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JAMES - Be Doers of the Word, and not Hearers Only
Studies in the Letter of James (by Dr. Richard Thomas)

Chapter I

Testing and Tempting (James 1:12-18)


JAMES 1:12-18
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. 18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Earlier in this chapter James exhorted us to accept trials joyfully; here he finds in trails a still better reason for rejoicing. “Happy is the man that endures trial”. Not only do trials teach us patience so vital for Christian maturity. Trial when endured in the right spirit brings an eternal reward, the permanence of which is beautifully symbolised in the ‘crown’. He that endures to the end, shall be saved; the full and final climax of that saving process may be visually conceived as the ‘crown of life’. He is ‘tried’ (dokimos), the Greek verb behind the adjective recalls the testing of gold. It reminds us of the refining process that precious metal goes through, and thus fits in with Malachi 3:2.

James has thus given us a further beatitude in which we see the purifying influence of affliction not just mourning, persecution and slander, as God’s purpose for our lives. Sinful impurities are gradually removed, and the Divine image is reflected in us, as the face of the refiner from the surface of the precious metal.

It is interesting to note that all four of our canonical apostles, John, Peter, Paul and James, are fascinated by the figure of the crown. Despite His constant use of figurative language, it does not appear in the words of Jesus but only on His ‘thorn-crowned brow’. John places it on the heads of the four and twenty elders (Revelation 4:4) for them to cast down each his crown before the throne as an act of celestial worship. Peter announces the award as ‘a crown of glory’ to those who feed the flock and serve as examples to the sheep (1 Peter 5:2-4). Paul talks of ‘the crown of righteousness’ laid up for all who love the Lord’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:8): A crown is offered to those who endure faithfully and serve lovingly – a symbol of the fullness of life and glory in the presence of God (Revelation 2:10).

Temptation proper in the seductive sense now emerges (13). Contrast Genesis 22:1 that God tempted Abraham. There is nothing enticing in being asked to sacrifice one’s son. In OT Hebrew two synonymous verbs are employed, one of which is more-or-less consistently translated ‘tempt’ in the AV, while the other is generally rendered ‘try’ or ‘prove’. The context helps us decide that ‘try’ would be a more satisfactory rendering in the story of Isaac, whereas our Lord’s encounter with Satan was temptation in the worst sense. We cannot blame God when we yield to temptation. He does not wish us to fail in the tests of life; for as a Jewish teacher put it: “Do not say, ‘It is through the Lord that I fell; you must not do the things He hates’. Do not say, ‘It is He who caused me to sin, for He has no need of extra sinners’.”

Well, if God is not the source of such temptation, then who is? The devil entered Judas (John 13:27). Satan demanded to have Peter and sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31). Many of our temptations are diabolically generated, but this is not what James 1 is driving at. It is all too easy to blame God, the Devil or others when we give in to our lusts and then absolve ourselves. Let us, says James, seek the cause of sin in ourselves, and not add to our troubles by pursuing the more foolish of our passions. A Scottish poet speaking from bitter experience observed:

“That when nae real ills perplex them,
they mak enow themselves to vex them.”

Even Satan’s devices pose no danger unless we adopt them as our own. Everyone has his peculiar lusts arising form peculiar habits and temperaments, desires that draw him away from God (14). The wages of sin is death, or as James has it “lust when it has conceived brings forth sin; and sin when it is finished, brings forth death” (15).

Far from tempting man God opens up avenues of escape for us whenever we are sorely pressed by temptation. His dealings with us are meant to be openings for good, not occasions for stumbling. Make no mistake about this, says James; for it is all too easy to misjudge the ways of God (16). Platonism sees the good as God, Christians know that God is good. Every good gift (or act of giving) has its origin in the Almighty. The giving is good, because the Giver is perfect. His gifts are intended for our wellbeing and fulfilment. The Heavenly Father uses human agencies to bestow His gifts. We thank God for other people’s kindness, are grateful to them and thankful to Him. Let John Donne express our thankfulness to the Father in verse:

Friends reach out their hands and prefer us,
But Thy hand supports that hand that supports us.
Of all these Thy instruments have I received Thy blessing,
O God.

William Booth accepted the contributions of unbelievers for the upkeep of the Salvation Army. A quaint anecdote illustrates the mysterious means by which the Lord meets the needs of His children: There was an old lady who lived in a basement, she had fallen on hard times and rarely had enough to eat. One morning when her larder was empty, she called fervently on her heavenly Father to provide the food she needed. Just at that moment the local atheist was passing by and overheard her prayers. He determined to make fun of her faith in God in a novel manner. Filling a basket with bread, butter and cheese, fruit, vegetables and meat he let the whole down the window into her room. On returning home she found the food. Great was her delight, and at once she thanked the Lord for His bounty. Next morning the scoffer knocked at her door. She let him in and he asked her: “Has God answered your prayer?”. “Yes”, she replied, “He always does – He’s so good to me”. At this the man smiled and said: “It wasn’t God; it was I the devil who brought that basket”. To which the old lady responded: “The devil may have brought it, but it was God who sent it”.

This verse (17) reminds us not only of God’s goodness, but also of His unchanging nature. ‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds’. If His love is eternal (Jeremiah 31:3) so is His goodness. At the head of His gifts is that grace which brings about our rebirth as members of His family. We have been born anew of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Paul expands the phrase in speaking of ‘the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit’ (Titus 3:5). Here the agent of regeneration is the ‘word of truth’ (18), underlining the fact that the word and the spirit are inseparable in rebirth as in the whole of our Christian experience. In the Parable of the Sower our Lord lays stress on this feature – the seed that is sown is the word of the kingdom (Matthew 13:19), a word not understood by some, not retained by others. Where there is genuine response the seed has fallen into good ground.

However, the metaphor has shifted from sowing to begetting (the verb apparently belongs to Greek obstetrics and implies safe delivery). He the Father of Lights begets us combining the role of both parents. We are His by creation and generation, His by birth and adoption, a double assurance that nothing can separate us from His love.

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