The Pulpit Commentary — James — Section 19

Vers. 12-15.-7?ze natural history of evil. In the previous pa.rt of the chapter ,Tames has spoken of " temptation " in the general sense of " trial " and as coming mainly i~ c.onnection with outward circumstances. In this passage he proceeds to 8peak of it m the sense in which the word is now ordinarily used, as meaning only mtemal trial by solicitation to sin. Ver. 12 marks the transition from the one sense to the other, and predicates "blessedness" of "the man that endureth tempte.tion" in either form. I. _THE GEKESIS OF TEMPTATION. (Vers. 13, 14.) The sacred writers very rarely deal_ m such abstract psychological analysis as we have in this pllssa.ge. These verses rernmd us that there is natural hist-Ory in the moral world as well as in the physical- " the law of sin and of death" as well as "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." There are two conflicting theories always prevalent regarding the origin and develop- ment of temptation. 1. The false theo1·y. (Ver. 13.) Men are prone to ascribe the authorship of temptation to God. This heresy is as old as the garden of Eden and the FalL Our first parents blamed God for the first sin. And the world has adopted the same excuse, in various forms, ever since. Systems of philosophy have done so. Pantheism, for example, says that man is only a mode of the Divine existence, and that good is God's right hand, while evil is his left. Fatalism teaches that all events --good and evil-come to pass under the operation of a blind necessity. Materialism in our day regards the vilest passions of bad men and the holiest aspirations of believers as alike only products of our physical organism. And the same dreadful error prevails equally in co=on life. Superstitious persons, from the time of James until ours, have had the impression that their misdeeds are necessitat.ed by the Divine decrees. ::Some blame their nature for their sins, and ascribe to their Maker the origination of their corrupt propensities, as the poet Burns did once and again in lines of daring blasphemy. Others trace their sins to their circumstances, blaming God's providence for surrounding them with evil influences, which, they submit, lay them under an inevitable necessity of sinning. But the apostle advances reason and argument a'.!airu;t this impious theory. Think, he says, of the purity and perfection of the Divine nature. Moral evil has no place in God. There is nothing in him that temptation can take hold of. And if he is not himself open to the seductions of sin, it is impossible that he can be a tempter of others. God is the infinite Light, and sin is darkness. God is the eternal Righteousness, and sin is crookedness. God is the unchangeable Beauty, and sin is deformity. So, he will not and cannot solicit men t-Owards what is opposed to his own nature. He tries and tests men; but he does not tempt them. He does not cause sin; he simply permits it. When we pray, as Christ has taught us to do, "Dring us not into temptation," we beg that God may not in his providence place us in circumstances from which our hearts may take occasion t-O sin. 2. Tlie true theory. (Ver. 14.) Temptation originates within the heart of the sinner himself. It is in vain for him t-0 blame his Maker. Sin is no part of our original constitution, and it is not to be excused on the plea of an unfavourable environment. A man sins only when he is "enticed" by the bait, and" drawn a.way" by the hook of "his own lust." That is, the impelling power which seduces towards c,-il is the corrupt nature within us. 'l'he world and the devil only tempt effectually when they stir up the filthy pool of depraved personal desire. "Lust" includes, be,idcs the appetites of the body, the evil dispositions of the mind, such as pride, malice, envy, vanity, love of ease, etc. Any appeal made from without to these vile principles and affectionH can be successful only with the consent of the will. Every man is personally responsible for his ~in; for each man's sin takes its rise in "his own lust." Conscience brushes away the cobwebs of the false theory, and assure11 us all tLat we are "merely our own traitors." Only one Man has ever lived within whose 1:,uul there wa.s no hook or bait of corrupt desire on which any evil suggestion could en. r. 1-27.] THE GENERAL EPISTLE, OF ,JAMER. . ] ·•