[Originally preached 22 August, 2004]
James 1.13-16
In our text James makes what may appear to be a sudden shift in his letter. He was talking about trials when, all of a sudden, he switches to the area of temptation. And yet, it isn’t really out of the blue. For one thing, the words translated ‘trial’ and ‘temptation’ are actually the same in the Greek that James wrote. And more than that, every trial is, at the same time, a temptation. When God tested him, Abraham had a choice. He could believe God and act accordingly, which meant sacrificing Isaac. Of course, Abraham could have chosen not to believe God and then acted accordingly, which would have meant refusing to sacrifice Isaac. The first choice meant passing the test. The second choice meant giving in to temptation and falling into sin. In that case, what God intended to be a means of blessing for Abraham by his passing the test would have become a means of cursing. Every trial is, at the same time, a temptation.
In our text, James anticipates what someone might say when, facing a trial, he fell to the temptation. ‘It’s God’s fault that I fell for that temptation and sinned! After all, the test came from Him.’ This person just doesn’t understand God. And James sets out to show him that. Yes, it is God who confronts us with trials, those tests of faith. But His intention is always that you would succeed and thus be blessed. It’s very important that you hold on to that. God wants you to pass the test. God wants you to be blessed. But if God were to confront you with a trial in the hope that you would fail that would mean that God would want evil to prevail. God isn’t like that. That’s a description of Satan. God doesn’t lure people to sin by temptation. To do so, God would have to have given in to the temptation to do evil to you Himself. And that’s just impossible. So, James responds, ‘No, it’s not God’s fault that you fell into sin. Actually, it’s your fault. You bear the responsibility for falling for the temptation and sinning.’ This speaks to all of the excuses that we use to cover up our sin. So, for example, we can’t say that it was the devil’s fault. ‘That devil was just too strong for me. No wonder I sinned.’ We can’t say that we had unmet needs that we were trying to satisfy. ‘I never really experienced a father’s love. That’s why I did it.’ And we can’t say that there were extenuating circumstances that excuse our sin. ‘If you were in as much pain as I you’d lose your temper too.’ In these and so many other ways, we are saying the same thing. ‘It wasn’t my fault. It was someone else’s fault.’ Maybe even saying, ‘It was God’s fault.’ James is clear. That’s all garbage. ‘When you sin, it’s because you gave in to the temptation. You have no excuse.’ Blame shifting has a long history. It started back in the Garden when Adam told God, ‘It was the woman whom You gave me.’ It’s alive and well today. You need to beware.
James’ goal in our text isn’t to condemn but to help. And so, he explains the inner dynamics of our giving in to sin’s temptations. He offers to us what might be called the psychology of temptation. He takes a look into the soul and shows us what goes on in there. Notice where he starts. ‘But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.’ [James 1:14] The starting point is desire. Now, desire is not necessarily evil. It can be, but it isn’t necessarily so. This same word is used in some very positive senses in the New Testament. Jesus ‘earnestly desired’ to eat the Passover with His disciples. Paul’s ‘desire’ was ‘to depart and be with Christ’. And when it came to becoming an elder he wrote, ‘If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.’ To have a desire is not necessarily evil. And here in our text, it starts out being just fine. We all have desires that are quite good. There are times when we desire to enjoy a good meal with friends. A young man may desire a wife. Any good mother desires to see her children flourish. These are good desires. But, the desire for a good meal can become gluttony. The desire for a wife can lead to immoral behavior. The desire for flourishing children can become an all consuming goal and thus an idol. In each of these cases something happened to a good desire. Something changed. The desire that was good was twisted and became evil. It’s important to see this. The sins that we fall into are usually tied to some very good desires that become corrupted so that what was once good becomes quite evil.
