BIBLE STUDY BOOKLET

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	THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD By Theo Todman GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED WITH EVIL

In James 1:13-15 we read (in the New International Version) the following:

The Greek words for 'tempt' here are all derived from the verb peirazo. The corresponding noun peirasmos occurs in the previous verse "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial..." and in verse 2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." The NIV correctly distinguishes between the different meanings of the peirazo root, on account of the various contexts, though the Authorised Version sticks to the word 'tempt' throughout, presumably because the word had a wider usage in the 17th century than it does now. We merely point this out to stress, once again, how much the context must decide the exact meaning of peirazo.

In verses 13-15, we are clearly reading about 'temptation' in the restricted modern sense of an internal enticement to sin. It is an event entirely internal to the subject - God cannot be blamed for it - He does not tempt anyone. [When other Scriptures say that God 'tempted' someone (using the same Greek or equivalent Hebrew word as here) the other meaning, namely, 'test' or 'try' is implied. (For example Hebrews 11:17 "By faith Abraham, when he was tried (peirazomenos) offered up lsaac", referring to Genesis 22:1 "And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt (nissah) Abraham").] Nor is Satan to blame here, as in Genesis 3 or Matthew 4. Here in James the subject is dragged away and enticed by his own evil desire. In the NIV 'evil' is supplied, the Greek being hupo tes idias epithumias "by the (i.e. his) own lusts," whereas they do not supply it in verse 15 "after desire (epithumia) has conceived."

Epithumia means any strong desire, though the overwhelming preponderant usage in the New Testament is of an evil desire. However, it is used of a strong desire for good things on occasion (Luke 22:15 "with desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer," Philippians 1:23 "I (Paul) am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ," 1 Thessalonians 2:1 7 "We... endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire." The verb epithumeo is used more frequently in a good sense (Matthew 13:1 7; Luke 17:22; 22:15; 1 Timothy 3:1; Hebrews 6:11; 1 Peter 1:12). This may be considered an unimportant consideration in the present context, but we need to decide at what stage during a temptation (as normally understood) sin arises.

What is meant in this text by "after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin" (James 1:15)? The word here, sullambano, is the usual word for conceive (e.g. in Luke 1 and 2). However, it often means 'to take hold of firmly' or 'arrest' (Grimm / Thayer = 'to seize', 'take as a prisoner'). E.g. Matthew 26:55, etc. So, sin arises as soon as a person is 'taken captive' by the strong desire that confronts him. What does this mean in practice? I would say that a person is 'taken captive' by a desire as soon as he has to fight it by suppressing the need to gratify the desire (whether the gratification arises from the actual appropriation of the object of the desire, or only of its mental surrogate - compare the Lord's teaching on "adultery in the heart"). The struggle is one of escape from prison rather than an attempt to escape capture. Of course, this struggle only ensues if the gratification of the desire is perceived to be illegitimate, that is, as contrary to the declared or assumed will of God, which would not be the case if the subject was uninformed or otherwise incapable of making a moral judgement at that level.

In this analysis, any temptation (as commonly understood) results in sin, though not necessarily in the greater sin of actually submitting to the temptation. I would place this "struggle against temptation" as a property of our fallen nature and hence would not describe Adam and Eve's experience in the garden as a temptation in this sense, though it was certainly a trial. The 'object' of the temptation was good in itself (Genesis 3:6), and Eve correctly perceived it as such. However she was deceived by the serpent (Genesis 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:14) into thinking that God had not strictly forbidden her to eat it on pain of death. Adam, however, was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14). We are not told what impelled him to eat of the fruit, simply that Eve "gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." (Gen. 3:6). The important thing was his disobedience. Similarly, we should exclude from the Lord's experience anything of the order of a 'temptation' as discussed in this chapter. Such are the experiences of fallen human nature, which His was not.

Before leaving this passage in James, we must consider what is meant by the statement "and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." (verse 15b). This is difficult to determine - possibly physical death is referred to, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), given the dispensation in which James was writing. Alternatively we could connect it with what Paul speaks of in Romans 7:7-11 "for I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died" (verse 9). That is, 'death' is considered as 'death to God' (i.e. 'uselessness', e.g. the Prodigal Son 'was dead'), as in the case of the "widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives" (1 Timothy 5:6).

We have not made a straightforward application of the phrase, "God cannot be tempted by evil" (James 1: 13) to the Lord Jesus as God on the grounds that, though His Divine nature would be untemptable, it could be objected that His human nature might be subject to temptation. However, it is a verse certainly to be borne in mind and we must remember that He was, in the days of His flesh as always, one Person not two.