James 1:13-18 Lesson 4

Temptations vs Tests

Verse 13

God tempts no one

The Greek word for trials in verses two and twelve is peirasmos (a noun) and refers more to major tests of faith that the Lord allows us to go through to grow us spiritually (to develop perseverance or endurance). The word can refer to temptations or being tempted, but can also mean tests of faith from God (the specific meaning James has in mind in this verse).

On the contrary, the English transliteration of the word “tempted” in verse thirteen is peirazo (verb) and can also have both meanings (referring to tests and temptations). But in this context, the word refers to enticements to sin. Many of these Jewish believers kept mistaking temptations for testing from God ("When tempted, no one should say"). It was also “tempting” for many of James’s readers to feel as if God was enticing them to sin (or fail) by testing them in such difficult ways. They figured that because of the overwhelming severity of the trials they faced, God was trying to get them to fail. This was another reason James had to write about this issue. They had a twisted view of Christian suffering. The trials they faced were from God and meant to grow, not weaken, their faith by giving it more of an opportunity to express itself through works of obedience. This process would then strengthen their faith by getting it accustomed to pressure. The more suffering a believer learns to take, the more they get used to handling it, and they begin to “toughen up.”

Trials and tribulations (tests) are from God, meant for our success, while temptations (as we typically understand them) are from the flesh and the Devil, meant for our failure and spiritual compromise (though temptations are a test of sorts). There is a significant difference between the two in terms of motivations and intentions. God wants what’s best for us (as verse seventeen shows), while Satan desires only the absolute worst. Some of the Jews in our context, like Job, began to imagine a “Phantom deity” (Merrill F. Unger- Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament- page 691) whose hand was against them. In reality, God was FOR them and desired their absolute best (as He does for all people). The passage below, although long, expresses this principle most beautifully.

We will discuss the subject of sin and why we commit it in our next two verses. But we are always at fault for our wrongdoings (we must learn to take full responsibility for our sins). Never is it the case that we must give in to temptation or that the flesh and the Devil have the liberty to override our free will and force us to do something we shouldn’t and don’t want to do (there has never been a case of “the Devil made me do it”).

Additionally, there is no reason to believe that all temptations are from the Devil. I think Satan gets too much credit regarding temptation, and that is because he is not like God, who is omnipresent. If he were behind every evil-provoking thought, we would have to conclude that we could never fall into temptation and sin all the time he was/is away. He does not have unlimited access to hound believers as often or as much as he wants. That, and we must also remember that our flesh is always involved (as verse fourteen confirms), even though Satan may not be. Regardless of whether the Devil is present or not, a temptation is still and will always be a temptation that God expects us to resist. The difficulty level for each one matters little because, although some are harder than others, the solution to overcoming them is still the same, no matter what.

It is a great act of mercy and grace for God to disallow the evil one from constantly harassing us. He has other people to tempt and other whereabouts of which we humans are in the dark. But this does not mean we become immune to temptation whenever he is absent. Satan does take advantage of the sinful nature resident within us, but some temptations can originate from this sole source only. In other words, our flesh may still feel tempted to do wrong even when the great tempter himself is temporarily away (this can happen through negligence by letting our minds wander too far). Temptation can arise at any time, and sometimes, we feel like giving in, even though we know we shouldn’t and don’t have to. But feelings are irrelevant and can’t force us to do anything we don’t want to do.

We can’t always control how we feel, just as we can’t always stop certain thoughts and temptations from entering our minds. We can mitigate the likelihood of our minds wandering onto impure things by meditating on God’s truth, but even that won’t stop every bad thought or temptation from “getting in.” Meditation can help brace our minds for impact, but it isn’t the same as making a free-will decision to say no (James tells us to resist the Devil, James 4:7). What we do have control over is how we handle or react to said problems. We need to remember that we have the Holy Spirit living within us to empower our decisions through free will (we have the free will to say no). So, when an impure thought arises, we resist and replace it with a virtuous truth we have believed and stored in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).

