James 1:12-18 - The Wisdom You Need in Hard Times (Session 4)

This episode is a verse-by-verse Bible study of James 1:12-18, exploring the historical context, meaning, and faithful application of the passage within the Christian faith.

Ever wondered how the trials of life can lead to divine crowns of glory? Our latest episode examines the profound symbolism of crowns in the Bible and their promise as future rewards for our perseverance. We unpack the message in James 1:12-15 where the crown of life beckons, not as an immediate token of salvation, but as an anticipated accolade for those steadfast in faith. Discover the stark difference between the assurance of salvation and the earnable crowns that embody a life lived in obedience to God. Navigating through the murky waters of temptation and sin, we venture beyond the surface into a conversation about the very nature of Christ—both fully divine and inherently human. We dissect the origins of temptation, illustrating how it sprouts from within and how God's wisdom is key to transforming our desires. Learn how embracing God's word can shield us from the snares of sin and lead us to spiritual victory. Join us on this intellectually and spiritually enriching journey through the Book of James, with more discussions to come.

Transcript

Glenn 0:15

Whenever somebody sees a crown, we know that person has been honored, we know that person is in a position of authority and power. We know that person has some blessings. So today, on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going to learn about crowns. Some of you may not know it, but every Christian will get a crown. Today, steve, we're going to get to talk about some good things, which are crowns. Are you looking forward to?

Steve 0:39

your crown. I am looking forward to the crown that I want to receive.

Glenn 0:42

So to our guest, if you have your copy of the Word of God. We're in the Book of James, chapter one. We're going to be starting in verse 12. Up to this point in the chapter, james has told his audience, which are two Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, jewish Christians, that they should take joy in the various trials. We learned that we're going to have to endure trials. All Christians are going to endure trials, but God has a purpose for those trials. If we but then ask God, then he will give us wisdom in knowing why these trials are there, knowing how to get through these trials. Well, today we get to talk about what happens on the other side of the trials, which are crowns. So let's go ahead and read.

Glenn 1:26

Starting in James chapter one, starting in verse 12, says this Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let 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. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Even when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. So, stephen, this passage, what does this say, is going to happen to us when we endure trials. At the beginning of what we just read.

Steve 2:07

It says that, once he's been approved of going through this trial, we're going to receive a crown of life, which has been promised to us by the Lord.

Glenn 2:17

So notice in the passage. It says here that the one who's going to receive the crown is the one who persevered through the trial. That's the key to interpreting what this crown is is it's the one who has endured through this trial. In our last session, we learned about the endurance in the trials. Today we get to learn about what happens on the other side of it, which is the crown it's given to those who endure through the trials. It says here Steve, crown of life. What can we take away from that? What is this crown of life and what does it?

Steve 2:48

mean, the crown of life is the promise of eternal life. I believe this is what this is talking about.

Glenn 2:55

So question there, because there are people who would say, okay, it might be talking about now, and other people say later. I would think what you just said is correct, which is it's later, but can we be confident that it's later? How do we know this is talking about later and not now?

Steve 3:11

We know that because it says here that it's the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. So this is something that has been promised to us. So, even though we in a way receive that eternal life later we're going to have a glorified body we in actuality receive the eternal life now. We have the assurance of the eternal life now. So, even though we're living in this fleshly body and we're going through some of these trials that we're going through here in the world that we live in, this crown of life that we're going to get is something that we have received now. Even though we physically haven't gotten it, we will going to be receiving it in the future.

Glenn 3:51

I think that's exactly it. We can be very confident here that when he says crown of life, he's not talking about being justified before God. He's not talking about how do you get right with God, how do you reconcile sins. That's not what he's talking about, for two or three reasons. One is that salvation is never something we endure through in order to get. That's. One of the keys here is that he said this crown goes to those who endure.

Glenn 4:18

Second reason is that everywhere else in the New Testament, steve, whenever it talks about a crown, it's always talking about something that's future. For example, 1 Peter 5.4 says when the chief shepherd appears. So who's that? The chief shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ. So when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory. Again, that's 1 Peter 5.4. When he returns, jesus will give the crown of righteousness to those who love him. It says that in 2 Timothy 4.8. Christians get a crown of rejoicing when Jesus returns. 1 Thessalonians 2.19. We get a crown at the end of a competition. The example that Paul is using in 1 Corinthians 9.25 is you endure through a race to geta crown. He's encouraging his readers of his letter to keep on and don't give up. So he's everywhere.

