When Trials turn to Temptation and Temptation Turns to Sin
How do we avoid temptation and sin when we experience trials in our lives as followers of Christ
James 1:12-18
The words, every good and perfect gift is from above, have a poetic cadence in Greek. They are literally, “every good act of giving (dosis) and every perfect gift (dōrēma) is from above.”
His goodness is seen in that he chose (it was not an accident) to give us birth, meaning new birth, by means of the gospel (the word of truth). His goal was to make us firstfruits of all he created. The firstfruits were viewed as the best of the harvest, so God is making redeemed human beings the apex of all creation. Here we see another chain: God—word of truth—birth. Desire and the devil lead to death. God, by way of contrast, produces life.
Throughout the Bible, God rejects the firstborn and accepts the secondborn. He accepted Abel, not Cain; Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau. He rejects your first birth (no matter how noble it might have been in the eyes of men), and He announces that you need a second birth.