The Root of Temptation
James 1:12 – 15
June 10th, 2007
Fairview Presbyterian Church
The modern world and the blame game
Where does evil come from? Does it come from Satan? From angels and
demons? From God? From within the human heart and mind? What is its
source?
It is human instinct to blame others. In the Garden of Eden, after the Fall,
after Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s clear command, we see Adam and
Eve invoke the first use of the art of blaming others. Adam blames Eve. He calls
her “the woman.” And Adam blames God, “the woman you gave to be with me.”
Humans have been blaming others ever since. We can trace this aspect of
human nature right back to the garden itself.
In the modern world men will blame other men. They may blame their
circumstances. They may blame their environment. They may lay blame at the
weather. Students blame their teachers: “She gave me a “C.” It is common to
hear people blame their parents. [The Atkinson children cannot make use of this
line option for Lois Ann and I tell them regularly that “they are growing up in a
dysfunctional family – get over it!] However, in the end, when all is said and
done, we follow Adam’s lead and blame God. The Scottish poet, Bobby Burns,
captured this sentiment, writing:
Thou knowest thou has formed me
with passions wild and strong
And listening to their witching voice
has often led me wrong.
At first glance it appears that the poet is blaming himself, pointing to the fact that
he is possessed of “passions, wild and strong.” But the poem makes clear that it
is God who has made him so. If God had made him differently, he would be less
inclined to break God’s law, giving into such passions. Blaming God always
makes for good copy, good drama. At the end of the movie The Poseidon
Adventure, Gene Hackman’s character – a clergyman! – sacrifices his life for the
sake of others and, while doing so, manages to blame God for all the troubles he
and the others have faced since the start of the movie.
James, however, makes clear that we cannot blame God for our troubles.
It is not God who is to blame. Greg Gregoris, in his book, Death of a Pew Potato,
points us in a more promising direction. “If you could kick in the rear end the
person most responsible for your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a
week.” Gregoris is absolutely right. The source of evil, according to James, is
man’s own evil desire.
Later in this message I will make an important distinction between
temptations and trials. But for now, take note that not all trial and trouble in our
lives is necessarily temptation. The fact that we may face difficulties in life is not
the same as saying that we face evil. In fact, as we saw in our first study from the
book of James, James’ message is the opposite: telling us that trials are in our
lives for god-given purposes. Trials sent by God are good things.
James’ message to us: trials are in our lives for a god-given purpose
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
James’ message to us is that the trials we face in our lives are there for a
purpose. God’s purposes are accomplished as a result of successfully facing the
challenges he sends our way. James says, there is joy in meeting trial and
trouble in the right way. Blessed is the man who grows and perseveres in
hardship and difficulty. God is remaking him into the image of Jesus Christ.
There is reward for standing firm. James tells us in vs. 3 – 4 that trials, rightly
faced, bring us to the fullness God intends for us.
Trials, rightly faced, bring us to the fullness God intends for us
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.
Successfully facing the trials and troubles God sends our way has a
purifying effect upon us. The word James uses is dokimos – to refine metal for
coinage. The idea is that through such testing a believers weaknesses are
removed. His faults are cleaned. Like a tree planted by the riverside, he is made
strong.
James has a further important point to make. The trials God sends to us,
in addition to making us into the men and women God intends us to be, also lead
us to eternal life. Trials, perseveringly faced, bring us to eternal life.
Trials, perseveringly faced, bring us to eternal life
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.
Some Christians speak about earning various crowns in heaven. In this
manner of speaking people believe they earn a different crown for having made a
particular sacrifice, or for providing a successful church ministry, or for having put
up with their spouse for all those years. This is mistaken. Christians in this life are
not earning and storing up crowns to be displayed like so many merit badges in
heaven. No. The New Testament speaks of only one crown: the crown of life. It is
spoken of here by James; and by Paul, in II Timothy 4:8; and by Jesus himself, in
Revelation 2:10.
The imagery of a crown has four distinct facets. First, it carries the idea of
joy. In some cultures and traditions a bride and groom are briefly crowned during
their wedding service as a sign of the joy that is theirs in their marriage.
Secondly, and most commonly, a crown is a sign of royalty, worn by kings and
those in authority. Thirdly, a crown is an emblem of victory. The athletic winners
at ancient Olympic games were given a laurel wreath to wear as a sign of their
success in the competition. Finally, a crown can be a sign of honor and dignity, to
possess such a crown is to possess wisdom and respect.
God’s people are promised that, if they endure faithfully to the end, they
will be given the crown of life from Jesus Christ. It will be a crown of joy as we
gather together for the wedding feast of the Lamb of God in heaven. It is a crown
of royalty for by Jesus Christ we are adopted into the household of God. We are
children of God. It is a crown of victory, for through Jesus Christ we find triumph
over sin and death. And it is a crown of dignity for through Jesus Christ we are
given life itself, new life, eternal life. “Jesus wore a crown of thorns so we might
wear a crown of life.”1
It is important to remember that, while the hope of a crown of life is a
promise given to God’s people, it is not our motivation in serving in Christ’s
name. We do not work for the reward. Our motivation is not duty or personal
determination. What James writes is covenantal language. It is the language of
love and relationship. We serve God and follow Christ out of love and loyalty to
him, not merely to earn the rewards. A good analogy is marriage and family. Yes,
there are legal responsibilities in marriage and in the relationships between
parent and child and within the members of a family. But it would be pretty thin
gruel if all that mattered were the legal requirements. What binds a marriage and
family together is love. Love is the key motivator in human relationships. The life
promised is for those who love God. Wearing the crown means to stand in a
loving relationship with God. Ultimately, the reward we receive is God himself.