It is frequently the case that while God tests us, Satan and our flesh tempt us to give up during the trial, so that tests and temptations often coincide (an obvious point since we are tempted every day). The Jewish believers in our book not only struggled with their trials but also gave in to sin more frequently during those periods than they should have. Like the Gentile Corinthians Paul had to call out in two large letters, these Jewish believers (albeit to a lesser degree) displayed a level of spiritual immaturity that needed correction (James will reprimand them for some of this behavior later in his letter).

Job’s case is a good example of a man who endured testing and temptation simultaneously. God allowed this hero of the faith to undergo what he did because his faith was the greatest of his generation; hence, it could handle such a tremendous amount of “applied force.” And, yes, that great book tells us that God can use the Devil for His own glorious purposes. God allowed the test not to get Job to give in to the temptation to give up and fail (as his wife insinuated that he should Job 2:9), but to grow and strengthen his faith. The Devil, on the other hand, while involved in the test by inflicting Job, his family, and possessions, frequently harassed him to give up and give in. What God meant for good, the Devil intended for evil. A similar situation involved Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 50:20.

One point I would like to clarify is that we can view temptations as a test (of sorts). No, it is not a direct test from God (God never entices us to sin against Him, because a kingdom cannot be divided against itself; Matthew 12:25-27). But we can still see it as one because it tests our faith and obedience (or the present state or disposition of our heart). Will we give in or obey? Will we trust God to deliver us through the temptation, no matter how difficult? Temptations still test faith and obedience, and that’s the point. The main difference between the two is, as we’ve already said above, that one originates from the flesh and the Devil desiring to see us commit evil (explaining why God doesn’t tempt us). The other comes from God, wishing our obedience and spiritual well-being by allowing our faith to grow (which is why Satan never tests us for those purposes).

The final half of verse thirteen has the phrase, “For God cannot be tempted by evil.” This may sound like a contradiction because Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13, and Mark 1:12-13), “One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” Hebrews 4:15.

However, there is no contradiction because our Lord was tempted only during His time on earth, in His humanity after the incarnation, when He took on a not-yet-resurrected human body vulnerable to physical limitations, such as fatigue, hunger, pain, and physical death. This was a time when Christ could be tempted, given the limits and restrictions He faced as He identified Himself with the human race to die and pay for the world’s sins (a doctrine known in theology as “kenosis”). Outside of this period (before the incarnation and after His resurrection), the Lord God has never been tempted (nor will He ever be). The Father foreknew in eternity past that Jesus would live a perfect, sinless life while completing His mission perfectly (1 Peter 2:22, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 3:5). Our Savior manifested His qualifications for the task before Him by demonstrating perfect obedience to the Father’s will through His thoughts, words, and actions.

Jesus was tempted only in His humanity, not in the “God” aspect of Himself (His divinity). God cannot be tempted. Jesus is God (John 10:30), but could only be tempted during His time on earth after the virgin birth, but before His resurrection, while He walked through the world as a physical human being under the restrictions He limited Himself to (kenosis). Only the limited human part of Him was tempted. Despite the limitations of depriving Himself of many of His divine powers and abilities, the hypostatic union remained perfectly intact (Jesus was still both God and man).

Time and space do not permit a more thorough examination of the theological words “hypostatic union” and “kenosis.” This is not a Christology study but a verse-by-verse teaching through the book of James. So, for the sake of our subject and to keep with the flow of our examination, I have decided to be brief on this topic. The doctrine of kenosis refers to the self-imposed limitations of Christ during His time on earth as a physical human being (reasons explained above). The doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches that Jesus has always been God but took on two natures from the incarnation onward. The fact that He became a man forever since then did not, in any way, take away from His divine nature (or from the fact that He was still God). ONLY during His time on earth, after the incarnation but before the resurrection, did the limitations of kenosis apply.

Ever since the resurrection, the Lord God has not been subject to temptation because he could only suffer such satanic attacks in His humanity while still on earth before the resurrection. We believers, too, will one day no longer be subject to temptation once we die. The dead in Christ (all believers who died since Adam up to our present time) are untemptable now, even as they presently possess an interim body in the third heaven 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Philippians 1:21-26 (soul sleep is unbiblical). Believers don’t possess Christ’s deity but are dichotomous, having both a human body and spirit. The spirits of our departed brothers and sisters are presently in the third heaven, housed in temporary, interim bodies until the resurrection at Christ’s second advent, when they will receive their eternal resurrection bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:4-6). As our Thessalonians passage affirms, those still alive at Christ’s return will be resurrected while still physically alive to witness Christ’s second and final return.

