Some think God is the creator of evil, that He is the tempter, that He is not good. James gives two reasons why this is not true. God is great and God is good. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

1. James 1:16-18

2. (1–11) The Wisdom of God
(12–20) The Goodness of God
(21–27) The Word of God

3. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved
brethren. 17 Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and comes
down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us
forth by the word of truth, that we might
be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

4. The Danger of Deception
“brethren” ἀδελφός (adelphos) –
from the same womb
“beloved” ἀγαπητός (agapētos) –
cherished, preferred
above all others
“deceived” πλανάομαι (planaomai) – to wander about,
to stray from the truth

5. The Danger of Deception
• Believe you’re alone.
• Believe there’s no hope.
• Believe you don’t need God.
• Believe money will make you secure.
• Believe God can’t be trusted.

6. Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then He is not omnipotent.
Is He able, but not willing?
Then He is malevolent.
Is He both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is He neither able nor willing?
Then why call Him God? Epicurus

7. Goodness Comes Only From
God
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and comes down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning.
δοσις (dosis) = giving
δωρημα (dōrēma) = gift
13 Let no
one say when
he is tempted, “I am
tempted by God”; for
God cannot be tempted
by evil, nor does He
Himself tempt
anyone.

8. Goodness Comes Only From
God
17 Every good (agathos) gift and every perfect
(teleios) gift...
4 But let patience have its perfect (τέλειον) work,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking
nothing.
Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you
call Me good (agathos)? No one is good (agathos)
but One, that is, God...” (cf. Mk. 10:18; Lk. 18:19)

9. Goodness Comes Only From
God
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and comes down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning.
present participle: “it keeps on coming down”

10. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and comes down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning.
Genesis 1:17–18 God set them in the firmament
of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and
to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness. And God saw
that it was good.
God’s Goodness is Evidenced in
Creation

11. “Blessed be Thou, O Lord, King of the world,
Who formest the light and createst the darkness,
Who makest peace and createst everything; Who
in mercy, givest light to the earth and to those who
dwell upon it, and in Thy goodness day by day
and every day renewest the works of creation.
Blessed be the Lord our God for the glory of His
handiwork and for the light-giving lights which
He has made for His praise, Selah! Blessed be the
Lord our God, Who hath formed the lights.”
Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1964), p. 268.

12. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow of turning.
God’s Goodness is Evidenced in
Creation
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

13. “Two things fill the mind with
ever new and increasing
admiration and awe, the
more often and steadily we
reflect upon them: the starry
heavens above me and the
moral law within me. I do not
seek or conjecture either of
them as if they were veiled
obscurities or extravagances
beyond the horizon of my
vision; I see them before me
and connect them
immediately with the
consciousness of my existence.”
Immanuel Kant
(1724–1804)

14. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no (παραλλαγή, parallagē)
variation or shadow of turning.
God’s Goodness is Evidenced in
Creation

15. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and comes down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow
of turning.
God’s Goodness is Evidenced in
Creation
Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change;
therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever.

16. God’s Goodness is Experienced in
Christians
James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth
by the word of truth, that we might be a kind
of firstfruits of His creatures.

17. God’s Goodness is Experienced in
Christians
James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth
by the word of truth, that we might be a kind
of firstfruits of His creatures.
Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;
in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise,
Colossians 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up
for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the
word of the truth of the gospel,

18. God’s Goodness is Experienced in
Christians
James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth
by the word of truth, that we might be a kind
of firstfruits of His creatures.
“The solution for temptation is to be found
in a close relationship with the Father and a
constant response to His Word. One must
rest in the unchangeable Lord of light and
rely on His life-giving ‘Word of truth’.”
J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 822). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

19. God’s Goodness is Experienced in
Christians
James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth
by the word of truth, that we might be a kind
of firstfruits of His creatures.
1 Corinthians 15:20
But now Christ is risen
from the dead, and
has become the
firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep.

20. God’s Goodness is Experienced in
Christians
James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth
by the word of truth, that we might be a kind
of firstfruits of His creatures.
Romans 8:19–21 For the earnest expectation of the
creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons
of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in
hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God.

22. James 1:19-21

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