13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
You may remember that when we studied verses 5 through 8 of this chapter we saw that God expects us to ask for wisdom in relation to our trials and warns against coming to Him ‘two-souled’, or double-minded, meaning when we ask it must be in faith believing and prepared to obey.
Nevertheless we were encouraged that God desires to lavish His wisdom on us generously, so it comes as no surprise when we get to verse 12 to see that He calls us ‘blessed’, meaning happy, when we have thus persevered under trial because the end proof of His approval will be the crown of life which He has promised.
I only want you to be reminded before we move into our text verses, that this perseverance referred to is not just ‘biting the bullet’, digging in the heels, holding on for dear life and muddling through.
Faithful perseverance through trials consists of recognizing the trial as a test, honestly seeking wisdom from the Lord for it, obeying His direction in it, and coming out the other side with strengthened faith and approved character and heightened hope (Rom 5:3-5).
Keep this in mind as we work our way through verses 13 – 15.
TESTING AND TEMPTATION
James is talking about testing and trials and then he suddenly moves to the theme of temptation. If you just skim over the surface of the chapter so far and come to verse 13 it may cause you to stop and ask, ‘why the introduction of temptation at this point?’
Well, let’s begin by making the distinction between testing and temptation.
I doubt that any of us needs to think very deeply to comprehend the meaning of the word ‘test’. From the year we entered into grade school until now we have been confronted by every kind of test.
In the purely human realm, whether it be in school or our job or the obtaining of a license for some activity like driving or hunting or doing certain kinds of trades for business, the purpose for testing is two-fold; to increase our knowledge and ability in a particular field and to establish for the tester what our level of learning is pertaining to that field or subject.
It is no different in the spiritual realm and there God is the administrator of the test. By testing He proves our level of maturity and He improves our level of maturity.
Two of the brightest examples of proof of maturity through endurance and faith found in scripture are the account of Job and the obedience of Abraham in the sacrifice of Isaac. In each case the severe testing, in one case allowed by God and in the other brought by God, proved the steadfastness and faith of the ones tested.
In regards to the benefit and result of testing we go back to a passage I have already made vague reference to; Romans 1:3-5
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Paul is establishing there that as God’s children the tribulations that come to our lives are either brought or allowed by Him for the benefit of our growth and increased faith and hope. In verse 4 he is teaching us that even tribulation is evidence of God’s love, and the one who perseveres through trial will come out with a greater sense of that love, made manifest by the Holy Spirit who is in us.
Another familiar passage on this theme is I Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
And this takes us in a smooth transition from the word ‘test’ to the word ‘tempt’, just as James has done.
Do you know why James suddenly introduces this warning against blaming God for our temptations? Because he knows that is the inclination of the sin nature in every man woman and child since Eve succumbed to her own lust in the Garden.
Eve blamed the serpent then Adam blamed both his wife and God and the beat goes on!
When we’re caught in sin or exposed in wrong our very first tendency is to blame something or someone else. Even the most honest of us who have learned in life that the best way to deal with guilt is to readily admit it and face the consequences still, when confronted, have to swallow that instant desire to shift blame and then force out the confession.
I haven’t read the newspaper funnies page for a long time but there used to be a cartoon called “Family Circus”. I’ll assume it’s still there since I caught a glimpse of a paper over someone’s shoulder a short time ago and saw Alley Oop fighting a dinosaur. If he’s still there after all these years I suppose Family Circus is also.
Anyway, if you’re at all familiar with that cartoon you know it’s about a family with several small children and it’s usually about something the children are doing. A recurring theme that I thought was cute, especially when my own children were very small, is one where an angry parent is pointing at a broken lamp or a spilled gallon of milk or some other evidence of mischief and the children are saying “I don’t know” and “Not me”, and hovering nearby are two ghosts named “I don’t know” and “Not me”.
It always amazed me how I could hear the crashing of porcelain in a room ten feet away then enter that room and find several wide-eyed and innocent kids, none of whom had any idea how that thing got broken.
Folks, we don’t need to learn sin. No child has to be taught to sneak cookies from the cookie jar. It is in their nature and it will never be taught out of them. It will never be taught out of you. You will battle with it on some level until you are glorified.
So the point James is getting at is that when you are tempted to sin the wrong response to that temptation comes out of your own nature and it is a response to the stimuli of the trial. What God means for good you and I will respond to in one of two ways. Faith or flesh.
God tries but He never tempts. I like the way Wiersbe puts it.
“He is too holy to be tempted, and He is too loving to tempt others.”
THE NATURE OF LUST
Lust. There’s another word that bears looking into.
When we say or hear ‘lust’ these days the first thing our minds turn to is strong sexual attraction and usually in an unfavorable context.
A casual examination of the Greek word there reveals that it is a general desire, longing, craving after something; usually something forbidden or at best, unwise or unhealthy.
The thing we need to notice about lust is that it comes from no one and nowhere outside of ourselves. That’s why in verse 14 James says, “…by his own lust”.
Christian or non-Christian, your lusts are yours. Temptation may come from without but it appeals to what is in you and that is lust. It is man’s own sinful lust that makes sin seem appealing. It is the lust for sex that makes adultery seem more fun than celibacy or faithfulness to a spouse. It is the lust for power that makes self-service seem more appealing than service to others. It is the lust for the approval of men that makes falsehood seem more appealing than honesty and truthfulness, and so forth.