Finally, the word “flesh” does not always have to refer to the sinful nature. Christ did not possess a sinful nature, yet was still said to be in the flesh during His stay on earth. The flesh can refer to both the sinful nature and the physical body that presently houses our human spirits.

Verse 14

The origin(s) of temptation

So, since God tempts no one, how are believers tempted (regardless of whether the temptation comes from internal or external stimuli; our heart or inner self is always involved), and where do temptations come from? Verses fourteen and fifteen answer these questions. The word “but” in our English translation indicates that this verse explains how believers suffer temptation instead of how they do not, as described in verse thirteen (a striking contrast). So, instead of happening in said manner, it occurs another way. Temptation, whether solely from the flesh, the Devil, or both (temptation can come in various ways), is like a lure (think of a fishing lure) meant to get the person to latch on and bite. Now, even if Satan is not involved in the process, a temptation is still a temptation (to be resisted) that is like a lure meant to capture our attention by eliciting a negative response. The luring part of temptation involves setting up the object, thing, or person for capture (drawing them out) by enticing their inner desire to take the offering. The Greek word for enticed is deleazo" (δελεάζω) and refers to what we have just said: enticing something by catching it with some kind of bait (whatever the temptation is).

We then have the word desire, which we will now spend a bit of time examining and explaining to help us understand why we, as believers, continue to sin even though we don’t have to. Before starting, allow me to say that this is not a hamartiology study examining the specific subject of sin (the sin nature). Instead, this is a brief but thorough explanation of the question (not meant to be fully comprehensive since there are multiple smaller “sub-reasons” on why we sin).

Some English translations have the word “lust” instead of “desire” at the end of verse fourteen. However, the meaning remains the same because the Greek word for lust is “epithumia" (ἐπιθυμία) and has desire included in its meaning. Lust is just another word for desiring something we shouldn’t. Anytime we sin, we do so because we desire to think, speak, or act based on what we really want to do at that moment.

Why do we believers continue to sin?

So why do we believers sin even though we don’t have to, because there is never an excuse for it? Yes, the sin nature (or flesh) is a big part of the problem and helps to explain much of why we give in to temptation (our fallen nature makes sinless perfection impossible). The evil desires of the sin nature are a big part of the equation.

So, if the sin nature cannot force anyone to give in and sin, why do we still commit it? How can we explain that we cannot be without sin (1 John 1:8) yet never have to give in? The sinful nature is a significant weakness that guarantees failure for every person to various degrees. We are still human, created with the ability to respond to God negatively or positively. So, although Adam and Eve didn’t yet have a sin nature before the fall, they still had free will. They were not untemptable as God has always been (in His eternal divinity), and as our departed brothers and sisters are in the third Heaven now (all of us presently alive will one day share this blessed state when we go home to be with the Lord). We do not lose our free will after death, but, like God, we become untemptable and, therefore, incapable of sinning.

The flesh mentioned in our two passages above refers to the mental, physical, and spiritual limitations that human beings (specifically believers in this case) have because of possessing a sinful nature we all inherited from Adam (Genesis 3:19). Sin-corrupted flesh can only produce sin-corrupted offspring. Those limitations and the sin nature that coexist alongside them are meant because they are inseparable.

The result of sin was the sin nature, which brought about the curse, leading to the physical limitations we humans must labor under (hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, physical death, etc., all of which will disappear in eternity). This helps to explain why we often desire to give in to sin (we have mental, physical, and spiritual limitations because of sin’s curse and the sin nature resident within us). No, Adam and Eve didn’t have any of these weaknesses before they fell. But they still possessed free will and a nature susceptible to temptation. And since they were vulnerable to temptation, the Devil used one of his greatest methods of attack: the lie, which he used to deceive Eve (John 8:44).

