Facing Temptation (James 1:13-16)

James has been offering advice to Jewish Christians who were suffering for their faith in Jesus. We know that there are different ways of coping with situations that come our way in life. It looks as if some of his readers were making wrong deductions about the troubles they faced. We are told by James what one deduction was, which was that God must have wanted them to sin because they were being tempted to do so. The presence of temptation during a time of trial is a reminder that the devil can get involved in tempting us when things are going badly. It is also a reminder that we can misread situations and make unwarranted assumptions about how we should respond, perhaps more so when we are facing difficulties.

Of course, we know that there are further teachings about temptation elsewhere in the Bible. For example, Jesus instructed his disciples to pray daily that they would not be led into temptation and Paul encouraged the Corinthians by reminding them that when temptation occurred God would provide a way of escape so that they would be able to bear it. So we have to know the overall teaching of the Bible on this topic as well as what each specific passage may say.

The presumption

The deduction that they made included a wrong notion about God. James’ instruction tells us therefore that it is important that we know what God is like so that we will not make similar wrong conclusions. Can we think of any reason why they would come to such a conclusion? Here is one suggestion.

Perhaps they tried to deduce truths from God’s secret will and ended up contradicting his revealed will. We know that God’s secret will involves everything in life – he is in complete control of everything. James’ readers found themselves in situations of difficulty, which they could have realised was part of God’s secret will for them and an expression of his sovereign control. In those circumstances, they might have been tempted to steal because they had lost everything, maybe assuming that God would not mind; they might have been tempted to complain and say that God was unfair in the way that he allowed things to happen, because they would have known that God could easily have stopped the threats; they might have been tempted to think that their opponents were more powerful than God and that he was unable to help them; they might have been tempted to give up their Christian profession because life would become easier if they did so. All those options could lead them into sin if they did not control their thinking.

Imagine you find yourself beside a special car that you have long wanted to drive and you notice that the owner has left the keys. You could deduce from that that God wants you to jump into the driving seat and have a spin. As you are driving along, you deduce that God may want you to test how fast it can go and you really enjoy the experience. The problem is that you have not asked the owner of the car if you can use it. You have given into temptation because you have used circumstances as justification for your actions rather than God’s revealed will, which would include asking permission of the owner. We could imagine that your decision could have serious consequences if you crashed the car or hurt somebody with it.

God will never ask us to disobey his revealed will in any circumstances. This does not mean that God will not allow us to be in a situation in which we will be tempted – he allows them in order to test us – but even then God does not tempt us to sin. Sometimes he may overrule our disobedience to bring about good consequences whereas at other times he may not. The fact that he overrules for good is not evidence that we made a right choice. Instead it is a sign that God is gracious. We can avoid a lot of the problems connected to temptation by reminding ourselves that God will not ask us to disobey his revealed will.

God will never ask us to engage in idolatry, to take his name in vain, to break the Sabbath, to dishonour our parents, to kill, to steal, to engage in immorality, to bear false witness, and to covet what is not ours. He will never ask us to engage in gossiping or in saying wrong things about other people. So if we get tempted in any of those areas, and they cover most areas of life, we know that God does not want us to break his commandments and he will not tempt us to do so.

James informs us that if we think God tempts us we are also saying that we think God himself experiences temptations to do wrong. God will not ask us to do something that his holy character would prevent him doing himself. So when I am being tempted, I should not deduce that God wants me to play with it. Situations in providence cannot overrule God’s revealed will.

The problem

I suppose we might then say that the reason we are tempted is because the devil tempts us. It would be silly to deny that the devil puts temptations in our paths, but do the suggestions in themselves necessary require that we should be tempted by them? There are some things that he could suggest which may not interest us in the slightest and in those situations we cannot say we are being tempted very much. The temptations that James describes are connected to something we want. He writes, ‘But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.’

I suppose the devil could appeal to good desires and try and get us to misuse them. Is this not what he did with Jesus when tempting him in the wilderness? Jesus did not have sinful desires, but he was hungry, and he also knew that God had promised him great exaltation. The devil tempted Jesus in those areas, but the Saviour knew what was being suggested and refused to pay any heed to them. Jesus was sinless and holy and a wrong desire never entered his mind.