Glenn 5:14

When it talks about crowns, it's always talking about something that you get later, when Jesus comes back. That's a crown. So that here, when it talks about the crown of life, it's a future thing. It's when Jesus returns we're going to get a crown In heaven. As you pointed out earlier, steve, the leaders cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus. That's in Revelation 4.10. Therefore, crowns are always rewards that we get by living an obedient and loving life towards the Lord Jesus.

Glenn 5:45

Crowns are not salvation, which Christians have today. The Bible says you can give away or you can lose a crown, and you're not going to be able to give away your life to somebody else. I can't give away the life that God has given me and give it to somebody else. That doesn't work like that. But I can give away a reward that God has given me. So that is what crowns are. That's really what he's talking about here, stephen. It's also one more clue, one more key piece of the puzzle that we're going to get into in the next chapter, chapter two. Which is what does he mean here when he's talking about justification and works? He's contrasting faith and works in chapter two. We have to understand the context. Here he's talking about getting crowns later, not talking about how to be saved, which is one of the key contextual things.

Glenn 6:37

Next, in verse 13,. What does he say in verse 13? That God cannot be tempted, nor does God tempt people. Isn't that comforting? Isn't it comforting to know that God's not going to tempt me with sin. God's not going to intentionally bring sin to try to get me to sin. It's also comforting to know that God is not going to sin. His nature is such that he cannot sin. That's comforting.

Steve 7:02

It is comforting to know that the temptations that we come across are not ones which God has sent to tempt us. Now, sometimes we're tested through some of the things, but testing is not the same as temptation, right.

Glenn 7:17

The testing, the trials that James was talking about earlier. Those are things that God will bring in front of our path. They'll be painful, but it's not sinful. Here he's talking about sin, tempting to get off track and sin. The trial is to prove our faith or build our faith. The temptation comes from the enemy that tries to get us to sin and lose in our relationship with God.

Steve 7:40

I almost see this here, that James kind of puts this in there, because I think sometimes we confuse the two and that we look at some of the trials we're going through and they say, well, I don't know why I'm going through this and it's testing my faith. James, I think is being clear here that temptation is different from the trials, as you just pointed out, that the temptation is there to lure us away from God. The trials that we go through are to build our faith and have the result of that. To me, it's kind of James putting this in here to make sure that the believers understand trials and temptations two separate things and that God is not guilty of tempting people away from him.

Glenn 8:25

Let's explore that just a little bit more. Look at the last half of verse 13. It says God cannot be tempted. It also says God does not tempt us. God cannot be tempted and God does not tempt us. That means that God's nature is such that he is incapable of temptation. He is incapable of being tempted himself. He cannot be tempted and therefore, since he cannot be tempted and he's all good he will not tempt us to sin.

Glenn 8:56

I always say, steve, I do a pretty good job on my own of sinning without the devil or any other heavenly being trying to make it worse, I'm pretty weak without God myself. I do a pretty good job of sinning on my own. But what we learn from this about God is that God's nature is entirely good. His nature is entirely, completely thoroughly good. Because of that, there's no evil in God, he's going to say in a little while. There's not even a shadow of turning in God.

Glenn 9:24

What this does with us a little bit of theology, is that it's not the case that God has any evil in him at all. He's entirely good. He can't be tempted, not even a temptation of sin. It's not the case that God just decides not to sin. It would be one thing if God always chose to be righteous. But that's not what James is saying. He's saying he cannot be tempted, he's incapable of that. That tells us there is no evil at all in God and no sense of the word. Therefore, some of these other systems like pantheism and panentheism, are all incorrect. The only true, correct view of God is pure theism that shows that God is wholly, entirely, thoroughly good.

Steve 10:10

Well, let me throw a question to you then, glenn. If that's the case, where God cannot be tempted, what was the purpose of Jesus being tempted? What was that all about?

Temptation, Sin, and God's Wisdom

Glenn 10:21

if God can't be tempted, Excellent question, because that does come up. Great question, if you remember, to our listeners over in the Gospels, one of the first things that happened to Jesus once his ministry started is the devil came in to tempt him. That's what it says in the text. Well, if Jesus is God and God can't be tempted, then what's going on with Jesus? A couple of things going on there. One is that Jesus had to experience the things that we experience, or else his payment on the cross wouldn't have been sufficient. So that's one.

Glenn 10:55

Another was to prove again, just like our trials then, jesus' trial was to prove that he would not sin and could not sin, and thoroughly more of a pure theological answer. Jesus had two natures God as God's nature, incapable of sinning. Jesus had a human nature, and humans have the free choice and the ability to make these choice. We only have one nature. We have just the nature of humanity. Jesus has two natures a divine nature and a In a human nature. One of the theological terms that it uses is a hypostatic union. There's a union between the two natures, that they're distinct but not confused. We can never experience that, but we know from the Bible that that's the case. Therefore, the divine nature cannot be tempted. The human nature could experience the temptation of the devil, but he was still incapable of setting. With that moving on, it says in verse 14, if temptations don't come from God, where do they come from?

Steve 12:02

Where do they come from? It says that they come from our own lusts. That is where these temptations come from. They come from ourselves, us struggling in this fleshly body, in this world.

Glenn 12:14

The words here that are used in the original language. The Greek is the same words that's used of the bait in an animal trap or the bait that's used like in fishing. You're using this bait to try to trick an animal to go into a trap. That's the trial, the temptation. Not the trial so much, but that's the temptation, the bait that gets used to try to get you to sin. The devil and your evil desires are trying to trick you. They're trying to trap you to try to fall for something false. Here's a question, steve. What's a bigger source of temptation ourselves?

Steve 12:53

or the devil. Well, I think the devil takes advantage of our flesh and wanting to tempt us away in our lusts that we have. I think that we can sometimes bring things on ourselves. The devil doesn't have to come in. I think we do a good enough job, as you alluded to, on our own trying to fight these lustful things off, these temptations.

Glenn 13:17

Next, look at verse 15. Verse 15 says then when lust has conceived, it brings birth to sin. When lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. Sin leads to death. He's using here the language of reproduction, the language of having a baby, conception and giving birth. The language here actually communicates to us a great spiritual truth the desire conceives and gives birth to sin. Outside of us, there's a temptation. Inside of us is this desire. Just like having a baby, there has to be two that come together in order to give birth. That's what he's talking about here. When the external temptation mates with the internal desire, it conceives. When the conception grows, it gives birth to sin. Steve, that is a great picture of how a Christian can avoid sin. The external temptations do they ever go away?

Steve 14:18

No, they don't. They are a constant battle with this. This is another thing of James using this beautiful language that he does in order to create these word pictures that we can understand.

Glenn 14:27

I love these word pictures. The external temptations are always going to be there. The internal desire has to conceive with the external temptation in order to give birth to sin. If the internal desire is not there, is there going to be a conception? Is there going to be a birth?

Steve 14:49

No, not according to this. That is, one way that we can help control these things is to stay away from those things that might give us those internal desires to mate with the worldly lusts.

Glenn 15:02

That's his word picture here is that the Christian? If we get into God's word and we ask his spirit and if we just memorize the words of God, then those words will wash us on the inside. He regenerates us. He changes our desires. When we get a desire transplant, we take away our old self and give us a new self. Then, now that that desire is not there anymore, the desire is not there anymore. Now, this side of heaven, we're never going to do that perfectly. And it's not just a sexual desire, there's all kinds of desires. The word picture is just beautiful.

Glenn 15:37

The external temptation never goes away. To the child of God that's living rightly with God, the temptation is not there. It might as well not be there because nothing conceives. It has no effect on me because the desire is gone. We can't remove the temptation all the time. Sometimes we can get away from temptations because we know our desire struggles inside of us. There's things, steve, that I have sometimes fall for, those temptations. So I have to stay away from them because for one reason or another I've not accepted God's word to wash that out of me. But in other times I have and in times where I'm truly following God and letting his word in me and things like that. The desire goes away and therefore the temptation doesn't conceive and the sin doesn't give birth.

