James 1_13-18
James 1:13-15
People of God loved by him:
Our lives are filled with temptations of many kinds; the temptations that come into our lives always come with promises; promises that seem so good. Promise like those that came to Eve that seemed so good, so beneficial.
Very often, but not all the time, these temptations come when we are under certain trials or issues in our lives. Isn’t strange how these sinful desires come a way out or as a solution to solving a trial in an illegitimate way rather than in God’s way? The trial may seem to be such a huge thing and we may wonder how in the world am I going to get through this? It is precisely at this point that temptations often come to us - promising Life! And our hearts would set our desire and hope of that to satisfy us.
What we are going to see this morning in James is that the temptation that promised “life” really gives death and that this “sin cycle” does not come from God.
James begins by discussing the source of temptation in v.13.The supposed source of Temptation
Let no one say I am tempted by God...
Why would we say such a thing? It is always our inner instinct to pass the fault of our sin to someone else. It is the classic blame game that young and old are all too familiar with. If we believe that God ordains all things then we might conclude that sin is God's fault and we are the innocent party. Scripture here in verse 13- 14 says that God in his nature can't be tempted by evil. Satan can try to tempt God all he wants but it is nothing to him. God is not tempted by evil. He won't capitulate to evil. God and evil aren’t on a even playing field like the yin and the yang, or the good and the dark side of the force.
The point of the passage here is that God is not susceptible to sin, and also doesn't bring this kind of temptation to us. God doesn't have evil in his heart. Jesus certainly was tempted but he was tempted in his human nature and he resisted and overcame the temptations of Satan.
How do you think about the character of God? This character is reflected in the way you serve God in your daily lives, in the way and attitude you come to worship him, in the way you spend your time with him when you’re alone. James would also have believers know the character of God that he does not tempt anyone. We need to distinguish here between the God testing us and saying that God tempts us with evil.
The concern of the passage here is to help believers resist temptation. How can we begin to do this? First we need to realize the proper source of our temptations. It is not from God. God is not against you. Very often however we put the source of our falling into temptation in the lap of God.
It is the "blame game". The ultimate blame game is to blame God. Adam and Eve did the blame game from the beginning. Adam said to God, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). We may say, “shame on you Adam.” But the truth is, none of Adam’s children like to take the blame for sin, and we will do almost anything to escape it - blame others, blame our loved ones, even blame God.
In the ancient world of the NT, blaming the gods was a typical thing to do. There false gods were unstable and unpredictable gods, they were kind of like soap-opera deities who would taunt, tempt, and tantalized humanity. We read over and over again of Zeus and his pantheon in classical Greek writings like The Odyssey.
Jewish believers, dispersed in various pagan cities by persecution, were not immune to this mind-set. Evidently in their misery certain of their people were saying God was tempting them to fall; that he had lost patience with them and was deliberately bringing them down. This being so, God was to blame for their sin.
Blaming God is exactly what the Devil would love us to do. Maybe you have or know a person with a certain type of personality or weakness – and you say – “Well that’s how God made me, and he sends me temptations and I can’t handle them. God is to blame for my sinfulness!” Satan would love for our view of God to become tarnished and jaded. God, why did this happen to me? These temptations are so powerful - these addictions are so luring. Is this from you?
1 John 2:16 For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever
God is not the source of temptation. In his Sovereign providence he permits temptation but he is not the author of it. He is not the source. God the Father permitted his Son to be tempted by Satan, he allowed Job to be tempted.
The Real source of Temptation v.14-15
We need a heart exam. Don’t let our hearts become a reflection of God’s.
We are tempted by our own lusts. The word used here in some contexts can mean good desires such as having a “strong impulse”, or an “eager longing.” But in the bad sense it is an unrestrained desire for something that is forbidden making it an evil desire, a lust, or craving. It is often referred to “lusts” or the “desires of the flesh”.
The real source of temptation is our own hearts. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed. When desire is conceived it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown it brings forth death. This is the life cycle of sin.
James describes the process from desire to death in verse 14 comparing it to fishing.
Once the hook is in, there is a dreaded three-generational course: evil desire-sin-death.
Now, James turns us from the source to the course of temptation: “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (v. 15)
Sin is an internal reality and condition of our hearts. It distorts our thinking so that we desire and covet that which we are commanded not to.
