Peace in Christ.
The people of the outside world do not know God. They cannot please God...they are not subject to the law of God neither can they be for they do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in them like His people do.
Rom 8:7-9 KJV
(7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
(8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
(9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
We were taken from them (the people of the outside world) and were given His Spirit. When we did not know God (like the rest of the people of the outside world), we did service unto them (the weak and beggarly elements) which are no gods.
The weak and beggarly “elements” of the outside world are the “orderly arrangements” of their basic principles found in the nations’ governing documents (such as “constitutions” which are “orderly arrangements” of man’s laws that he made for himself to keep and serve). They are the "other gods" of the nations around us.
The nations keep and serve their governing documents rather than God as they do not know Him.
Gal 4:8-9 KJV
(8) Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
But God has given us His Spirit so that we know Him. He writes His laws upon our hearts. There is no external handwriting of man that we should be keeping and serving. There should be no external governing document to keep and serve among us.
“For believers, this becomes a New Covenant reality, described in Jeremiah 31:33 and Hebrews 8:10, where God's Spirit empowers internal obedience, transforming the law from external rules to an internal desire to follow God's will.”
After we have received His Spirit...after we are known of God, do we now want to return to humbly submit ourselves to a man’s governing document that is found in every man-based church? They are keeping and serving their self-governing and self-judging documents (their “orderly arrangement” of ordinances) which structure their man-built church rather than keep and service His writing upon our hearts. If God does not build the house, then they build their churches in vain as they build them upon their governing documents rather than His writing in us.
(9) But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
We are not to worship other “gods” which are by nature are no gods at all. We must not go to a man-based church where they are worshipping another “god”…their handwritings of ordinances (but supposedly are worshipping the true God).
The Spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy. His name is Jealous as He is a jealous God.
Exo 34:14-15 KJV
(14) For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The inhabitants of the land (earth) have their “gods”…their founding governing handwritings …that they keep and serve. They do this because they do not know God nor keep His laws. We must not make ourselves friends of the world in this matter….not making a “covenant” with them so-to-speak. We must not go after their “gods” by copying them and placing them in our places of worship.
(15) Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
We must not go after “other gods”….the “gods” of the people which are round about us. We must not be like them and have our own governing documents placed in our places of worship (such as a church “constitution”).
Deu 6:13-15 KJV
(13) Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
(14) Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
(15) (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
That makes us “adulterers and adulteresses” when we make ourselves friends of the world in this matter.
We make ourselves hateful of God. The word “enemy” used in James 4:4 is not a noun but an adjective.
“Enemy” = eckthros - From a primary word ἔχθω echthō (to hate); hateful (passively odious, or actively hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): - enemy, foe.
Jas 4:4-5
(4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity (hostility) with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is designated enemy (adjective – hateful) of God.
Our God is a jealous God. The Spirit that dwells in us is the Spirit of God. We know God or rather we are known by Him.
(5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Literal Standard Version
Adulterers and adulteresses! Have you not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever, then, may intend to be a friend of the world, he is designated [as] an enemy of God.
He is a jealous God if we have other gods before Him. We must not bow ourselves down nor serve the "gods" of the handwritings of man. He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of those who HATE Him. The church fathers have made their governing documents whereupon they have built their “churches”. They have passed down these documents to their following generations for them to also keep and serve their handwritings.
Exo 20:1-6 KJV
(1) And God spake all these words, saying,
(2) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
(4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
(5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
But He shows mercy unto the thousands of them that love Him. They show that they love Him as they keep His commandments rather than the commandments of men that are placed in the man-based churches for many to keep and serve.
(6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
This is the love of God: that we keep HIS commandments (which are written upon our hearts)….and not keep and serve the commandments of men that are contained in their external handwritings that many are bowing down to. When we go to a man-based church, we are submitting ourselves under their authority.
1Jn 5:2-3 KJV
(2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
(3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
This is His covenant with us. He puts His laws into our mind and writes them in our hearts so that He will be to us a God and we are His people to Him.
Heb 8:10 KJV
(10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Let us not forget the covenant of the LORD our God which He made with us and make a “graven image”…a graven-by-the-pen of a church scribe image (which are made like the outside nations around us that do not know God nor serve Him).
