Thus far James revealed the value of trials, how God uses them to perfect the Christian, and how to obtain God's perspective on one's trials when this is difficult to see. Next he proceeded to explain the consequences of obedience and disobedience and the source of temptations so his readers could manage their trials effectively.
In view of how God uses trials in our lives we should persevere in the will of God joyfully. The Christian who perseveres under trials, who does not yield to temptations to depart from the will of God, demonstrates his or her love for God.43It is those who persevere under trials out of love for God that He will reward with the crown of life. Only the person who endures will receive the blessing.44
". . . James has begun the sentence with blessed' makarios, like a new beatitude recalling Matthew 5:3-10 and especially 5:11-12, where Jesus encouraged perseverance in trials because great is your reward in heaven.' . . . the crown of life would be the ultimate reward, the fulfillment of eternal life and the exaltation with Christ which will be enjoyed by those who, because of faith in Christ, have loved God enough to live faithfully, obeying him even through trials."45
"It is evident that this life that God has promised' is more than the eternal life given to every believer at the time of his salvation (John 5:24). Since it is a reward for an accomplishment subsequent to initial faith, it must refer to a still higher quality of life."46
"Many Christians are presently following the same path which Esau took (considering the birthright to be of little value), and such Christians will one day come to the end of the matter in the same position as Esau. They, although presently in line to be blessed as the firstborn (every Christian is a firstborn child of God), will have forfeited this right; and they will be rejected for the blessing."47
"The idea that all Christians dolove God is a fiction. Even our Lord felt it necessary to exhort His inner circle of eleven disciples on this point (cf. John 14:21-24). . . . In no circumstances more than in trials does the presence or absence of love for God in a Christian become more apparent."48
The other "crowns"to which the New Testament writers referred are probably also references to the fullness of the qualities mentioned in their contexts. They are probably not material crowns (cf. 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10). In other words, we should probably interpret them as metaphors rather than as literal crowns. Those who demonstrate their love for the Lord by persevering under trials will receive life to its fullest potential in the present and in the future.
James did not want us to draw the conclusion that because God permits us to experience trials He is the source of temptation. That deduction might encourage us to give in to sin.
1:13 God is never the source of temptation. He does not try to get us to sin. He Himself is not even subject to temptation because He is totally separate from sin and not susceptible to evil.49The only sense in which God is responsible for sin is that He permits other things to tempt us, namely, the world, the flesh, and the devil (cf. Job 1-2). James did not mention this here.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Lead us not into temptation"(Matt. 6:13; Luke 11:4). Jesus used a figure of speech (i.e., litotes) in which He expressed a positive idea by negating the contrary.50He did not imply that God does lead us into temptation. His point was that He can help us stay away from it. Essentially Jesus meant we should ask God to allow us to experience as little temptation as possible. James was not contradicting Jesus' teaching.
"We all know only too many people who have ceased to walk with God under the pressure of trouble or tragedy . . ."51
1:14 Rather than blaming God we need to recognize that we are responsible when we yield to temptation, not God. There is nothing in God that responds positively to sin, but there is much in us that does.
"Desire (epithymia) does not always have a negative meaning (cf. Lk. 22:15; Phil. 1:23), but here, as most often in the New Testament, it refers to fleshly, selfish, illicit desire. While the word often describes specifically sexual passions, the use of the singular here suggests a broader conception."52
What practical difference does it make if God tempts us or if He allows us to experience temptation? Perhaps we can appreciate the difference if we think of God as our Father. No good earthly father would deliberately seduce his child into sin trying to make him or her fall. However every good father will deliberately allow his child to enter situations in life in which the child must make moral choices. We realize that sending a child to school or into the community, at the proper age, is good for a child because it matures him or her. Likewise God grows us up by allowing certain experiences to assail us, though He Himself only gives good gifts to His children (Luke 11:13).
Lust in this context is the desire to do, have, or be something apart from the will of God. Lust is covert, but sometimes it manifests itself overtly. If we do not check lust, it will lead to sin, and if we do not confess and forsake sin, it will lead to death (Rom. 6:23).
"Sin is the result of the surrender of the will to the soliciting of epithymia[lust] instead of the guidance of reason."53
Lust can lead to physical death in a believer (1 John 5:16), and it can lead to physical and spiritual death in a non-believer. James' vivid illustration of the childbearing process graphically describes the cause and effect relationship of lust, sin, and death. God desires to lead us into the fullness of life (v. 12), but if we respond improperly and give in to temptations we will not obtain the crown of life but death. "Death"in verse 15 is the opposite of "life"in verse 12. The ultimate outcome of capitulating to temptation is death, but the ultimate outcome of resisting it is the fullness of life (cf. John 10:10).
"This attention-getting imagery is designed to stop sinners in their tracks, seeing that death is the natural and terrible end of a life of sin, not just an occasional result for some sinners."54
James now defended God before those who doubted His goodness or reliability or who had given up hope in a time of testing and had concluded that this was their "fate."55
1:16 James wanted his readers to have no doubt about God's purposes and methods in dealing with His children. The same "Do not be deceived"expression occurs in 1 Corinthians 6:9; 15:33; Galatians 6:7; and 1 John 3:7. God definitely is not the author of temptation.56
James clarified God's purposes and methods in the following two verses (cf. Gal. 4:7). Verse 15 warns against yielding to temptation by reminding us of the judgment of God, and verse 17 warns us by reminding us of the goodness of God.
1:17 Every act of giving (better than "good thing bestowed") and every gift given has its source in God. This does not include temptations. God created the sun and moon by which we see variation in light. However there is no variation in God's dealings with His creatures. He always does everything for His own glory and His creatures' good.
"From above"is the translation of the same Greek word (anothen) Jesus used in John 3:7 when He told Nicodemus that he must be born "again."There the new birth is the good gift from God that is in view.
1:18 The greatest of God's gifts for believers is the gift of new life in Christ. God's initiative provided this gift for us, and His special revelation communicated it to us. This verse along with the preceding one shows clearly that James believed that eternal life was a gift of God's grace. We need to keep this in mind when we read James' discussion of faith and works that follows in chapter 2. James also agreed with Paul that our salvation springs from the sovereign volition of God (cf. Rom. 4:21-22; 2 Cor. 4:6). He initiated it.
The "first fruits"probably refer to all Christians who persevere in spite of trials. All believers will bring glory to God's name, but believers who remain faithful to Christ will please Him greatly, as the first fruits in Israel were a special offering to God. The Greek word translated "first fruits"(aparche) refers to what is first in honor as well as to what is first in order. The biblical writers used it "of persons superior in excellence to others of the same class."57
The point of these verses (17-18) seems to be that God's intention for all people, and believers in particular, is invariably their blessing. Rather than viewing temptations to depart from the will of God as heaven-sent, we must see them as the potential enemies of spiritual growth. Instead of caving in under their weight we must brace ourselves against them. We can do so knowing that the effort will make us better this side of the grave and it will yield a wonderful reward the other side of the grave.