Now, James moves on. He points us to these now twisted desires that ‘lure and entice’. What interesting words! They reflect the subtlety that is going on. Temptation is not some guy with horns dressed in red saying, ‘Hey, don’t go down the strait and narrow that leads to life. Turn left here and follow me to hell and suffer the consequences forever.’ Temptation is subtle, enticing, alluring. Proverbs illustrates the subtlety when it contrasts wisdom and foolishness. These two qualities are pictured as two women calling to passers-by. Listen to how wisdom calls. ‘ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” ’ [Proverbs 9:4-6] But then listen to folly. ‘The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” ’[Proverbs 9.13-16a] Did you notice that foolishness mimics wisdom. The invitation to the simple, the naïve, is the same. It is only later that the difference is heard. Listen to the rest of Folly’s call. ‘And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” ’ [Proverbs 9:16b-17] Wisdom and foolish sin sound so close at first. It is only the later alluring call to enjoy sin that distinguishes them. Twisted desires lead astray.
Now, when these desires have done their work what happens? ‘Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin…’ [James 1:15a] The simpleton who hears folly’s invitation has not sinned, even if he feels the pull of temptation. But once he takes even one step in her direction then he has crossed the line. Then he has sinned. The corrupted desire has done its work. Now, understand that it isn’t a matter of outside forces that make the difference here. The difference is all a matter of choices you make. The person who sins has decided to heed those twisted desires. This is a key point to understanding the psychology of temptation. Corrupted desires lead to sin because we choose to listen to them.
James doesn’t stop here. There is one more step. ‘… and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. [James 1:15b] And here you need to remember that death is to be understood in its broadest sense. If real life is enjoyment of God and all of His glorious gifts to the full, then death is the exact opposite of that. There is no joy, no happiness, no love, no peace, no God. Living for such a person is very dark, very depressing, very lonely. It is awful. And so, the problem with giving in to temptation is not that some rule is broken. The problem is that any experience of real life is squeezed out of you until death completely overwhelms. So, we have here a counterpart of what James has previously told us about the trials of life. If we endure the trials, we receive good things now, becoming complete and perfect. We grow in our experience of the life of God. [James 1.2ff.] We also will receive a great good later, the crown of life, the full enjoyment of real life forever in the age to come. [James 1.12]But the same sort of thing is true of falling for those temptations. There is a growing experience of death. A downward spiral begins which will culminate in eternal death forever. And please remember James’ audience. He is not writing to the pagans. ‘Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.’ [James 1:16] James is warning the Church. He is warning you. The Spirit of God who wrote this is warning us all about the significance of our choices. If we aren’t careful we could choose death.
All of that leads up to this point. Here is the question you must ponder. How do you protect yourself from this danger? Consider a couple of things. First, you need to understand your own heart. By that I mean, you need to understand the desires that reside there, especially the ones that are easily corrupted. There are some things that do not faze me in the least. They hold no allure and so they do not tempt. While I’ll enjoy a glass of beer with dinner on a hot summer day, I’ve never gotten drunk. If someone were to say to me, ‘Come on, let’s tie one on tonight’, I’d just walk away. It just isn’t enticing. But there are other things that I have a real problem with. I easily succumb in these areas. Desires here are easily twisted and corrupted. You are the same. And so you need to understand your desires and how some of them are easily twisted.
So, you enjoy a little time alone just to catch your breath, ponder a few things, get recharged so that you can return to the fray with some energy. That’s a good desire. But what if that becomes a demand? What if you get angry if your ‘alone time’ is interfered with? ‘All I wanted was just a few minutes to myself. Was that too much to ask!?!’ A good desire just got twisted and resulted in sin. Or you might enjoy being creative. Maybe that means doing some woodworking or crafts or playing a game. You find this a way of relaxing and expressing yourself. That’s a good desire. But again what if it gets twisted? What if while you are ‘being creative’ the dishes pile up or that household repair project still waits to be done? We all need to understand ourselves and the places where we are prone to falling, the good desires that are so easily twisted.
