James 1:16-18- God Is The Giver Of All Good Gifts

The main point James is making in James 1:12-27 is found in verse 12 when he writes, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast (in the faith) under trial, for when he has stood the test (testing of his faith) he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

In verse 12 is making some important points. The importance of...

• having a steadfast faith.

• having an enduring love for Christ.

• having a confident hope that is grounded in the promise of the Gospel.

Every Christian is to have a confident hope that is grounded in the promise that God has made regarding the crown of life. This hope produces two specific graces: a steadfast faith and an enduring love for the LORD. These three things (hope, faith, and love) work together to make the life of every believer very fruitful.

I say this because of passages like Colossians 1:3-6, “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth...”.

Or 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 which states, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of Love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction”.

A Christian’s hope in the promise, their steadfast faith, and their enduring love for the LORD will be tested in this life. These tests are not intended to destroy our faith; rather, when endured they provide proof of the genuine nature of that persons faith. Through these trials we learn to keep our faith from shifting away from Christ and His Word and in the end a Christian’s faith becomes more complete, more mature, more perfect and they will be lacking in no good thing (1:4).

These things (hope, faith and love) are to characterize a Christians life all the way to the very end. Real religion has all three of these things and it produces great fruitfulness and receives a great reward.

• Real religion is more than just knowing a lot of biblical facts and being able to answer theological questions correctly. James says that even the demons know the truth and shudder in James 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!”

• Real religion is also more than mere emotionalism, some subjective experience, or some unwarranted optimism that is NOT grounded in biblical truth.

James says that real religion is about believing the promises regarding Jesus Christ and having a personal and loving relationship with Him that receives His grace and goodness and is enabled to endure and even be fruitful despite all of life’s trials. (John 15:1-11; Galatians 5:22-23)

After James speaks of the importance of having a confident hope, a steadfast faith and an enduring love for the LORD he then uses verses 13-27 to give practical and theological exhortations. There are some things we can think, say and do that will help strengthen our hope, faith and love. Then there are things we can not think, say and do that will hinder our hope, faith and love.

One of the emphasis’ of James 1:13-27 us that by engaging in these things we will be kept from from being deceived by ourselves, by others and by Satan himself. We will discuss this more in a moment.

When you initially look at this passage all of these exhortations appear to be random and somewhat disconnected. But when you realize that everything that James is writing is given to support our hope, our faith and our love for the LORD these things begin to flow together and serve the same purpose. I am led to believe that these are all connected to verse 12 because after addressing these things James begins to give one strong exhortation after another.

• In verse 13 we are told, “Let no one say…”

• In verse 15 we are told, “Do not be deceived…”

• In verse 19 we are told, “Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters…”

• In verse 21 we are told, “Therefore put away…”

• In verse 22 we are told, “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only…”

• In verse 27 we are told, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this…”

We discussed the first exhortation in James 1:13-15 already; however, we will read it again because it is connected to James 1:13-15. All of these verses are making one argument for how we should view God and what type of support we can expect from Him as we continue to cling to the promises that He has made while we endure trials.

 James 1:13-15 states, “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. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

These verses speak of the importance of addressing sin in our own lives and not blaming anyone else for it- even God! No Christian is to say in his heart or with his mouth that God is tempting them with evil. Rather, they are to look honestly at their own hearts and lives as the source of their temptation and deal with it. Rather than confessing something that is untrue about God they are better served by confessing their own sin, being forgiven, and receiving the grace that leads to sanctification.

Observation: Imagine how differently life would be if we consistently obeyed these words. Imagine how healthy we would be because God would be restoring us, mending us, completing us, and perfecting us. Imagine how healthy our relationships with others would be, if we would deal with our own sin and stop blaming it on our circumstances, or other people, the devil, or even God. Great grace would be upon us all (Acts 4:33).

Proverbs 19:3 says, “When a man’s ways lead him to ruin his heart rages against the LORD”. James reminds us that we are not to be deceived and blame others for our own sins. We are not to blame God by saying, ‘God is tempting me?’ If we will confess our sins and turn from them God can give us the perfect gift of grace that we so desperately need.

