James 1:16-18- Don’t Be Deceived

In our last post in on the book of James we noticed the reality of temptation.  We gained an understanding of where temptation truly comes from.  James follows up those verses with the instruction in verse 16 to not be deceived.  Don’t be deceived into thinking that temptation is from God.  Don’t be deceived into thinking that giving into temptation is not your responsibility.  It’s like James is saying, stop blaming other people, stop blaming circumstances, stop blaming Satan, stop blaming God for your temptation and for your sin.  Take full responsibility because that is where it belongs.  Realize that the enemy is your fallenness, your lusts, your desires, your weaknesses, your rationalizations, your sins.   They are your responsibility. Don’t believe the lies. Don’t be deceived.

In verses 17-18 James reiterates what he has already mentioned in verse 13.  Evil and temptation do not come from God.  We know this because verse 17 teaches us that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God above.  We are told that God is the creator, that He is unchanging, and that He can be trusted.  Instead of being deceived into thinking that temptation is God’s fault, we should focus on the fact that everything good comes from God.  The fact that we have been saved is evidence of that reality.

Let’s summarize this section of verses dealing with temptation.  (1) Temptation is not God’s fault.  God cannot be tempted with evil and He does not tempt people with evil.  (2) Temptation is the result of desire meeting opportunity and sin is the results of us adding action to that equation.  (3) Everything good comes from God and we can rest in that assurance.