A STRANGE BIRTH

JAMES 1:13-16

MARCH 5, 2000

 

Over the past few years there have been some well-publicized cases of individuals caught in various acts of moral and criminal behavior in which blame has been shifted to someone else. There almost appears to be a game of dodging blame and shifting it to others. But this is nothing new. The scene of Adam's sin against God in the Garden reminds us that to err is human and to blame someone else for one's erring is human to!

 

As the Lord God confronted Adam about his sin, he quickly replied, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate" (Gen. 3:12). In turn, when the woman was asked about what she had done, she quickly passed the blame upon the deception of the serpent. From this point, all humanity has rushed to excuse sin by blaming someone else.

 

This is poignantly illustrated everyday in the judicial system. When someone has committed murder or armed robbery or rape, the perpetrator of the crime is typically painted as having been victimized by something in society. He had weak parents or had been brought up in poverty or had been jilted in a marriage or had a poorly developed self-image or has been the victim of discrimination in some fashion. Each excuse is meant to negate the fact of his crime!

 

The problem does not stop at simply blaming someone else for one's sin. Eventually blame is pointed toward God. 'If God had not let me get into this situation I would not have done this'. 'If God had just stopped me I would not have fallen'. 'If God had not brought this trial into my life I would not have been tempted'. It is this common syndrome of blaming others and ultimately blaming God for one's sin that James exposes.

 

His message pointedly explains: man must ultimately accept blame for his own sin. Denials and excuses never bring deliverance. It is through understanding the nature of temptation that we are helped to see the root of our problem with sin. Let us consider how this is expounded in our text.

 

I. An accusation

 

James uses the same word for "trial" and "temptation" throughout this chapter. The context of its use determines whether it refers to an external circumstance that tests us or an inward disposition that tempts us. A number of writers point that there are temptations in our trials and trials with our temptations. By this they suggest that with the trials of life, those circumstances that build endurance and require the exercise of faith, comes also the choice of making wrong decisions and sinning. Also, with every temptation we find ourselves bearing up under the weight of a trial in which right choices build endurance.

 

With the temptation and sin that follows, there is the consciousness that we have erred. Naturally we want to excuse ourselves of any responsibility for sin. James is explaining that especially in the context of temptations that arise due to being under the providence of trials, we might try to point a finger of blame at God, as though he is at fault for our sin.

 

1.  Blaming God

 

Blaming God is nothing new, as we have noted from the record of Genesis. The one imperative in this paragraph is his assertion: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God." The Greek brings this out in an even more graphic way, so that the one speaking states that his temptation has come from God. In this case, God has to be behind the sin of man. How do we blame God?

 

It may be that we take a fatalistic approach to our sin. Since God is sovereign and since nothing escapes the rule of his sovereignty, God therefore must be the originator of our sin. That seems to have been the conclusion of some among the number addressed by James.

 

It is important to see that James is distinguishing between testing and temptation. One comes for the purpose of building our endurance; it is a gift from God to help us. The other is an enticement to sin that is affected by the external circumstances, but cannot come from God. Our capacity for compartmentalizing everything presents us with a difficulty of understanding how God can bring one thing into our life that produces good, but cannot do the other that produces evil.

 

The writer of Proverbs explains that man is his own worst enemy at the point of sin. "The foolishness of man ruins his way, and his heart rages against the Lord" (19:3). He seethes in anger for the imagination that God has been the root of his sin and ruin. Yet he "ruins his way" but will not accept the blame.

 

So James commands the God-accusers to stop blaming God. He explains why God cannot be blamed for temptation, and then demonstrates the real problem in temptation.

 

2. Facing reality

 

I jump for a moment to verse 16 to show James' summary point: "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." The deception is the belief that somehow I am innocent and God is to blame. 'If God had just not given me this job or this personality or this family or this predicament, then I would not have sinned'. James explains that this is deception.

 

Temptation is a lifelong reality. Though he does not address the devil's part in sin at this point, I think it is fair to say that one of the devil's greatest deceptions is for us to think that we are somehow or another immune to committing certain sins because we are Christians. Or if we think that because we have matured in Christ we have managed to rise above temptation, then we have been deceived. We have let our own hearts deceive us at this point. As Matthew Henry put it, "The best of saints may be tempted to the worst of sins" [quoted by Blanchard, Truth for Life, 45]. We need only cast a glance at the godly David who fell into severe temptation as he let down his spiritual guard.

 

Temptations may accompany trials but only due to wrong decisions on our part. The fatal flaw of our own personalities is to retreat from obedience and endurance in the face of trials and succumb to the pull of temptation. For this reason we might salve our conscience by pointing blame at God. But James reminds us that to do so is deception. Thankfully, he explains why God is never to blame for our temptations.

 

II. An observation

 

Some writers say that the Epistle of James is not a doctrinal or theological book. But already we have met with a remarkable explanation about the character of God (v. 5) in which he explains him as the source of wisdom, incomparably generous in giving us what we need, and one who does not chide us upon our approaching him. Now he continues to defend his imperative by explaining that "God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." These parallel statements present us with a portrait of God's character and actions.

