James 1 - Conquering Temptations
By Bro David Petersen
The Book of James
Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5
1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
The term “twelve tribes” shows that this epistle is written to Hebrew Christians scattered throughout the Roman empire as a result of the dispersion. Gentiles should study and apply the teachings of James, but the letter was primarily written to Jewish believers.
Count It All Joy
1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
The word “divers” here means manifold. The term “fall into”means to fall in and be surrounded by something. This is strong language that says the being tested is a full-time job for the Christian.
The word “temptation” comes from the Greek word “peirasmos” (pi-ras-mos'); a putting to proof (by experiment [of good], experience [of evil], solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity.
An ancient Greek may have used it to describe a scientific experiment, for example to “test” a hypothesis. It is used in 2 ways in the bible. The first is in the sense of trials and tribulations that test us. Adversity proves God’s people. The other sense in which the word is used is an enticement to do wrong. The Bible has a word for this type of behavior and the internal condition that causes the behavior. That word is “sin”.
1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Here's What James Is Saying:
- Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations?
- Then be happy,
- For when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow.
- So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems.
- For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
Peter said to "think it not strange" (1 Peter 4:12) when we are called upon to pass through "the fiery trial." "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
A day of great joy and glory is coming. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.
Prosperity is often a mixed blessing: we can become self-sufficient and forget the Lord when things are going well. It affords little opportunity for spiritual growth. And adversity is far from being an unmixed calamity: it build spiritual endurance and maturity. Adversity should cause joy because it presents an opportunity to serve the Lord.
Patience does not refer to simply being able to wait for a long time for something. Joyful endurance produces a victorious attitude no matter what the circumstances with which we can be more than conquerors.
An example of this can be seen in Acts 5 when the apostles were beaten for preaching in the Temple courtyard.
40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Acts 5:40-41
They rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Today many people take being a Christian for granted. They do not realize what a privilege it is to serve the Lord. We should rejoice when we are counted worthy to suffer for his name.
Wisdom From God
1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
At first glance James may appear to be a series of unrelated statements. But upon closer examination it becomes apparent that the verses are related. Verse 5 is connected to the previous verses. We need wisdom to endure trials.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
This wisdom does not come from human cleverness or intelligence. It comes from God.
There are differences between knowledge, intelligence and wisdom.
- Knowledge is simply an accumulation of facts and the ability to recall them
- Scientists are still struggling to define intelligence:
- Generally, intelligence is the ability to analyze and evaluate facts and solve problems
- Wisdom is knowledge and intelligence applied correctly
- With moral rightness and insight
1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Two conditions must be met in order to receive wisdom from God:
- We must ask in faith.
- We must ask unwaveringly, believing that we will receive.
We can’t be on a quest for wisdom one day, and then be bent on folly the next. We must be determined to maintain our testimony no matter what the cost might be.
1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
The Devil Didn’t Make Me Do It
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Lust here is not just sexual lust. It refers to the desire for the thing that tempts us. And what is the source of this lust? It comes from our own sinful hearts. Satan is not omnipresent like God. He is a finite, singular being. He did come to tempt the Lord, but he cannot be everywhere at once, tempting everyone at the same time. His demonic hordes can place temptation in our path, but is the “lust” or desire within us that tempts us. It is our own sinful nature that gives birth to sinful actions.
This is consistent with what the Lord taught regarding the source of evil desires as described in the gospel of Mark.
Mark 7:20-23:
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Notice that there is a progression to sin. There is a sin cycle. First there is enticement. The enticement draws the sinner away from the straight path. Then “lust conceives”. This is an act of the will that justifies the sin by thinking that it will by gratifying. At these first to stages in the sin cycle, we have the opportunity to “escape” or to pull out of the cycle. The next stage in the cycle is the actual commission of the sin. The final stage is death caused by sin. Sin causes both physical and spiritual death.
The way to pull out of the sin cycle is by means of escape.
I Can Resist Anything But Temptation
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape , that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I Corinthians 10:13.
The word “temptation” here comes from the Greek word “peirasmos” (pi-ras-mos'); a putting to proof (by experiment [of good], experience [of evil], solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity.
An ancient Greece it was used to describe a scientific experiment, for example to “test” a hypothesis. It is used in 2 ways in the bible. The first is in the sense of trials and tribulations that test us. Adversity proves the faith of God’s people. The other sense in which the word is used is the focus of this devotional. In this sense temptation refers to a solicitation or enticement to do wrong. The Bible has a word for this type of behavior and the internal condition that causes the behavior. That word is “sin”.
Sometimes you will hear people jokingly say “I can resist anything but temptation.” The ironic thing about this is the truth it contains.
Here is the main point of this short devotional:
God’s prescribed method for dealing with temptation is avoidance, not resistance.
There are many scriptures that deal with this theme of avoiding temptation, but we will look at just a few of them. The first is in the text for this devotional. Notice above in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that the promise is that God will provide a way to escape the temptation, not that God will provide strength to resist the temptation.
In Matthew 6:13, Jesus told his disciples:
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
When the Lord taught his disciples how to pray in Matt Chapter 6, his model prayer was consistent with the notion of avoiding temptation. In fact, he identifies the ultimate way of avoiding temptation, which is to ask the Father to keep it out of our way. The prayer is not “Bring it on Lord, I’m ready for anything”, but rather to ask God to keep enticement away from us.
Escaping Temptation (continued)
James does say that “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12-16.
But James is not referring to the method of dealing with temptation, but instead is talking about having victory over temptation. Hence the reference to receiving the crown. Another way of translating this in the NIV and the NASB versions is “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial.” The idea here is to finish the test victorious.
We are told to “resist the Devil”….
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
In reading the 4th chapter of James, it is apparent that the context here in which the admonition is given to resist the Devil is that the Devil wanted to causes divisions and tear up the church. So we are to resist the Devil in spiritual matters such as church doctrine, the defense of the truth and the battle for souls.
Peter also says:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9.
Again here in 1 Peter the context is not personal struggle with temptation but rather Peter is discussing how Pastors should lead the churches. He says that the Devil attacks the church and would like to destroy pastors’ ability to lead and so they are to resist these attacks.
In yesterday's devotional we talked about how temptation comes from within. You might hear the world say about temptation is “The Devil made me do it.”
James says that the Devil did not make you do it.
“13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Lust here is not just sexual lust. It refers to the desire for the thing that tempts us. And what is the source of this lust? It comes from our own sinful hearts.
Now I would like to conclude with a “practical” example from Lord himself in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 5:27-30
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Here I would like to focus not on the specific temptation that the Lord uses in his example, but rather his modus operandi for dealing with the temptation. Notice once again that the method is avoidance, not resistance. Is the Lord using a superlative or an exaggerated example here to drive home his point, or does he really mean that we should go so far as dismembering ourselves in order to avoid temptation? I will leave that for you to decide for yourself. I don’t know. But what I do know is that the Lord is saying that we should get rid of anything in our lives that causes us to sin, no matter how precious or important it is to us. If you are an alcoholic, don’t say “I am going to resist drinking that bottle of booze in my cabinet”. Instead, throw it out. Remove the object of temptation.
Conclusion: Temptation comes from our own evil desires. The sinful nature is rebellious to God and “lusts” to do the wrong thing. Step one is to know the Lord as your personal savior. We cannot fight sin or pay for it on our own. Saved people are to flee from temptation, not resist it. God promises that we will not be tempted beyond our ability to escape. When faced with temptation run don’t walk to the nearest exit.
These verses show that believers are responsible for their own responses to temptation. There is no victim stance that can be taken by the Lord’s people for doing wrong. We are not victims of circumstance. We are not just products of our environment. There is no temporary insanity plea.
1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Be Doers Of The Word
1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
If I look in the mirror and see that my hair is messed up and my face is dirty, but then go away and don't do anything about it, then I am like someone who hears the word of God and sees what is wrong with their life, but goes away and doesn't do anything about it.
Mark 6:20 says that King Herod liked to hear John the Baptist. However that didn't prevent him from beheading John. So liking to hear the word is not enough. We must do what it says. Otherwise we are just hypocrites like Herod was.
Pure Religion
1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
In the Bible, "religion" is usually referred to as a bad thing. It usually refers to man's arrogant, self-righteous attempts to reach out to God in his own way. Man-made "religion" is about pomp and ceremony and the other things people do that they think will impress God.
Jesus told some very religious men, priests in fact, that they were way off track. "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9. Religion is actually just a sub-set of the entire scope of Christianity. Religion is the things that we DO to please God. Jesus said that we must do what God tells us to do. He is not impressed with any traditions that we have which run contrary to the word of God.
So religion is just one part of the overall Christian life. Other areas include things like salvation and the changed heart that we receive in the new birth. And James says that pure religion is not a matter of going through the motions of going to church, praying and reading the Bible. All that is good but pure religion is more than that. Pure religion involves showing compassion for people who are in need. And it also means showing outward signs of the inward change that happens in us when we are saved. James gives examples of these outward signs: controlling our tongues and keeping ourselves pure (unspotted) from the world.
The Book of James
Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5