What did James know that will help us?
What do you believe is going to happen to you next- not this thing that has happened to you, maybe you've been told your health is shot, maybe you've been told your bills are too high and your ability to pay is diminished, maybe your best friend has turned on you and said unbelievably cruel things in a very public place like Facebook- there are literally hosts of things that can happen that are bad. Label that the present bad, and think of it that way, this is now, this is bad, but what do you believe is going to happen to you next? It appears from the text in James herein displayed as the Berean Bible Interlinear- so the Greek is placed therein, with the English not an easy thing to accomplish but the Berean's are a very faithful group of translators that seem to be very sincere in keeping the translation as clean and true to the writing as possible. Above the Berean Interlinear is an New International Version (NIV) translation so you can see them clearly, the NIV stays so close to the actual meaning of the words. Please visit Bill Mounce contributor to the New International Version translation.
13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;14but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
13Μηδεὶς (No one) πειραζόμενος (being tempted) λεγέτω (let say) ὅτι (-), “Ἀπὸ (By) Θεοῦ (God)πειράζομαι (I am being tempted).” 14ὁ (-) γὰρ (For) Θεὸς (God) ἀπείραστός (unable to be tempted) ἐστιν (is) κακῶν (by evils); πειράζει (tempts) δὲ (now) αὐτὸς (He Himself) οὐδένα (no one). 14ἕκαστος (A man) δὲ (however) πειράζεται (is tempted), ὑπὸ (by) τῆς (the) ἰδίας (own) ἐπιθυμίας (desire) ἐξελκόμενος (being drawn away) καὶ (and) δελεαζόμενος (being enticed).15εἶτα (Then) ἡ (-) ἐπιθυμία (desire), συλλαβοῦσα (having conceived), τίκτει (gives birth to) ἁμαρτίαν (sin); ἡ (-) δὲ (and)ἁμαρτία (sin) ἀποτελεσθεῖσα (having become fully grown), ἀποκύει (brings forth) θάνατον (death).
These first passages in James are very important for the Christian to grapple with because James is going to draw from his deep well of life, faith and practice as the Pastor of the First Church Jerusalem- and he's going to pass on to us, what he believes faith for us should be. Life once again lets bear in mind, this is the man who lived with Jesus before He was declared as the Son of God. Why say it that way, because Jesus didn't self declare until the near end of His ministry, why would he be secretive, had a lot to do with, if the enemies of the Word would be able to put Him in situations that would make it untenable, Christ might be forced as the Lamb of God to act in a way not accomplishing the Will of God- what am I saying, Jesus was fully man, He had free will, just like you and I, so, kneeling in the garden do you now see why it was God's will that had to be done, not Christ? Do you further see how the condition of Christ wasn't secret to His brother who knew Him in ways and with family closeness that only James could? Verse 13.James saw the present horror, there's no other word for the situation which Jerusalem under Roman rule was. Seeing a friend you have prayed with beaten, spit upon, and then nailed to a piece of wood and burned with tar on them so the roads could be lit. Horror all around you, and for what, what you believe, because you aren't doing a thing against Rome except telling Caesar he isn't God.
James doesn't preach, teach or believe in a dead faith, an intellectual ascent to the mental idea and concept of Jesus's teachings- James knew that such faith isn't real, it won't last and doesn't have within it the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was something that James likely caught the first time he and Jesus got into something that they shouldn't have when Joseph wasn't looking. While your jumping up and down about that not being in the New Testament- let your mind look again at this simple verse. When tempted- well, could Jesus be tempted? Well what's Paul say in Hebrews? Wasn't Christ a man tempted in every way as we? So that we don't have a savior who doesn't get what it is to be we? Now look again at verse 13 and there it is, right up front- when tempted no one should say...because James had been, catch, this, taught that- by his brother- for years upon years of constant every day contact. Contact with a brother who at the end of it, taught His brother that He was indeed, God, that He did indeed rise again. Verse 14.
Now James turns to the experience of those teachings bouncing off what he knew from having lived it. He probably remembered that look, a look that only someone who knows something you can't, but can't wait for you to discover it- my typing teacher had that look, she knew, touch typing would change my life forever, but, she also knew, like James had seen Jesus show him, it ain't easy. Now comes the nature of the present evil- we are always in a situation where we think it's good, but it may only look good, evil always does. What we grab hold of in terms of understanding and present day knowledge, but what comes next?
Inside their homes James's congregation was safer than they were assembled, because when scattered to their each place, they couldn't be grabbed coming away from an assembled place, so they couldn't gather together without the actual danger of being spotted and identified by a solider of Rome as one of them, one of the way. Now James reflects back on that also, and he sees the temptation to not gather together, and he sees how separately they weren't supported. They didn't have each other, they didn't have the elders, they didn't have the Under Shepherd (Pastor). At this point in their worship they have the Holy Spirit, but they didn't have much else, which tells us, the Holy Spirit is enough and James says very clearly here, we allow ourselves to fall, and it's a process, we think about and execute the sin that grabs us, and then we try to act like we hadn't- that, says James, isn't truth. Note the word James uses, desire, which, when it is placed upon by a good guide, the Holy Spirit, for the good of the Body of Christ, it is a great heart moving tool. When it's based on your own selfish whims, desire begins a process that will kill you. Verse 15.
Lets stop there for today with the finalizing question, if you don't know what the Holy Spirit indwelling you is we'll be only to happy to share with you about Him, He's wonderful.
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