<p>4:7<em>&nbsp;Therefore, be subject to God and resist the Devil, and the Devil will flee from you</em>- &quot;Submit&quot; means literally to put oneself under- i.e. to keep under these evil human desires, which is the same as resisting the Biblical devil. Bearing in mind the Jewish background of this letter and the other connections with Romans, this idea of submission to God may be referring back to Rom. 10:3: &quot;They (the Jews) being ignorant of <em>God's</em> righteousness, (through a lack of open-hearted Bible study), and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God&quot;. Thus one of the root causes of their pride and lack of recognition of their own sinfulness was that they were influenced by the Jewish concept of self-righteousness. Note the importance of doctrine in having very practical effects on a man's way of thinking and thereby his standing with God. There is a clear parallel between these verses in James 4 and 1 Pet. 5:2-9. After making the quotation from Prov. 3:34, Peter warns them to &quot;be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour&quot;. This primarily refers to the Jewish and Roman authorities seeking occasion to criticize and therefore persecute the Christians. However, the parallel in James 4:7 is &quot;resist the devil&quot;, which corresponds with 1 Peter 5:9 &quot;Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world&quot;. The devil of Peter refers to the Jewish/ Roman systems as well as to the flesh. The Greek <em>pathema</em> translated &quot;afflictions&quot; means both physical persecution and 'an emotion or influence' (Strong), thus showing that both types of 'devil' are referred to here, although the emphasis in Peter's case is on the devil as a civil power. <em>Pathema </em>is used concerning physical persecution by the civil 'devil' in 2 Tim. 3:11; Heb. 10:32; 2 Cor. 1:6; 1 Pet. 5:1; and concerning our evil desires in Rom. 7:5 (the &quot;motions&quot; of sin within us), and the &quot;affections&quot; of the flesh in Col. 3:5; Rom. 1:26; Gal. 5:24. Thus the parallel passage in James 4:7 concerning resisting the devil is about both the Roman/ Jewish system and the evil desires of the flesh, although the latter is the context in James, whilst the former provides the backdrop to Peter's use of the word. Again, we see that the Jewish thinking influencing the ecclesia was encouraging the 'devil' of their evil hearts, whilst a conscious resisting of the Judaizers' inroads and of the fleshly heart would lead to those things fleeing.</p>