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I.
v. 13 - 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.
a.
Tempted - peirazo {pi-rad'-zo} - of God: to inflict evils upon one
in order to prove his character and the steadfastness of his faith
b.
I am tempted by God - peirazo {pi-rad'-zo}
apo {apo'} theos {theh'-os}
- to solicit to sin, to tempt. An intecement to sin from God (Ironside)
i.
It is never right to attribute such temptation to the infinitely
Holy One, our God who has called us to holiness of life.
(Ironside)
ii.
God does not send trials on you in order to make you worse,
but to make you better. Therefore do not sink under the pressure
of evils (1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you
except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear
it.) ( Commentary Critical)
iii.
James offers a sharp rebuke to those who find an easy excuse for
their sinning. To free themselves from the responsibility
they say "I am tempted by God," or "from God."
(BKC)
c.
God cannot be tempted by evil - apeirastos {ap-i'-ras-tos} - that
can not be tempted by evil, not liable to temptation to sin
i.
the heart of man is their source-its lusts which lead through
sin to death. Let no one deceive himself on this point. That which
inwardly tempts the heart comes form oneself. All good and perfect
gifts come from God, and He never changes, He does nothing but good.
(Darby's Synopsis of the NT)
ii.
God is said in Genesis
22:1 to have "tempted Abraham"; but there the tempting
meant is that of trying or proving, not that of seducement.
(Commentary Critical)
iii.
There are all kinds of ways of shifting the blame to God. After
all, did not God create those fleshly appetites which we seek to
control; are we not surrounded from the very beginning of life with
all kinds of temptations; and did not God make all of these things
which tempt me? James' words here were given for the purpose of
destroying such fallacious reasoning. Surely, of all the evil doctrines
ever advanced by Satan, that of blaming God himself for human transgression
must be one of the worst (CoffmanÕs Commentary)
d.
He Himself does not tempt anyone
i.
He seek[s] to induce us to flee from temptation and to take the
path of holy subjection to His will. (Ironside)
ii.
He cannot be a promoter of what is repugnant to his nature.
The carnal mind is willing to charge its own sins on God. There
is something hereditary in this. Our first father Adam tells God,
The woman thou gavest me tempted me, thereby, in effect,
throwing the blame upon God, for giving him the tempter. (Matthew
Henry)
II.
V. 14 But each one is tempted when he is
carried away and enticed by his own lust.
a.
Tempted - peirazo {pi-rad'-zo} - to inflict evils upon one in order
to prove his character and the steadfastness of his faith
b.
When he is carried away - exelko {ex-el'-ko} - to draw out - lure
forth: in hunting and fishing as game is lured from its hiding place,
so man by lure is allured from the safety of self-restraint to sin. The language of the hunting is transferred
to the seduction of a harlot.
i.
the beginning step in temptation: drawn away from truth
and virtue. (Commentary Critical)
c.
Enticed - deleazo {del-eh-ad'-zo} - to bait, catch by a bait
i.
It was the beauty of the forbidden fruit that acted as a lure for
Eve, the bait, which effected her being caught upon the hook of
sin. Christians should learn to exercise skill in rejecting the
alluring "bait" with which Satan baits his trap of enslavement
to sin. (Coffman's Commentary)
ii.
literally, "taken with a bait," as fish are. The
further progress: the man allowing himself to be
enticed to evil
iii.
The method of sin. First it draws away, then entices. As holiness
consists of two parts-forsaking that which is evil and cleaving
to that which is good, so these two things, reversed, are the two
parts of sin. The heart is carried from that which is good, and
enticed to cleave to that which is evil. (Matthew Henry)
d.
His own lusts - epithumia {ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah}
- desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden
i.
The source of temptation is from within a person ; it is his own
evil desire (BKC)
ii.
"Lust" is here personified as the harlot that allures
the man (Commentary Critical) |