Deu 4:23-24 KJV
(23) Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
(24) For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God
The people of the outside world do not know God. They cannot please God...they are not subject to the law of God neither can they be for they do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in them like His people do.
Rom 8:7-9 KJV
(7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
(8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
(9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
We were taken from them (the people of the outside world) and were given His Spirit. When we did not know God (like the rest of the people of the outside world), we did service unto them (the weak and beggarly elements) which are no gods.
The weak and beggarly “elements” of the outside world are the “orderly arrangements” of their basic principles found in the nations’ governing documents (such as “constitutions” which are “orderly arrangements” of man’s laws that he made for himself to keep and serve). They are the "other gods" of the nations around us.
The nations keep and serve their governing documents rather than God as they do not know Him.
Gal 4:8-9 KJV
(8) Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
But God has given us His Spirit so that we know Him. He writes His laws upon our hearts. There is no external handwriting of man that we should be keeping and serving. There should be no external governing document to keep and serve among us.
“For believers, this becomes a New Covenant reality, described in Jeremiah 31:33 and Hebrews 8:10, where God's Spirit empowers internal obedience, transforming the law from external rules to an internal desire to follow God's will.”
After we have received His Spirit...after we are known of God, do we now want to return to humbly submit ourselves to a man’s governing document that is found in every man-based church? They are keeping and serving their self-governing and self-judging documents (their “orderly arrangement” of ordinances) which structure their man-built church rather than keep and service His writing upon our hearts. If God does not build the house, then they build their churches in vain as they build them upon their governing documents rather than His writing in us.
(9) But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
We are not to worship other “gods” which are by nature are no gods at all. We must not go to a man-based church where they are worshipping another “god”…their handwritings of ordinances (but supposedly are worshipping the true God).
The Spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy. His name is Jealous as He is a jealous God.
Exo 34:14-15 KJV
(14) For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The inhabitants of the land (earth) have their “gods”…their founding governing handwritings …that they keep and serve. They do this because they do not know God nor keep His laws. We must not make ourselves friends of the world in this matter….not making a “covenant” with them so-to-speak. We must not go after their “gods” by copying them and placing them in our places of worship.
(15) Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
We must not go after “other gods”….the “gods” of the people which are round about us. We must not be like them and have our own governing documents placed in our places of worship (such as a church “constitution”).
Deu 6:13-15 KJV
(13) Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
(14) Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
(15) (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
That makes us “adulterers and adulteresses” when we make ourselves friends of the world in this matter.
We make ourselves hateful of God. The word “enemy” used in James 4:4 is not a noun but an adjective.
“Enemy” = eckthros - From a primary word ἔχθω echthō (to hate); hateful (passively odious, or actively hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): - enemy, foe.
Jas 4:4-5
(4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity (hostility) with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is designated enemy (adjective – hateful) of God.
Our God is a jealous God. The Spirit that dwells in us is the Spirit of God. We know God or rather we are known by Him.
(5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Literal Standard Version
Adulterers and adulteresses! Have you not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever, then, may intend to be a friend of the world, he is designated [as] an enemy of God.
He is a jealous God if we have other gods before Him. We must not bow ourselves down nor serve the "gods" of the handwritings of man. He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of those who HATE Him. The church fathers have made their governing documents whereupon they have built their “churches”. They have passed down these documents to their following generations for them to also keep and serve their handwritings.
Exo 20:1-6 KJV
(1) And God spake all these words, saying,
(2) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
(4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
(5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
But He shows mercy unto the thousands of them that love Him. They show that they love Him as they keep His commandments rather than the commandments of men that are placed in the man-based churches for many to keep and serve.
(6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
This is the love of God: that we keep HIS commandments (which are written upon our hearts)….and not keep and serve the commandments of men that are contained in their external handwritings that many are bowing down to. When we go to a man-based church, we are submitting ourselves under their authority.
1Jn 5:2-3 KJV
(2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
(3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
This is His covenant with us. He puts His laws into our mind and writes them in our hearts so that He will be to us a God and we are His people to Him.
Heb 8:10 KJV
(10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Let us not forget the covenant of the LORD our God which He made with us and make a “graven image”…a graven-by-the-pen of a church scribe image (which are made like the outside nations around us that do not know God nor serve Him).
Deu 4:23-24 KJV
(23) Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
(24) For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God
