When tempted: Devotional Meditation for June 23-29
James 1:13-15 (NASB)
This is the Word of God. May the Spirit of Truth give us wisdom and insight to receive what has been conveyed through His Word by His Inspiration.
Who or what can separate us from the Love of God?!
1:13-15
13Let 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.
14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
James acknowledges that Christians continue to struggle with the reality of a persistent sin-nature at work in the flesh. But the sin-nature should not be given the power to prevail over the New Man. Taking ease to sin is not an option for the Christian.
God does not employ our natural inclinations to allow us to excel in sin. God does not subject anyone to sin's dominance. God is neither tempted nor temps anyone with sin.
The blame for the Christian's inability to cope with trials and with sin's corrupt influence does not fall on God. God has given in Jesus Christ the resources necessary to overcome sin's influence: the indwelling Holy Spirit, the living Word, a life of prayer, a journey of faith, and a community of believers. But evil temptations ensnare believers from within. Temptations come upon believers when the struggling believer subjects one's desires to sinful influences. In other words, Christians are tempted when one's will favors the old nature at the expense of the new man s loving obedience to our Redeemer.
James explains further that when desire succeeds at committing the will to sin s allurements, it subjects the heart to disobedience. Such behavioral corruption nurtures sin and continues to spawn more corruption in the believer's life. James warns Christians that if sin remains unchecked and its evil ways are left unconfronted, it will blossom into serious consequences leading to a debilitating spiritual anguish—from lust to sin to death. Therefore, let the struggling Christian pray for wisdom and deal with sin by the Power of God's living Word. The Truth shal set the sinner free.
Notes/Applications
The passage before us focuses on yet another aspect of the Christian pilgrimage that is equally treacherous to the faith journey, as trials, lack of wisdom, and double-mindedness. He firmly warns us of the pitfalls of our own sin-nature, which continues to war with the New Man in us born in Jesus Christ.
When we favorably accommodate the sinful ways of the sin-nature, our behavior contradicts the godly precepts written in our redeemed hearts. For all intents and purposes, we either disremember or perhaps disregard that we are given a New Life in Christ, have our transgressions forgiven, and have been ushered into God's Kingdom. We confuse our new identity in Christ, viewing ourselves with low self-esteem or with prideful contempt. We slip into denial and feel too low to rejoice in our redemption or too good to have the need for redemption.
When we find ourselves in a quandary that grips the fervor of our human nature, we often accuse God for allegedly failing to guide us, or to remove the temptation from us, or even to keep us from being tested or tried altogether. However, James sternly reminds us that our troubles are conceived in the corrupt desires of our own sinful passion, propelling our blossoming sinful behavior to a festering chronic spiritual ulcer. Christians who live on the treacherous edge of the fence between the new and the natural, shall certainly suffer anguish and failure at every turn, because every occasion of a sinful accommodation of our lustful drive is actually a contemptuous resistance against the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our redeemed hearts.
James urges us to reject such a carnal existence and turn to God Who continues to work in us with His all-sufficient Grace. We heed His living Word, listen to the voice of His Spirit, receive wisdom, and live in His peace and rest. The word of God is the only Sword of Truth by which we can effectively ward off evil. That is what Jesus did when He faced satan the tempter. That is what we ought to do as His Followers. Wisdom from God through the Word of God.
