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:
***Every trial that God sends into your life can become a temptation to sin, depending upon how you respond.***Things that come into your life, that God means for your good, to purify you, can be a temptation to sin when you respond in the wrong way.
For example if one of my granddaughters had cancer, that would be a trial but the sinning part would be my doubting God..."God why are you doing this?", I could question God in a rebellious way, I could abandon the faith.
Or what about financial difficulties in my life? The wrong response that would become a temptation to sin would be to lie on my income tax or I could steal when going to the store, dropping some food into my purse, etc.
James says that those temptations are NOT from God. In fact he gives two reasons not to blame God. Notice what he says: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:
This statement forbids blaming your temptation on God. Look at Proverbs 19:3:
The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.
By his own stupidity he has ruined his own life but he turns around and says, it's your fault God! and he becomes angry. James says, when you're tempted, don't blame God. The testimony of God's holy integrity cannot be challenged even when you are going through the most difficult trials. Why? Because James says God cannot be tempted with evil. In fact, it is interesting, when James says here, "he is tempted" it means while you are in the process of being tempted. The tense here suggests the one being tempted is on the verge of yielding to temptation. Have you ever been about right there? Like you are really kind of considering it. "I think I might do this"-that is the Greek tense here- and you know what excuse you give? I am tempted by God! ***James offered a sharp rebuke to those who find an easy excuse for their sinning. To free themselves from responsibility they say, “I am tempted by God,” or “from God” (apo theou), denoting the origin, not merely the agency. James made it abundantly clear God cannot be tempted. There is nothing in God to which evil can make an appeal. He is literally “un-temptable” Furthermore, He tempts no one. God often tests, but He never tempts. We may ask, “Why did James connect the two? What is the relationship between testings without and temptations within?” Simply this: if we are not careful, the testings on the outside may become temptations on the inside. When our circumstances are difficult, we may find ourselves complaining against God, questioning His love, and resisting His will. At this point, Satan provides us with an opportunity to escape the difficulty. This opportunity is a temptation.***
Blue, J. R. (1985). James. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 822). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
***God does not send trials on you in order to make you worse, but to make you better (Jam 1:16, 17). Therefore do not sink under the pressure of evils (1 Co 10:13).***
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 485). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Did you know there are some people who go through trials & they think evil of God? They say, God why did you allow this to happen? It's your fault. Where are you? Where was God on Sept 11th? I've heard people say that. Why did he allow that to happen? Why did God allow our nation fall financially? It's God's fault that the stock market is crumbling! It's their fault. We blame God or we blame others for our trials, we blame our circumstances, we blame our family, we blame our weaknesses, we blame our surroundings, we blame our friends, we blame the weather, we blame the economic situation. Everyone is blaming everybody, no one is taking any responsibility. You might hear about a student who gets caught cheating & he blames it on the teacher, "You know my teacher is just too difficult, they just give hard tests so, I am going to cheat". Or, someone who steals... & they blame God because they are poor. Or, maybe someone has a drinking problem & they blame it on their partying friends. Or maybe as a wife, I get irritated with my husband so I blame it on that time of the month! Did you know that these excuses for our sinful reactions are as old as Adam & Eve? Adam said to God, "the woman you gave me, she made me do this". The thing I hear a lot is everyone is blaming their upbringing [their childhood], their dysfunctional home. The dictionary says this about dysfunctional: One who behaves or performs improperly. Have you behaved or performed improperly today?!! I have, so I am dysfunctional [I went to the website for Noah Webster's 1800 dictionary & this word, dysfunctional, was not a word that I could find. I had to go to dictionary.com to get the definition!]. We are all sinners so we are all dysfunctional! Does that excuse your sin? NO! Absolutely not! James says let no man - no one single person- say God is tempting him. God cannot be the source of your temptation! That is the evil within our own heart. James gives 2 reasons why it is impossible for God to tempt us.
First, James says God cannot be tempted with evil.
God's nature is not evil. He has no capacity for evil. It is impossible! He is absolutely holy.
Rev. 4:8 says, "...HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.” [song] Sin cannot penetrate holiness! Look at what Habakkuk 1:13 says, "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,..." God can't even look on evil. John said, "...God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." I John 1:5
Secondly, James says that God doesn't tempt anyone. Tempting you to sin is not an activity that God is about. My kids might tempt me or someone else might tempt me to sin but that is not what God is about! God does NOT tempt anyone to sin, he has better things to do with his time then to cause us to sin.
Job is a prime example of someone who could have blamed God for what went on in his life. He lost his children, he lost his possessions, he lost his health, he had 3 miserable counselors and a miserable wife too! The Bible tells us that in all of this, Job did not sin. Instead, he said “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10.
So yesterday we discovered the reward of enduring trials > you will be blessed & you'll receive a crown of life.
And then we learned today the reasons not to blame God > that God can't be tempted with evil and He doesn't tempt anyone.
Tomorrow [or whenever I get it finished] will be about the risk of entertaining temptation.
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