As James, “the
servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ”, continued to
share with “the twelve tribes scattered abroad”, he
encouraged them with the idea of the “man that endures
temptation” is “blessed”. Those who are “tried”
“shall receive the crown of life” which
“the Lord has promised “to them that love him”.
In chapter one and verse thirteen of his letter, James told his
readers that no man who is “tempted” should say “I am
tempted of God” where we read:
Let no man
say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:
for God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:
The verse begins, “Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:” James
began with the words, “Let no man
say” which
is the Greek phrase “legō mēdeis
legō” and
means “do not allow, speak, affirm, maintain or teach any person
whether male or female” “when he is
tempted”
or “tried, made trial of for the purpose of ascertaining his
quality, what he thinks or how he will behave”,
“I am tempted”
which means “tried, made trial of for the purpose of ascertaining
his quality, what he thinks or how he will behave” “of
God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. When people go
through “trials” and “temptations”
they should not “ascertain” this is God's directive.
The
verse continues, “for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempts he any man:” James
added, “for God”
which means “because, since and on account of the Godhead bodily
and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and
the Holy Spirit” “cannot be tempted”
which means “in no way and not liable to temptation to sin” “with
evil” or “of a bad nature,
not such as it ought to be, wrong, wickedness, troublesome,
injurious, pernicious, destructive and baneful”, “neither
tempts” which means “tries,
makes trial of for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, what he
thinks or how he will behave” “he any man”
or “not any person whether man or woman”. “God
cannot” sin, and therefore
there is no way for him to “tempt”
people “with evil”.
When
we think through these words of James, we should associate no “trial”
or “temptation”as originating with “God”. God
is holy, and His Son Jesus is holy, and neither of them does “evil”
or encourages others to do so. Jesus Christ desires for everyone to
“come unto” Him, and as they do, they should never
associate difficulties and testings as “evil” sent by God.
We, who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, are His
children, and the reasons for “temptations” and “trials”
is to allow us to realize our own status in Him.
Next
time James shares why a person is really
“tempted”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookst
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