TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS

James 1:2-17


TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS (1:2-17)

1:2   In this section James deals with the subject of temptation. He uses the word in two different senses. In verses 2-12, the temptations are what we might call holy trials or problems which are sent from God, and which test the reality of our faith and produce likeness to Christ. In verses 13-17, on the other hand, the subject is unholy temptations, which come from within, and which lead to sin. The Christian life is filled with problems. They come uninvited and unexpected. Sometimes they come singly and sometimes in droves. They are inevitable. James does not say “if you fall into various trials” but when. We can never get away from them. The question is, “What are we going to do about them?”

There are several possible attitudes we can take toward these testings and trials of life. We can rebel against them (Heb_12:5) by adopting a spirit of defiance, boasting that we will battle through to victory by our own power. On the other hand, we can lose heart or give up under pressure (Heb_12:5). This is nothing but fatalism. It leads to questioning even the Lord's care for us. Again, we can grumble and complain about our troubles. This is what Paul warns us against in 1Co_10:10. Another option—we can indulge in self-pity, thinking of no one but ourselves, and trying to get sympathy from others. Or better, we can be exercised by the difficulties and perplexities of life (Heb_12:11). We can say, in effect, “God has allowed this trial to come to me. He has some good purpose in it for me. I don't know what that purpose is, but I'll try to find out. I want His purposes to be worked out in my life.” This is what James advocates: “My brethren, "count it all joy" when you fall into various trials.” Don't rebel! Don't faint! Rejoice! These problems are not enemies, bent on destroying you. They are friends which have come to aid you to develop Christian character.  God is trying to produce Christ-likeness in each of His children. This process necessarily involves suffering, frustration, and perplexity. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be produced when all is sunshine; there must be rain and dark clouds. Trials never seem pleasant; they seem very difficult and disagreeable. But afterwards they yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by them (Heb_12:11). How often we hear a Christian say, after passing through some great crisis, “It wasn't easy to take, but I wouldn't give up the experience for anything.”

1:3   James speaks of the testing of your faith. He pictures faith as a precious metal which is being tried by the Assayer (God) to see if it is genuine. The metal is subjected to the fires of persecution, sickness, suffering, or sorrow. Without problems, we would never develop endurance.

 Even men of the world realise that problems strengthen character. Charles Kettering, noted industrialist, once said, “Problems are the price of progress. Don't bring me anything but problems. Good news weakens me.”

1:4   “But let patience have its perfect work,” says James. Sometimes when problems come we become desperate and use frantic means to cut short the trial. Without consulting the Lord as to His purposes in the matter, we rush to the doctor, for instance, and gulp down large doses of medicine in order to shorten the trial. By doing this, we actually may be thwarting God's program in our lives. And it is just possible that we may have to undergo a longer trial in the future before His particular purpose is realised in us. We should not short-circuit the development of endurance in our lives. By cooperating with God we will become mature, well-rounded Christians, lacking in none of the graces of the Spirit.
We should never become despondent or discouraged when passing through trials. No problem is too great for our Father. Some problems in life are never removed. We must learn to accept them and to prove His grace sufficient. Paul asked the Lord three times to remove a physical infirmity. The Lord did not remove it, but gave Paul the grace to bear it (2Co_12:8-10).

When we face problems in life that God obviously isn't going to remove, we should be submissive to His will.

 The gifted blind hymn-writer wrote these lines as a girl of eight:

O what a happy soul am I
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot and I won't.
—Fanny Crosby

Peace comes through submission to the will of God.
Some problems in life are removed when we have learn ed our lessons from them. As soon as the Refiner sees His reflection in the molten metal, He turns off the heat. Most of us lack wisdom to view the pressures of life from God's standpoint. We adopt a short-range view, occupying ourselves with the immediate discomfort. We forget that God's unhurried purpose is to enlarge us through pressure (Psa_4:1, JND).

1:5   We don't have to face the problems of life in our own wisdom. If, in the time of trial, we lack spiritual insight, we should go to God and tell Him all about our perplexity and ignorance. All who are thus exercised to find God's purposes in the trials will be liberally rewarded. And they need not worry that God will scold them either; He is pleased when we are teachable and tractable. We all lack wisdom. The Bible does not give specific answers to the innumerable problems that arise in life. It does not solve problems in so many words, but God's word does give us general principles. We must apply these principles to problems as they arise day by day. That is why we need wisdom. Spiritual wisdom is the practical application of our Lord's teachings to everyday situations.

