To Encourage You

James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

You’ve heard the expression, “If the shoe fits . . . “  It’s an idiom that means that if something is suggested about a person and it’s true, then that person should accept it as true.  In the passage above from James 4, James is describing what he calls an “adulterous” person.  He’s not necessarily talking about a person who is in an illicit sexual relationship with a married person (although it could apply to that). Rather, he is talking about a SPIRITUALLY adulterous person.  One of the things that makes physical adultery so despicable is that the person committing it may claim to love his or her spouse while at the same time treacherously violating his or her marriage covenant behind their spouse’s back.  Spiritual adultery is analogous to this, for it’s a condition of claiming to love God and yet, at the very same time, being in a spiritual love affair with something else. That “something,” which James calls “the world” is one of God’s greatest enemies.  The world, in this instance, isn’t the round ball of earth that we live on. It’s not talking about loving such things as a beautiful sunset, or a peaceful walk beside the seashore. Rather, it’s talking about the systems and patterns of the world that are under the control of Satan.  James is talking about the love of things that God hates and that He forbids. The Bible calls this lust. 

1 John 2:16 describes it this way: “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” The desires of the flesh: this describes longing for things of a sensual nature, things like sexual relationships that the Bible forbids, or gluttony, or drunkenness.  Philippians 3:19 says about those controlled by such lusts that “their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”  Although God hates these things, these people love them, and in so doing, any claim to also love God smacks of spiritual adultery.

Then there’s the lust of the eyes.  This points to greed or coveting. It’s the opposite of being thankful for the things that God has given us. It’s an attitude of never being satisfied, of always seeing and longing for greener grass on the other side of the fence. One example is the love of money, something Jesus said was the opposite of loving Him (Matthew 6:24).

Finally, there’s the pride of life.  That’s the arrogance of someone who sees themself as better and more important than those around them.  It’s the opposite of humility, which God loves, and it is among those things that God most hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).

So, how can we know if we are in a condition of spiritual adultery?  It’s all in our attitude toward those things that God hates. What has our affections? What do we really want?  Is it that which God loves, or is it the opposite, regardless of what we claim?  Are we marked by the ugliness of spiritual adultery?  The Bible tells us what this looks like. And so, we should ask ourselves, “does the shoe fit?”