MECHANICS OF TEMPTATION & SIN: JAMES 1:13-15

Verses 13-15: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

 

 “Let no one say” doesn’t come through as forceful as it should in the English. This is a command that we are never in the midst of turmoil and testing to blame God for inflicting trials upon us with the intent purpose of causing us to fail and to fall into sin. He allows the testing for the sole purpose of our advancement to spiritual maturity.

The statement that He cannot be tempted by evil is an affirmation of His righteous character. And since He cannot be tempted by evil, as we His creatures can and are, He could never be implicated in tempting someone to commit sin. This is an emphatic statement of fact: “He Himself does not tempt anyone.”1

The blame for moral failure is now fully explained in verse 14. The mechanism of how sin comes about begins with the creature and not with the Creator. James states the believer is tempted by their own activities.

First, by being ‘carried away’ denotes literally, to draw or drag out. This is the only time this word is employed in the New Testament. It is a hunting term, which describes a hunter trapping the beast by outsmarting it in order to execute the kill. As it relates to believers, it implies their being drawn out from their fellowship with the Lord. The Greek indicates that the believer is caused to be carried away or ensnared into temptation.

Second, the individual is said to be ‘enticed.’ This word is a fishing term meaning to use bait to trick or beguile your intended catch. When a fisherman places a lure on his fishing line, he intends to beguile or to mesmerize and hypnotize the fish in order to attract them to take the bait on the hook. This verb also indicates that something causes the believer to be enticed into temptation.

That something, James states, is ‘his own lust.’ The word ‘lust’ means a craving or an intense desire. It is used in the New Testament as a desire for something evil, as we find in this verse, or a desire for something good, as Jesus stated:

“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15)

It is not difficult to deduce that our own lust implies some selfish inclination, and not an inducement of God tempting the believer so that he might commit sin.

In the 1960’s the comedian Flip Wilson, popularized the phrase "The devil made me do it." All too often, I hear believers claiming to being tempted by the devil. James dispels this notion. The blame game is over; the guilt resides with us.

It is worth noting that we have a promise from Scripture that God will sustain us in the midst of our temptations. In this we should take comfort in this promise:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The Mechanics of Sin

James continues the mechanism of sin with the next phrase: ‘when lust has conceived.” The actual meaning of the Greek word ‘conceive’ is to seize, to grasp or to apprehend. But it is also used in a figurative sense for the conception which takes place in the woman’s womb, when the seed of the male ‘grasps’ the seed of the woman to begin the development of a child. And here, James uses this figurative example for the manner in which lust conceives and gives birth to sin. The following diagram provides a picture of the process:

And then the final step in the process: ‘when sin is accomplished.’ This word means to achieve the natural purpose, to come to completion, or to be fully formed. The English Standard Version continues the birthing process by translating the phrase: ‘when it [sin] is fully grown.’ Just as there is a chain of events that takes place when a woman is pregnant, the development of a person’s temptation goes through stages until it is ‘fully grown’ into sin.

When a child is born there is a new life. But in contrast, lust gives ‘birth’ to sin. When a child is fully grown, he experiences life fully. But, when sin is in its fullest stage the end-result is that it brings forth2 death. This is a spiritual phenomenon designed by God as the consequence for human sin (rebellion). The following diagram demonstrates the entire process which James has described in verses 14 and 15:

Normally death is thought of as the loss of physical life. If James was referring to physical death, then no one would be alive today. All have sinned (Romans 3:23), believers and unbelievers alike. However, the death which James mentions here has a meaning that Scripture employs many times: separation. It implies the “exclusion from the presence and favor of God in consequence of sin and disobedience.”3

 For the believer in Jesus Christ, this ‘death’ characterizes the God’s disciplinary action and the immediate loss of fellowship with Him. We have been commanded elsewhere in Scripture by the apostle Paul to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Since the Holy Spirit is the energizing member of the Godhead, He cannot empower us when we reject Scriptural directives. To be energized by the Holy Spirit demands for believers to be holy and pure: 

But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

And also from the Lord Jesus Himself:

For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:19)

In this verse, ‘sanctify’ is the word which means ‘to make holy’ or ‘to render pure,’ inferring to separate from sin. Our Lord states that believers may be made holy and pure in the truth. The obvious question now is: What is truth?

