September 17, 2023 | James 1:13-25 | Pastor Chris Baker
Good morning, church! Kids who are four years old through the second grade can go to children's church this time.
We're still in James 1 this week. Last week started this study that will take us into December by pointing out the big idea of the book of James. Genuine faith is visible faith.
The relationship between faith and works is a relationship the New Testament spends a lot of time on. Some would even accuse Paul, who is the most prolific writer of the New Testament, of disagreeing with James. Paul develops a really clear argument for salvation being by grace alone. James focuses on the connection between faith and works, so it's possible to see the two as coming at salvation from separate angles.
The great Reformer, Martin Luther, even went so far as to look on James as a second-tier letter due to its emphasis on a faith that is made visible through works. He wrote this:
St. Paul's epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter's first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know . . . St. James' epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.
Though this epistle of St. James was rejected by the ancients, I praise it and consider it a good book, because it sets up no doctrines of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God.
(Source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-epistle-of-straw-reflections-on-luther-and-the-epistle-of-james/)
I think Luther's view of James was skewed because he lived in a culture that promoted a heavy emphasis on works, but little on true faith.
That's certainly a risk, though I don't believe James and Paul are at odds at all. They support one another beautifully. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that (For) we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Genuine faith is visible faith. If we belong to Jesus, if we have repented of our sin and places our trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, the Holy Spirit will work in such a way in our lives that our faith simply must be visible in the way we live.
James opened his letter by talking about how genuine faith responds to trials, to difficulties, to suffering, because it's in our darkest times that genuine faith shows itself most clearly.
Genuine faith views three things properly: human sinfulness, God's goodness, and the necessity of Scripture.
Trials are still the context where we pick up this morning. We'll read 1:13-28, where we'll see three characteristics of genuine faith.
Read
Pray
Genuine Faith Understands its Fallen Nature
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
I'm at that age where dad jokes are a temptation I can't resist. When I pay with cash at a store and the cashier takes out that little magic pen there is something at the molecular level in me that has to say, “It's good I just made it this morning.” I don't know why, no cashier has ever found it as funny as I do. If I ever accidentally end up with a counterfeit bill that joke is going to cost me a felony. But I can't resist.
That little marker is neat. If you just write on paper with it, it'll leave a black mark. But if you write on a genuine bill, there is starch in real currency that isn't in normal paper and that starch reacts with the iodine in the marker and it leaves a brown-ish mark.
That's how James has said thus far that trials work. If faith is in you, trials make one mark. If it isn't, trials leave an entirely different mark.
If faith is in you, trials mature your faith. If faith is in you, trials make you better. But if faith isn't in you, trials make you worse every time. Trials leave an entirely different mark on your life.
It's from the context of trials that James transitions to temptation. They're certainly related, but they're different problems.
Temptation is something that every human being, whether they follow Christ or not, encounters. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10, makes it clear that temptations are a shared experience among mankind.
13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
Temptation is part of every person's life, especially when we're going through a trial. If we fail to use trials as an opportunity to ask God for wisdom, as James told us to do already in this letter, then we run the risk of falling into sin.
Temptation to sin is something we all struggle with, and trials can soften our resolve. How we handle temptation is another way God reveals the authenticity of our faith.
Our default response - I'd argue the only response among those who don't belong to Jesus - is to blame anyone or anything but ourselves. When we are tempted and fall into sin, our default response is to point the blame somewhere else. Taking responsibility for our weaknesses and temptations isn't something that comes naturally to us.
James just emphasized that enduring trials leads to blessings. Trials prove our faith. They grow us spiritually. But they can also tempt us to do wrong instead of making us stronger.
That's what temptation is, at least according to the text. Desire to sin. That's what we're dealing with in these verses.
Every trial that comes our way either strengthens us because we choose to obey God, remain confident in His care, and trust in His power, or it tempts us to doubt God, reject His Word, disobey His commands, do what seems right in our own sinful mind, and then, we give in to the temptation and sin - do evil.
When that happens, whose fault is it?
Is it God's fault for allowing trials? Is it due to our circumstances or our nature as created by God? Whose fault is it? If God allows trials, is He responsible when they turn into temptations? This question of blame for sin in the face of temptation is at the heart of this passage and has been a human struggle since the dawn of sin.