 

1. God's character and evil

 

What is God like? We often entertain this question, perhaps with great difficulty. For our propensity is to imagine the Lord God to be like us. We think of our own character with the level of love, loyalty, faithfulness, goodness, and gentleness we are able to measure, then add a portion to this and apply it to God. But what is wrong with this? Everything that we have in terms of positive character comes as a result of being created in the image of God and due to the gracious working of God in our lives. In other words, positive character traits do not originate from us, but from God. Added to this is the fact that we are incapable of fully understanding the ultimate measure of love, goodness, or any other characteristic. All that we see, even with our best efforts, still has the taint of our fallenness affecting it.

 

James writes, "God cannot be tempted by evil." The nature of God is such that temptation has no place in him or allurement to him. Why is this so? By its very nature, temptation implies that one is drawn by desire for something that he lacks. It may be a desire for material things or intimate relations or position or attention. We are drawn out by our desire for these things because we have the perception that we are not complete without them.

 

But God lacks nothing. He is self-sufficient. Every attribute of his being is perfect. He is unchanging or immutable, so that there is never a need for growth in any aspect of God's being because everything about him is infinite. For God to need anything would mean that he is not God.

 

We are tempted with greed because there are things we do not have that we want. But not so with the Lord for, "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it" (Psa. 24:1). We are tempted with a lust for power or position when we see jobs, offices, or positions we want. But again, not so with the Lord God, "For God is King of all the earth" (Psa. 47:1).

 

"God cannot be tempted by evil" for to do so would admit that there were areas of lack or dissatisfaction in God with his own nature. It would mean that God is not satisfied with being God. Such thoughts are preposterous at best.

 

We are tempted to evil because of an inward disposition inclined to evil, but God has no such inclination. All of his inclinations, if we can use such a word, are altogether holy.

 

2. God's actions and temptation

 

If he were not tempted by evil, then it would seem contradictory that God would tempt others to do evil. James insists, "He Himself does not tempt anyone." The force of the emphatic double pronoun, "He Himself," demonstrates the impossibility of God tempting anyone. The reason is that a temptation to sin goes against the entire nature of God, who is altogether holy. Because of his nature it is impossible for him to desire any of his creation to sin. Motyer explains, "He is of such unmixed goodness in his attitudes and actions that there is no room in motive, will or deed for that which would bring disaster, great or small, on any of his people" [The Message of James-BST, 51]. To be sure, God does bring trials our way but only that we might be perfected in our spiritual graces and that we might receive from his hands the provisions needed in the trials. Trials are for the purpose of holiness. Temptations are for the purpose of sin.

 

For instance, as a parent is helping his young child learn to walk, he purposefully puts the child at the edge of a sofa, stands back six feet, and commands the little fellow to walk to him. Six feet might just as well be six miles in that child's eyes! He is facing what appears to be an insurmountable trial, but in your wisdom as a parent, you know that your child will be strengthened for many years of walking by taking those difficult steps. That is a trial delivered by your love and wisdom for a child. It is far different than purposefully enticing your child to commit an act of disobedience.

 

James P. Boyce expressed this with clarity while explaining the nature of God. "It is the nature that influences the will. It is because he [God] is holy, just, and good, that he wills holiness, justice, and goodness, and wills these in himself, because he alone is the infinitely holy, just, and good" [The Abstract of Systematic Theology, 81]. God cannot will you to do something that is found nowhere in his nature.

 

So where do the desires to sin originate? Can we blame someone?

 

III. An evaluation

 

Since God is not the one causing us to fall into sin, then can we blame the devil? Certainly we know that the devil hurls "fiery darts" at us to entice us to sin. But the devil cannot entice us to do anything that we refuse to do. So the problem must rest elsewhere. James says that the problem is in us. "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."

 

1. Sin's starting point

 

We should never be surprised that the temptation to sin begins with us. We are not to be like the young priest who for the first time joined an older priest in the confessional. When the day was done the older priest pulled him aside and said, "My boy, when a person finishes with confession, you have got to learn to say something other than, 'Wow!'" [Kent Hughes, James: Faith that Works, 46]. We must not be surprised by the capabilities of the human heart, even our own hearts.

 

The Greek states emphatically, "Each one separately is himself tempted by his own lusts." The inclinations of the human heart are the result of a corrupted nature, inherited from Adam at the fall. Paul explained, "through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners," for "through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:19, 12). Jesus illustrated this clearly with his disciples after being upbraided by the Pharisees for not going through the ritual ablutions before eating. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man" (Matt. 15:19-20). The legalism of the Pharisees and scribes resulted from a belief that they were righteous in nature, and that the problem with sin was outside of them and not in them. Our Lord's explanation is that the inclination of the human heart is sinful. We are capable of any sin known to man. Only the grace of God stands between us and the most heinous things imaginable.

