58 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

🔥 Exposing the Inner War

🔷 Verse 1

“Where do wars and fights come from among you?” [James 4:1 (a)]

James begins with a rhetorical thunderclap. He doesn’t ask if conflicts exist in the Church—he knows they do. Instead, he drives us to examine their source. The Greek words used here—“polemos” (wars) and “machē” (fights or quarrels)—suggest ongoing battles, both large-scale and personal, indicating that these were not occasional skirmishes but sustained, damaging hostilities among believers.

💡 James isn't addressing unbelievers here. This is the body of Christ, and yet, there are internal battles. This echoes Apostle Paul’s concern to the Corinthians:

“For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)

Many church splits, leadership rivalries, and even family disputes in the body of Christ stem from unaddressed internal desires. Before rebuking the devil, James wants us to first rebuke the desires within.

“Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” [James 4:1 (b)]

Here, James unmasks the enemy: not politics, not theology, not satan (yet)—but your desires for pleasure. The Greek word for “pleasures” is hēdonē, from which we get hedonism. It’s the unrestrained pursuit of sensual gratification.

“That war in your members”—the word war (strateuomai) is military in tone. It suggests an organised campaign inside the believer, led by carnal desires to overthrow the rule of the Spirit.

📖 Apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 7:23: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind...”

Historical Note:

In a Greco-Roman world where honour, dominance, and power were prized, early Christians were expected to live counter-culturally—pursuing peace, humility, and holiness. But the old nature didn't die easily.

Ask yourself—what campaigns are waging inside me? Bitterness? Jealousy? Insecurity? Lust for position or attention? Before we win external battles, we must win the war within.

🔷 Verse 2

“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.” [James 4:2 (a)]

This is heavy. James escalates quickly—lust, murder, covetousness. Are these literal?

James is channelling Lord Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

“Whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matthew 5:22)
“Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)

James adopts this same logic. Anger is heart-murder. Lust is soul-adultery. Covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

💡“You cannot obtain.” The irony—desires fueled by the flesh never lead to satisfaction. Like pouring seawater into a thirsty man, they only increase the craving.

“You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” [James 4:2 (b)]

Now James reveals a spiritual principle: The lack in your life may be because of prayerlessness.

📖Lord Jesus said:

“Ask, and it will be given to you...” (Matthew 7:7)

“You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you... that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16)

Instead of asking, we try manipulating. Instead of praying, we strive, compete, and compare.

🎯 Before jealousy drives you to outdo others, drop to your knees and ask God. God is not intimidated by your desires—but He will not bless fleshly ambition.

🔷 Verse 3

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” [James 4:3]

When the Church finally prays, James still challenges the motive.

⚠️ “Ask amiss” — In Greek, kakōs means “badly, wrongly, with wrong intent.”

Here’s the tragic cycle:

We don’t ask.
When we do ask, we ask for selfish reasons.
Our prayers become transactions, not communion.

📖 Psalm 66:18 warns: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”

And in 1 John 5:14–15: “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Cultural Parallel: In ancient times, sacrifices or prayers to pagan gods were often transactional—"I'll give you this, so you give me that." James says: Don’t bring that mindset into your relationship with the Living God.

Before asking what to pray, ask why you're praying it. Are you building your kingdom or God's?

Chapter 4