Think back to the Book of Genesis. In chapter 3, Adam and Eve have already disobeyed God. When God confronts Adam, he doesn't simply admit his mistake. Instead, he indirectly points the finger at God, saying, "It's the woman You gave me." Eve, in turn, blames the serpent. Blaming others or even God for our mistakes started back then and continues to this day.
James is urging us not to blame God when we face temptation. As God's people, a mark of genuine faith means taking responsibility for our actions.
It's not God who's at fault, nor is it Satan, demons, the world, or even other people.
The issue doesn't lie with the external tempter. Some of you are old enough to remember comedian Flip Wilson. The punchline to one of his bits was 'the devil made me do it.' The devil doesn't make you sin.
The problem is us. Our propensity to give in to temptation comes from our human nature and our sinful desires. Each person's soul carries its unique patterns of worldly desire, shaped by their environment, upbringing, and personal choices - but those desires come from inside us, not outside us.
Satan doesn't make you sin because he doesn't need to. None of us had to be taught how to sin. We had to be taught how to walk, talk, eat with utensils, use the bathroom properly, but we figured out sin just fine on our own.
And sin does't arise out of thin air; there's a process to it. David Platt, in his commentary on James, labeled the process deception, desire, disobedience, and death. We'll use that as our framework.
Deception: We find a clear illustration of this process again in the story of Adam and Eve. At its core, sin begins with unbelief—a lack of trust in God. Instead of believing that God's way is best for us and certain things are not meant for us, we tend to question Him. That's the beginning of sin, and we witness it in the Satan's question, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden?'" (Genesis 3:1). Did God really say? Isn't my way better than God's? That's deception. Deception feeds our desire.
Desire: As James aptly puts it, each one of us is tempted when we're "drawn away and enticed by our own evil desires" (James 1:14). Picture it as baiting a hook; no sensible fish knowingly bites an empty hook. The art lies in concealing the hook itself. Temptation allures us by appealing to our desires, seducing us, but masking the fact that it will ultimately lead to our spiritual demise.
Sin begins with distorted thoughts, which give rise to disordered desires, and we begin to crave that which will ultimately destroy us. When we allow that desire to grow in us it will inevitably give birth to sin. That's disobedience.
Disobedience: This is the step where we act upon our desires.
Death: The final consequence of disobedience is death. Sin leads to death. Maybe not immediately, though it can. Think about it like a critical dose of radiation. You can't see radiation. You can't feel it. And when used correctly, it can be good for x-rays and treatments and things like that. But if you were exposed to a huge dose of it you'd be incurably headed for a quick death and you wouldn't feel a thing.
Whatever sin you may be toying with, whatever deception you may be embracing, or desires you may be indulging, I beg you to flee from them. Sin will destroy everything you love.
Genuine faith understands its fallen nature, takes responsibility for sin, repents, and guards itself against temptation.
And one of our primary protections against temptation is understanding how good the nature of our God truly is.
Look at verse 16:
Genuine Faith Trusts God's Goodness
16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
One of the keys to truly growing your faith is for in verse 17 in that phrase, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”
So much of our temptation and our sin is born out of a sense that we didn't get what we want or need. We're trying to fill some kind of gap we perceive God hasn't yet filled in our lives.
But when we embrace the truth that whatever comes to us in life, be it good or bad, we serve a God who has the power and desire to eventually turn that thing to a good and perfect gift . . . when we can really ingrain that belief in our hearts, we will be able to consider trials as joyful.
God's giving good—absolutely good! To believe that we need a bigger picture of God. I believe that's why James gets cosmic here. The Father of Lights. If you want to feel small, go out in the country past the city limit sign like Brooks & Dunn said. Do it on a clear night and find a spot where there's no artificial light. No streetlights, nothing like that. And just look up at the starts.
God is the originator of the lights in the universe, specking each of the stars into being with their distinct brightness, arranging them into their constellations, and setting the physical laws that guide their courses. All of these exist in such perfection that He declared them "good" (Genesis 1:18).
That very same God has given you the circumstances of your life for your good and His glory and whatever He has for you, it really is better than that sin you're tempted to commit. Sin leads to death, but genuine faith that strives to embrace trial without sin leads to life!
Verse 18, By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Despite your innate desire to sin and to reject God, if you belong to Christ - He has given you the ability to joyfully endure anything that happens in this life. And that's only the beginning.
He has promised this new birth that makes all those joys possible in this life will one day lead to a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more trials and no more temptations.
He has saved us from our sin. And if He has saved us from our sin, then we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He will see us through our trials .
