Feb. 07, 2024

Dear Friends,

Tonight we will conclude our study of James 1:1-18 (pt. 2)—concise teachings with deeply-grounded meaning for the Christian walk. I hope you can join us. Notes are attached.

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

HILLTOP LAKES CHAPEL

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

James 1:1-18

Pt. 2

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of

your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and

complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will

be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the

sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive

anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of

the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower

falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the

crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I

am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But

each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has

conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.a 18 Of

his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his

creatures.

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vv 9-11 – “Let the lowly brother…”

Not exactly the American message.

“lowly” – tapeinos, also humble, meek

“boast in” – not “resign himself to,” because He is loved and chosen by God, and he has a great

inheritance in the Lord. This is his exaltation.

more lt. “but the rich in his lowliness [tapeinósis] – the same root word as in v 9

James is rather severe when writing about the rich. He does not define it. It certainly has to do

not only with abundance of possessions but with the esteem (and mindset) that normally

attends those with many possessions.

“because like a flower of the grass he will pass away”

This is what the rich man is to boast in!

a Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning

2

He is to embrace knowing that life, and his riches, are short—and in so knowing, live

accordingly

The verbs in the first part of v 11 are in the aorist sense, generally translated as past tense in

English

More lit. “for the sun has risen with its scorching heat and withered the grass, and the flower of it

has fallen, and the beauty of its appearance has perished.

This gives the verse a different, even stronger sense, one of finality—That this analogy speaks to

a judgment that has already occurred

“So also the rich man…”—a sobering observation with a sense of warning. This is certainly

consistent with the teaching of Jesus, e.g. “And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to

you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is

easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the

kingdom of God.”—Matthew 19:23-24

v 12 – “Blessed is the man…”

“remains steadfast” – hypoménō, bear up against, so “bears up under trial”

“trial” – peirasmos, has more than one sense. Trials as in difficulties that happen to us, and that

“try” our faith —or— trials as in temptations to sin, which “try” our moral character.

Obviously, the two can interrelate.

It appears that the Apostle is using peirasmos, in the first sense in vv 2-4, and so it may be

reasonable to interpret that he is using peirasmos in the second sense in vv 12-15. That is the

clear meaning from v 13 ff, which further supports reading v 12 as the same thing referenced:

temptation. But it remains that the two things are related.

More lit. “Blessed is the man who bears up under temptation, because having been approved, he

will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those loving him.”

James is recognizing that temptations to sin are quite serious, require endurance, and test our

mettle.

The type of temptation he seems here to have in mind is a prolonged one, perhaps initiated, or

compounded, by prolonged hardship.

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of

you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be

faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”—Revelation 2:10

Probably, his hearers’ strongest temptation was to abandon the faith

There are ways to abandon the faith that are not “formal” or confessional, as when a person gives

himself over to a path of life, or a pattern of behavior, that is against God’s will

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery [pharmakeia], enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,

dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as

I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of

God.”—Galatians 5:19-21

v 13 – “Let no one say when he is tempted…”

Unfortunately—and intentionally—the verb “tempted” has been gutted of its impact

It might help to substitute the phrase “recruited for evil” for “tempted”

No one should ever say “God is tempting me.” No one is being recruited for evil by God. And

God cannot be recruited for evil.

God does allow his children to be tempted. Even Jesus. But it is the devil who is the “recruiter,”

the tempter.

3

vv 14-15 – “But each person is tempted…”

More lit. “But each person is tempted being drawn away and being enticed under his own

desire.”

Desire – epithumia, passionate longing, lust, emotional desire—can be good or bad

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far

better.—Philippians 1:23

The devil will seek to exploit even our good intentions

Enticed – deleazó, to bait a hook or bait a trap

In all cases, temptation leads to going against God, whatever our inner “justification” may be

To place our desire above God’s will leads to sin—another words which the devil has actively

attempted (with considerable success) to rob of its meaning—even its use in serious contexts

Sin—following the devil instead of God—leads to death. Eternal death.

Ultimately we are in life—in Christ—or we are in a death march, however “baited” in may be.

v 16 – “Do not be deceived…”

Contextually, this might be read as the concluding statement to the previous paragraph, rather

than the opening statement to what follows.

It is an ongoing warning in the NT, one that could not be more needed and relevant today.

v 17 – “Every good gift…”

More lit. “Every good act of giving and every completed [teleios] gift is from above…”

All good is from God—and all good is of God

“Coming down from the Father of lights…”

A very rich and interesting referencing of God

“Coming down”—reiterating that good gifts are from God and that we are the recipients

“from the Father of lights”

Acknowledging God as creator

Relating the beauty of the heavens to God’s good gifts

Also attaching other attributes of “light” to God and His work, an ongoing NT theme

“with whom there is no variation…”

God does not change, this for all eternity.

“or shadow of turning”—even though light and shadows with movement, there is no such even

nuanced change with God

He is eternal in His being

v 18 – “Of his own will…”

“brought us forth” – apokueó, gives birth to. This is the same verb used in v 15. By contrast, sin

gives birth to death but God has given birth to us!

“by the word of truth” – the gospel of Jesus Christ

“firstfruits” have a special Biblical status. The firstfruits, whether offspring or livestock or crops,

are special and are offered as sacrificial offerings to God.

The early Christians were the firstfruits of a new kind of person, born again, created anew in

Christ