The admonition not to be deceived should be seen as a transition, a "hinge verse" (Davids 1982:86), directed both to the preceding ideas and to the next verses. Don't be deceived about the origin of temptation, and don't be deceived about the origin of every good gift either. It should also be seen as a verse of deep concern addressed to my dear [or "beloved"] brothers. James earnestly wants to help his readers in their suffering and to save them from the greatest danger to their lives: sin. Notice in this paragraph an outline parallel to the one in 1:13-15.

1. God's nature and will. He is the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. The association of God with heavenly lights is an image of his exalted glory and power. The dissociation of God from shifting shadows is a declaration of his immutability. Both images are designed to give us assurance that we may rely upon him confidently. James wants his readers to cling to the certainty of God's unchanging love in their suffering. Furthermore, this guaranteed nature of God has led to this will of God: He chose to give . . . What James emphasizes is that God gives by his own will (participle bouletheis), not someone else's; he gives good and perfect gifts, not evil ones; in fact, every good gift is from him, not just some of them.

James intends the force of these truths to accumulate with impact on our actual beliefs about God. Especially in times of trial, is your image of God one of exalted authority, trustworthy constancy and unfailing generosity? Do you believe that God gives you good gifts? The same young man who faced his error of blaming his parents also said to me, "I've been a Christian five years, but it's been only in the last few months that I have taken God seriously. I have talked a good God-game, but I have not taken seriously his power and authority to change my life." Again I rejoiced over his humility and honesty; I have every confidence that God will deliver him from his addiction and make him someday "mature and complete, not lacking anything."

2. The dynamics of good gifts. First, the origin of the good gifts is emphatically God himself. Whether one acknowledges God as the provider of blessings is an issue of major consequence. Failure in this was, for example, a step in Israel's spiritual adultery, according to Hosea 2:5, 8, 12. James is passionate about this because he wants his suffering readers to be able to apply it in their trials. They need to believe this fundamental truth: in the midst of the trials, God has good gifts for them.

Second, the action of the good gifts is one of coming down. The implied application of this fact is that we are to look up! With the allusion to far-off heavenly bodies James evokes an image of looking up to receive something wondrous, in order that we may anticipate God's good gifts instead of looking only at the hardship of our circumstances. John Bunyan said, "Temptation provokes me to look upward to God."

Third, the effect of the good gifts comes in two stages. The initial effect is to give us birth. It refers not merely to physical birth but to regeneration, since it comes through the word of truth which becomes the theme of 1:19-27, where it is not God's creative word but his saving and freeing word. The contrast is to sin in 1:15, which gives birth to death (the same verb apokyeo). The further effect of God's good gifts is to make us "a kind of firstfruits of all he created"—that we become not only alive but also changed. The image of firstfruits connotes an expectation of the ultimate fruit-bearing goal of God's work in us. It is the image with which James concludes this section; its meaning will be apparent as we review the passage.

The implication of what James teaches is to encourage the application of God's own nature and will in Christians' practice. We call certain attributes of God "incommunicable" because finite beings do not possess them. God's immutability is one such attribute. But James is persistent in wanting Christians to practice God's ways and to live identifiably as the firstfruits of God's redemptive work through Christ. James is encouraging Christians to imitate God's ways, which are in contrast to their own evil desire.

The first aspect of God's character emphasized in the text was his holiness, which is so absolute that he cannot be tempted by evil. Our high calling as firstfruits of his creation is to have that character of holiness more and more clearly reflected in us. We imitate God in his holiness when we resist temptation because we abhor sin.

The second fact of God's character was his grace. He gives good gifts. We imitate God in this trait by graciously giving good gifts to others—even to those who are causing the trials in our lives, for we will give "generously to all without finding fault" (1:5). When we are treated unjustly and hurtfully, we will take our stand here: to rely on God to provide good gifts for us while we persevere in loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us and praying for those who mistreat us (Lk 6:27-28).