You cannot do that alone. Your heart is so subtle that you aren’t able to discern what’s really going on. Ultimately, it is the Spirit who must uncover those areas of your heart and show them to you. And how will that happen? It won’t be by some mystical zap. The Spirit uses the Word. You need to receive as much of the Word as possible. That means things like paying close attention to the preaching of the Word, daily Bible reading, becoming a part of a Bible study group. The more of the Word you hide away in your heart, the more you give the Spirit to work with. And along with that you need to pray. You need to ask the Spirit of God to deal with you and with your heart. You need to pray about the areas of weakness that will become evident to you. You need to deal with these areas of desire before they become twisted. If you can do that, imagine the sin that you can avoid.
But what if you find that you have given in to some temptation? What if the process toward death has started and you’re past the point of restraining desire but have already sinned? What happens now? The answer should be obvious. As soon as you become aware of any sin, your first response needs to be repentance. Don’t wait. Don’t think that it’s only a little sin. At the first sign of sin, repent. The foundation of real repentance starts with an awareness of the seriousness of the situation. The danger is real. James isn’t writing about hypothetical situations that could never really happen. They can and have. But with that awareness of the seriousness of what’s going on there is also an awareness of the kind graciousness of our God in Jesus. Our Father loves to forgive sin. Do not hold back your repentance because you think that He must be too angry with you to forgive you just now. That is a lie from Satan himself. Whenever sin is revealed to you run to your Father, eager to repent knowing that He will always receive you with open arms.
Here, as in so many places, we need much wisdom. On the one hand, we need to take to heart the seriousness of the situation. The threat of death is real. We are in a war. It is a war that is not easily fought. And it is a war in which there are casualties. Some who start with us do not end with us because they would not take the warning of our text seriously. But, on the other hand, we must not become terrified, afraid to act at all lest we falter and die. Remember the love of God. Remember His great kindness. He wants you to flourish. He understands your weakness and how prone you are to sin. He is no harsh taskmaster for whom everything is cut and dried. He is your tender and patient Father. So, go to Him. Tell Him that you really want to please Him. Tell Him that you know that you fail so often. Ask for grace to cover the multitude of your sins. And ask confident that He will always grant grace in abundance. Go to Him in Jesus’ name and be optimistic about your future expecting your Father to care for you.
James 1.13-16
In our text James makes what may appear to be a sudden shift in his letter. He was talking about trials when, all of a sudden, he switches to the area of temptation. And yet, it isn’t really out of the blue. For one thing, the words translated ‘trial’ and ‘temptation’ are actually the same in the Greek that James wrote. And more than that, every trial is, at the same time, a temptation. When God tested him, Abraham had a choice. He could believe God and act accordingly, which meant sacrificing Isaac. Of course, Abraham could have chosen not to believe God and then acted accordingly, which would have meant refusing to sacrifice Isaac. The first choice meant passing the test. The second choice meant giving in to temptation and falling into sin. In that case, what God intended to be a means of blessing for Abraham by his passing the test would have become a means of cursing. Every trial is, at the same time, a temptation.
In our text, James anticipates what someone might say when, facing a trial, he fell to the temptation. ‘It’s God’s fault that I fell for that temptation and sinned! After all, the test came from Him.’ This person just doesn’t understand God. And James sets out to show him that. Yes, it is God who confronts us with trials, those tests of faith. But His intention is always that you would succeed and thus be blessed. It’s very important that you hold on to that. God wants you to pass the test. God wants you to be blessed. But if God were to confront you with a trial in the hope that you would fail that would mean that God would want evil to prevail. God isn’t like that. That’s a description of Satan. God doesn’t lure people to sin by temptation. To do so, God would have to have given in to the temptation to do evil to you Himself. And that’s just impossible. So, James responds, ‘No, it’s not God’s fault that you fell into sin. Actually, it’s your fault. You bear the responsibility for falling for the temptation and sinning.’ This speaks to all of the excuses that we use to cover up our sin. So, for example, we can’t say that it was the devil’s fault. ‘That devil was just too strong for me. No wonder I sinned.’ We can’t say that we had unmet needs that we were trying to satisfy. ‘I never really experienced a father’s love. That’s why I did it.’ And we can’t say that there were extenuating circumstances that excuse our sin. ‘If you were in as much pain as I you’d lose your temper too.’ In these and so many other ways, we are saying the same thing. ‘It wasn’t my fault. It was someone else’s fault.’ Maybe even saying, ‘It was God’s fault.’ James is clear. That’s all garbage. ‘When you sin, it’s because you gave in to the temptation. You have no excuse.’ Blame shifting has a long history. It started back in the Garden when Adam told God, ‘It was the woman whom You gave me.’ It’s alive and well today. You need to beware.