One interesting thing to note from James’ words is that the root of trial and
temptation is the same.
The root of trial and temptation is the same
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.
1
Doriani p. 32
In life we face trials and troubles. We also face temptations. Are trials,
troubles and temptations synonymous? Are they the same? In a sense, the
answer is “yes.” In Greek, the noun peirasmos can mean temptation or trial. God
sends his people trials. Perhaps the greatest illustration of this truth is found in
Genesis 22 when God sends Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. God’s testing of
Abraham in this manner reveals the depth of Abraham’s love for God and his
trust in God’s power and goodness. It reveals Abraham’s strength.
In contrast, in Exodus 16, just a short time after release from bondage,
while wandering through the desert, the people of Israel begin to complain and
grumble. God is testing them. There is hardship in the desert. Yet the people of
Israel, in contrast to their spiritual forefather Abraham, do not rise to the
occasion. They fail the test. For them, the test is a temptation. They sin in failing
to trust God in the difficulties of their circumstances. The test shows Israel's lack
of faith
Well, if the root of trial and temptation are the same, then what makes
them different? The difference between trial and temptation is what we bring to it.
The difference between trial and temptation is what we bring to it
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate,
Joseph Conrad’s famous novel, Heart of Darkness, is an extended
metaphor on the nature of the human heart. In the novel the protagonist travels
up river, heading deeper into the continent of Africa and farther away from
civilization and the rule of law. Spiritually he is traveling deeper and deeper into
the human heart, discovering the lawlessness and immorality that rules the
human soul. Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now follows the same
premise except it is set in Indochina during the Vietnam War. The message of
both the book and the movie is that once the restraints and constraints of
civilization are stripped away from the human heart, what we find within is
grotesque and evil. The human heart is dark and cruel. The façade of civilization
is not deep.
We call the story of Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden the
Temptation and Fall. Yes, the Serpent sets the stage for the temptation, but after
the talking is done, the decisive fact resulting in the disobedience is Eve’s own
desire. She sees that the tree is good for food, a delight to behold and offers the
promise of wisdom. Eve saw what she would gain from the disobedience. She
elevates her wishes over God’s command. She brought this to the testing table.
Sin would be helpless if it did not appeal to us, if we did not desire it. If
temptation struck no answering chord it would have no power upon us. But it
does. Desire can be fed or stifled. It is in feeding desire or stifling it that we
discover the difference between test and temptation.
The consequences of giving in to desire are severe, James tells us. The
result of temptation is death.
The result of temptation is death
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown
brings forth death.
Ideas have consequences. Thoughts produce actions. Beliefs lead to
outcomes. Desires bear fruit. James uses the imagery of conception and
gestation. Desire is conceived. It grows. It is then nourished and fed. The desire
of sin are the birth pangs of death. When it is ready it gives birth to sin; to some
specific disobedience to God’s will and rule. And then, in the end, the
consequence of sin, is death itself.
God does not entice. God does not tempt. God does not single people out
for sin. Rather, there is a process, a predictable sequence that results in sin. Our
eyes linger longer than they should and an illicit desire is formed. We permit our
thoughts to nurse the possibility of revenge. We keep reliving the insult, blowing
on the anger within us like a hot coal. We convince ourselves that cutting our
moral corner will not really matter. We envision the Ten Commandments as
guidelines, not laws. The TV show The Sopranos shows life without law. Each
character lives life as a law unto himself. The result is murder and mayhem.
There is no happiness, no fulfillment, and no satisfaction in the lives of Tony
Soprano, his family and his team of gangsters. Theirs is a life apart from
redemption.
The point is that each time we give ourselves to sin we take another step
down the pathway to death. The end result of the unsuccessful meeting of the
trials of life is sin and death. This does not have to be the last word, thankfully.
The challenges of life can be trials for us, not temptations, through the power of
Jesus Christ. The result of trial is eternal life.
The result of trial is eternal life
for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life,
Revelation 2:10 - 10 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.
All testing from God is for our good. No exceptions. The devil tempts
people in order to kill. The Devil does not know what is inside of us. God does.
We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation.” What we mean is
this: “Do not place us in a place were we will be tempted beyond what we can
bear.” And God answers this prayer for those who are his. God will not test you
beyond what you are capable of handling. If you face trial and trouble in your life
today, God knows it all, the details, from beginning to end. It is not more than you
can handle. You can resist. You can rise above. You can know victory in your
life. The key is not to rely upon yourself and your efforts, but to turn to Jesus
Christ. Embrace him. Ask him to give you the strength you need to stand firm in
faith.
The promise in this passage is that those who are faithful unto death will
be given by Jesus Christ the crown of life eternal. It is important to understand
correctly what James intends. Typically, when we think of testing, we imagine it
as a measuring of our worthiness. The SAT measures your math and grammar
skills. A driver’s test evaluates your ability behind the wheel. The bar exam
establishes your bona fides as a lawyer. These measure something within us.
However, the emphasis in James is not upon a test that measures us, but rather
upon persevering in the testing until our life’s end. He writes, for when he has stood
the test. Withstanding the test means clinging to Christ from beginning to end. It
means keeping your eyes upon Christ today, tomorrow and so on. It means
persevering in faith until your time on earth is completed. It does not mean – did
you once pray the sinners prayer asking Jesus into life – but rather at the end of
your life are you praying the sinners prayer asking Jesus to welcome you into his
heavenly kingdom. Not did you trust him once, but are you trusting him now. It
means: are you clothed in Christ’s righteousness, not relying upon your own work
and efforts, but upon Christ’s work and redemption on your behalf?
The marvelous thing is that the promise is clear: those who cling to Christ
and trust in him, he will give to them the crown of eternal life.
Say “Amen,” Somebody.
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.