Defeating Temptation: Part 2 - James Lesson 8

 I want to invite you to open your Bibles to James 1. For those of you who are visiting today we study through the Scriptures verse by verse. We are in the first chapter of James. We learned in verses 1-12 how to respond to trials in a way that honors and glorifies God. Now we are learning from verses 13-18 how to deal with and defeat temptation. These are not unrelated topics because any trial has the potential to become an occasion for temptation, especially if we do not understand how to respond to the trial in a way that glorifies God. Let’s read James 1:13-18 together.

 Temptations are an inevitable part of the human experience. Falling to temptation, while all too often is also the human experience, does not have to be the outcome for the true Christian. We can walk in victory over temptation. We can defeat temptation. Just like we can respond to trials in a way that honors and glorifies our heavenly Father, so too, we can respond to temptations in a way that honors and glorifies our heavenly Father. Temptation does not have to win. We can walk in victory over the things that tempt us to sin.

 James is teaching us the two factors which are critical to defeating temptation. The first factor is the need to understand temptation. The second factor is the need to understand how God works. The first factor we learned last week in verses 13-15. These verses teach us about temptation. They tell us where temptation comes from. Temptations to sin, or evil, do not come from God. He is our favorite target when it comes to blaming someone for our sin, but He is not the source. The source of temptations is our lusts. Secondly, James tells us how temptation works. Every one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by these lusts. If you were here you remember that James uses metaphors from the world of hunting to describe the drawing away of an animal into a trap, and from the world of fishing where bait is used to entice. This is how temptation works. Thirdly, James tells us what temptation does. When lust is conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death. What does sin do? Sin kills. If you were not here last week and you want to learn more about how temptation works, you can find last week’s message on our church’s website.

 Knowing about temptation is only the first factor in defeating temptation. James moves on to the second factor and that is to explain how God works. Now before we move into what James teaches about salvation in verses 17-18 we need to look at the verse that stands as the transition between these two aspects of the victory over temptation. Look at verse 16. James says, “Do not be deceived my beloved brethren.” One of the interpretational challenges of verse 16 is to figure out if it goes with the verses that precede it, or the verses that follow it. Is James teaching us about temptation and completing that with this imperative? Or is James issuing this imperative preceding his teaching on the work of God as the key to victory over temptation? I would like to suggest that you not worry much about trying to figure out which verses to connect it with because there is good reason to believe it was strategically placed in the middle for a purpose.

 There was good reason to warn the brethren about being deceived in the context of his discussion about temptation because man is easily deceived about the where temptation comes from, about how temptation works, and what temptation does. We talked about the deception of temptation last week. I will just give you a few more to reinforce what we learned previously.

• Man can easily be deceived about the source of temptation. A man or a woman struggling in marriage happens across a member of the opposite sex, at work, or at the gym, or online. They find someone who will communicate with them and convince them that they understand. The deceived person becomes convinced that they have found their soul mate. They even credit God with having ordained their paths to cross. They conclude that God just wants them to be happy.

• A person can easily be deceived about his lusts. He can easily conclude that since God created us with a healthy desire for sex, there isn’t anything wrong with how a person satisfies that desire, as long as it is between two consenting individuals.

• A person can easily be deceived about the power of his lusts. A man might conclude that it won’t hurt anything if he goes to the restaurant with his buddies even though the waitresses are not sufficiently clothed. After all, he will just have to exercise a little more self-control. 

• A person can easily be deceived about the devastating consequences of sin. We can easily convince ourselves that sin does not conceive and produce death. He may tell himself that no one will really get hurt. If David had known that his uncontrolled lusts were going to cause him to commit adultery, murder, and result in the death of his child, and the rape of his daughter and the destruction of his credibility as a man of God, do you think he would have entertained the idea of ordering Bathsheba to his bedroom?

Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. We must know how temptation works. I have a challenge for you parents. Make this a family discipleship project. Spend some time in the next few weeks watching what goes on in the world around you and identify the ways in which you see actual and potential deception going on and people are being tempted and led headlong into sin. Help your children understand how Satan has created a world system in our culture that is designed to lead people away from God’s plan. It is so easy to see temptation at work in this world. It is also easy to see how people are deceived regarding the temptations into which they are led.

 So, verse 16 may have been intended to follow and go with James’ instruction on temptation. It may have also been intended to go with verses 17-18. There is good reason to warn the brethren about being deceived in the context of his discussion about the work of God. There is no work of God where man is more prone to deception than in regards to the work of salvation. Satan loves to deceive people into believing they are “ok” with God when they are, in fact, on a slippery slope to hell. Among these would have been the people to whom Jesus referred in Matthew 7:21, those who called Him, “Lord, Lord” and prophesied in His name and cast out demons, and performed miracles. These were people deceived regarding salvation. Satan is sowing tares among the wheat today through tactics that employ deception.

