Rightly Dividing Man - The Flesh Part 4
Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members? (James 4:1, RV)
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (James 4:1, ESV)
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (James 4:1, NIV)
In James 4:1, the two modern translations, the ESV and NIV, demonstrate some of the dangers of theological biases in translation and dynamic equivalence. Both of those translations use the phrase “within you” which is not found in the original Greek (“[I]n the members of you” is.) Without a proper knowledge of the triune nature of man (spirit, soul, and body) or original Greek, a Christian could read the ESV or NIV and come away believing that he has some kind of evil passions or desires in his inner man (his spirit). That kind of thinking is not doctrinally sound and can create all kinds of theological mucky-muck with the rest of the Epistles, especially Romans 7 and 8. The Revised Version is much more faithful to the original Greek and therefore theologically accurate.
In this verse, we understand that James is writing to Christians because of the contents of the letter. In the first verse, he states that he is writing to the “twelve tribes of the diaspora.” While some might attempt to argue that he was writing solely to Jews, he calls these folks his “brothers” in verses 1:16, 1:19, and 2:5. In the Epistles, fellow saints are always called “brothers” or “beloved.” We also understand that he is writing to Christians because of verse 5:14. In that verse, he states that one who is sick may “call for the elders of the church.” The church is comprised solely of the Body of Christ. Jews never had a “church.”
James writes to fellow Christians about their infighting and private quarrels. The fascinating part of the verse lies after the first sentence. James pinpoints the root of the Christians’ contentions or “acting out.” He says it lies in the fight of the Christians’ members for (or over) sensual pleasures. (The Greek uses ek which means “out of” or “out from” the members.) The word war is strateuomenon which is a military term that may be conceptualized as “arraying its forces and carrying on its campaign.” So, James paints a picture of the passions and cravings of the flesh carrying on a campaign to gain sensual pleasures. (In Romans 8, Paul also lays out this “striving” of the flesh against the reborn human spirit). Note that the Greek restricts this campaign to the members. (contrary to the NIV’s or ESV’s “within you”). That distinction is critical to clear understanding of man’s born-again state while the body remains unredeemed. See 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
By virtue of this verse, we understand that the body is not “neutral” as some preachers claim. It carries in it the cravings and passions rendered by the Fall. As demonstrated in Romans 7, the unregenerate man is held “captive” to these passions. The Christian, on the other hand, by virtue of the New Birth, has been given dominion over them and I will explore that in further posts.
Footnote: The existence of these cravings and lusts explains quite a lot with regard to the overall Body of Christ’s preoccupation with sin or sin consciousness and a weak, introspective Christianity compared to the Christianity we see in the book of Acts.