Ministry of Grace Church

Come near to God and He will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded ones.

Truth to Learn

We need to work on becoming closer to, and more intimate with, God.

Behind the Words

The verb translated “come near” is engidzō, which means “to approach” or “to come near.” It is derived from the word engus, which has as its root the primary verb agchō, meaning “to squeeze.” The sense of this expression is that we are to draw near to God as if to give Him a hug. It is expressed here in the imperative mood, indicating a command.

“Cleanse” is from the verb katharidzō, which means “to cleanse” or “to get rid of filth.” It is the hands we are to cleanse, because they are the outward instruments of action. This verb is also in the imperative mood.

The word “purify” is translated from hagnidzō, which is related to hagios, meaning “holy” or “pure.” Hence, hagnidzō means “to make something pure and without defilement.” It is the heart we are to purify, because our heart is the inward source of our impurity. Once again, this verb is expressed in the imperative mood.

The word dipsuchos, is a compound word made up of dis, meaning “twice” and psuchē, meaning “soul” or “mind.” Thus, dipsuchos means “having two souls” or “having two minds.” It is translated here as “double-minded,” which implies a mind which is divided in its loyalty between two things. In this verse it refers to someone whose thoughts and desires are divided between God and the world system.

Meaning Explained

Not only do we need to submit to God, as we saw in the previous verse, but we need to draw near. It certainly goes along with Proverbs 3:6 which says:

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

The word “acknowledge” here is the same as the word “knew” in Genesis 4:1 where it says:

And Adam knew Eve his wife …

This is from the Hebrew word yaw-dah. One of the primary uses of this word means “to know relationally and experientially.” In this sense, we could define this word as, “to become intimately familiar with.” So, we draw near to God by becoming intimately familiar with him, by learning more about him, by knowing him better. As we become more intimate with God, He will, in turn, become more intimate with us.

The second half of this verse tells us that we need to clean up our act! James tells us to cleanse our hands. In other words, stop doing those things which defile us. And, he tells us to purify our hearts. We need to clean-up our thoughts and desires.

We need to turn from our inclination to sin, confessing it to God and setting our hearts on Him alone. We need to stop trying to balance God and the world. We can’t have one foot in each realm. We can’t be really committed to God if we are holding on tightly to the world system. In fact, we can’t be fully committed to God if we are holding on to the world system at all! Instead, we need to let go of the enticements of this world and focus our attention and our efforts on God.

Application

This would be an excellent time for prayer. Take a few minutes right now to draw near to God. Confess your worldliness and desire for stuff, asking Him to help you cleanse your hands and purify your heart. Then, thank Him for His mercy, His grace, and His love! And – when you see the results that God promises, give Him all the praise and glory.