 People are deceived because they confuse some emotional experience with a genuine salvation experience. Some are deceived into believing they are truly saved because they prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into their hearts, as if salvation is more transactional rather than transformational. Some are deceived because they grew up in some religion and they checked the boxes and did everything that was required, but they are never truly regenerated. A person can be deceived into believing that all he has to do is pull himself up by his bootstraps and try harder and he will be ok. Some people don’t think they need to do anything. They just make a god of their own liking who would never send anyone to a place of eternal torment.

 Let me explain something of what we are told in verse 16. Whether we are battling temptation or understanding the truth about the work of God, there are plenty of opportunities for deception to creep in and infect our thinking. James gives us an imperative command in verse 16. It is incumbent upon us to make sure we are not being deceived. The antidote to deception is truth and God’s word is truth. This command is in the active voice meaning that we, the beloved brethren, are responsible for making sure we are not deceived. This means we must be engaged in knowing the truth. We have to be intentional in our acquisition and retention of truth. And you need a lot more of it than you will get here on Sunday morning so you must be learning the truth at home, every day. This is a present tense imperative meaning that we should be diligent at all times to make sure we are not being deceived. We cannot let down our guards.

 We must move on to what James is teaching us about the work of God in verses 17-18. In these verses James describes two of God’s works. He explains God’s provision and salvation.  First, let’s look at God’s provision. James begins this verse by saying, Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above…”  Defeating temptation requires an understanding of the work of God in the giving of His provisions to meet our needs. Look at verse 17. 

We have to go a little deeper here to understand what James is saying. The KJV says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift…” The first gift, or thing given, is described as good. The Greek word for gift is “dosis.” It means something given. It is the “agathos” (good) “dosis” gift. “Agathos” means benevolent, useful, or profitable. This describes the intent of the gift. The good gifts that come from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow, are intended to be useful, profitable, and beneficial. They are for good. They are good and they are intended for good.

 Now let’s apply this within the context of James’ discussion of temptation. The appetites which were given to us by God were intended for good. They are useful. They are profitable. It is the corruption of these appetites by sin that result in them becoming the lusts of the flesh, or the sinful passions that lead us to sin. But from God, as He originally intended them, they are intended for good. For example, your desire for a physical relationship with a member of the opposite sex is good. It is intended for the purpose of procreation, pleasure, and a unique experience of intimacy between a husband and a wife. It was given to mankind as a good gift. The same can be said of our desire for food, sleep, or other God given appetites. That which comes from God is not problematic. That which comes from God is good.

 James goes on to call what God gives not as just a “good thing given” or a “good gift” but he goes on to say it is a “perfect gift.” “Every good thing (dosis) and every perfect gift” is from above. The perfect “gift” is from the Greek word “dorema.” This describes not just the gift but the intention of the gift, or the result of what is given. This is described as “perfect.” Perfect is “teleios.” We saw this word back in verse 4. It describes that which has reached its intended goal. It is complete, full, wanting nothing.”

 Again, applying this in the context of James’ discussion of temptation, we should understand that the good gifts God gives to supply our needs are perfect gifts in the sense that they are lacking nothing. The spouse God gives to meet our needs for physical intimacy is perfect, lacking nothing. God isn’t holding out on me by limiting me to my spouse to meet those needs. Satan’s lie to Eve in the Garden was the suggestion that God was holding out on her. She was missing something by accepting what God had provided.

 We will never win the battle against temptation unless we come to understand that what God provides to meet our needs is good and perfect. It is intended to be profitable, beneficial and benevolent. It is not only good, it is perfect. It is completely sufficient. It lacks nothing. God richly supplies our needs with what He knows we need. We are tempted to become discontent with what God supplies when we fail to understand what James is telling us here. This is where deception comes into play.

 His gifts are good because He is good and gracious. He is consistently good. He is described here as the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. The name “Father of lights” was an ancient Jewish title used to describe God as the Creator and giver of light, in the form of the sun, moon, and stars. We know there is variation in the light given by the sun, moon, and stars. The sun gives more light in the summer and less in the winter. There is variation. The moon reflects the sun’s light but to varying degrees each month. Sometimes the moon is seen as a small sliver. A couple nights ago it appeared as full. There is variation. The light of the stars varies as the earth rotates, or if there are clouds blocking our view of any of these lights.

 But with God there is no variation or shifting shadow. He is the Immutable One. Through Malachi He declares, “I, the Lord, do not change.” He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb. 13:8) And John tells us in 1 John 1:5, “God is Light, and in Him there is not darkness at all.” The consistency of the goodness and perfection of God’s gifts does not change because God does not change.