God has already conquered sin and suffering through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He did that so that today you and I can consider trials pure joy and face temptations with steadfast confidence.
And that confidence, that consistency we have when it comes to prayerfully depending on the Holy Spirit to help us overcome temptation, is strengthened when we're fully embracing God's Word.
Genuine Faith Embraces God's Word
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
This is just my perception, but I've heard much talk and even preaching about verses 19-20 and verses 22-25 (in fact, I often quote verses 22 during my prayer on Sunday mornings). I have heard less about verse 21 and I think it's the key to getting this third section right. Rid yourselves of sin and humbly receive God's Word.
Genuine faith is marked by receiving and responding to God's Word. Verse 18 speaks of the Word of truth, verse 21 mentions the implanted Word, and verse 22 emphasizes being doers of the Word. In verse 23, the Word is compared to a mirror. Should it surprise us, church, that when we talk about a genuine faith in Jesus that endures suffering, moves toward maturity, and rejects temptation that it's going to require God's Word to get there?
How you respond to trials and how you resist temptation are going to be directly linked to how you embrace God's Word. Peter wrote that we should desire it like a newborn desires milk.
Church, when a baby gets hungry they're going to cause a ruckus and they're not going to stop until they get what they want. Have you ever craved God's Word like that? How do you even know the Word is working in you?
James gives us some evidence of God's Word at work in your life. You'll be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
In a culture that has turned outrage into a commodity that is fantastic general advice for daily living. But that's not James's direct point. To get there, James says we rid ourselves of moral filth - we reject the temptation we looked at in the last section - and instead of embracing temptation we humbly embrace God's Word because it's the source of the wisdom God has promised to give us.
James directs our attention to our response to God's Word. When he tells us to be 'quick to listen,' he wants these dispersed people to be eager to hear God's Word both spoken in conversation and preached.
Be eager to listen to sermons! That's not me, that's James. Remember the context! These people were suffering greatly. They were refugees. And when these refugees resettle in another city they plant churches! Imagine how much comfort you'd find, church, from gathering together with other believers. You'd find warmth in being greeted with a holy kiss, or a firm Baptist handshake. You'd find encouragement in God's Word. Be eager to hear it. Be eager to read it. Be eager to study it with other people.
James the says to be 'slow to speak.' Again, good general advice. God gave you two ears and one mouth. However, he's not solely addressing conversation. As eager as you are to listen to the Word, be equally cautious and deliberate when it comes to teaching it. Do not presume to speak on behalf of God's Word unless you are thoroughly prepared for the responsibility it entails.
Evidently, within the community to which James wrote, there was a prevalent issue of many individuals impulsively sharing their opinions and rushing to teach. This may have been a contributing factor to the hostilities and conflicts within the congregation. James strongly cautions against this. In fact, he later admonishes in Chapter 3 that not many should become teachers.
James urges us to be so engrossed in the Word that we cannot help but teach, but to also approach teaching with patience and preparedness. The key is to rightly divide the Word of truth.
That should help us be 'slow to anger.' This 'anger' in question refers not to explosive outbursts but rather to an internal, simmering resentment—a deep-seated rejection.
Resist building up resentment or bitterness. Still good general advice, but remember the context is in regard to embracing God's Word - even when it challenges your preconceived notions or confronts your sin. If we have genuine faith we should possess the humility and openness to embrace the Word, even when it challenges us.
We never stop humbly receiving the Word of God, church. The Bible isn't a book you finish, no matter how many times you've read it.
James reminds us that this Word is able to save our souls. True, it's God alone who does that. But how does He do it? Verse 18 reminds us: By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We learn what we need to know to be saved in the Bible. Even if a Bible wasn't involved in your conversion, if someone just verbally shared the gospel with you, they still got that knowledge from Scripture.
If you're here today and you know you don't have genuine faith because your life looks nothing like that James describes, you need to know this: The Bible teaches that God, who is more holy than we can imagine, looked with compassion upon people who are more sinful than we would possibly admit, and sent Jesus into history to establish his Kingdom and reconcile people and the world to himself. The Father sent the Son to buy back His people from our sin. Jesus came to sacrificially die for us so that, by His death and resurrection, we might gain through His grace what the Bible defines as new and eternal life.
(https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/static-blogs/trevin-wax/files/2009/09/Gospel-Definitions.pdf)
That's the gospel. We respond initially at the moment of our salvation, but James makes clear that those who possess genuine faith never stop responding to God's Word.
