Jas 4:4

“Whoever loves the world by committing sin is revealed as an enemy of God, just as, on the other hand, one who affirms friendship with God by not sinning is a constant enemy of the world. Therefore, just as it is impossible to serve both God and mammon, so it is also impossible to be a friend of the world and of God at the same time.”

“Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with this world is enmity with God? He rightly calls adulterers those whom, having turned from the love of heavenly wisdom to the embrace of worldly friendship, he reproaches, seeing that they serve mammon more than the Creator whom they despise. He had indeed spoken above about the manifest enemies of God: Do not the rich oppress you by their power, and do they not drag you to the courts? Do they not blaspheme the good name that has been invoked upon you (James II)? But lest you think that only those who openly blaspheme God, who persecute His faith in the saints, and unjustly condemn them are His enemies, he shows that those are also enemies of God who, under the faith and confession of the name of Christ, serve the lure and love of the world, who, only in name being faithful, set earthly things above heavenly ones. This he more earnestly enforces in the following verse, adding: Whoever therefore wishes to be a friend of this world constitutes himself an enemy of God. Therefore, all lovers of the world are enemies of God, all seekers of trifles, all who belong to those of whom it is said: Behold, your enemies, O Lord, shall perish (Psalm XCI). Whether they enter the churches or do not enter the churches, they are enemies of God. For a time they may flourish like grass, but when the heat of judgment appears, they will perish, and the beauty of their face shall fade.”

“Above, the apostle only slightly rebuked certain false wise men who distort the Divine Scriptures and of their own will use them in a perverted manner, so as to have a pretext for their sensual life — and this is nothing other than a form of pride. But now he comes against them more sternly and, as if contrary to his usual mildness, employs words of reproach, calling such people adulterers and adulteresses, and makes rebuke somewhat like this: "Tell me, thoughtless one, you wish to present yourself as a wise man? But whence come the quarrels and constant enmity in your life? Whence comes the constant attachment to the present? Whence the unceasing pursuit of the pleasures of this present life? This is characteristic not of wise men, but of ordinary people inclined to friendship with the world, which also shows that you are adulterers, for you prefer common, shameful, and base beauty to the Divine and chaste beauty hidden within, and by your striving for the present you raise up enmity against God. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God, alienating us from the love of God and showing us to be His enemies?" By "world" he here means the entire material life as the mother of corruption, and whoever partakes of it immediately becomes an enemy of God, for in his zeal for what is useless he negligently and contemptuously relates to Divine matters — the kind of attitude we have toward people who are hateful and hostile to us. Since there are two objects with which people occupy themselves — God and the world — and toward each of these two objects one turns with either love or hatred, as soon as we strongly attach ourselves to one, we obviously appear negligent of the other, for attention produces love, and negligence produces hatred. Therefore, whoever cleaves to Divine matters is and is called a friend of God, while whoever has grown negligent of God and has loved the world is numbered among the enemies of God. And since all this proceeds from the arrogance and pride of the false wise men, the apostle employs yet another rebuke, wishing to sober such people from their drunkenness and rouse them from their slumber.”

“The oldest manuscripts omit "adulterers and," and read simply, "Ye adulteresses." God is the rightful husband; the men of the world are regarded collectively as one adulteress, and individually as adulteresses. the world--in so far as the men of it and their motives and acts are aliens to God, for example, its selfish "lusts" (Jam 4:3), and covetous and ambitious "wars and fightings" (Jam 4:1). enmity--not merely "inimical"; a state of enmity, and that enmity itself. Compare Jo1 2:15, "love . . . the world . . . the love of the Father." whosoever . . . will be--The Greek is emphatic, "shall be resolved to be." Whether he succeed or not, if his wish be to be the friend of the world, he renders himself, becomes (so the Greek for "is") by the very fact, "the enemy of God." Contrast "Abraham the friend of God."”

“You adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hatred against God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. "You adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world." For James had previously reproached a few false wise men who would corrupt the divine Scripture and pervert it to their own will, so that they might have a backing for their luxurious life: this arises from nothing other than arrogance and pride, and for this reason, he now proceeds more severely and uses words that are particularly strange to his own humor, calling such people adulterers and adulteresses, and by reproaching them, he brings them to shame, and using almost such accusations: Tell me, vain one: do you wish to present yourself as wise? and from where do you have that, while you continually avoid conflict and war, you are always fixated on the present and pursue the joy of this life with certainty of mind? This is not the way of the wise but of ordinary men, and those who have inclination towards the friendship of the world, and it shows you to be adulterers who prefer the vulgar, profane, and shameful over the hidden, divine, and honorable beauty, and bear hatred towards God out of affection for the present. Do you not know that the friendship of the world alienates from the friendship of God, or makes one an enemy of God? In this context, the world refers to all material and vile life, as if it were the mother of corruption, of which he who attempts to partake becomes an enemy of God. For due to a passion for the useless, he neglectfully and disdainfully regards the divine, which pertains only to those whom we hate and who are our enemies. Therefore, since there are two things that men strive for, namely God and the world, and around both of these revolve two things, friendship and hatred: if we are found to be studious of either, we seem to entirely neglect the other. However, diligence produces friendship, while negligence produces hatred. Therefore, whoever clings to the divine is a friend of God, and it is said: But whoever neglects God and is firmly attached to the things of the world should be considered among those who are the greatest enemies of God. Moreover, since this and all such evil has been shown to have originated from the arrogance of the false wisdom of the teachers, he used another argument, wishing to bring them back from such drunkenness and to free them from gluttony, and he says:”