✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Santiago 4

VBL · Chapter 4/5

1¿De dónde surgen las contiendas y discusiones que hay entre ustedes? ¿Acaso no son por las pasiones sensuales que luchan dentro de ustedes?

2Están ardiendo de deseo, pero no reciben lo que quieren. Son capaces de matar por lo que anhelan con lujuria, pero no encuentran lo que buscan. Pelean y discuten pero no logran nada, porque no lo piden en oración.

3Oran, pero no reciben nada, porque oran con motivos equivocados, queriendo gastar lo que reciban en placeres egoístas.

4¡Adúlteros! ¿No se dan cuenta que la amistad con el mundo es enemistad contra Dios? Los que quieren ser amigos del mundo se convierten en enemigos de Dios.

5¿Creen que la Escritura no habla en serio cuando dice que el espíritu que puso en nosotros es celoso en gran manera?

6Pero Dios nos da todavía más gracia, como dice la Escritura: “Dios está en contra de los arrogantes, pero da gracia a los humildes”.

7Colóquense, pues, bajo la dirección de Dios. Confronten al enemigo, y él huirá de ustedes.

8Acérquense a Dios y él se acercará a ustedes. Laven sus manos, pecadores. Purifiquen sus corazones, ustedes que tienen lealtades divididas.

9Muestren algo de remordimiento, lloren y laméntense. Cambien su risa por lamento, y su alegría por tristeza.

10Sean humildes ante el Señor y él los exaltará.

11Amigos, no hablen mal unos de otros. Todo el que critica a un hermano creyente y lo condena, critica y condena la ley. Si ustedes condenan la ley, entonces no la están cumpliendo, porque están actuando como jueces.

12Hay un solo dador de la ley y juez, el único que puede salvarnos o destruirnos, así que, ¿quién eres tú para juzgar a tu prójimo?

13Atiendan, ustedes los que dicen: “Hoy o mañana iremos a tal y tal ciudad, pasaremos un año allí haciendo negocios y obtendremos ganancia”.

14¡Ustedes no saben qué pasará mañana! ¿Acaso qué es su vida? Es apenas una niebla que aparece por un poco tiempo y luego se va.

15Lo que deberían decir es: “Si Dios quiere, viviremos de esta manera, y haremos planes para hacer aquello”.

16Pero ahora están solo llenos de ideas vanas. Y toda esta jactancia es maligna.

17Porque es pecado si sabes hacer lo bueno y no lo haces.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

James identifies selfish desires and friendship with the world as the roots of conflicts and wars among people, calling readers to repentance and humility before God. He warns against rashly judging others and against the arrogance of planning the future without considering God's will.

Explanation

James connects external conflicts (fights, wars) to unmet inner desires, a psychological and spiritual diagnosis that remains relevant today: the root of much discord is unresolved envy and covetousness. The expression 'friendship with the world' does not mean rejecting people or everyday life, but adopting values and priorities opposed to God's, a kind of spiritual unfaithfulness. The famous phrase 'if the Lord wills' (4:15), used to counter arrogant plans about the future, became common practice among Christians throughout history as a sign of humility before the uncertainty of life. Today's application is to examine the inner roots of our own conflicts and to cultivate humility when planning for the future.

Fun facts

  • The Latin expression 'Deo volente' (God willing), or its Arabic counterpart 'inshallah,' still widely used today across different cultures and religions, reflects exactly the principle taught in James 4:15 about acknowledging God's sovereignty over human plans.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Santiago 4:1It asks a direct question about the source of conflicts in the community: they do not come from outside, but from the very desires warring within each person.
  2. Santiago 4:2It describes a frustrating cycle: wanting without getting, fighting because of it, and still ending up with nothing — because, according to the text, the problem is not even asking God for what is needed.
  3. Santiago 4:3It completes the reasoning: when they do ask, they ask wrongly — intending to spend it all on their own pleasures, with no connection to real needs or God’s will.
  4. Santiago 4:4Saying that ‘the friendship of the world is enmity with God’ is not about ordinary friendships, but about adopting values and priorities centered only on self-interest — the text is describing a choice of loyalty, not forbidding social contact.
  5. Santiago 4:5A verse that is difficult to translate, but it reinforces the point: there is an inward pull toward envy and selfishness that Scripture already recognized — it is neither new nor an excuse.
  6. Santiago 4:6The quotation ‘God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble’ originally comes from Proverbs and also reappears in 1 Peter, making it one of the most repeated sayings in the New Testament about humility.
  7. Santiago 4:7The instruction to ‘resist the devil,’ so that he will flee, is tied to the previous statement about submitting to God — the idea is that spiritual resistance does not depend on one’s own strength, but on being aligned with God first.
  8. Santiago 4:8It offers the way back: drawing near to God works both ways — He draws near to whoever draws near to Him — but this also calls for cleansing one’s actions and resolving the inner division of being ‘double minded.’
  9. Santiago 4:9It calls for a moment of sincere repentance, with no half-measures: acknowledging the seriousness of the wrong before moving on, trading shallow laughter for real grief.
  10. Santiago 4:10It closes this call to repentance with a promise: humbling yourself before the Lord is not permanent humiliation — it is the path by which, the text says, a person ends up being lifted up.
  11. Santiago 4:11Saying that judging a brother is, in practice, ‘judging the law’ follows the reasoning that whoever criticizes and condemns others is putting themselves in the place of the one who set the rules, not simply the one who follows them.
  12. Santiago 4:12It reinforces the previous verse’s point about judging others: there is only one judge with real authority over people’s lives, and it is not any human being.
  13. Santiago 4:13It describes people making business plans with total certainty about the future — a trip scheduled, a year set, profit guaranteed — only to then question all that confidence.
  14. Santiago 4:14Comparing life to ‘even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away’ is used to challenge plans made without regard for one’s own mortality — the preceding context speaks of people planning trips and business deals as if the future were guaranteed.
  15. Santiago 4:15After comparing life to a vapor that quickly passes, the text suggests a more honest way to phrase plans: acknowledging that everything depends on the Lord’s will and on life continuing.
  16. Santiago 4:16It calls it boasting — and something evil — to make plans as if the future were guaranteed, ignoring that life is not under anyone’s total control.
  17. Santiago 4:17It closes the chapter by broadening the idea of sin: it is not only doing wrong, it is also failing to do the good one already knew ought to be done.

Chapters

12345

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play