Adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore is minded to be [the] friend of the world is constituted enemy of God.
James turns from quarrels and unanswered prayers to the deeper problem. His readers want the world's friendship while claiming to belong to God, so two questions press on us: what is "the world" here, and why does liking it count as taking sides against God?
What "the world" means
The word carries more than one sense, so the first job is to say which one James means.
The word world can be used in three senses. Strictly, it means the order or system that runs human affairs on the earth. The earth itself is called the world, because it is the platform the world-system operates on. And the people who live by this world-system are called the world too. So we can tell them apart: the world-space, the world-people, the world-system... Anyone who is a friend of that system is an enemy of God, because that system governs itself and is not subject to God.
That distinction keeps the verse from contradicting God's love for people:
We are speaking, of course, of the world-system. If we mean the people in the world, then we read, "God so loved the world." The world-system is the point here, and it is bitterly hostile to God.
Why the breach cannot be patched
This hostility is not just an idea. It broke into the open at one moment in history.
The world is in open rebellion against God. It has been so ever since man fell, but its terrible hostility only came fully to light when Christ appeared. That was when the world saw and hated both Him and His Father. That was when the split became permanent.
So there is no neutral ground left. One writer sets out the choice:
The world has shown by the cross what it really is. We must choose. Do we go on with the world that crucified Christ, or do we boast in the cross where that world nailed Him?
"Makes himself an enemy"
Many read the last clause as though God turns hostile. The wording says something different.
The language is very strong. Word for word it reads, "Whoever therefore wants to be the friend of the world is made an enemy of God." It does not say that God is his enemy. But the split is so complete on the world's side that friendship with it is only possible on the basis of hostility against God. Let us never forget that!
Why "adulterous people"?
James picks the word with care. Older versions read "Adulteresses", and the word assumes a marriage bond already exists.
And believers may turn back to the world, like Demas, and love it for a time. James calls such people adulteresses. They leave the One they are pledged to in marriage — Christ Himself — and turn to another. The word must have reminded the Israelites of the Old Testament passages that picture Israel, unfaithful and turned away from God, as an adulteress playing the prostitute.
The word is this harsh because the bond it betrays is this close:
And let us also never forget this. As believers, God has brought us into such a close and intimate relationship with Himself that if we betray Him and enter a guilty alliance with the world, there is only one human sin it can be compared to: the terrible sin of adultery.
How the friendship starts
Verse 4 follows straight on from the cravings that cause the fighting in verses 1–3.
The lust of the flesh leads the Apostle to warn us against friendship with the world, which offers every chance to satisfy that lust... For anyone who professes faith in the Lord Jesus, becoming a friend of the world that has crucified the Son of God is spiritual adultery... Our attitude towards the world openly declares our attitude towards God.
The pull does not usually look like rebellion:
There are many spheres of interest, many circles of fellowship, many organizations that Satan may use to lure the children of God. Some of them may look fairly harmless on the surface, but they have no place for Christ, who is the centre of all God's interests.
Summary
- System, not people. James aims at the world-system that runs human affairs without God, not at the people God loves.
- Cross fixed it. The system's hostility came into the open when it saw, hated and crucified Christ. That fixed the split for good.
- Marriage, not rules. The charge of adultery only makes sense because believers belong to Christ. The word is harsh because the bond is close.
- Self-made enemy. The verse does not say God becomes your enemy. The world only offers friendship on terms that put you against Him.
- Lust is the door. The world draws you by feeding your cravings, often through circles that look harmless but leave no room for Christ. Your attitude to the world announces your attitude to God.