Dear Student of the Word,
There are only two books missing from my online New Testament study: Revelation and James. As I finish, let's start with the epistle of James, the shortest. In this first study, I include some information about James (at least what we think we know about him) and a general overview of the epistle itself. Then I go on to comment on the first chapter, which discusses perseverance, trials, listening, and wisdom. Here is sample of what is included in this installment, which can be downloaded in its entirety below:
Study One, Part Five
12Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
1:12 – It is sometimes hard to imagine that someone who perseveres under trial and goes through a hard situation that has no definitive end is blessed. It seems more like a curse than a blessing. The ways of God, however, are not the ways of men. For example, Jesus said, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:13). Jesus did not promise that this hatred would be removed or lessened; He promised that those who endured the hatred would receive a blessing, or as James put it, “a crown of life.”
1:13 – The trials that James was referring to were actually temptations as explained in this verse. God does not tempt, but God does allow temptation. This sometimes surprises people, and sometimes people equate temptation with sin. An evil thought is not sin until you act on or continue to entertain that thought. God does allow temptation to once again prove the reality of what is inside you. His objective is two-fold: to either help you face the reality of what you don’t have or to prove the reality of what you do have.
Consider Joseph in the Old Testament. Potiphar’s wife continually tried to seduce him and that was temptation, which Joseph steadfastly resisted. He was proved to be righteous not because he had no temptation, but because he knew how to deal with temptation. Paul wrote: “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)
1:14 – Our problem with temptation is that it may find something in our lives and hearts that is ready to welcome the possibilities that the temptation represents. As soon as we do that, James described the process as being “dragged away and enticed” by the temptation. For example, when the thought of doing wrong against my brother comes, I can nourish and cherish that thought. Then maybe I say something to someone else and gossip. I keep that thought as an internal pet, cleaning, grooming and feeding it. When I act on it, I am in sin and it wasn’t the temptation’s fault. The temptation simply showed me the reality of my heart.
Paul listed some of the sins that all start with temptation:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).
I can understand the first part of the list, for those sins are serious and external. Then Paul’s list shifts to attitudes and heart conditions like envy, anger and selfishness. You and I may never be tempted with idolatry, but we may face a daily struggle with pride, and it is no less serious than any of the other more “public” or socially unacceptable sins.
1:15 – When temptation leads to sin, it produces death. The end result of sin is always death, but there is a period of some measure of enjoyment before this death process. The writer of Hebrews referred to it as the enjoying of “the pleasures of sin for a short time” (Hebrews 11:25). Paul described it differently: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
1:16 – I heard a pastor say once, “The thing about being deceived is that you don’t know you’re being deceived. It’s the very nature of deception for you not to be aware that you have it.” So how can you avoid it? James commanded his readers not to be deceived, so that means that it is possible to avoid. We must work to avoid it before it ever comes, however, for once we open ourselves to it, it is almost impossible to break free. I pray regularly, “Lord, keep me from deception, from doctrinal weirdness. Help me to see the truth about myself and my motives.” I try to stay open to criticism, both constructive and destructive. Are you working to stay out of deception?
1:17 – James was reiterating that only perfect and good things come from above, and temptation is not one of those things. Don’t blame God for your problems. If you think God is the source, however, hiding your feelings won’t help. You must face ane express those feelings or face being deceived about what is in your heart. God is consistent; there is no shifting shadow in Him. He is light and truth. He is for you and not against you but you must face the reality not only of who He is, but of who you are. If you doubt God’s goodness, you must resolve that issue.
1:18 – We have been “born again” through the word of truth and are firstfruits of God’s new creation. The firstfruits were presented to the priests in the Old Testament, symbolic that all the harvest belonged to God, and that He would see the harvest to its successful culmination. We are representative of God’s legal claim to all His creatures, though many of those creatures are currently objects of God’s wrath – but they still belong to Him as Creator.
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the daily devotional entitled Your Life Matters: Daily Reflections from the Book of Psalms. Thank you and soon I will begin sending you my edited studies from James' epistle. After that, we will only have the book of Revelation to complete before the entire New Testament is on the site where this study is posted.
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