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Scripture Reading: James 1:13-27
After studying Paul’s writings and all the Life-study Messages on these writings, we shall no doubt be influenced to receive the light concerning God’s economy and to be strongly for it. But there is the possibility that we may be careless in our behavior or that we may neglect the matter of practical Christian perfection. Therefore, we need the balance provided by the book of James.
Luther said that the Epistle of James was an epistle of straw. In saying this, Luther was both unfair and wrong. We need to realize that after the revelation in Paul’s writings concerning God’s economy, God put in the book of James, one of the seven books of the New Testament that was not fully recognized until the council of Carthage in A.D. 397. Prior to that time, there was uncertainty whether this Epistle should be considered part of the holy Word. Eventually, the book of James was recognized as part of the Scriptures.
A striking characteristic of the Epistle of James is that it indicates that we may be very strong in God’s economy, yet may not be complete and entire in our Christian behavior in our personal daily life. Many of us can testify that we have seen the vision concerning God’s economy and that we are absolutely for this vision. However, we still need to pay attention to our behavior in our daily life. A brother may easily become angry with his wife, or a sister may not have the proper attitude toward her husband. In such a case, both the brother and the sister are neither complete nor entire. This is an illustration of the fact that we need the balancing word found in the book of James.
In addition to providing balance, the Epistle of James also serves as a strong warning that it is possible to be very godly and yet not be clear concerning the vision of God’s New Testament economy. According to church history, James was noted for living a godly life. One account says that James spent so much time kneeling in prayer that his knees became calloused. James certainly was a godly man, a man of prayer, and prayer is emphasized in his Epistle. Nevertheless, James may not have had a clear view concerning the distinction between grace and law; that is, he may not have had a clear view regarding God’s economy. In his writings there are hints that this was the situation. However, his Epistle is notable and remarkable concerning Christian conduct and emphasizes practical Christian perfection. For this reason, in 1:4 James indicates that the believers should be “complete and entire, lacking in nothing.”
It is only fair to point out that in the book of James we have both a balance and a warning. We need this book. Otherwise, there would be a gap, a lack, in the holy Word.
It is important that we do not have an unbalanced view of the Epistle of James. On the one hand, we need to see that this Epistle indicates that James may have lacked a clear view of God’s economy. On the other hand, this book points out the need for practical Christian perfection. Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, fourteen were written by Paul. The Epistles of Paul are concerned with God’s economy, God’s dispensation. This economy is vital and crucial. But in order to carry out God’s economy, we need practical Christian perfection. This means that we should not be careless in our daily living. We may use a soldier in the army as an illustration. The main responsibility of a soldier is to fight for his country. But in order to be a good fighter, a soldier needs to be proper in his personal daily life. Likewise, although we may be soldiers, fighters, for God’s economy, we still need to be complete and entire in our daily Christian life.
The place of the book of James is indicated by its position in the arrangement of the books of the New Testament: it comes immediately after the fourteen Epistles of Paul. The Epistles of Paul from Romans to Hebrews all cover the major subject of God’s economy. We may liken these Epistles to the main entrance to a building. We then may liken the Epistle of James to a little door near this entrance. Although the “entrance” of Paul’s Epistles is crucial, we still need the “door” of the Epistle of James.
The book of James is a balance to those who are unbalanced in their Christian life. Perhaps in your Christian life you are wholly for God’s economy. However, in your daily personal life you may be very short in the way you speak and handle matters. Concerning a number of things you may lack wisdom. Although you are a good soldier fighting for God’s economy, in your daily life you may not be complete and entire. You may not trust in God very much, and you may not pray to Him concerning your needs. Because you are good in the major things but lacking in certain practical things, you need balance in your Christian life. The first thing the Epistle of James provides us with is this needed balance.
As we have indicated, the book of James also serves as a warning. James was outstanding in the matter of practical Christian perfection; he was a godly man who knew God, who loved God, and who prayed to God. But James was hindered by his godliness and veiled by his religion from seeing a thorough vision concerning God’s New Testament economy.
In 1:27 James speaks of “pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father.” As far as proper human behavior is concerned, we may need to be religious. We may be absolutely for God’s economy, and yet we may be wrong in the way we speak to others or deal with them. Suppose a brother says, “Don’t you know that I am utterly for God’s economy? I have sacrificed everything for this. Day by day, I give my future to the Lord for His economy. Don’t you appreciate this?” Yes, such a brother may be for God’s economy, but he still needs practical Christian perfection in his daily life. Once again we see that we need to be balanced: we need a clear vision concerning God’s economy, and we need practical Christian perfection.
We should be warned from the Epistle of James that we may be very godly, yet still lack a clear view concerning God’s economy. Someone may be godly, humble, and meek in his daily life. But he may not be able to fight for God’s economy. In order to fight for God’s economy, we must learn the proper strategy. Paul was a person who was balanced. On the one hand, he was an excellent fighter; on the other hand, he was a godly person. Paul even encouraged Timothy, his younger co-worker, to exercise himself unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7). In paying attention to the major things of God’s economy, we should not neglect the practical details of our personal daily life.
The vast majority of today’s Christians pay more attention to minor matters in their daily life than they do to the major matters of God’s New Testament economy. In fact, many seeking Christians take care of very few of the things that are truly major. These Christians may be religious and godly, they may pray a great deal, they may have faith and endurance, and they may love God. In their Christian life they are imitators of James. But they have not seen God’s economy.
Because it is possible for us to be this kind of Christian, we need the warning that we may be godly and yet not see God’s economy. We may be complete and entire concerning Christian conduct, but we may not know how to fight the battle to carry out God’s economy. Therefore, I am burdened to emphasize the importance of being balanced in our Christian life. We need to see God’s economy, and we need to be perfected in our daily personal life so that we may be complete and entire. We need both the balance and the warning found in the book of James. Regarding this book, we need to be fair, recognizing that the “entrance” of Paul’s Epistles still needs the help of the “door” of the book of James.
In 1:2-12 we considered the first item of the practical virtues of Christian perfection covered in this book — enduring trials by faith. In 1:13-18 we come to a second item — resisting temptation as God-born ones.
In verses 13 through 18 the first matter is resisting temptation, and the second is God’s bringing us forth through regeneration. God has caused us to have a new birth. Through any kind of birth, life is always imparted. When God regenerated us, causing us to have a divine birth, the divine life was imparted to us. In these verses there is the implication that we resist temptation by the divine life we received in our divine birth. Therefore, the title of this section is “Resisting Temptation as God-born Ones.”
Because we have been born of God, we are now the children of God possessing God’s life. This divine life is the means, the “capital,” for us to resist temptation. The divine life has been deposited into us, and thus we have the ability, energy, strength, and power to resist temptation.
James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted of evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” The Greek word for “tempted” here also means tried, tested. The Greek word for trials or trial in verses 2 and 12 is peirasmos, and for tempted is peirazo. The two words are very close, both meaning to try, to test, to prove. To be tried, tested, proved, by outward environmental suffering is a trial (v. 2). To be tried, tested, proved, by inward lustful enticing is a temptation (v. 14). The trial is dealt with in verses 2 through 12; the temptation is dealt with in verses 13 through 21. As for the trial, we should endure it by loving the Lord to obtain the blessing — the crown of life. As for temptation, we should resist it by receiving the implanted word to obtain salvation, the salvation of our soul (v. 21).
In verse 13 James says that God cannot be tempted of evil and that He Himself tempts no one. Here “tempted” in Greek is apeirastos, untried, hence, not temptable, not to be tempted, incapable of being tempted. The Greek word for “tempt” here is peirazo. The Devil, not God, is the tempter (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thes. 3:5).
In verses 14 and 15 James continues, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lust; then the lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin; and the sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.” The tempter, the Devil, is the begetting father of sin (1 John 3:8, 10), who has the might of death (Heb. 2:14) through sin (1 Cor. 15:56). He injected sin into Adam, through which death passed to all men (Rom. 5:12).
In our Christian life we are tried by two categories of things. The first category is positive, and the second category is negative. The first category includes trials and sufferings that test and prove us. Persecution, suffering, and a poor environment try us, test us, and prove where we stand before God. The second category, which is negative, includes temptation. For example, your colleagues at work may be used by Satan to tempt you to engage in a certain form of worldly activity. You may also be tempted in many other ways. Perhaps a neighbor has bought a new car. When you see that car, you desire to have one like it. This is a temptation.
Like trials, temptations also test us and prove us. To be tested by outward environmental suffering is a trial, but to be tested by the enticing of inward lust is a temptation. The invitation to engage in worldly activities or the sight of someone’s new car may stir the lust within us. This is not a trial; it is a temptation. We need to endure trials, but we need to resist temptation. In order to endure trials, we need wisdom. However, wisdom is not sufficient for us to resist temptation. In order to resist temptation, we need the divine life.
In our Christian life temptations are more frequent than trials. We may have trials periodically, but we may have temptations daily, even hourly. Sometimes temptations come one after another. For instance, at school a young person may be tempted when he sees a classmate with a special kind of pen. Immediately, he is tempted and desires to have a pen like that one.
The reason something like a pen can become a temptation to us is that we have the “germs” of lust within us. If we did not have these germs in us, nothing could be a temptation to us. It is the lust in us that causes so many things to be temptations to us. What we need to resist is not actually the thing that tempts us, but the lust within us. As we have pointed out, wisdom is not sufficient for this. We may have wisdom, yet not have the power to resist lust. If we would resist the lust in us, we need another life, the life of God.
As we shall see, verse 18 says that our Father has brought us forth, regenerated us, by the word of truth, which is the word of divine reality. When we heard the gospel, we heard the word of God’s reality. When we received this word, we were reborn. Through the divine birth the divine life was imparted into our being. Now we not only possess the divine life, but we are enjoying this life with its divine nature. This life is the strength, the inner power, by which we can resist the germs of lust that are within us.
In verses 16 and 17 James goes on to say, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow cast by turning.” In this verse giving refers to the act of giving, and the gift refers to the thing given. The lights here refer to the heavenly luminaries. The Father is the Creator, the source, of these shining bodies. With Him there is no shadow cast by turning, as there is with the heavenly orbs in the moon turning its dark side to us, or in the sun being eclipsed by the moon, for He is not variable, not changeable. As such, He is incapable of being tempted of evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
According to verse 17, both the giving and the gift are from above, coming down from the Father of the lights. Years ago, I thought that the lights in verse 17 were spiritual lights and that here James was saying that God is the Father of these spiritual lights. But in recent years I found out that these are not spiritual lights; rather, they are heavenly bodies, such as the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars.
How can God be called the Father of these heavenly bodies? He is called the Father of these lights because they were created by Him. According to Acts 17, everything created by God has been produced by Him. In this sense, He is the Father of whatever He has produced. Because the heavenly bodies were created by God, He is the Father of the lights, luminaries.
James says that with the Father of lights there is no variableness, no variation, or shadow cast by turning. Years ago, I understood this to mean that because God never turns, never changes, there is no shadow of darkness. However, even when I held this understanding there was a doubt within whether this was the real meaning here. Is James saying that because God never changes, with Him there is no darkness? Eventually, I learned that in this verse James is referring to the move of the heavenly bodies, such as that of the planets in their orbits or rotation. Such movements may cause darkness, as during an eclipse of the sun. But God does not change. With Him there is no variableness as there is with the heavenly orbs.
Now we can understand that James refers to the orbs in the solar system to show us that the Father, the One who has begotten us, is stable. With Him there is no turning. Therefore, we should not say that we are tempted by God. Because God is stable, He does not tempt anyone, and He cannot be tempted. Based upon the realization of God’s stability, James emphasizes the fact that our begetting Father never tempts us. On the contrary, whenever we are tempted, we are tempted by our lust. Then lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin. Sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Lust is the factor of temptation that produces sin, and sin brings in death.
In verse 18 James says of God the Father, “Having purposed, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a certain firstfruit of His creatures.” The fact that God purposed means that He brought us forth of His own will, by His intention, to carry out His purpose by begetting us that we might be the firstfruit of His creatures.
Sin, the source of darkness, brings forth death. But the Father of lights brought us forth to be the firstfruit of His creatures, full of the vigorous life that matures first. This refers to the divine birth, our regeneration (John 3:5-6), which is carried out according to God’s eternal purpose.
According to verse 18, God brought us forth by the word of truth. The word of truth is the word of the divine reality, the word of what the Triune God is (John 1:14, 17). This word is the seed of life, by which we have been regenerated (1 Pet. 1:23).
James says that God has brought us forth by the word of truth so that we should be a certain firstfruit of His creatures. God will renew His entire creation to have a new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center (Rev. 21:1-2). He first regenerated us to be the firstfruit of His new creation by imparting His divine life into our being through the implanted word of life, that we might live a life of perfection. This should be the seed of practical Christian perfection. This life will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the living center of God’s eternal new universe.