If verses 13-15 show us that it is not in God’s nature to tempt us to do evil then verses 17-18 shows us what God’s unchangeable nature is towards His people. It has always been, and it continues to be, God’s nature and disposition to do good and to give the perfect gifts that every believer. The greatest of these gifts is that we have been born-again, regenerated, justified, and adopted into His family.

James 1:16-17 says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

James begins by stressing the fact that we are not to be deceived. This is the first of three times that James will warn us against being deceived, deceiving ourselves, deceiving our own heart.

• James 1:15 says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”

• James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

• James 1:26 says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart…”.

The fact that James mentions this three times in these verses is why I said a moment ago that the things that are written are to be obeyed so that we will not be deceived. A person who is lazy and apathetic regarding their faith and love for God will eventually be deceived. Unfortunately, they will not know that they are in danger as they drift away from the Gospel and from Christ. (Hebrews 2:1)

Illustration: Isn’t this often illustrated in our own relationships? The healthiest relationships are those where the people in those relationships stay engaged with each other.

• Our marriages are healthiest when a husband and wife are lovingly engaged in each others lives and where they are committed to the covenant of marriage.

• A parents relationship with their kids is healthiest when they stay engaged in their lives and support them consistently.

• Our friendships are the healthiest when we spend time together and stay connected even in the busyness of life.

• Our relationships within the church are the strongest when we covenant with each other in membership to support, care, encourage, and sacrifice for the body of Christ.

However, when we begin to take these relationships for granted, ignore them, prioritize other things ahead of them, and simply assume that all is well, we will inevitably be surprised when they begin to fall apart and crumble before us.

This verb, ‘Be not deceived’, is a passive verb which means that the subject is not to be deceived by any influence that would seek to lead them into error, or cause them to be led astray from the truth, or would seek to seduce them away from their faith and love for the LORD.

The Christian has three enemies that can deceive them: indwelling sin, sin in the world, and by Satan. These three foes have been around for a very long time. Each of these foes exert great pressure upon us and when they coordinate their attack it can be overwhelming.

As James addresses these things in James 1:13-18 I have often thought of Genesis 3, where in the opening chapters of our Bible, we see how Adam and Eve were deceived and sinned against the LORD. In this story we see all three of these things coming together to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God which results in tragic consequences for us all.

In Genesis 3 you can see all three of these enemies at work. For example,

• First, you had the serpent, Satan, who came to tempt them. Genesis 3:1-2 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?” The serpent would say to Eve in verse 5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (5)

• Secondly, you see that Eve begins to experience an inner temptation to sin as she looked at the tree that God had forbidden them to eat from. Genesis 3:6 says, “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…”.

• Thirdly, you also have a failure of Adam and Eve to help each other in this moment. Eve eats and offers it to Adam. Adam did not guard his wife and stop Eve from eating the fruit. Again Genesis 3:6 says, “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, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

After Adam and Eve sinned death came upon all people just as God had warned (Genesis 2:15-17). And yet, in that terrible moment God made a promise. He promised to send someone in the future who would defeat sin, death, and the devil. In Genesis 3:15 God makes this promise, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

This is the promise that every Old Testament saint believed as they looked forward to God sending the Messiah into the world. Since that time sin has been crouching at the door of every person seeking to deceive them from having faith in this promise and loving the LORD who is so merciful and gracious to us in our sin which only deserves death. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Yet, there is hope because God overcomes our blinded minds and allows us to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and be saved.

In the new-birth the blinding power of deception is removed from the christians life but even after someone is saved they need to continue to be watchful and to not be deceived by sin, the sin of the world, or Satan. One way we can be vigilant is to hear and obey what James is teaching us.

In verses 17-18 James encourages every believer that God is not the one who is tempting us; rather, He is our greatest support, advocate, and benefactor. James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

I just mentioned that we ought to be watchful and vigilant. We should not only do this for ourselves but for others as well (Hebrews 3:13, 10:24-25).  As we do this we will reflect the very things God does for us. He loved us so we can love. He has forgiven us and now we can forgive others. He comforts us so that we can comfort others. He gives us grace so that we can serve others.