To swing back to why believers possessing a sinful nature still sin, the weaknesses we have inherent from birth certainly don’t help and significantly contribute to many of our failures (Galatians 5:17). We may desire to sin because we are tired or bored and, therefore, don’t feel like resisting to the point of blood in our struggles (Hebrews 12:4 we may also be unwilling to resist because of the various levels of pain and difficulty involved in so doing). Laziness, complacency, and boredom are all possible reasons among many (we could never hope to give a comprehensive list of specifics). James will call out some of his Jewish readers for engaging in sinful behavior because of the desires within them (think about how Eve desired to eat the fruit for reasons already stated). Many of the believers James wrote to were reacting to their trials sinfully because they thought God was against them. This was, of course, not true. James addresses this problem in verses fourteen and eighteen and will return to the subject later in his letter.

The Greek word for pleasures in verse one above is hēdonē (the origin of our English word “hedonism”) and refers to pleasures, passions, and desires (desires is a good and accurate translation). Our free will choices always follow what we truly want (desire). If we did something wrong, it is because we wanted to do wrong. If we did what was right, it was because we wanted to do the right thing. Perhaps we initially had some desire to resist a particular temptation but didn’t follow through. In that case, our desire to obey was not enough because we allowed it to dissolve. Sufficient desire will guarantee victory. But the sinful nature (something our Lord didn’t have to contend with during His time on earth before His resurrection) and the inescapability of temptation make sinless perfection impossible. Adam and Eve could have remained perfect because they never had a sinful nature and could have said “no” to Satan’s offer. Satan knew they needed a motivator to give in (hence, the Devil tempted Eve by targeting her greatest weaknesses after many years of observing her).

We may conclude that we still sin because our sinful nature ultimately means that we will never consistently desire (or always be willing) to do the right thing (we gave some more specific reasons above). In contrast, Adam and Eve could have continued in their perfect state because all the pain, difficulties, struggles, suffering, and inconveniences that came into existence after the fall didn’t exist before that. They didn’t have to labor under the sin nature and the curse that came with it.

So, our answer includes our vulnerability to temptation, and (with that) the desires of our hearts capable of wanting to sin (evil is the result) due to that vulnerability and the sinful nature (1 Peter 2:11). It is impossible to be sinless when all these things are combined.

However, as already mentioned, other reasons can also be involved (we cannot give a comprehensive list). Whenever we sin, we fail to demonstrate the proper love for the Lord that is due Him (fear is another Ecclesiastes 12:13). John 14:15 says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” All believers love the Lord, of course, so sinful behavior doesn’t mean we don’t love God at all (only unbelievers have no true love for Him). But it still holds that our love for Christ will fluctuate and will never be perfect. The more we sin, the less love we demonstrate toward our Master. But greater love will manifest itself positively (less sin).

Unbelievers, on the other hand, cannot resist sin at all because they do not have God’s strength operating in their lives. They still live in their sins and, thus, have no genuine desire to master their inner desires because they are enslaved to them (Romans 6:6-7). The solution, of course, is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (Acts 16:31) by taking advantage of God’s offer and solution to the problem of sin and death.

Before we finish, it is necessary to point out that it is best to focus on the solution to sin and not the struggle (problem) itself. We don’t need to get our minds wrapped up in the specifics of the many causes and reasons for sinful behavior, other than briefly examining some of the bigger and more obvious ones (and even there, our focus still needs to be on the solution, not the problem). I needed to explain this here because James 1:14 addresses one of these more significant and obvious reasons. So, it was necessary to spell things out to some extent (even if our focus shouldn’t be on that issue once it is better understood).

Finally, as motivation and inspiration to give our best (the Lord wants our very best, even though we can never be perfect), we have the ultimate example in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who desired to do the Father’s will. We, too, should strive to please our Master as much as possible. We can’t overcome any temptation if we don’t genuinely want to. The passage below, written by David and quoted in Hebrews 10:5-8, also applies to the Messiah who desired (delighted) to do the Father’s will. Let’s also show enthusiasm to do the same in our resolve to resist sin.