With us, it is very different. The devil can use both good and bad desires to tempt us and get us to fall. With regard to something that is good, he can get us to do it for wrong reasons. I may have a desire to give money to help finance a good cause. In that situation, I can give it secretly or he may suggest that I let everyone know I have done it in order that they can commend me for my generosity. Of course, if he fails to get me to tell others, then he can tempt me to be proud of having given the amount secretly! He is crafty.

In addition, he can use bad desires that we may have. For example, I may have a wrong attitude against another believer and would like to see him humbled in some way. When I have that attitude, it is usually the case that there will be ample temptations to do that in one way or another.

James makes it very clear that the cause of falling into temptation is connected to our desires. This is what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with regard to the forbidden fruit – they desired it because they imagined it would bring wisdom and therefore they chose to ignore God’s revealed will about not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is what happened with Achan when he saw the forbidden booty in the battle. This is what happened with David when he saw Bathsheba. So obviously, it is very important that we keep an eye on the areas of desire because we can expect to be tempted there.

The process

James likens the consequences of temptation to the experience of every person – each was conceived, then was born, and then grew up. The desire is the conception, the birth is sin, and adulthood is death. So the sequence is desire, sin and death. That is what happened in each of the example we mentioned earlier – our first parents, Achan, and David. The obvious features are that the conception is small, that the sin (birth) is enjoyable, and that the outcome (death) is disastrous. James also says through this illustration that if we allow wrong desires then sin will follow.

Obviously, the conception is hidden – that is true in the natural world and it is true with regard to any sin. No one can see the origins of it. The individuals themselves know that they want it, but no one else can see their desires. We can hide the motives behind our words or actions.

But then comes the moment of sinning, and it is enjoyable. The first thing that Eve did after eating the forbidden fruit was to encourage Adam to eat it as well – she sensed no danger to herself or to him. Achan secretly hid the forbidden materials in his tent – we can imagine him thinking that it was all so harmless and they would be good for adorning their future location. David imagined that no one saw him and that there would be no consequences.

Yet their sins did have consequences for themselves and for others. The sin of Adam affected the whole human race and brought death into their experience; the sin of Achan brought defeat to the armies of Israel (many died) and death into his family; the sin of David led him to commit murder and lose the child he conceived with Bathsheba. In their cases, there was literal death for others, although I would say that James’ concern is not limited to physical death. There are effects of sin that can be likened to death. James does not necessarily mean that the death here is the spiritual state of an unbeliever. Instead he is saying that the effects of giving in to temptation has effects that are like death. Here are a couple of examples that affect Christians.

Sin brings about separation from God and that is a form of death. We fell in Adam and lost communion with God. Every time we sin on purpose, every time we choose to give in to temptation, we lose communion with God. Obviously, with regard to believers, it does not mean that the become detached from God’s family. But it does result in them experiencing chastisement from God that is not very pleasant to their souls.

Giving into temptation results in us not producing spiritual fruit and that is a form of spiritual death in the sense of James’ illustration. We become like a dead tree for as long as we are giving in to the temptation. David did not produce any spiritual fruit for a whole year after his willing fall into temptation. Why don’t Christians produce the fruits that God wants them to have? It is not because he has decided that they should not be given any. Instead, it is because they have allowed wrong desires to take over their lives.

Pastoral warning

Why did James mention this detail? The answer is that he knew that the devil would be trying to deceive those believers. They would be distracted by their circumstances and might have faced situations in which it would be hard to engage in spiritual activities. After all, they were not able to carry copies of the Bible with them.

A second reason why he warned them was because he wanted them to realise their own responsibility to deal with indwelling sin. Here we have James’ explanation of what Paul calls mortification. We have to kill sin or it will be trying to kill us. It is the height of folly for a Christian to play with sin in his or her mind.

A third reason for giving this warning was because he loved them – he addresses them as ‘beloved brothers’. He had a responsibility to warn them, not because he thought they were weaker than him, but because they and he belonged to the same family. It is a blessing to receive admonishment from another Christian and it is a requirement to give it if we know a situation where it should be done.