James 1:13–18
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.
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. (ESV)
1. The Dark Room of Desire: Honesty about Temptation (James 1:13–14)
1.1 God is never the author of temptation (v.13)
1.2 Temptation arises from our own desires (v.14)
1.3 The necessity of honesty before God
(Hidden desires grow; confessed desires are healed.)
2. The Making of the Monster: The Anatomy of Sin (James 1:15–16)
2.1 Desire conceives, sin is born, death follows (v.15)
2.2 The deceptive quietness of sin’s growth
(Sin matures in secrecy and self-deception.)
2.3 A warning to both the complacent and the indifferent (v.16)
3. The God Who Enters the Dark Room: The Generosity of Light (James 1:17–18)
3.1 God is the Father of lights — unchanging, generous, good (v.17)
3.2 While sin births death, God brings new birth by His Word (v.18)
3.3 Believers as firstfruits — signs of the coming new creation
(A new identity and calling.)
3.4 Christ the Light of the world
(The Gospel as the centre of God’s transforming work.)