Verse 15

The results of desire and the sin it produces

Verse fifteen continues explaining the process of sin and how it occurs and worsens with time if left out of control. The word desire (to desire, crave, or long for) appears again, along with the word conceived (sullambano means to take or seize), which refers to said person giving in to the temptation (fully committing oneself to it by taking the bait). The result of this action is sin, and sin, if allowed to grow to full maturity (leading to apostasy), leads to eternal death. The Greek word for fully grown is apoteleō ἀποτελέω, and means to perfect or accomplish (some English translations rightly use the word “accomplished” instead of “fully grown” because the meanings are the same).

This verse describes the process of spiritual degeneration or decline in that the believer continues to feed their sinful desires to the death of their faith, a process known as apostasy. James is writing to believers and describes a process that can only apply to Christians for that reason. The phrase “And sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” describes an individual engaged in a pattern that leads to a negative outcome if left unchecked. Unbelievers cannot experience this because they are still in their sins and already spiritually dead. Our verse involves a person sliding from a better position (one no unbeliever ever had to begin with) to a worse one.

Additionally, the words “accomplished” and “fully grown” further reinforce the truth that spiritual and eternal death are meant, not physical death as some form of discipline for the believer. The result of this process is already accomplished in that said person has gone the whole way by giving their life over to sin so that they no longer care about their present conduct. Those who practice sin are unbelievers and will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven.

How sin contributes to apostasy

We have already examined apostasy and how it occurs elsewhere in this ministry. However, we will briefly revisit and explain it to help us understand this verse. Firstly, yes, believers can stop following and, thus, believing in Jesus Christ for multiple reasons. Salvation is conditional upon continuous faith (by faith through grace alone we are saved, Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is not a work; therefore, holding fast to it does not constitute working our way to Heaven through our own efforts (salvation is not by works).

The process of continued belief also isn’t automatic because the parable of the soils confirms that some do believe but fall away later on.

The meaning of the above passage and Hebrews 3:13-19 is clear. Some believe for a while but fall away in times of testing. God tests believers with faith that can be tested (unbelievers possess nothing that can be tested). Likewise, what is the point of Paul warning his readers (and us today to whom these words also apply) against the dangers of sin-involved apostasy in Galatians 5:19-21 and Hebrews 3:13-19 if there was no possibility they could ever do such a thing? But he gave these warnings to everyone because we can indeed take such a path if we choose to. James did the same thing here, albeit more indirectly, to discourage his reading audience from reacting negatively to their trials through sinful behavior. Sin can lead to more sin and hardening of the heart if taken too far (a danger James wanted to steer these Jewish believers away from).

So, how can sin contribute to apostasy (the complete death of one’s faith)? Again, we have already described this process elsewhere. And, to repeat, sin need not be involved to set off the process of apostasy (there can be multiple reasons for that, involving many possibilities, so giving a comprehensive list is unrealistic). However, when sin is involved, it can’t help but eat away at our faith and harden our hearts toward God if left unchecked. If said person pursues it to the fullest (it becomes “accomplished” in their life), it means that said pattern has forced them to make a free will choice between Christ and their new “idol.” If they choose the latter, the individual has chosen to stop believing (following) in Christ because sin has hardened their hearts so much to a point where they no longer wish to have any affiliation with God.

Faith can’t survive if sin is allowed to grow to full maturity (the person begins practicing it without worry or care; Galatians 5:21) because a person can only harden their heart so much before the process forces them to turn entirely from God. Any believer can reverse this process with God’s help, but only with true repentance. Without the desire to reverse course (assuming the Lord’s divine disciplining of them doesn’t work, Hebrews 12:3-11), there can be no solution to the problem if said individual genuinely wishes to go off the “deep end.”

Struggling with sin versus practicing it

With all the above said (and on a more positive note), there is a difference between struggling with sin and practicing it. Believers can struggle with sin for a long time before learning to consistently suppress it. However, the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is that one cares while the other does not. If one is a believer, that person is saved (John 3:16-18), a point that brings us back to the subject of “desire.” One of the bigger, more obvious reasons we believers continue to sin is that we don’t always desire to do the right thing (a point we’ve already thoroughly covered). There may be various reasons why we are unwilling to resist temptation (although a desire to disobey is always involved). However, we must point out that all believers care about their lifestyles to some extent. There is no such thing as a brother or sister in Christ who doesn’t care about sin to some level, because if there were no concern, that person would have to be an unbeliever.