1:6-8   We must approach God in faith, with no doubting. We must believe He loves and cares, and that nothing is impossible with Him. If we doubt His goodness and His power, we will have no stability in time of trouble. One minute we might be resting calmly on His promises, but the next we will feel that God has forgotten to be kind. We will be like the surge of the sea, rising to great heights, then falling back into valleys—troubled and tossed. God is not honoured by the kind of faith that alternates between optimism and pessimism. He does not give divine insight to such vacillating, unstable men (vv. 7, 8). In verses 5-8, the source of wisdom is God; it is obtained by prayer; it is available to everybody; it is given liberally and without reproach; the crucial condition is that we ask in faith, with no doubting.

1:9   At first glance, verses 9-11 seem to introduce a completely new subject, or at least a parenthesis. James, however, is continuing with the subject of holy trials by giving specific illustrations. Whether a man is poor or rich, he can derive lasting spiritual benefits from the calamities and crises of life. For instance, when a lowly brother finds himself dissatisfied and discouraged, he can always rejoice that he is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. He can find consolation in the truth that all things are his, and he is Christ's and Christ is God's. The lowly brother probably has no control over his humble circumstances. There is no reason to believe he is lazy or careless. But God has seen fit to place him in a low income bracket and that is where he has been ever since. Perhaps if he had been rich, he never would have accepted Christ. Now that he is in Christ, he is blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heaven's. What should he do? Should he rebel against his station in life? Should he become bitter and jealous? No, he should accept from God the circumstances over which he has no control and rejoice in his spiritual blessings.

Too many Christians go through life rebelling against their sex, their age, their height, and even against life itself. Girls with a flair for baseball wish they were boys. Young people wish they were older, and old people want to be younger. Short people envy those who are tall, and tall ones wish they weren't so conspicuous. Some people even say, “I wish I were dead!” All this is absurd! The Christian attitude is to accept from God things which we cannot change. They are God's destiny for us, and we should make the most of them for His glory and for the blessing of others. We should say with the Apostle Paul: “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1Co_15:10). As we forget our disabilities and lose ourselves in service for others, we will come to realise that spiritual people love us for what we are, not for our appearance, for instance.

1:10, 11   Next James turns to the rich. But strangely enough he does not say, “Let the rich man rejoice in his riches.” Rather he says that the rich can rejoice that he is made low. He agrees with Jer_9:23-24 :
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, says the Lord.
The rich man may actually find real cause for rejoicing should he be stripped of his material possessions. Perhaps business reverses would bring him to the Lord. Or if he is already a Christian, then he could take joyfully the spoiling of his goods knowing he has in heaven a better and more enduring possession (Heb_10:34). Earthly riches are destined to pass away, like the flower of the field (Isa_40:6-7). If a man has nothing but material wealth, then all his plans will end at the grave. James dwells on the transiency of grass as an illustration of the fleeting life of a rich man and the limited value of his riches. He will fade away in the midst of his pursuits. The point is, of course, that neither sun nor scorching wind can affect spiritual values. Any trial that weans us away from the love of passing things and sets our affections on things above is a blessing in disguise. Thus the same grace that exalts the lowly humbles the rich. Both are cause for rejoicing.

1:12   In concluding his discussion of holy trials, James pronounces a blessing on the person who stands up under afflictions. When such a man has stood the test or has been approved, he will receive the crown of life (The Victor's wreath). The crown here is not the king's diadem but the victor's wreath, to be awarded at the Judgement Seat of Christ. There is no suggestion, of course, that eternal life is the reward for enduring testings, but those who have endured with fortitude will be honoured for that kind of life, and will enjoy a deeper appreciation of eternal life in heaven. Everyone's cup will be full in heaven but people will have different sized cups—different capacities for enjoying heaven. This is probably what is in view in the expression crown of life; it refers to a fuller enjoyment of the glories of heaven.
Now let us make this section on holy trials practical in our own lives. How do we react when various forms of testing come into our lives? Do we complain bitterly against the misfortunes of life, or do we rejoice and thank the Lord for them? Do we advertise our trials or do we bear them quietly? Do we live in the future, waiting for our circumstances to improve, or do we live in the present, seeking to see the hand of God in all that comes to us? Do we indulge in self-pity and seek sympathy or do we submerge self in a life of service for others?

