James 1:13

The Truth About Temptation

In Jewish thought there were many ideas concerning the source of temptation. Some said it started with Satan, or fallen angels were responsible. Some even argued that since God was the Creator of all things, that God must be responsible for evil. Draper notes, 'Testing and temptation are not necessarily the same thing.. trial is not necessarily an enticement to do evil. And yet we need to recognize that in every test of our faith, in every trial of our lives, in every pressure that we experience, there is an element of temptation. It contains, for example, an opportunity to become bitter or resentful, or to let animosity and hatred build.' (p. 39)

'The Christian life is not always the tranquil experience that is commonly expected. Believers are not less subject to trouble and calamity than are other people. They are often part of. minority, and this can provide special pressures. Their physical bodies are just as susceptible to disease or injury as their neighbors'. Their houses catch fire, their possessions are stolen, their jobs are lost, and their families are threatened….Another kind of trouble, however, is more subtle and is often more difficult to handle. This is the problem of evil thoughts, tendencies to sin, feelings of guilt and discouragement….Every person has such temptations, and Christians are not immune. Some have tried to escape the problem by associating only with other Christians, or even by withdrawing totally from the world into some monastic setting, however, those who are perceptive and honest will admit their sinful thoughts went right along with them.' (Kent pp. 47-48)

James 1:13 'Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.'

'Let no one say when' -Which infers that all Christians will be tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13). The question is not "if" you will be tempted, but rather, "when" temptation will happen. The verse also infers that there is the tendency to shift blame during temptation. "I am being tempted by God" -'Even though God is not usually blamed directly….there are subtle ways in which the blame is shifted elsewhere, often to God…The frequent heard defense, "I'm only human," implies that the sinner could not help himself, and thus the blame is shifted to the Creator." (Kent p. 49) The Greek word rendered here "by", is usually translated "from" in other passages. 'He meant that it is not enough merely to avoid blaming God for being the direct instigator of some temptation. We must not even imply that He is remotely responsible.' (Kent p. 49)

Points To Note:

1. The word "tempted" here means being enticed or solicited to yield to evil. 2. Not only does God have nothing to do with enticing us to sin, God actually helps us during temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). 3. But it is so easy to shift blame (Genesis 3:12 "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me…"). It is so easy to blame others, the circumstances, the short-comings of others, and so on. And many of our complaints are veiled accusations against God. 'I wouldn't sin, if God hadn't allowed sin to happen in the first place', 'I was born into. sin cursed world', 'I'm only human', 'It's unfair to demand perfection of imperfect beings', 'the problem is the body that God gave me.'

'for God cannot be tempted by evil' -God cannot be enticed to sin. Which means that there is nothing in God which responds to evil. 'God is perfect; he needs nothing else. He is complete within himself. There is nothing within God that needs fulfillment, satisfaction, or gratification. God is whole. His happiness is perfect. He needs nothing else.' (Draper p. 40) There is no desire for evil within God, in fact, God never even toys with the idea of doing something evil. God is never tempted to misuse His absolute power and authority. Rather, God is totally pure (1 John 1:5; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:15).

'and He Himself does not tempt anyone' -Since God is untemptable, then how could He ever tempt others? God does allow people to be tested (Genesis 22:1; Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19; Deuteronomy 29:2; Psalms 95:8) to strengthen their faith (James 1:2; Romans 5:3). But God never entices people to sin. What this means is that the trials which God allows were never meant to destroy our faith. We can therefore have confidence that God is always pulling for us, that every hardship or setback can be used for our improvement. 'Tempting others to evil would require. delight in evil, of which he is himself incapable.' (Adamson p. 70)

Point To Note:

In view of the above statement, certain conclusions must be made. Since Jesus is God (John 1:1), it is also clear that Jesus never tempts anyone and there is nothing in Jesus which would respond to evil. Which means that when the Bible says that Jesus was tempted, it doesn't mean that there was something in Jesus which would respond to sin. It doesn't mean that Jesus was often on the verge of yielding to sin (Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:14). When the text says that Jesus was tempted, it is clear that all the various trials which come upon all men generally, fell upon Jesus, but there was nothing in the nature of Jesus which responded to any of those temptations. Some seem to think that since Jesus had. physical body that such made Him more vulnerable to evil. But there is nothing evil about our physical bodies, and temptation arises in the mind, not the body (Mark 7:20). In addition,. would think that absolute and unlimited power would be. greater "temptation" to someone who could be enticed to sin-then. physical body.