We receive God's word when we trust Christ. But we never stop responding to it. If we're neither engaging in or responding to God's Word, then James says we're deceiving ourselves.
A few year back, a 40-year old man in Denver appeared on several television shows across the country. He had a simple request. He said simply: “If anybody recognizes me or knows who I am, please let somebody know.” (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15373503/ns/us_news-life/t/man-amnesia-reunited-family-friends/#.XaFUgyV7nUo)
His name was Jeffrey Ingram. But he didn't know that at the time. He was on his way to Canada to visit a dying friend but upon arriving at the airport in Denver he didn't know who he was or why he was there.
He walked around for about six hours asking people for help, then ended up at a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a type of amnesia. Nothing about him had changed on the outside. He still looked the same and talked the same. Everything appeared normal. He just forgot who he was. It took over a month, but he was eventually reunited with his family in Washington.
If you're not in God's Word, church, you may begin to think you're someone else. You might belong to Jesus and become convinced you don't. You may be lost, but you think you're a Christian. You think believing Jesus is real is all it takes. The Bible describes a very different reality.
James says if we're not engaging God's Word and being shaped by it, we're living as fakes. We have no idea who we really are.
Authentic faith gets three views right, church. A right view of self. We're sinful. We're fallen. We can't even understand our own sinfulness. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
We're hopelessly separated from God on our own. So we need a right view of God's goodness. We trust that because He cares for us, whatever circumstances He allows into our lives are for our good and His glory.
And we need a right view of God's Word. It needs to be a regular part of our lives that we embrace. That we run to for joy and for peace.
If you get those three views right, you'll begin to understand on a deeper level how James is able to call us to consider trials as joy. Because trials reveal more about ourselves and they drive us to God and His Word.
Maybe one of those views has become hazy for you. That's where we can apply the truth of this text to your daily life. If you don't remember the last time you've confessed a sin to God - truly repented and turned away from something, the maybe you need to invite someone else into your life to help get a clearer view of who you are. Based on what we know about human nature, I regret to inform you that you're probably not as holy as you think you are.
You might even blame God for your circumstances. I get that. Some of you are going through remarkably difficult circumstances. Praise God many of you have testimonies to God's goodness in those hard moments that become hard months that become hard years. But maybe you've used those circumstances as justifications for your sinful attitudes and laid the blame at the feet of God Himself? Or maybe you blame others? Remember, there is only one person responsible for your sin. And there's only one person who can overcome your sin. The good news is the Overcomer is much more powerful than the sinner, amen?
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The application for you today might just be to get God's Word in you. If you don't study the Bible at all, start! Just five minutes is more than nothing. And study it with someone if you can. Find a Sunday school class or bible study group. Plug into it. And if you already are maybe this can be an application point for you. Commit to finding someone in that class and call them or meet up with them once a week outside that class to talk about what you're studying. You'll be blown away by what God will do. I know it.
Genuine faith views three things properly: human sinfulness, God's goodness, and the necessity of Scripture. Let's ask God to clarify those views for us.
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Based on the last two sermons, what would you say is the ‘big idea’ of the book of James?
How does the sermon explain the relationship between faith and works, particularly in comparison to the perspectives of Paul and James? Read James 3:24 and Romans 3:28. In your own words, explain how those verses do not contradict one another.
How does the sermon describe the role of trials in revealing genuine faith?
Find an example in Scripture of someone giving in to temptation. What happened? What were the consequences? How did the person respond? How did God respond?
Can you think of any biblical examples or personal experiences that illustrate the progression from deception to disobedience to death?
How do "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger" connect to your view on Scripture? How are those three ideas helpful in daily life?
What does it look like for you to "rid yourself of all moral filth and humbly receive the implanted word" on a regular basis? How do you hold yourself accountable.
Share your thoughts on the idea that we should never stop responding to God's Word and that it's not a book we finish. How has your engagement with Scripture evolved over time?
Have you ever blamed external factors or God for your actions or circumstances, as discussed in the sermon? How did you overcome this tendency?
What is your view of trials and difficulties in your life? Do you see them as opportunities for growth and maturation, as suggested in the sermon?
In your opinion, which of the three views emphasized in the sermon (human sinfulness, God's goodness, and the necessity of Scripture) is the most challenging to maintain in your daily life, and why?