Before we move on from here I want you to see that this is not an accidental process. There is a deliberate plan being carried out here.
Temptation comes and appeals to lust. James uses terms that relate to fishing. Man is drawn away as though by a lure and that word ‘enticed’ is the same as used for a fish hook. Temptation hooks the lust of the fallen nature.
Then he moves from that picture to one of the birth process. Again, deliberateness and progression; no accident. Lust conceives, sin is born, death is the result because the wages of sin is death.
Verse 16 “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren”
Can the brethren be deceived? Yes. That’s why James warns against it. Those without the Spirit of Christ in them are deceived and they will remain deceived. They have no defense and no hope outside of Christ.
But you, Christian, who have the Holy Spirit, have a defense and you have hope because sin is no longer your master.
Romans 6:12-14
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
So stop blaming others for your sin. Stop blaming your circumstances. Above all, stop blaming God for your tribulations or your temptations.
When James says to not be deceived he’s saying ‘don’t deceive yourself’!
Also don’t use the reference to grace there in Romans 6:14 to deceive yourselves.
Christian, grace does not excuse sin. It is not a waiver to sin. It is the very reason you must deny the deception of the flesh and die daily to the lures of temptation. God’s grace is manifested in love which is the fulfilling of the Law.
God is not tempted and He does not tempt. So own it, confess it, and rejoice in God’s goodness.
Let’s move on to look at that now.
GOOD THINGS COMIN’ DOWN
“Every good thing” “Every perfect gift”
God is absolutely free of any blame for our sin. By His very nature He cannot abide evil and from Him comes only that with is good and perfect.
Take note of the contrasts that James is bringing out.
God is not tempted by evil, therefore evil must come from the evil one. So God is not the tempter, Satan is.
It is man’s own lust that is enticed to sin and sin brings death.
In contrast, God is Light and not only is He good in His giving, He gives that which is good.
Now if you look at that in light of our trials and the temptation that comes to us, then we can only conclude that every test He sends and every temptation He allows is intended for our good.
I Peter 1:6, 7
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
But God’s goodness is demonstrated for us in many more ways than just the fact that our trials are for our good. Listen to these examples from Scripture:
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Ps 84:11
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32
11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11
In the sister verse to this one in Luke 11:13, Luke says ‘how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Christian, any time we find ourselves being attracted by Satan’s offers it is because we have begun to doubt God’s goodness.
Paul said “It is He who gives to all life and breath and all things”, and when we turn to the world the flesh or the devil for anything we demonstrate a failure to believe that every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift comes down from above.
Are you tested? Ask God for wisdom for the test. Are you tempted? Turn to God and trust Him. Don’t blame Him, believe Him.
He is good in His giving, He only gives good things and all things that are good are given by Him. It is foolhardy and futile to look anywhere else or to allow ourselves to be attracted by sin’s lures.
FATHER OF LIGHTS
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. I John 1:5
According to commentators one term the ancient Jews used in reference to God was “Father of Lights”, as the Creator of the sun, moon and stars.
James is making another word picture here for the sake of contrast. Even the great lights of the heavens have their waxing and waning. The clouds can obscure the sun for a time. The stars come and go. But God is Light and with Him there is no shadow, no changing, no eclipsing, no refracting.
What an amazing truth for the Holy Spirit to remind us of through James at this particular point!
God does not tempt with evil, indeed, all things good are coming down from Him and Him alone, and beloved brethren, as Detective Beretta used to say, ‘you can take dat to da bank’!
We’ll never have to worry that God will change His mind. We’ll never have to worry that He’ll have a bad day or be in a bad mood.
The false gods of the ancient heathen were unpredictable, moody, disingenuous, manipulative, cruel, adulterous, petty, the list could go on. If you read the stories by Homer you will see that they demonstrated all the failures of mortal men. That is because when a man creates a god he cannot make that god any better than himself.
But the one true God exists uncreated and is who He is and is what He is from eternity to eternity. So when He says of Himself that He does not tempt and that every good thing coming down is from Himself He is speaking a truth that is from eternity to eternity and will never falter or fail.
If you can understand that then you can go directly to the cross of Christ and consider His accomplishment there in taking on Himself the full penalty for your sin, and His bodily resurrection from the tomb declaring that because He lives you too shall live, and you can declare with the same finality and confidence of James 1:17 that you are your Beloved’s and He is yours and His banner over you is love forever and forever and forever!
The Christian singing group, The Imperials, wrote a song years ago that remained very popular for a long time. I can’t remember the whole tune which probably a few of you will, but listen to the words:
“He didn’t bring us this far to leave us.
He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown.
He didn’t build His home in us to move away.
He didn’t lift us up to let us down.
There are some promises in a letter written, a long, long time ago.
They’re not getting older they’re getting better.
Because he still wants us to know.
Never use the word defeat.
Claim His promises, everyone one of them.
Every spoken word He’ll hear
because we’re everything to Him!”
Christian if you can let the Holy Spirit teach you this thing it will change your life. You are everything to God. You. Not just the person next to you or the really spiritual famous missionary or the really good gospel singer.
Because you are everything to Him, the One who does not change, every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is coming down from Him to you.
From His hand to your hand. From His heart to your heart. From His Spirit to your spirit.
He gives to all life and breath and all good things comin’ down.
