James 1:12-16: The Man That Endureth Temptation
2024-05-19
James 1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. (James 1:12)
Here, we return to the subject of temptation. We saw previously that temptation is a cause for joy because it is opportunity to grow in the faith and persevere and have victory in Christ. Here, we see that the one who endures temptation is “blessed.” We saw elsewhere that being blessed is God’s enabling one to fulfill one’s potential and good purpose. The same blessed one has sufficient provision to live. If we endure temptation without compromise, we are blessed. We have learned to walk in victory. Could it be that the one who endures and perseveres through hardship is the one who lives the Christian life to the fullest?
The word “tried” is translated everywhere else as “approved.” This approval is shown by the Lord with the “crown of life.”
The church of Smyrna knows about this “crown of life.” Consider Revelation 2:8-11. Jesus revealed Himself to them as the one who is eternal and who conquered death. He knew of their works, which were enduring tribulation and persevering through their poverty. They may have been poor, but they were spiritually rich. This is one of two churches in Revelation that had no condemnation.
Unbelieving Jews were being used by Satan to persecute these impoverished Christians. The Smyrna church had a history of continuing in Christ regardless of the environment they found themselves in.
Now the Lord was telling them that they were going to have a particularly difficult trial. Some of them would be imprisoned. There was also going to be ten days of some manner of harsh persecution. The Lord told them this to explain that it would not be forever. This is good advice for us as well... whatever happens to us, it will not be forever!
Then we see what this “crown of life” is. Continuing in Christ through all the suffering and not denying His name would result in this prize. Jesus’ characteristics in Revelation 2:8 are fulfilled in Revelation 2:11: the One who conquered death saves from the second death. He gives those who die for His name’s sake the crown of life. He is Lord over death and life.
In Philadelphia, a similar encouragement is given: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). It sounds like the crown awaiting the overcomer may be in jeopardy if they do not persevere to the finish.
Back to James 1:12, we see that the crown of life is awarded “to them that love him.” There is a correlation between this “crown of life,” those who “endureth temptation,” and those “that love him.” If we truly love Jesus, we will endure temptation, and therefore, we shall receive the crown of life.
Consider this study of crowns of the New Testament.
James 1:13
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: (James 1:13)
God is not the source of temptation in that He is trying to get us to fail. Anything He allows, on the contrary, is used to strengthen the believer, as we have seen before. Where do trials come from? We read some examples elsewhere.
The same word for “tempted” is used in the Smyrna example. The “synagogue of Satan,” meaning Satan’s followers, were responsible for the persecution. However, what the devil meant for evil, God used to strengthen them in the faith.
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1). The devil tried to make the Son of God stumble but failed.
And again, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Temptation might not be from God, but He restricts the enemy on how far he can go.
Remember Job, where God restricted how far the devil could go in trying him. “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:11-12). We will see the example of Job toward the end of the epistle (James 5:11).
We can see how the devil means certain things for evil, but God means it for good. The enemy destroys, but the LORD brings life out of death. The enemy tries to pull us down and condemn; the Lord lifts us up. We are not of this world, but we are definitely in this world and the enemy world system will react accordingly. And the Lord will say of us among the host of heaven, “there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” Just like Job.
“...for God cannot be tempted with evil...” We discussed how God does not tempt us, but what does this mean?
During the Jerusalem Council, which we discussed previously, we read Peter’s reasoning against Gentiles’ circumcision and keeping of the Law: “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). After seeing all the evidence of Gentiles being saved without the Law from Peter, Barnabas, and Paul, it should be evident what the will of God is concerning this issue. Why intentionally try to fight against Him? This was tempting God in this case.
Lying to God likewise is tempting God. “Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out” (Acts 5:9). Ananias and Sapphira lied about their profits from the sold possession. Were they testing God to see if He would notice? What a terrible thing to tempt the Lord.
God will not let us off in our sin. He cannot be tempted with evil. He will answer our sin one way or another.