To the persecuted and trial ridden people to whom James was writing to and to us as well we realize that in every one of our trials there is the possibility of falling into temptation. Financial difficulty can tempt us to doubt the provision and providence of God. The death or sickness of a loved one can cause us to be tempted to doubt the love of God for us. The suffering of the innocent may cause us to wonder about the justice of God. Working with unbelievers might tempt us to follow in their ways.
We all have different temptations that come our way. They are temptations that are fitted to the desires or needs of our hearts.
We may be filled with worry or anxiety, and the temptation would be to give to those fears and not use and grow in the gifts and talents that God gives us. Added on to this we may begin to "nurse" our worries and anxieties with a host of feel good remedies - from over eating to delighting in illicit sexual pleasures.
We may be filled with a desire for relationships; the temptation would be to fill that emptiness with something unholy. Rather than prayerfully waiting upon the Lord, praying for self control and patiently seeking the avenues that he provides.
In our day and age people are glorified in the eyes of the world if they passionately live out of the desires of their hearts - especially if it’s considered or looked upon as art.
I think of the British man Oscar Wilde who over a hundred years ago. He was a playwright and artist and also a homosexual. He was one who followed his passions in the face of a society who opposed many of his actions and ways of thinking. During his time there were many who were against him, but he in many ways he typifies and was the prototype of the artists of today. These are held up and idealized. People who give in to every passion and lust of their hearts. The result of such a life cycle of such living is death says the Scripture.
This is what sin in its maturity produces. James uses an illustration here of a living creature from the point of conception, to birth, maturity, and then to death.
God however calls us to trust him. And as we are going to see in the following verses – God has something wonderful for his people.
God created us with many beautiful kinds of desires. They are not sinful in themselves but when used out of their God given place they are wrong. Sex is a beautiful thing but when used in the wrong time and place it is sin.
You see when a woman becomes pregnant the child is already there isn't it. The same is with sin. Once that desire is acted on the sin is there. This is why Jesus would say that you can murder or commit adultery in the heart.
We know how this goes. How a little lie can snow ball into something huge. Sin matures and spreads like cancer. We must work on the desires of our hearts. If we are going to wage war against this monster we need to begin in the early stage. When it is full blown there are a multitude of symptoms to fight against. We need to work at the root. Such is the fruit of the Spirit's work of conversion in our lives - it is the coming to life of the new man and the mortification (the putting to death) of the old.
It is true, of course, that while God does not tempt us, he does test us in order to prove and improve our character. We think of the Lord’s Prayer-And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil Matthew 6:13, -means, “Don’t allow us to come under the sway of temptation that will overpower us and cause us to sin.” This is a prayer which Jesus taught and which he certainly answers. As Paul says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
James would tell those to whom he was writing late on in chapter 4:7 to resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2) When will he return to tempt us? After Jesus was tempted Luke writes in 4:13 he left Jesus until an opportune time.
But the cycle can be broken through union with, and submission to, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
Jesus is the source of victory over sin and temptation! And Jesus is the course of a life which triumphs over temptation: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
This is the glory of the gospel. It breaks the power of sin and halts its inevitable train. If you are in the grip of temptation, take the eternally healthy step of admitting that you are to blame and no one else. Stop the blame game. Stop the blame game with your spouse. Stop the blame game with that sibling, family member, friend or former friend. Stop the blame game with God.
What happens when we play this game? We never confess our sins… Confess you sin to him. Sins of passing the buck. What are horrible thing it is to put this upon God himself!
Then, having confessed your responsibility fully to God, thank him for forgiveness and appropriate to yourself the life-giving solidarity you have in Christ.
1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
The life cycle of sin is not a life cycle. Sin always comes to us with promises but they are cheap and do not last. The fruit they bear is the fruit of pain, brokenness, and ultimately death. For those of us enduring trials we don’t need these cheap promises that are nothing at all. We are sick and tired of these things.
Let us look to Christ. There’s a supposed Sunday school story that a child told in this point. The child said: “Two men live in my heart: the old Adam and Jesus. When temptation knocks at the door, somebody has to answer. If I let Adam answer, I will sin; so I send Jesus to answer. He always wins!”
Of course, this new nature must be fed the Word of God daily, that it might be strong to fight the battle. Just as the Holy Spirit used the Word of God to give you spiritual birth, He uses the Word to give you spiritual strength. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
Amen