ALL OF GOD

JAMES 1:17-18

MARCH 26, 2000

 

Every religion that acknowledges sin sets forth some process by which man can be brought into a right relationship with his concept of God and have his guilt removed. Even psychologists view this as a favorable means of helping the psyche overcome its fears, guilt, and apprehensions. From this you have a broad array of human endeavors aimed at appeasing a concept of God.

 

Some animistic tribes offer human sacrifices in an effort to find their god's pleasure. In eastern religions, the practitioner denies himself food or sleep or pleasure, while enduring grueling ordeals aimed at appeasing the gods. Even in our area, we find many who labor in charitable acts and works of the law in an attempt to place them into a favorable position with God. Some even claim to have God's help in their endeavors. All of these have the common root of being self-generating ways of approaching God.

 

But our interest is not in concepts of God or multiplying human endeavors. Rather we desire to stand righteous before the thrice-holy God. All of Scripture and even our own history tell us that we have nothing to offer God that will satisfy him. Our hope rests in his mercy. God's actions are necessary for sinners to have eternal hope. Let us consider how James explains this grand reality that salvation is all of God.

 

I. God's character

 

There is an intentional contrast between the character of man and that of God in James' writing. He wants us to understand our own hearts as well as that of God, so that we might be properly motivated to press on in spiritual development. James is reminding Christians that we need to act and live like Christians. So what better way can be found than to help us understand the sure Rock of Refuge we have in the Lord?

 

1. Reliable

 

Man's desires continually cause trouble. We are warned about sin and falling prey to temptation, yet the very reason we do is not because of external pressure but our own internal desires. The human heart is deceitful, justifying itself for ill-made choices and pursuing the path of sin. The best of worldly education cannot tame the heart, for it is inwardly corrupt by reason of the Fall.

 

James reminds us, "Not so with God!" As we consider the inability of man to achieve righteousness and his incapacity for loving God, we find that the Lord gives to us the very thing we lack in our need for him. "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." We are to count our trials all joy and to persevere even under trials. We are to turn away from temptation, but we find that our own hearts do not help us at this point. We come up short, struggling under the weight of desire for self and the world. What we need is that which only God can give. James is assuring us that "every good we need is in, and from, him" [Alec Motyer, The Message of James, 55]. He is not just randomly chatting about God's character, but helping us to understand that in light of the waywardness of our own hearts, God intervenes according to his own gracious desires.

 

Is this not a vital matter for our consideration? The normal passion of the human heart is to trust in one's own ability. The idea of casting ourselves upon the living God is strangely foreign to our minds. We resist such a thought with every fiber of our being. Just look at the nation of Israel. After God delivered them from Egypt, they did not rush to depend upon the Lord, but fought with every ounce of their energy to keep from trusting him. Their reliance upon themselves can be seen in how they thought that they could keep the Law of God completely. Yet all they did was break God's law and face his judgment. Perhaps part of their problem was that they failed to see the way the Lord had revealed himself to them. They were still living with an Egyptian-view of God, not with a revelation of Jehovah.

 

Now we are to persevere, even under trials. But how can we in our own strength? We are never to do so in our own ability but to cast ourselves upon the good mercies of the Lord. James reminds us that it is the Lord who continually gives to us so that we might be able to press forward in faithfulness to him. The gifts of God are "good" and "perfect." These words tell us that God's actions toward his children are always beneficent and always adequate. They are good in that we never have to wonder whether God is tempting us to sin or if he is doing something that will ruin us. The psalmist reminds us, "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (34:8) and "indeed, the Lord will give what is good" (85:12). His actions are perfect in that they are always adequate for what we need and will always accomplish God's purpose in a given situation. We do not need to second-guess God's gifts to us. They are just what we need for any circumstance. The believer must be reminded of this as he walks through the struggles of life. For his eyes are to be on the Lord who is wholly reliable. God's actions have their source in his character, for they come "from above, coming down from the Father of lights."