James reminds us that our heavenly Father is always attentive, watchful, and mindful of us so that He can provide for us good gifts and perfect gifts. We don’t deserve these good things. Nor can we gain these things apart from God. These graces come down from above and they are given freely to His people.

This is nothing new. No, God has always done this for His people- He is unchangeable. He chose Israel from among all the other nations by His sovereign gracious and merciful choice (Deuteronomy 7:6). Then after making them His people the LORD continued to be merciful and gracious to them. The psalmist says in Psalm 81, “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket...I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

Despite all of this His people were deceived and followed the other gods of the nations around them. They did not ‘receive the implanted Word’ and so God says, “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the LORD would cringe towards Him, and their fate would last forever. But He would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

(Observation: What does it mean that God ‘will fill it’? Practically speaking it means that God will provide for us. He gives His common grace to all and His special benevolent grace to His children. (LBC 5.7: The providence of God in a general way includes all creatures, but in a special way it takes care of His church and arranges all things to its good.)

• If we need strength He will give it.

• If we need deliverance He will set us free.

• If we need provision He will provide.

• If we need zeal and passion in our worship He will strengthen our faith, and increase our love and passion for Him.

• He will feed us tangibly and spiritually with the finest blessings through our union with Christ.)

God continues till this very day to provide His people with the finest blessings through Jesus Christ! If the LORD should continue to tarry for another 2,000 years He will continue to provide every good and perfect gift that His people because ‘there is no variation or shadow due to change’ in His nature. ‘Of His own will He brought us forth’ and by that same unchangeable will He will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly. (Ps. 84:11) We are His, we are the firstfruits, so He will provide for us all that we need. (Sun, Light, Nourishment)

James stresses in our text that God is the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Recently I had a conversation with Bob Peterson that illustrated this point when he spent some time together in the hospital.

Bob discussed his gratitude for his wife who had wisely taken him to the hospital. Bob admitted that if she had not made this decision things may have progressed to the point where recovery would have been very difficult. Bob also discussed a very special day when all of his kids and their families made trips from various places to come and see him because they had heard how sick he was. He had told some of his kids that they did not need to come but they came anyway and this was a special expression of their love for him. As Bob considered these things it seemed to me that he became a little emotional as he said, “Sometimes as a parent you wonder if your kids have grown apart from you emotionally as they set new priorities centered around their own families.” These expressions of their love for him left a meaningful and lasting impact upon Bob.

Later, as I drove home and considered these things I began to contemplate what it should mean to us that Christ has done the same thing for you and I. Like Bob, we were in a desperate situation. We were sinners and haters of God. We were without God and with out hope in the world. And yet, even in this state God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ came to us from heaven.

Like Bob, there may be times when a Christian may wonder, “Does God see my situation, does He care, is He for me and willing to help me in this situation?” We should remember that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and dwelt among us and demonstrated His love for us by dying for us. Paul considered these things and says in Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Bob told me another story about one of his kids that I have thought a lot about as I have considered our text. He spoke about how one of his sons is always really thoughtful and precise about the gifts that he gets people for their birthdays and Christmas. He has an uncanny way of finding the perfect gift for every individual that he loves. Bob told me that Cindy is always especially blown away by how her son finds the best gift, the perfect gift, and the most excellent gift.

James Vaughan describes this ability to give a good and perfect gift in this way, “A gift is something that expresses the mind and conveys the love of the giver, and at the same time brings happiness to the receiver. What, then, is ‘a good gift’? That which fulfills these two requisitions. And what is ‘a perfect gift’? That which entirely fulfills these two ends.”

As I visited Bob that day it was clear that he was weak and still recovering from his illness. It was also clear that during this difficult time his family had given him some very special gifts that had encouraged him greatly. In the future Bob may find himself wondering if his kids love and appreciate him. He can now remember what his family did when he was sick and find all the encouragement that he needs.

Similarly, when we start asking if God loves us we can also remember what James has written in our text today, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

We know God loves us because the Father sent His Son. We know that we are loved because of His own will He has brought us forth by His Word. We know that we are loved because God continues to give good gifts and every perfect gift to His people again, and again, and again. He has done this since the Fall, He continues to do it now, and He will continue to do this for every future generation until His promised return.