James 4:5 (WEB)

Passage

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?

Nearby Context

James 4:3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?

James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Proverbs 3:34

James 4:7 Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "think", "scripture", "says", "vain", "lives", "yearns", and "jealously". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "think", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "You adulterers and adulteresses don t you..." into verse 6's "But he gives more grace Therefore it...", so "Spirit" and "think" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "think" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.