Steve 16:20

Let me bring up another question here, glenn, that sometimes comes up. So it says there in 15, when it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished, or whenever it comes to completion, that it brings forth death. Now James is writing to believers, and the believers, as you and I believe we have the eternal salvation, we have all those things, by being in Christ, that we talked about in Colossians, and we have, yes, the struggles that Paul talks about the old self with the new self and such as that. But what is James? Is James trying to say here that, no, that's not the case, that if you fall into this trap here, that the death that you're going to lose your salvation, is that what James is saying here?

Glenn 17:06

No, I don't think he's saying that at all. What I think he's seeing here is that, again in the context of this passage, the context has been what Trials and learning during, through the trials, to get God's wisdom. That's what's going to be lost. Death is always a separation in the Bible. That's the key. So the death there we get separated from that wisdom. Our relationship with God may be strained but it's never going to be broken because simply there's too many times in the Bible that tells us that we have been moved into eternal life, and that's just many places in Scripture that says that we're given eternal life, not temporary life. There we have a clear and true picture that we don't lose our salvation. What we lose is this wisdom that's been built up through and during this trial.

Steve 17:57

I absolutely agree that this death is not the loss of salvation, it's the separation. That's what we see whenever it talks about death, especially when in regards to a believer.

Glenn 18:08

So let's move on to the next passage, which is James. 1.16-18 says this Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creature. At the end of verse 17, there, steve, it says that there's no variation or shifting shadow. I think the old King James says there's no shadow of turning. With him, more comfort that he gives us Again.

God's Immutable Plan for Salvation

Glenn 18:47

James is talking here to people that are in trials, that are being persecuted. These were Jewish Christians that because they were Jewish, they're not really part of the Gentile world and because they've accepted Christ now they're not part of the Jewish world. They were experiencing some hardship. He's giving these people some comfort. He's saying, hey, there's a purpose for this. Endure it in the end and you'll have a crown here. He says that in God there's no shifting shadows, there's no variation, there's no turning. Can it be comforting to know that in our God he doesn't change, he doesn't wake up one day and he's different than he was yesterday. We don't have to worry about him getting so mad and blowing to stop and doing some rash decision. He's always the same.

Steve 19:35

That is comforting. Another way that we might put it is we always know where God stands. We can have confidence in that knowing of God doesn't change.

Glenn 19:44

We know that God is always going to be wrathful towards sin. We know that he's always going to be loving towards repentance, and we know he's always going to be compassionate for his people. He's always going to be that way. He can't grow in any of those things. He's infinite and so he's always infinitely wrathful towards sin, more so than we would ever imagine. He's infinite, so he's always loving towards repentance, more so than what we would ever recognize. Therefore, he is as much compassionate today as he is after. He learns about our problems. In fact, he knows all things at all times, so he doesn't have to learn about our problems. He can't grow in knowledge, he can't get smarter, he can't learn. Oh well, that didn't work, so I'm going to try a better way next time. No, he's always perfect, he's always good, he's always helpful. He cannot grow in his compassion for you because he's already infinitely compassion. Same with the office it's always true. He can't grow in his wrath for you because he's always infinitely wrathful. It's called the doctrine of immutability. We don't have to wonder what's going to be called a sin.

Glenn 20:58

I worked for bosses that would have one rule one day and then change it the next and have different expectations on you Doing something. One week was bad, the next week it's good. And they change. God doesn't change Verse 17,. What is the source of all that is?

Steve 21:13

good it comes from the Father of lights or God, the Father. James here, I think, is contrasting the temptations that come from the world in the previous verses as being things that lead us away and cause separation, but the good things they come from the Father from heaven.

Glenn 21:32

Think of it this, steve God gives gifts that are always good. He gives gifts that are always good. Satan makes bargains and we always end up paying for it. God gives gifts and they're always good. Satan, he didn't give gifts. He makes bargains, he makes deals, he makes compromises and we always end up paying for it. That's the contrast. That's what he's saying. If it's ever good, it came from God.

Steve 21:58

All those bargains are always in the devil's favor. They're never in ours.

