Our sins prevent us from knowing God better. In chapter four, James condemns selfish prayers (verses 1-3), proud accepting of the world’s values (verses 4-6), condemning each other (verses 11-12), and making self-centered plans without God’s direction (verses 13-17). In verses 7-10, James gives us his ten commandments:
- Submit to God
- Resist the devil (and he will flee from you [through prayer to God])
- Come near to God (and he will come near to you)
- Wash your hands (from sinful self-centeredness)
- Purify your hearts
- Grieve
- Wail
- Change your laughter to mourning
- Change your joy to gloom
- Humble yourselves before the Lord (and he will lift you up)
Of course, the rest of the chapter tells us what we are to do with these commandments. Our dirty souls must be cleansed through prayers of confession and commitment, not denial of the sins that remain in us.