 

2. Immutable

 

The word immutable means that God is unchanging, completely reliable, always the same. The writer of Hebrews expresses this in the simple statement, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (13:7). Through the prophet Malachi, the Lord declared, "I, the Lord, do not change" (3:6). James adds that God is "the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." As the "Father of lights," he points to God as Creator, the one who made the lights in all their patterns of existence. The sun, moon, and stars vary in their projection of light by the rotation of the earth and the galaxy. They experience surges in their intensity. An eclipse can hide the light of the sun or the moon. But God is unlike his creation, for he is unchanging, unvarying in the intensity of his gracious acts. He is distinct from his creation in that the creation does not have the attributes of God. God alone stands as the one who never changes. The light of the sun will one day cease, but not the eternal light of God's nature.

 

The Graeco-Roman world had grown accustomed to the fickle nature of its gods. They might be favorable one day and angry the next. The worshipers never knew if they were in the good graces of the gods. But the eternal God has revealed himself as "I AM THAT I AM," (Ex. 3:13ff), that is, he is the one who will be the same a billion years from now as he was in eternity past. He does not change and adjust his actions according to the changing of the millennium or the whims of the world. He is unaffected by the movement of the solar system or the level of worship found across the globe. He stands forever as the immutable God. It is this God, revealed in Jesus Christ, in whom the believer finds the security of eternal salvation. He does not save us one day, only to change his mind the next. He does not forgive at one point, but dredge up the past sins again to torment us or to accuse us. Adamson offers a good explanation of James' intent:

God's benevolence is like a light which cannot be extinguished, eclipsed, or "shadowed out" in any way at all. The light of the sun may be blocked, for example, by some material object, so as to cast a shadow: indeed, for a time in an eclipse, the direct light of the sun (or moon) may be shut off from the observer. Nothing like that can block God's light, interrupt the flow of his goodness, or put us" in shadow," so that we are out of the reach of his "radiance" [NICNT, 75].


II. God's decisiveness

 

Now James moves into the arena of God's saving work in our lives. The unchanging God has taken action on behalf of helpless, sinful men, to give light where they lived in darkness and life where they experienced death. "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth."

 

1. A case of wills

 

This is one of a number of clear texts that speak of God's action in our salvation. The emphasis in the Bible is that salvation is all of God. It is not a combination of God's help and our diligent work. It is God's solitary, monergistic [from mono-one; and ergos-work] action. Why is this necessary? James has already set this forth in verses 14-15 when he explained the heart and nature of man as continually inclined to sin. If man is as sinful and helpless as the Word of God describes, then unless God intervenes in saving grace man will not have even the least desire for seeking after God.

 

We have had a very interesting class on Wednesday evenings discussing this matter of the will of man. We talked about a 4th century British monk by the name of Pelagius who taught that man is basically good, inclined toward good rather than evil. He could therefore follow the commands of God by a simple act of his will. Man would not need God's intervention and certainly was not helpless. He could simply decide for God without any necessity of grace preceding his action.

 

In the 16th century a group wanted to revive a measure of Pelagius' thought without resorting to the extreme of saying that man does not have a sinful nature. They were known as Semi-Pelagians. While they acknowledged man's sinful leanings or infirmity, they also declared that all man needed was a little help from God to make the right kind of decisions toward God. They taught that man had enough will and ability to turn to God on his own, but needed grace to finish the work. Harnack explained, "Hence grace is absolutely necessary in order to reach final salvation (perfection), but not so much so in order to make a start...it only supports and accompanies him who really strives" [quoted by Sproul, Willing to Believe, 72]. In this sense, grace is God's response to man's action or decision. Yet, that is a contradiction to the very definition of grace!

 

James would have disagreed with Pelagius and the Semi-Pelagians. It was not man who brought himself forth spiritually, finding God's help along the way. But "in the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth."