 We need to move on to the next work of God described by James. This we find in verse 18. Here we find the work of God in salvation described. James describes for us how this work came about, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth…” Then, he tells us what this work accomplishes, “so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

 James is talking about God’s work in salvation, and I say that because of the way he describes this work. He brought us forth by the word of truth. James used the analogy of birth in the previous verses when discussing how temptation works. Here he returns to the analogy of birth to speak of the work of regeneration. We know he returns to the analogy of birth because he uses the same verb here that was translated “gives birth” back in verse 15. When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin we are told in verse 15. When God brings us forth we are born again to a new spiritual life. (Apokueo)

 To be brought forth in this work of God is to experience the miracle of salvation. It is to experience regeneration. We receive, as a gift from God this new life which is implanted in us and the governing disposition of our soul is made holy. This is the new birth, or the idea of being born again that Jesus spoke about with Nicodemus in John 3. This is the transformation described by Paul in Ephesians 2.  This is to be born again, as 1 Peter 1:23 tells us, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is through the living and enduring word of God.

 This is the work of God whereby, according to 2 Peter 1:3, His diving power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. This work of God has made us to become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lusts.” (2 Peter 1:4)

 Listen, the work of God in birthing us to salvation results in us becoming a new creation. Paul described this as a transformation in which old things passed away and new things come. Those who experience this work of God are given a new nature that has no part in sin or evil. This new life has as its operating principle a godly, holy, Christ-like life.

 This is the spiritual reality that enables us and empowers us to live above temptation. This does not mean we will be sinless. We will still stumble. We still struggle with our fallen flesh. But if we have been brought forth by the saving work of God, we can walk in victory over temptation.

 How does this work come about? James is clear. It is “in the exercise of His will…” This spiritual birth is the work of God. It is by His own will. The Greek construction conveys the idea of deliberate and specific exercise of volition. The Greek also employs the emphatic which reinforces the truth that God’s sovereign and uninfluenced will is the source and cause of this new life.

 Nicodemus was confused about this concept. He thought he had to reenter his mother’s womb to be born again. But this birth is not of the flesh. It is from God. It is from above. It is the work of God. We did not generate our own human birth and we cannot generate our own spiritual birth. John tells us in John 1:13 that we are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 What does God use to bring this work about? James tells us that in the exercise of His will He brought us forth “by the word of truth.” Jesus declared for us that God’s word is truth. It is the word of God, the imperishable seed, the enduring and living word of God which God uses to bring about spiritual birth. Just as human birth requires two parents, so divine birth has two parents; the word of God and the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to bring about the miracle of new birth. Because the word of God is living and powerful it can bring life to the heart of the spiritually dead sinner. 1 Thess. 2:13 describes the word of God as that which performs its work in those who believe. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to those who believe.

 Salvation is the greatest possible blessing a person can receive. But salvation’s primary purpose is not the benefit of man but rather to fulfill God’s sovereign purpose. James tells his readers that God exercised His will and brought them forth by the word of truth, so that they would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. This would have been very meaningful to the Jewish readers to whom James first wrote. They understood that the first fruits were the best of the crop and an indication of what the rest of the crop would be like. The Old Covenant required the first fruit to be offered to God as a sacrifice. Doing this would demonstrate both thanksgiving to God and trust in God. Once the first fruits are harvested there is no guarantee that the rest will come. A storm, or a severe insect infestation, or a sudden hot wind might come through the region and wipe out the rest of the crop. The faithful would offer the first fruits and trust God to bring the rest of the harvest.

 The work of God in salvation makes us a kind of first fruits among God’s creatures. There is a way in which this is being demonstrated among us today. In the exercise of His will God brought me forth by the word of truth. He reached into my life when I was a hard-hearted reprobate. He opened my eyes to my need for a Savior. He awakened me to spiritual life when I was dead in my sins. He caused me to be born again to a living hope. He began the process that made me into a man who had the privilege to see Him do the same thing in the lives of my three daughters, all of whom are here today. I was a first fruit. In the exercise of His will He brought forth my children by the word of truth. They have become fruit to follow, but also in their own respect, also first fruits. We are now seeing God, in the exercise of His will bring forth another generation of fruit.

 I can take no credit for what God has done in me and my family. I cannot think of a higher privilege than to be able to baptize my grandson Landon as evidence of the reality that God has, in the exercise of His will, brought Him forth by the word of truth. Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!

 If you are continually and habitually losing the battle against temptation, I want to urge you to examine your life.  Perhaps you have been deceived regarding the work of God, especially concerning the work of salvation. If you are born again you can win the battle against temptation. If you are consistently losing the battle, perhaps you need to be born again.

 Let’s pray.