1:13   The subject now shifts to unholy temptations (vv. 13-17). Just as holy trials are designed to bring out the best in us, so unholy temptations are designed to bring out the worst in us. One thing must be clearly understood. When we are tempted to sin, the temptation does not come from God. God does test or try men, as far as their faith is concerned, but He never tempts a man to commit any form of evil. He Himself has no dealings with evil, and He does not entice to sin.

1:14   Man is always ready to shift responsibility for his sins. If he cannot blame God, he will adopt an approach of modern psychology by saying that sin is a sickness. In this way he hopes to escape judgement. But sin is not a sickness; it is a moral failure for which man must give account. Some even try to blame inanimate things for sin. But material “things” are not sinful in themselves. Sin does not originate there. James tracks the lion to its den when he says: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Sin comes from within us, from our old, evil, fallen, unregenerate nature. Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication's, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”

(Mat_15:19).
The word James uses for desires in verse 14 could refer to any form of desire, good or evil. The word itself is morally neutral. But with few exceptions it is used in the NT to describe evil desires, and that is certainly the case here. Lust is likened to an evil woman here parading her allurements and enticing her victims. Every one of us is tempted. We have vile lusts and impure appetites constantly urging us on in sin. Are we helpless victims then, when we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed? No, we may expel all thoughts of sin from our mind and concentrate on subjects that are pure and holy (Phi_4:8). Also in the moment of fierce temptation, we may call on the Lord, remembering that “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to it, and are safe” (Pro_18:10).

1:15   If that is so, why then do we sin? Here is the answer: Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Instead of expelling the vile thought, we may encourage, nourish, and enjoy it. This act of acquiescence is likened to sexual intercourse. Lust conceives and a hideous baby named SIN is born. Which is another way of saying that if we think about a forbidden act long enough, we will eventually do it. The whole process of lust conceiving and bringing forth sin is vividly illustrated in the incident of David and Bathsheba (2Sa_11:1-27).
And sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death, says James. Sin is not a barren, sterile thing; it produces a brood of its own. The statement that sin produces death may be understood in several ways. First of all, the sin of Adam brought physical death on himself and on all his posterity (Gen_2:17). But sin also leads to eternal, spiritual death—the final separation of the person from God and from blessing (Rom_6:23 a). There is a sense also in which sin results in death for a believer. For instance, in 1Ti_5:6 we read that a believing widow who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. This means that she is wasting her life and utterly failing to fulfill the purpose for which God saved her. To be out of fellowship with God is for a Christian a form of living death.

1:16, 17   It is not unusual for people who fall into sin to blame God instead of themselves. They say, in effect, to their Creator, “Why have you made me this way?” But this is a form of self-deception. Only good gifts come from God. In fact, He is the source of every good and every perfect gift.
James describes God as the Father of lights. In the Bible the word Father sometimes has the meaning of Creator or Source (see Job_38:28). Therefore God is the Creator or Source of lights. But what is meant by lights? Certainly it includes the heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, and stars (Gen_1:14-18; Psa_136:7). But God is also the Source of all spiritual light as well. So we should think of Him as the Source of every form of light in the universe. With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. God is unlike the heavenly bodies He has created. They are undergoing constant changes. He never does. Perhaps James is thinking not only of the declining brilliance of the sun and stars, but also of their changing relation to the earth as our planet rotates. Variableness characterizes the sun, moon, and stars. The expression shadow of turning may mean shadow caused by turning. This could have reference to the shadows cast on earth by the rotation of the earth around the sun. Or it could refer to eclipses. A solar eclipse, for instance, is produced when the moon's shadow falls on the earth. With God it is quite different; there is no variableness in Him, or shadow caused by turning. And His gifts are as perfect as Himself. Therefore it is unthinkable that He would ever entice man to sin. Temptation comes from man's own evil nature.

Let us test our faith on the subject of unholy temptations. Do we encourage evil thoughts to linger in our minds, or do we expel them quickly? When we sin, do we say that we couldn't help it? Do we blame God when we are tempted to sin?