 is determined by our understanding of verse 5. If we understand verse 5 as the sinfulness of the human spirit, then “more grace” speaks to God’s ability and willingness in overcoming our sinfulness. If we understand verse 5 as God’s jealousy for those He has redeemed, then “more grace” means “God’s grace is completely adequate to meet the requirements imposed on us by that jealousy.”[4] In other words, God graciously gives us what we need to meet His holy requirements.

God’s grace is greater than sin’s power, our flesh, the world, or Satan. God’s grace is our only hope. God’s grace brings forgiveness and restoration. Even our ability to reject pride and choose humility is by God’s grace alone.

“Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (vs 6b, James quoting Proverbs 3:34). Humility recognizes that we can’t earn God’s grace. Humility is the posture in which we receive God’s gift of grace. Humility confesses our need for God and our dependence on Him. Humility trusts God and rests in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. In contrast, pride is intertwined with selfish ambition, jealousy, and the passions at war within us (vs 3:14-4:3). Pride depends on and trusts self. Pride looks to earthly wisdom. Pride doesn’t rest. It quarrels and fights.

Peter parallels our passage in James.

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.[5]

1 Peter 5:5-9

The struggle with pride seems to be as common of a problem in James and Peter’s day as it is today. If God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble, then how can we put off pride? James tells us: “Submit yourselves therefore to God” (vs 7a). Submit literally means to “arrange under.” Submitting ourselves to God means to arrange ourselves under God’s authority.

John MacArthur writes: “the word was used of soldiers under the authority of their commander. In the New Testament, it describes Jesus’ submission to His parents’ authority (Luke 2:51), submission to human government (Romans 13:1), the church’s submission to Christ (Ephesians 5:24), and servants submission to their masters (Titus 2:9; 1 Peter 2:18) … A truly humble person will give his allegiance to God, obey His commands, and follow His leadership.”[6]

Throughout his letter, James has woven two options: worthless faith or genuine faith, a double-minded and unstable person or a steadfast person, hearing only or hearing and doing God’s Word, dead faith or living faith, double-tongued or God-honoring tongue, earthly wisdom or godly wisdom, friendship with the world or friendship with God. They all boil down to whether or not we will submit to God, willingly placing ourselves under His authority, giving Him our unwavering allegiance, obeying Him, and following Him.

Like Isaiah we should be undone before our holy God. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot choose humility or obedience apart from God’s grace. Our only hope is Jesus, to humbly confess our dependence on His atonement for our sin and our need for the Gospel every day as we still battle the passions at war within us. Our hope is in submitting to the God of all grace who gives more grace, who met our most desperate need in the gift of His Son that we might live to His glory.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Reflection

1.     Isaiah was overwhelmed with the magnificence, glory, beauty, omnipotence, and holiness of God. When did you last spend time just adoring God, letting His holiness and all that He is overshadow everything else? Take time to meditate on “God is…” truths. Let them soak into your heart and mind. Praise God for who He is.

2.     The awesomeness of God caused Isaiah to humbly confess his own unworthiness and dependence on God. How has meditating on God’s holiness undone you? What sins do you need to confess?

3.     In Isaiah’s encounter, God used the seraphim to touch Isaiah’s lips with the burning coal that his guilt would be taken away and his sin atoned for. James stated the promise that God gives grace to the humble. He gives more grace for our sin. Do you take this grace for granted? Spend time in thanksgiving for God’s grace. Be specific about the ways God has given you more grace. How can you cultivate thankfulness every day for God’s grace?

4.     The humble person submits to God, arranges themselves under God’s authority. What areas have you been keeping under your own authority? How can you submit these areas to God’s authority? What do you need to change?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 6:1–7.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 4:6–10.

[3] Daniel M. Doriani, James, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007), 145.

[4] Douglas J. Moo, James: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 151.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 5:5–9.

[6] MacArthur, John F.. James: Guidelines for a Happy Christian Life (MacArthur Bible Studies) (p. 69). HarperChristian Resources. Kindle Edition.