The more persistently we sin, the less desire we have demonstrated to overcome it. The less we sin, the greater our desire or willingness is to beat it. It is all a matter of degrees, so we will always be in flux. All believers have this desire to obey to some degree as long as they are believers. However, if backsliding continues, it is because the level of care and willingness has declined. And, of course, if continued, that process can become fully accomplished if said pattern advances to apostasy and, thus, spiritual death James 1:15).

If we are getting better at resisting temptation (the Devil and the inclinations of our flesh), then that is a sign that our desire to please the Lord is consistently growing, even though we will never be perfect. It is safe to say we sin every day, so even mature, advancing believers still fall far short of perfection. Some may fall into unrepentant sin for a while (it continues to worsen) until they either hit rock bottom and repent, or continue sinning to the point of the death of their faith. But we should remember that some believers may be stuck (addicted to various degrees) because they aren’t moving dramatically forward or backward (they are inconsistent) and may remain in that state for an extended period (even years) until they better learn to apply the truth in their lives. None of that is excusable (we must always be deadly serious about sin and should never take it lightly). But it is understandable since even believers are imperfect human beings living in an imperfect world.

The process of getting out of chronic sin can be challenging (depending on how deep a person has gotten into said behavior), so it can take a lot of time, pain, and practice until overt, positive transformation begins to manifest itself. The more serious we become, the better we get as we go along. But just because no major change has occurred does not mean we aren’t on our way. So, although we may only experience a slight improvement initially, persistence will accelerate into more pronounced progress.

So, just because we’ve mustered greater care and concern over the sin in our lives (sin we have come to hate and detest even more) doesn’t mean significant results will occur overnight. How quickly we advance can depend on how predisposed we are toward certain destructive behaviors (not to mention our history and track record with said issue) and the willingness to suffer on the path to victorious glory (suffering is the path to glory). The more we want or desire to improve, the faster and farther we will go.

Some believers grow out of sinful habits much more quickly than others, while others may take longer (times vary). But we all struggle with different and various things and must accept that we will never be perfect as long as we are alive on this earth in these sin-infested bodies (even if we have gotten better at dealing with sin in general). There is no specific level of self-control on some scale to indicate whether we have overcome said struggle, which is not a good way to think about the problem. Ultimately, our focus should always be on getting better. If we are improving and maintaining said momentum, that should give us peace of mind. That doesn’t mean we won’t have momentary or even occasional lapses when we may worsen for a brief time. But it does mean that positive consistency continuously characterizes our walk.

Additionally, we must remember that just because we may have struggled badly in one area doesn’t mean we weren’t growing spiritually overall. Sin doesn’t help and slows our growth and production, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate no growth in other areas. But the more we give in to it, the harder it becomes to resist (and the lesser our growth, progress, and production will be). The focus should always be on the solution, not the problem itself (which includes forgetting and moving on from past failures (Philippians 3:13-14). But this does not mean we ignore that sin has consequences, whether spiritual, mental, physical, or a combination of two or all three.

Verses 16-18

Every good and every perfect gift comes from above

James uses the words, “Do not be deceived,” in verse sixteen to correct some of his Jewish readers who thought God was tempting them to sin through the trials He allowed them to go through. But, as James already explained, God does not tempt anyone. So these believers should not have thought that there were any evil intentions and motivations behind God’s plans. Instead, what some of them saw as negatives, they should have seen as positives (causes for rejoicing, James 1:2), because the Lord had their very best interests at heart (the Lord doesn’t want us to sin and will help us overcome the temptations to do so). The irony in this was that Satan was tempting these believers to believe God was tempting them! If they fell for this lie, they would have become dissuaded from enduring what was necessary for them to grow. James knew this couldn’t happen and further evidenced his strong concern for them by calling them beloved brothers. These were James’s brothers and sisters in Christ, ones under his care and charge, which made his love for them more personal, intimate, and affectionate.

Verse seventeen in our English translation reads, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Again, we need only reflect on everything we’ve examined in our present context to understand what this means. Temptations to sin don’t come from God, so whatever comes from Him is good and for our betterment. Everything God sends our way (these can be a variety of things), the Lord uses to help, not hinder us. The gospels provide a few good examples of this principle. The context in our Luke passage below does mention the specific giving of the Holy Spirit, but the principle of everything coming from God being good is present in that passage (as well as the others). So, although we may not ask God to put us through a particular and challenging trial, we can be assured that everything from Him is always good because He wants nothing but the best for us. If we ask for strength to endure through a test, will the Lord not grant us deliverance if we would but wait on Him in complete faith?

So, what about not receiving the things we asked for? Does that mean that God withheld something from us that we needed? Did He intend to harm or damage us by doing so? The answer is an absolute no! We may have to wait a long time to receive what we prayed for, or it may never have been in the Lord’s will for us to have (and for the better!). 1 John 5:14-15 reads, “14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. The condition to receive what we desire is based on whether it’s in the Lord’s will for us to have (see James 4:13-17). That also includes praying with the right motives, something James will address later in his letter in James 4:1-6.

The second phrase in our verse, “coming down from the Father of lights,” highlights the fact that only good things can come from God because there is no darkness in Him at all. 1 John 1:5-7 says, “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. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. So, whenever we are tempted to sin and give in, we cannot blame God for our failures.

The final phrase in our verse reads, “With whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God never changes in His nature or character, etc., and He deals with us perfectly, just as much during difficult times (trials or tribulations) as at all times. He never changes at ALL in any sense of the word (unlike a shifting shadow that changes in shape, size, or form)! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His behavior toward humanity is not varied in that He’s good one moment but then evil another. God always remains His perfect self, no matter the circumstances, whether good or bad. That should give us comfort, indeed!

In regard to verse eighteen, James needed to mention these words because why would a loving God tempt anyone (those He loved and died for, both believer and unbeliever), especially believers with a special relationship with Him? The trials God allows in our lives are things we should never view as temptations (and, therefore, causes to sin) because the Lord tempts no one. If God loves us, how can we ever credit Him with such actions? God tests us for our betterment because all good things come from Him. Therefore, the Lord was not tempting these believers by allowing them to endure their challenges.

Christ did not have to create us or die on the cross to pay for our sins. But He did so because He loved the world (John 3:16) and desired that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We could only be saved because of God’s love and desire to reach out to us by paying the penalty for our sins (covering them, as in atonement). Without the birth, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session of our Savior, salvation would not have been possible. Those who have accepted God’s gift of eternal life constitute the elect or those whom God foreknew in eternity past would come to Him in faith.

James’s readers were believers, so the verse has only justified saints in view. So, although Christ died for all (1 John 2:2), only believers can truly benefit from salvation. Our verse has spiritual rebirth in mind (a rebirth empowered and realized through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross). And, of course, God willing our salvation in no way takes away our free will but empowers it (we couldn’t choose to be saved if God didn’t want us to be). That is why free will and predestination go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. When we choose to put our faith and trust in Christ, the Lord honors that choice by saving (justifying), sanctifying, and glorifying us after we have done so. Of course, all those crucial processes only remain true for believers (those who remain believers to the very end).

God chose to enable our salvation and spiritual rebirth and grants it to all who desire and, thus, willingly receive it. We only love the Lord because He loved us first by redeeming and reconciling us to Himself.

“He brought us forth by the word of truth” refers to Christ saving us believers through His power and the water of the Word of God (the gospel message we accept and believe in our hearts and NOT water baptism; see passage below). Our reception of the gospel results in our spiritual rebirth.

Regarding the word “firstfruits,” believers are God’s firstfruits in that they have a relationship with Christ (unlike unbelievers). We belong to God (we have a special status with Him as those loved in a more personal way Revelation 3:19) just as all the firstfruits of the harvest in Old Testament times belonged to Him (Leviticus 23:10). God created all living things (both man and beast) and loves all men, unbelievers included (John 3:16, 1 John 4:8). However, only believers belong to Him.

References

All Greek words and definitions were sourced from Bible Academy using Curtis Omo’s lessons through the book of James. Prior permission for this was given to me by Curtis, who clarified no need for citing him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NHHaXVo0uc&t=327s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRwcpH0m3tw