James 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (James 1:14)
How do we fall when tempted? It is definitely not God’s fault, but it is not Satan’s fault either. We are responsible for how we respond to the things that happen to us.
Our desire stemming from the flesh causes us to pursue sin. “Lust” is desire and covetousness: “...I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7). It is something that is not from our born-again nature, but something tied to our physical Adamic nature: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Romans 6:12).
If we obey the lust of the physical body over our new nature in Christ, then we are “enticed.” The usage of “enticed” is otherwise limited to Peter’s second letter.
Concerning infiltrating false prophets, we read, “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children” (2 Peter 2:14). The word here is “beguiling.” These people try to lure weak-minded people into their wicked ways.
Moreover, we read, “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error” (2 Peter 2:18). The false prophets “allure” through lust and lack of restraint. Whatever you want, you can have it! The flesh wants no restraint, and if we obey those lusts, there is no helping us aside from repentance and faith.
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:15)
What better picture do we see than with Eve in the Garden? Consider Genesis 3:1-8. Because Eve fumbled over the real commandment of God, it made her vulnerable to deception. Satan promised that, rather than the condemnation of God, they shall have the knowledge of good and evil and be like gods.
Divinity and a greater intellect! More power for me. We like that sort of thing. She saw it was good fruit, it looked pleasant, and it could make her wise. This lines up with the apostle when he wrote, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). We will talk about friendship with the world in a future section. However, these three things are the world’s game to keep its citizens from the truth.
When we obey the lusts of the flesh, we sin. There are full chapters in the Bible that talk about our deliverance from sin. “...he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2).
This goes beyond mere position in Christ. There is an experiential sense where we are expected to walk in the Spirit and not in sin. We have settled in our minds that we have to wait around for heaven to escape sin. This is only partially right, though. We tell ourselves that the Sermon on the Mount is some extension of the Law that just shows us we are sinners. Not at all. Rather, we fight against sin. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4).
We must know the truth that we are no longer dead in sin. We are now dead to sin and alive to God. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).
We must know that we are new creatures in Christ. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14). As new creatures, we present ourselves to Him to use us for his purpose. Then our sin will not have that power over us.
He has given us His Holy Spirit, who leads us in His ways. We rely on Him, because if we rely on our own resources, we will sin. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). Reliance on the Spirit is paramount because we have nothing. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
However, even though the Lord has given us so many tools in heavenly places for us to walk victoriously, we sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). When we do sin, we need to have a quick turnaround time with confession. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The Lord continually guides us in constant repentance.
But there are those instances where we could continually obey sin. Continuous sin still leads to death. Remember, this letter is to fellow Christians. In a previous study, we looked at this willful sinning of believers. Abusing the Lord’s Supper in Corinth led to some that died. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30). This is a premature exit to life that will lead to loss of reward. This does not mean that everyone who dies younger has sinned in some way. But this is something that happens.
James 1:16
Do not err, my beloved brethren. (James 1:16)
One cannot help but feel this as a somber warning that concludes this thought on falling into temptation. This warning is not for somebody else “out there somewhere.” This is as much for us as it was for those brothers from long ago.
From other Scriptures, to “err” is to be translated “go astray,” “wander,” “deceived,” “out of the way,” and “seduced.” We are expected to live holy lives. If we intentionally wander from the path God has cleared for us and do not accept His guidance, what is left for us?
This subject of warning believers of the consequences of sin is a theme throughout this epistle and covered more in the last two verses of the book. However, we say here that it is important to not downplay sin and its consequences. We warn other people of their sins’ consequences. We do this because we love other people. Moreover, we accept other people who tell us of our sins because they love us.
There is a lot of tiptoeing around on this issue. We are told to not tell believers about their sin or even worse, unbelievers about their sin. We want to tell them about the glory of heaven but not the horrors of hell or the discipline in this life. Being honest about sin is the best way to love others who are going out of the way.