 

2. God's desire

 

It is God's action prior to our own and God's will prior our will being exercised that is necessary for our salvation. What else can this statement mean: "in the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth?" Can we soften it to still include man's ability at the heart of his salvation? Can we shift the wording a bit or use creative interpretation to get around the reality of our own spiritual deadness and the necessity of divine grace preceding even our desire for Christ? Or can we suggest that God exercised his will only after he saw what our will would be, as if God had suddenly become dependent upon us for his actions?

 

The word he uses, "His will," literally means God's desire. In other words, it was the divine choice prior to our choice that determined ultimately our salvation. But, someone might say, I just had a great desire to trust Christ before I knew anything of God's grace. That is true from your side, indeed, but behind it all, James is explaining, God exercised his eternal will, choosing you for himself. As our Lord expressed it, "You did not choose me, but I chose you" (John 15:16); or as Paul put it, "But by His doing are you in Christ Jesus" (I Cor. 1:30). In the same way that your physical birth was the decision of your parents, your spiritual birth is the decision of the Lord, who graciously gives.

 

Alec Motyer calls this "the secret story lying behind our conversion" [58]. We sometimes attempt to resist this truth, namely because we think that to believe this will somehow turn God into a cosmic monster and us into his robots. But such an idea is found nowhere in Scripture. Rather the emphasis in the Bible is upon our spiritual deadness, the darkness of our knowledge, the reality that we do not even seek after God (Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19; Rom. 3:1-19). The effects of the Fall have not left us infirmed but morally decadent, enslaved to sin, and hopelessly inclined to sin. Without God demonstrating mercy toward us, we will never take the action to seek after him nor to love him with our hearts.

 

III. God's action

 

How does the Lord accomplish this work of the new birth or regeneration in our lives? For that is the very doctrine that James has in mind, following the teaching of the Lord Jesus in John 3. He emphatically declares, "He brought us forth by the word of truth." The word is the same term used previously of sin bringing forth death (v. 15). Now James shows the contrast in how the Lord brings us forth unto life.

 

1. New birth

 

We sometimes make the statement, "So-and-so was 'born again' last week." Often as that term is used it refers to the decision made on the part of the person recognizing his need for Christ, so that he repents and believes. But the biblical use of this term refers to an action taken by God on behalf of the sinner to give him the capacity and desire to believe. It is an action by God that brings the enslaved will into freedom and the darkened understanding into light and the dead heart into life. Motyer comments, "We learn that behind our choice, making it possible and making it real, is the wonder that he first chose us" [58].

 

If we keep in mind that man is spiritually dead, then it makes sense that in order to believe (or to "decide for Christ") he must first be made alive. While James simply makes the statement, other biblical writers amplify on its meaning. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5). Jeremiah spoke of this centuries earlier when the Lord declared through him, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it" (33:31-33). Because man's sinful nature is bent against obedience and has no knowledge of God, without God putting his law within our hearts, man has no desire to obey. In the passage that seems to be the background for our Lord's teaching on the new birth, Ezekiel declared, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances" (36:26-27). Notice that in all of these passages, there is never a hint of man making the first move then God meets him halfway. It is God's work, God's initiative, and God's action that brings a man out of spiritual deadness into life so that he sees the glory of the gospel and believes.

 

2. Agency

 

The agency for this action, according to James, is "the word of truth." What he means by this is the gospel of Jesus Christ applied first inwardly, then externally by the Holy Spirit, bringing the sinner to life. Similarly, Peter emphasizes that it is God's action that accomplishes this, "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." He further declared, "For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God...and this is the word which was preached to you" (I Pet. 1:3, 22, 25). It was God who "caused us to be born again" and he did so through the instrumentality of "the living and enduring word of God." James just simply says it was through "the word of truth."