 

James makes this even more pointed when he explains, "each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." He uses both hunting and fishing metaphors to help us understand this. First, one's own desires are "carried away" by an external allurement. The picture is one of a wild animal being lured into a trap or dragged into danger by the scent of food. He moves outside the realm of protection and into the hunter's lair because of his own desires dragging him into danger. Motyer says that the word "means 'to drag off' and points to a dominating and directive power within our desires." He calls it "the magnetism of desire, the hypnotic attraction of bait for a hungry beast" [52].

 

The second metaphor has to do with fishing. It pictures the angler skillfully casting his bait near the fish, giving it just the right tug against the current and refracting light, so that the fish is enticed out of his hiding place to inspect the lure. Once he finds it attractive, the fish bites and is snared by the camouflaged hook. The lure could only attract the fish because his desires lured him into danger. In both cases, there are external issues involved but they cannot harm the animal or fish unless their desires are set upon the bait. Blanchard explains, "Inwardly, man has the desire and the potential to sin; outwardly, he is surrounded by enticements, allurements, temptations. As long as he resists these, he is safe, but it is this consideration, this toying with the idea, this allowing of the outward attraction to occupy a place in his mind, that moves him toward the fateful moment" [Truth for Life, 50].

 

The problem is "his own lust" pulling him from safety into the snare awaiting him. For this reason, we cannot blame anyone else for our sin. For it originates within our own desires. "Lust" is a common word meaning, "desires." The corruption of the human nature has affected our desires, so that the desire for food can turn into gluttony, the desire for affection can turn into adultery, the desire for security can turn into greed, the desire for love can turn into pride. Doug Moo writes, "'Desire', in itself, is not sin. It is only when a person, by an act of the will, assents to its enticement that sin results" [TDNT, 74].

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer offered a telling description of the power of temptation:

With irresistible power desire seizes mastery over the flesh.... It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire, or ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money.... Joy in God is...extinguished in us and we seek all our joy in the creature. At this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real;...Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.... The lust thus aroused envelops the mind and will of man in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from us. The questions present themselves: "Is what the flesh desires really sin in this case?" "Is it really not permitted to me, yes-expected of me, now, here, in my particular situation, to appease desire?" ...It is here that everything within me rises up against the Word of God [quoted by Kent Hughes from Bonhoeffer's book Temptation].

The popular song a number of years ago expressed this same idea, "If it feels so right, how can it be so wrong?" With God out of sight in our desires, we move toward securing what desire tells us we need so much.

 

2. Sin's ending point

 

The purpose for evaluating sin's progression is to help the believer to check his desires. He is to stop before getting too close to the lure. He is to see the internal dangers lurking and apply the truth of God to them. He is to call upon the Lord in the day of temptation. He is to resist temptation, knowing that with each temptation there is a way of escape (I Cor. 10:13). Look to the promises of God, the work of Christ, the example of Christ in the face of death, the encouragement through those who have gone before us, the provision of grace and strength. Or else the deceitfulness of the heart will convince you that it is okay to pursue the sin, that its effects will not be that bad, that the consequences are nothing to consider (Jer. 17:9).

 

James moves into one more metaphor to help us see how far enticement goes and its consequences: "Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." The conception and birth metaphor remind us of "an unholy marriage" between desire and opportunity, inclination and enticement [Blanchard, 51]. Alexander Ross offers this reminder: "The mere fact of our being tempted does not involve in itself anything sinful. It is when the desire of man goes out to meet and embrace the forbidden thing and an unholy marriage takes place between these two, that sin is born" [quoted by Vaughan, Bible Study Commentary-James, 31]. In other words, the place to stop sin is at the point of our desires. We can see from this the need to cultivate and train our desires by the Word of God through the work of the Spirit. Yet we never get away from the problem of ill-fated desires in this life. So we must keep alert to the inward propensity for following after sin. By recognizing our own inward weakness, we are reminded to constantly seek refuge in the Lord and not our own strengths.

 

The shift in terminology by the word "accomplished" shows that the temptation process has ended, literally, it has "ceased to be pregnant." The deed accomplished plies the work of death and destruction in the sinner. When Adam and Eve sinned, they died spiritually. That death was a separation from God and a darkening in their understanding of the beauty of God. Ultimately, their sin leads to physical death that but for the grace of God leads also to eternal death. "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).

 

But here is where we find refuge in the cross of Christ. As sinners we face separation from God and a destiny with eternal death, but Jesus Christ has borne the judgment due to us in his own body at the cross. It is in the spotless Lamb of God that we find forgiveness and eternal security from the destructive nature of sin.

 

Conclusion

 

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." God is not the problem with our sin. We are the problem. But he has the answers. Let us seek, as Christians, to deal with our desires, to recognize the allurement to sin, and resist. And for those who have not trusted in the saving work of Christ, realize that he is the only refuge for sinners.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.