Understanding
Temptation
James 1:12-18
Introduction: Last week we began the Epistle of James and were reminded that we
will experience troubles in our life, but we can know that God is working even
through the hard times, to make us stronger. He is working for our good and for
His glory even when we are struggling through a crisis in our life. This week
Rick Warren wrote in a devotional, “Your pain often reveals God’s purpose for you. God never
wastes a hurt! If you’ve gone through a hurt, he wants you to help other people
going through that same hurt. He wants you to share it. God can use the
problems in your life to give you a ministry to others.” Warren then quoted from a paraphrase of 2 Corinthians
1:4, 6…
“God
comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When we are
weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we
ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently
endure the same things.” (2 Corinthians 1:4, 6 NLT)
It
is actually comforting to realize that our suffering isn’t wasted, it is
something that God is using to change us, and in some cases to equip us to help
others who might pass through trials.
In Biblical Greek, as in English, the very same word
can have (and usually does have!) more than one meaning. For example, the word
“implicit”, according to Webster’s, can mean something that is implied but not
clearly stated, or, it can mean something that is very clear and obvious. Which is it? Well, it depends on what the
author meant to say, and usually there are clues in the context to help us grasp
that meaning. Last week we spoke about
the “trials” that we pass through in life, and I hope were assured that God
knows us, He knows what we can take, and in fact He will work through the
trials to help us to grow stronger as we pass through the hard times. The very same Greek word can mean “try,
test” or “tempt.” James seems to use it with both meanings in
James 1. I believe that the key to
understanding what he is saying is that God is working for our good, but that
we have an enemy who knows well our weaknesses, who would desire to turn that
trial into a temptation to sin. The very same trial can be either a test
which matures us or a temptation that would lure us down the pathway to sin.
The problem is not with God, it is in our own heart and mind. An excellent illustration of this is the
biblical story of Job. From God’s perspective, the trials that Job faced were
tests that would prove Job’s faith, and ultimately strengthen his testimony and
his walk with the Lord. From Satan’s perspective they were temptations, bait in
the trap, trying to entice Job to doubt God’s goodness and to ultimately curse Him.
Last week we looked at
this word from God’s perspective, with His intention in mind, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
various trials, 3
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its
perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”
(James 1:2-4). The same truth is being
related in this paragraph to warn against blaming God for using our trials to
entice us to sin.
The Big Idea:
God is good and will use times of trial to mature us, yet we must be
careful not to twist those trials into temptations to sin.
I.
What God is doing in times of trial
and testing: Let’s back up and take
another look at v.12. Here we see that He will use the hard times we pass
through in life to mature us and strengthen us (12). Last week we touched on this verse and were
reminded that God’s promise of victory gives us perspective, it allows us to
count it all joy when we fall into various trials. God is working
for our good and for His glory.
“Blessed is the man who endures
temptation…” The reason we can
“count it all joy” is tied to the perspective that comes when we believe the
truth of this verse: God is working in us to strengthen us, mature us, and to
use us for His glory. To “endure” or “persevere” has the idea of “bearing up
under a trial.” We don’t necessarily feel
blessed when we’re in the thick of it! But the next phrase gives us the
perspective that will allow us to “count it all joy”…
“……”for when he has been approved, he will
receive the crown of life…” It is pretty clear that the “crown” here, the
wreath given to the victor in an athletic competition, the prize, is life, eternal life, not only
in terms of duration, but the abundant life of blessing that we are already
starting to experience in a preliminary sense through faith in Christ. The next phrase makes that clear…
“…which the Lord has promised to those
who love Him.” To whom has the crown of life been promised? To all who
love Him. This is not a select few among believers. Believing in God, knowing
Him, and loving Him are parallel and inseparable ideas. “To know Him is to love
Him” in truth. God gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that love, as he did
with Job, when we pass through times of trial. He knows us, He knows what we
can bear, and the suffering of this present world is not worthy to be compared
to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Yes, God is good and will use times of trial to mature us, yet we
must be careful not to twist those trials into temptations to sin.
II. What God
is never doing when we pass through
trials: tempting us to sin (1:13-15).
Trials can be tests to be passed, or we can let them become temptations to sin.
When it becomes the latter, we are the problem, not God!
Though
the same word is used, the context makes it clear that now James is warning
about temptation to sin: “Let no
one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by
evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” I’ve talked with people who
have been exactly at this point: “Its not my fault, God made me this way!” Like
the little child who is caught up on a chair eating forbidden cookies, “They
smelled so good I just climbed up here to see them and my tooth got caught!”
There
is a process, a deadly spiral that we so easily can be drawn into: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn
away by his own desires and enticed” (1:14). The picture here is
of bait in a trap, or of a baited hook dangled in front of a fish… Stan and Max put bait fish in their lobster
traps not just to feed the lobsters (and the occasional seal!). They want to lure them in, trap them, and then
haul them off to “warmer waters.” The
lobsters become enticed, drawn in, allured, and then they are hooked. Notice
the bait, drawn away by what? By our “own desires.” We get our eyes off of God
and the eternal blessing we have in Him, and we satisfy our flesh. Or at least do something that we think will
dull the pain. It’s a deadly path.
James 1:15 says, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, brings forth death.” The language here is of conception
and birth. It’s a process, temptation becomes desire, desire gives birth to
sin, sin grows until, if left unchecked, it ultimately brings death. That is
exactly the process that unfolded in Genesis 3:1-7…
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made… 6 So when
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them
were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together and made themselves coverings.”
The rest is history! The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The enemy knows our weaknesses, and he will
dangle the bait in front of us, enticing us, luring us to satisfy our desires
rather than trusting our Father. Did God really say no to this? But it is so
good! Don’t you have the right to be happy? We’ve all heard the tempter’s
voice, maybe we have even used those very words in trying to justify ourselves.
How
Adam and Eve responded when God confronted them is exactly the paradigm that
James is warning against here: essentially they blamed God! We read in Gen
3:11-13. First, God asked him, “…Have
you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman
whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I
ate." 13 Then the LORD
God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman
said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." It is not my
fault, the woman you gave me, the serpent you made… etc. Bottom line: It is
really your fault God! No, it’s not. The
sad truth is, we try to do the same thing. It’s not my fault, YOU made me this
way! Or, if you are good, why would you let this problem come to my life?
Notice
what James says in verse 13, “Let no one
say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” The language here is
clear. The reason we cannot ever make the claim that God is at fault, “for
(for this reason) God is untemptable…” and “He himself tempts no one…” God
never changes. He is holy. Sin is incompatible with His nature and contrary to
what He desires from His children. The Bible says “Be holy for I am Holy.” God is
good, all the time, and He will use times of trial to mature us, yet we
must be careful not to allow those trials to be twisted into temptations to
sin.
III. What God is doing at all times: working in every situation for our ultimate good
(1:16-18). James begins by saying, “Do not
be deceived, my beloved brethren.” Don’t be confused about who is responsible
if trials we go through become temptations to sin. Above all, don’t even think
about blaming God. Why? He explains in vv.17-18.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow of turning.” The
VBS kids learned that truth this week from the perspective of the Son: “Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and
forever” (Hebrews 13:8). So, first
of all, enticement to sin would be contrary to the very nature of God. God is
good, and He is holy. He is “Light” not “darkness.” And he acts toward us in
accordance with His nature. Always. He never changes. He is holy. Trying
to entice someone to sin, to lure them into a trap would be totally
inconsistent with His nature.
I
remember when I was entering the dissertation stage of my doctoral program and
I had to take my comprehensive exams at Westminster Seminary. That was
stressful, they could ask anything we had ever read or heard about in the area
of biblical interpretation. One of the
professors said to me before I went in to be grilled by the faculty, “We are on
your side, we want you to do well.” That should have been obvious, but it was a
revelation to me, I hadn’t thought of it that way! God is good, and He loves us, and if in his
sovereignty he allows a trial in our life, it is not because He wants to lure
us into sin! After all, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works (Eph 2:10)!
Verse
18 goes on to describe God’s good workmanship in us, and His plan for us: “Of His own will He brought us forth by the
word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
1. Notice
God is the initiator in giving us new life: “Of His own will He brought you forth…” We have a few babies back in
our nursery on most Sundays. Here is a revelation for you: Not one of them was
born because of an act of their own will! Their conception and birth was
planned by someone else! That’s the language James is using here: of His own
will [not ours!] He brought us forth. By His grace we have been saved. God is the initiator and giver of spiritual
life.
2. We see
the means that He used: “…by the Word of
truth…” The Word is truth. “Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Whether it was someone
sharing the gospel with you, an evangelist preaching on television, a gospel
tract you picked up, a Sunday School teacher leading you to the Lord, whatever the agent, the means God used to awaken
faith in your heart was the Word of God.
And He did it for a reason…
3. “…that [with this goal in mind] we might be a kind of firstfruits of His
creatures…” God in His grace has promised a New Creation, a new heaven and
a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
This is what we were created for, and this is what we have been
re-created for. Already now, “if anyone is in Christ: A new creation” (2 Cor
5:17). If that is what we are to God,
the first fruit of a new creation, a return to Eden, an “already-not yet”
citizen of the Kingdom, how could we imagine that He would tempt us to sin? We
are His children, He wants us to do well.
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
God is good (and works for our good!) and will use times of trial to mature us,
yet we must be careful not to twist those trials into temptations to sin.
What would God have me to do in
response to this passage? Paul said I
Corinthians 10:13 that we are all tempted, yet “…No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation
he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Have you been blaming someone else, even God, for leading you into some sin? We
are all tempted, Jesus was tempted, but that doesn’t mean we need to take the
next step. The enemy is an expert on human weakness, and he no doubt has
watched you long enough to know your weakness. But God is
faithful. He knows what we can bear. He’ll provide the way of escape that will
enable you to endure it, and to come out stronger. If we’ll trust Him we can
have victory in Jesus. God wants you to
do well, after all He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
Will He not also with Him feely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). AMEN.
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