 

By the mysterious, sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving power of the gospel invades the deadness of the sinful heart and breathes life into it, regenerating a sinner. That sinner is suddenly brought to life by the secret work of God's Spirit so that he now hears the external proclamation of the gospel and understands the gospel of Christ in order to believe. So the "word of truth" works both internally in awakening by the work of the Spirit and externally as it is logical, propositional truth to be believed. Because of the secret work of the Spirit the sinner can now believe the word proclaimed. He may not have even the faintest clue that this work has taken place secretly in his heart. All he understands is that he now knows that Christ died for him and that Christ is sufficient for him, so he believes and is saved.

 

The 17th century Canons of Dort expressed this clearly:

[God] not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them and powerfully illuminates their mind by His Holy Spirit, that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit, pervades the inmost recesses of the man; He opens the closed, and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may  bring forth the fruits of good actions [J. Beeke & S. Ferguson, Reformed Confessions Harmonized, 92].

After explaining that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, Paul uses similar terms to that of James, utilizing the analogy of God at Creation declaring, "Let there be light." "For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). It is into dark, dead hearts that the word of truth shines with all the blazing glory of our Redeemer, to give understanding in light of the gospel proclaimed. Therefore, our salvation is all of God. It is not our good intentions or our great minds or our fair motives that bring us to Christ. It is God's doing through "the word of truth," bringing us forth into life through the gospel.

 

What should this do to us as we see this truth? First, it should humble us to realize that God has worked to regenerate us in order that we might believe and be saved. Second, it should encourage us to know that our salvation is not dependent upon the whims of our will but upon God's gracious work by his own will. Third, it should encourage us in the work of evangelism to know that by "the word of truth" the Lord is pleased to awaken sinners and bring them to life in Christ. Fourth, it should help us in the area of assurance in knowing that the immutable God has chosen us for himself.

 

IV. God's purpose

 

James states that the purpose of God in this work is "so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures." While this is not an exact analogy, hence "a kind of" is used, it is demonstrative of what happens when the Lord brings us into relationship with himself. We are compared to the "first fruits" which harkens back to the ancient practice among both Jews and Greeks.

 

1. God's best

 

The "first fruits" were always the best of the harvest that was reserved for the Lord. They were given first before the people were able to partake. For instance, when a Jew planted a grove of fruit trees, the first three years he was to not touch the fruit. The fourth year belonged wholly to the Lord. After that, he could enjoy the fruit of his trees. This fourth year would have been the first fruits in that sense. At harvest time, the gatherers would set apart a portion of the entire harvest at its onset to give to the Lord.

 

In this sense, we find that the picture offered is that out of creation, God has set apart those he has regenerated as the first fruits, or the best of the creation for himself. It is not that we who are regenerated are better by our labors, but our worth is due to the work of God in our hearts. We are therefore, as the first fruits, to be the evidence of God's gracious work, care, and purpose for his creation. The world can look at the redeemed and see the evidence of God's work.

 

2. God's own

 

The great significance of the "first fruits" is that they belong to the Lord. They were not for common use, but for God's own purpose. Is that not what happens when we are born of God? We become "holy to the Lord," "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession," "children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation," "a holy temple in the Lord," "a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

 

As God's "first fruits," how are you to live in this world? You are to be joyful even in the face of trials. You are to persevere even under trial. You are to be doers of the word and not simply hearers. You are to demonstrate your faith by your works. You are to humble yourself before the Lord, submit to the Lord, and draw near to him. You are to treat others without partiality. You are to guard your tongue that you do not speak against one another or judge one another.

 

It is only by a work of God that we have the capacity of doing these things and living like Christians. For without the nature of a Christian, we cannot live like a Christian. And without a work of grace in our hearts, we are not Christians.

 

Conclusion

 

Because the Lord does not change and because he has done a regenerating work in everyone who is a believer among us, then we can press forward in dependence upon him. Neither trials nor temptations can change the work of God in our hearts. Let us live as those who have been raised from the dead by the power of "the word of truth," knowing that our salvation is all of God. That which he does lasts forever.

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