Glenn 22:04

He's also here playing on this theme of God being light and in him is no darkness, there's no shifting shadows. This idea that God is light and the general idea of light and dark is a theme that plays throughout Scripture. The apostle John says, quote God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John, 1, 5, revelation, chapters 21 and 22 say that there will be no night in the new creation. There's no night because God is light and God's there In the final state. There's no night, it's all day because God's there all the time. Darkness is considered evil and it's evil because God's not there. Jesus said, quote I am the light of the world and he who follows me will not walk in darkness. That's in John 8, 12. Paul says to lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. In Romans 13, 12. The world, steve, is a very dark place. The good news is we have light. We have a God that's light. We need to take that light and take it out into a very dark world.

Steve 23:10

I've experienced that darkness in different ways through some of the trials that I've gone through. When I say experienced it, there's always been God there in order to be a light amongst that darkness. That's very comforting to me and to other family members and other people believers that I know that we can count on God being the light to show through this dark and dreary world that we live in.

Glenn 23:38

We, before we can take the light to the world, we have to walk in light and not in darkness. We do that by learning the Word of God and memorizing the Word of God. Let's look at verse 18. It gets even deeper here. In the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth. So that's a quite complex statement there, steve. And the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of his truth. So there's a lot going on here and a lot of implications and applications. I would say, steve, here this is a great place to re-emphasize what we would hold, which is, yes, god makes choices, but so do we, and there's both of those taught in Scripture. God says we are made in his image. The image of God has the ability to make choices.

Glenn 24:22

We can make a list, if we wanted to, of passages that talk about us making choices to follow God. Joshua 24-22 says quote you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, unquote. And Deuteronomy 30-19,. God tells Israel choose life that you may live. Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, says the acts of hoping, listening and believing were acts done by Christian people. In the context there is a long list of things that God does. So the verb change is quite dramatic. We are the ones that listen and believe. Those are all passages talk about us believing and us making choices to follow God. Passages like this one are here in James talk about he made an exercise of his will. And there's other ones like that John 6-37, jesus says quote all that the Father gives me will come to me. And John 15-16, jesus tells the twelve you did not choose me, but I choose you. So is it possible, steve, for God to choose and us to choose, and that not being conflict or contradiction?

Steve 25:32

It is, and the Scripture, as you pointed out, talks about both of those. There's also this thing that we refer to as the plan of salvation. We see that in that God, many times before things happen, he has a plan there. He tells through his prophecies and he tells at different point in times here is a covenant with you, here is a promise given to you, but this is going to happen prior to that and we even have still some future things that we know that are going to happen. We know and can take joy in knowing for sure that they're going to happen in the future, because the things in the past that he predicted happened. But in this plan of salvation, it's through his will that he brought this plan of salvation. What's the linchpin of the plan of salvation? That his only begotten Son, jesus Christ, would come and die for our sins.

Steve 26:24

The Old Testament looked forward to the crucifixion, the death barrier and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We on this side of the cross look back to that death barrier and resurrection. That's part of the plan. So I think that James is also talking about that. Through God's will, even before the foundations of the world, this plan of salvation through God's will was brought about. That's kind of the overarching theme that we have in Scripture all together, wouldn't you say?

Glenn 26:54

Oh, I would most definitely agree. The Bible does not present a conflict between God's sovereign choice and human free will. Last passage in this little section look at verse 18. It says that we would be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures. Now, firstfruits if you remember that from the Old Testament, the firstfruits were the first and the best, the ones that we finally had this crop after all this work, and we've got this fruit, and that's the best. So firstfruits are not just first, but it's a phrase that means the best. It's the first because it's the best. So he's saying that Christians are brought forth by God and that by following him, we as a church are the firstfruits of God. I find that very humbling and I find it very tremendous.

Steve 27:42

Yeah, and he's using language here because he is writing to Jewish believers. He's writing to them language that they would fully understand.

Glenn 27:50

We, as Christians, have been made God's best, and the reason we've been made God's best is because he made us that way. That's what it's saying here in James. We're out of time for today, but we are having a lot of fun reasoning through these things. James is going to get even better as we go along. We trust that, as we reason to the Bible, that you're going to continue with us next time.

Steve 28:10

See, I told you that James was going to be an interesting book. Yes, thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.