James’ goal in our text isn’t to condemn but to help. And so, he explains the inner dynamics of our giving in to sin’s temptations. He offers to us what might be called the psychology of temptation. He takes a look into the soul and shows us what goes on in there. Notice where he starts. ‘But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.’ [James 1:14] The starting point is desire. Now, desire is not necessarily evil. It can be, but it isn’t necessarily so. This same word is used in some very positive senses in the New Testament. Jesus ‘earnestly desired’ to eat the Passover with His disciples. Paul’s ‘desire’ was ‘to depart and be with Christ’. And when it came to becoming an elder he wrote, ‘If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.’ To have a desire is not necessarily evil. And here in our text, it starts out being just fine. We all have desires that are quite good. There are times when we desire to enjoy a good meal with friends. A young man may desire a wife. Any good mother desires to see her children flourish. These are good desires. But, the desire for a good meal can become gluttony. The desire for a wife can lead to immoral behavior. The desire for flourishing children can become an all consuming goal and thus an idol. In each of these cases something happened to a good desire. Something changed. The desire that was good was twisted and became evil. It’s important to see this. The sins that we fall into are usually tied to some very good desires that become corrupted so that what was once good becomes quite evil.
Now, James moves on. He points us to these now twisted desires that ‘lure and entice’. What interesting words! They reflect the subtlety that is going on. Temptation is not some guy with horns dressed in red saying, ‘Hey, don’t go down the strait and narrow that leads to life. Turn left here and follow me to hell and suffer the consequences forever.’ Temptation is subtle, enticing, alluring. Proverbs illustrates the subtlety when it contrasts wisdom and foolishness. These two qualities are pictured as two women calling to passers-by. Listen to how wisdom calls. ‘ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” ’ [Proverbs 9:4-6] But then listen to folly. ‘The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” ’[Proverbs 9.13-16a] Did you notice that foolishness mimics wisdom. The invitation to the simple, the naïve, is the same. It is only later that the difference is heard. Listen to the rest of Folly’s call. ‘And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” ’ [Proverbs 9:16b-17] Wisdom and foolish sin sound so close at first. It is only the later alluring call to enjoy sin that distinguishes them. Twisted desires lead astray.
Now, when these desires have done their work what happens? ‘Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin…’ [James 1:15a] The simpleton who hears folly’s invitation has not sinned, even if he feels the pull of temptation. But once he takes even one step in her direction then he has crossed the line. Then he has sinned. The corrupted desire has done its work. Now, understand that it isn’t a matter of outside forces that make the difference here. The difference is all a matter of choices you make. The person who sins has decided to heed those twisted desires. This is a key point to understanding the psychology of temptation. Corrupted desires lead to sin because we choose to listen to them.
James doesn’t stop here. There is one more step. ‘… and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. [James 1:15b] And here you need to remember that death is to be understood in its broadest sense. If real life is enjoyment of God and all of His glorious gifts to the full, then death is the exact opposite of that. There is no joy, no happiness, no love, no peace, no God. Living for such a person is very dark, very depressing, very lonely. It is awful. And so, the problem with giving in to temptation is not that some rule is broken. The problem is that any experience of real life is squeezed out of you until death completely overwhelms. So, we have here a counterpart of what James has previously told us about the trials of life. If we endure the trials, we receive good things now, becoming complete and perfect. We grow in our experience of the life of God. [James 1.2ff.] We also will receive a great good later, the crown of life, the full enjoyment of real life forever in the age to come. [James 1.12]But the same sort of thing is true of falling for those temptations. There is a growing experience of death. A downward spiral begins which will culminate in eternal death forever. And please remember James’ audience. He is not writing to the pagans. ‘Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.’ [James 1:16] James is warning the Church. He is warning you. The Spirit of God who wrote this is warning us all about the significance of our choices. If we aren’t careful we could choose death.