It is very difficult even today to separate fact from fiction. We have trouble differentiating what is truth within every segment of society: in the workplace, our government, the media, entertainment, and even within the Church. How are we to know ‘truth’? Are we even able to know ‘truth’?  Happily we can. For there is a standard which God has provided man: His Word. Only His Word can enabling man to discern truth based upon His divine and authoritative viewpoint and repudiate unreliable human viewpoint.

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[1] Wallace, D. B. (1996) Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 321-323.

[2] Apokuéō in the Greek [ἀποκυέω] is a Present Active Indicative. The verb ‘brings forth’ is only used by James in the New Testament, here and in 1:18.

[3] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G2288.

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi

RICH MAN, HAPPY MAN: JAMES 1:11-12

Verses 11-12: For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 

   

The picture that James draws for us in this verse is the inescapable progress of time in the universe of the Creator. For as certain as we live and breathe, whether we be rich or poor, death is inevitable, just like the flower and grass of the fields. This verse is clearly alluding to the prophet Isaiah:

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the Word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:6b-8)1

   And again, just in case the point is missed by those who are driven by wealth, in the middle of their pursuits2 they will fade away. But ‘fade away’is much too kind of an interpretation. The word actually means to quench, to extinguish or to die. For the rich man must never forget, as Solomon stated, that there is a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Or that “it is appointed for man to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

   There are more important things in this life other than the pursuit of riches. Believers should be in pursuit of that which has eternal value – the development of our soul in the advance to spiritual maturity.

   The Lord Jesus sternly warned in the parable of the rich man the perils that lay ahead for those whose lives are merely in pursuit of wealth:

“Then he said...‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:18-21)

  James begins verse 12 with the word ‘blessed’, the same Greek word Jesus employed in the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. It is a word that connotes ‘happiness.’ Marvin Vincent wrote explaining this word: 

[I]t almost universally occurs in connections which emphasize, as its principal element, a sense of God’s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God...it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the fountain-head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and effectual cure for every woe...and emphasizes something which thrives on trial and persecution, which glories in tribulation, which not only endures but conquers the world, and expects its crown in heaven.3

   James declares that the man who perseveres in trials is a happy man. This seems like a super-human feat. But the idea, as James concludes his case concerning the divine purpose of believers’ trials, is that if a believer possesses doctrine and is fully cognizant that God has determined to provide the means for his advancement in this life of faith, that He will also sustain him in the midst of trials. And upon this realization, that believer can find happiness.

   But the believer must be able and willing to persevere. This word, in the Greek, is the verbal form of the word ‘endurance’ in verses 3 and 4. This implies that the believer must determine that in spite of how severe the trial may be, he is going to rely on the sustaining ministry of his Lord to see him through, and to derive from the negative encounters spiritual strength and determination to stay the course of the Christian life. Just as the apostle Paul stated:

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, (Ephesians 3:16)

   This lesson learned, separates the mature believer from the spiritually weak believer, who collapses at the first sign of trouble.

   James adds a promise for those who persevere: the crown of life. This crown is also mentioned by the apostle John to the church at Smyrna in the book of Revelation:

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

   John forewarns them of suffering, testing and tribulations for ten days and equates perseverance to being “faithful until death.”

   We might conclude from out passage and from Revelation 2:10, that the believers’ life may well be characterized as a series of trials and tribulations, and that we need to learn endurance at a very early stage of our Christian life in order to reach spiritual maturity, to receive the crown of life and also to demonstrate are genuine love for Him.

   The apostle Peter provides a further rationale for endurance in the midst of trials: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials (1 Peter 1:3-6)

   What Peter is saying is that in the midst of trials, we should not block out of our minds the great blessings that God has provided us: born again; an imperishable inheritance reserved in heaven; protection by the power of God; a salvation ready to be fully revealed in the last times. This is what we should ‘greatly rejoice’ in at the moment that the trials of life cause us distress – and not allow the emotion of the moment to blind us of rich we are in spiritual blessings.

   Note the purpose of this mindset which Peter explains in the next verse: 

So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7)

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[1] Also quoted in 1 Peter 1:24-25

[2] Poreía in the Greek [πορεία] meaning journey, hence, the journey of life, way of life, manner of life

[3] Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word Studies in the New Testament (1:35-36). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

 

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi