John Calvin Commentary James 4:7

"Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you." — James 4:7 (ASV)

Submit yourselves. The submission that he recommends is that of humility, for he does not exhort us generally to obey God, but requires submission, because the Spirit of God rests on the humble and the meek (Isaiah 57:15). For this reason, he uses the inferential particle. For as he has declared that God’s Spirit is bountiful in increasing His gifts, he therefore concludes that we should lay aside envy and submit to God.

Many copies have introduced here the following sentence: “Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” But in others it is not found. Erasmus suspects that it was first a note in the margin and later crept into the text. This may have been the case, though it is not unsuitable for the passage. For the objection some raise—that it is strange for what is found only in Peter to be quoted as Scripture—can be easily dismissed. But I am rather inclined to think that this sentence, which accords with the common doctrine of Scripture, had then become a sort of proverbial saying common among the Jews. And, indeed, it is no more than what is found in Psalm 18:27,

“The humble O Lord, thou wilt save;
and the eyes of the proud wilt thou cast down:”

And similar sentences are found in many other passages.

Resist the devil. He shows what that struggle is in which we should engage. As Paul says that our contest is not with flesh and blood, James accordingly stimulates us to a spiritual fight. Then, after teaching us meekness toward men and submission toward God, he presents Satan to us as our enemy, whom we must fight against.

However, the promise that he adds regarding Satan’s fleeing seems to be refuted by daily experience, for it is certain that the more strenuously anyone resists, the more fiercely he is attacked. For Satan, in a way, acts playfully when he is not seriously repelled; but against those who really resist him, he employs all the strength he possesses. Furthermore, he is never tired of fighting; but when conquered in one battle, he immediately engages in another.

To this I reply that “fleeing” should be understood here as “putting to flight” or “routing.” And undoubtedly, though he repeats his attacks continually, he nevertheless always departs vanquished.