The third fact emphasized about God was his immutability. Even this can be reproduced in a finite form. The trait by which we participate in this attribute of God is none other than perseverance—the very trait which God will develop in us through the testing of trials.

This is where the topic of perseverance in trials, begun in 1:2-3, has led us. It is James's earnest desire that Christians facing trials of many kinds should see the special privilege set before them in the circumstance of a trial. We have a goal higher than merely escaping the trial or avoiding the pain. God is at work through the trial to make us "mature and complete"—in fact, like God in character and ways. This is James's message: Christian, be astounded at your high calling to reflect and even participate in God's divine nature, and let your astonishment be your motivation then to "consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds."

Our Response to Trials: A Theology of Suffering

With the climax of the passage reached in 1:16-18, Christians can see how crucial is their response to trials. When servants of God meet trials (a loss, a setback, an attack, an injustice, a suffering), they can respond in either of two ways presented by James. They can respond out of evil desires, making the trial an occasion for temptation, leading to sin. Or they can respond out of faith, with joy that they are truly blessed. This response makes the trial an opportunity for testing instead of temptation, and this testing develops perseverance that causes the Christian to become more like God, mature and complete in Christ.

The purpose of reducing the passage to these simple terms is not to oversimplify the awful crises many Christians face, as if the response were easy or mechanical. The purpose is rather to illuminate the pivotal step in facing suffering. When you encounter a trial, such as unjust treatment from another, you may experience a temptation to retaliate by criticizing, gossiping, withholding love or inflicting injury. Instead, in the light of James's teaching, you can ask God to help you take several steps.

1. Deal with the evil desire in yourself. Repent of it, confessing that the temptation comes from your own evil desire.

2. Consider the trial pure joy. Thank God—not for the temptation, for that came from evil desire, but for the good gifts God will bring in the testing.

3. You may still go on to oppose the injustice and try to change the circumstances of the trial. Some Christians, when they encounter evil, regard it as sent by God and call it "the cross I must bear." From such a mistaken perspective, passive endurance is the only proper response, because resisting the trial would be resisting God. This is a misunderstanding of Jesus' use of the cross image. When Jesus said his followers must take up their cross, he was describing the discipline they would need to persevere in the face of expected persecution. From James's teaching, the Christian does not have to leave circumstances untouched as "the cross" to be carried. God is not pleased by injustice; so the Christian will work to oppose injustice. At the same time, servants of God may consider it pure joy that they have opportunities to be tested for the development of perseverance.

The response of pure joy is, then, neither a passive acceptance of injustice (that would be unholy) nor an unrealistic escapism (that would be untruthful). James has shown joy to be an honest, realistic response to trials because of the truth of God's nature.

I recall again my dear friends Jim and Marie. It has been sixteen years since their son died. They did persevere then, but new trials have come. Marie was diagnosed with cancer. Months of chemotherapy followed; their financial burden was heavy with no insurance; Marie was confined to her home much of the time; loneliness and depression were frequent; pain was constant. Marie told me that at times it was difficult to feel confident about God's love for her. But she found her faith in God growing. She believed God's love for her through Christ to be real and sufficient to save her, deliver her and accomplish the blessing of her life in spite of the suffering. Marie set her heart on the crown of life.

Jim and Marie were not exuberant during those days; but they were persevering by faith. I prayed for the full blessing unfolded in James 1:1-18 to be fulfilled in them. For they are dearly loved by God, who unchangeably gives good gifts and who calls Jim and Marie to joy.

And now I have received news that Marie has died, and I have just talked with Jim. He said, "I tell people Marie is now in the best place she could possibly be, and that I will see her again. Some of them ask me, `How do you know?' I tell them, `I've staked my life on it.' " While that may not exactly answer their question, Jim's testimony is very proper. He has taken the stand of faith in Christ of which James the Just was writing. I weep for my friend, but I can rejoice for him as well.