All of that leads up to this point. Here is the question you must ponder. How do you protect yourself from this danger? Consider a couple of things. First, you need to understand your own heart. By that I mean, you need to understand the desires that reside there, especially the ones that are easily corrupted. There are some things that do not faze me in the least. They hold no allure and so they do not tempt. While I’ll enjoy a glass of beer with dinner on a hot summer day, I’ve never gotten drunk. If someone were to say to me, ‘Come on, let’s tie one on tonight’, I’d just walk away. It just isn’t enticing. But there are other things that I have a real problem with. I easily succumb in these areas. Desires here are easily twisted and corrupted. You are the same. And so you need to understand your desires and how some of them are easily twisted.
So, you enjoy a little time alone just to catch your breath, ponder a few things, get recharged so that you can return to the fray with some energy. That’s a good desire. But what if that becomes a demand? What if you get angry if your ‘alone time’ is interfered with? ‘All I wanted was just a few minutes to myself. Was that too much to ask!?!’ A good desire just got twisted and resulted in sin. Or you might enjoy being creative. Maybe that means doing some woodworking or crafts or playing a game. You find this a way of relaxing and expressing yourself. That’s a good desire. But again what if it gets twisted? What if while you are ‘being creative’ the dishes pile up or that household repair project still waits to be done? We all need to understand ourselves and the places where we are prone to falling, the good desires that are so easily twisted.
You cannot do that alone. Your heart is so subtle that you aren’t able to discern what’s really going on. Ultimately, it is the Spirit who must uncover those areas of your heart and show them to you. And how will that happen? It won’t be by some mystical zap. The Spirit uses the Word. You need to receive as much of the Word as possible. That means things like paying close attention to the preaching of the Word, daily Bible reading, becoming a part of a Bible study group. The more of the Word you hide away in your heart, the more you give the Spirit to work with. And along with that you need to pray. You need to ask the Spirit of God to deal with you and with your heart. You need to pray about the areas of weakness that will become evident to you. You need to deal with these areas of desire before they become twisted. If you can do that, imagine the sin that you can avoid.
But what if you find that you have given in to some temptation? What if the process toward death has started and you’re past the point of restraining desire but have already sinned? What happens now? The answer should be obvious. As soon as you become aware of any sin, your first response needs to be repentance. Don’t wait. Don’t think that it’s only a little sin. At the first sign of sin, repent. The foundation of real repentance starts with an awareness of the seriousness of the situation. The danger is real. James isn’t writing about hypothetical situations that could never really happen. They can and have. But with that awareness of the seriousness of what’s going on there is also an awareness of the kind graciousness of our God in Jesus. Our Father loves to forgive sin. Do not hold back your repentance because you think that He must be too angry with you to forgive you just now. That is a lie from Satan himself. Whenever sin is revealed to you run to your Father, eager to repent knowing that He will always receive you with open arms.
Here, as in so many places, we need much wisdom. On the one hand, we need to take to heart the seriousness of the situation. The threat of death is real. We are in a war. It is a war that is not easily fought. And it is a war in which there are casualties. Some who start with us do not end with us because they would not take the warning of our text seriously. But, on the other hand, we must not become terrified, afraid to act at all lest we falter and die. Remember the love of God. Remember His great kindness. He wants you to flourish. He understands your weakness and how prone you are to sin. He is no harsh taskmaster for whom everything is cut and dried. He is your tender and patient Father. So, go to Him. Tell Him that you really want to please Him. Tell Him that you know that you fail so often. Ask for grace to cover the multitude of your sins. And ask confident that He will always grant grace in abundance. Go to Him in Jesus’ name and be optimistic about your future expecting your Father to care for you.
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