Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one (James 1:13).
Where does temptation come from?
Apparently, James knew believers who thought it came from God.
Some Christians still think that today, because of how they understand God’s “sovereignty.” God is only sovereign, they say, if He unilaterally controls and determines all things.
For example, the Westminster Confession of Faith declares,
God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass (WCF 3.1).
If God ordained everything that comes to pass, and temptations come to pass, then God must ordain temptations. That’s simple logic, right? In other words, according to this theology, when you are tempted, you are ultimately being tempted by God.
Is that true?
Not at all, says James, “He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
The truth is, as James clarifies, God is the source of all good, not all evil:
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (James 1:17).
A Biblical view of sovereignty understands that God is not the source of everything, but of every good thing.
There are forces in creation that are rebelling against God, and those are the sources of temptation, evil, and sin.
That’s important to know because if you thought temptation ultimately came from God, you might use that as an excuse not to fight against it as hard.
But temptation is not from God.
It’s from the enemy.
Don’t give in to it! Fight!
Curtis Smale
Yes, but God can lead us into temptation. He led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
marcia hornok
Jesus instructed His followers to pray that God (our Father in heaven) would “lead us not into temptation…” I wonder if that can be considered a litotes statement, where the negative serves to emphasize the positive? In other words, “Lead us as far away from temptation as possible.” Another biblical litotes is “I will not blot out his name from the book of life.” We must not conclude that our name CAN BE blotted out. It is merely an understatement to emphasize that the name of him who overcomes will be highlighted or pointed out in the book of life.
Perry
A Free Grace Bible teacher explained it as follows. Every person ever conceived has his/her name written in the Book. All who receive Christ (become born-again) have their names remain in the Book permanently. When a lost person says “no” to God’s offer of eternal life for the last time (thereby searing their conscience to the Gospel), God blots his/her name out of the Book. I suppose that at the judgement God may show the condemned person the blotted-out space, demonstrating that He gave him every chance for his name to remain but the person was responsible for his own destiny.
JERRY
Not the same as being tempted by God. It is allowed and in Jesus’ case necessary to show that He was without sin and ultimately our propitiation before God.