I really love the Book of James because it is just so practical. Paul was an apostle, so His letters are deep and theological, but James was a pastor, and he was practical. His is the oldest book in the New Testament, written at a time when doctrine was not yet highly developed, and it deals with some of the very basic issues in people’s lives, such as everyday temptation.

That is the subject I want to tell you about today. Temptation is something that we all have to live with at some time and in some form, but James gives us some very simple wisdom about temptation and the attitude and response we should have to it.

First, he tells us, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13). This verse clearly says that God would never tempt us with evil. It is against His character. There’s nothing evil in God. He doesn’t even know evil, so He would never tempt us with it.

This is a fundamental concept to understand when we deal with temptation, because if we believe that God is the one tempting us, then we will not respond appropriately to temptating situations.

Let me give you an example. When Denise and I began in the ministry, we were pastors of a ministry for single adults. Some were simply unmarried, some were widowed, some divorced, but they were all single, and that meant that many of them didn’t really have anybody to open their hearts to about what they were thinking or what they were struggling with, so they would talk to me and Denise. 

In that ministry, there was one young man, a really good-looking businessman, and he was constantly falling into sexual sin with his girlfriend. Every time he would fall into sin, he’d come knocking on my door and say, “Pastor, I fell again.” 

This was such a regular conversation that one day, I asked him, “Where are you when you always fall into sin?” 

He said, “I’m in my girlfriend’s apartment.” 

I said, “Have you ever thought maybe it’s not wise for you to be there alone with her? Maybe you shouldn’t put yourself in that position.”

Well, he gave me a very religious answer. He said, “Pastor, what do you want me to do — run from sin? God wants me to stay there. I think God has arranged this situation to see how strong I’ll be.”

He was absolutely convinced that God was arranging this situation to test him, so he just kept going back.

There are two big problems with this attitude. First of all, it shows a misunderstanding of God’s nature. God is not stupid — He already knows about our weaknesses, so He doesn’t need to test us to find out what we’re going to do. Number two, it serves as an excuse to not be responsible. The wise choice for this young man would have been to move his feet and get out of that apartment, but instead, he insisted that it was a test from God, and that became an excuse for him to stay there and keep falling into sin again and again!

That’s the attitude James was trying to eliminate when he said, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God…” (James 1:13).

The phrase “of God” implies God doing something from a distance. It implies that the believers would religiously say, “Well, we know God is not personally tempting us, but God is God, and He could stop it if He wanted to. Since He has not stopped me or prevented me from doing it, maybe He has allowed this.”

In response to that attitude, James said, “Stop it! Don’t even talk like that. God never puts you in a difficult position. God never tempts you with evil.” He wanted to make sure they understood the true nature of temptation, so he began explaining to them in the next verse: 

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

—James 1:14

First of all, this verse says “every man,” meaning that every single person has to deal with some kind of temptation. This is a biblical promise — every one of us will be tempted.

It further says that everyone will be tempted “by his own lust.” That is an interesting phrase, and it’s actually something that I’m sure many of us have already experienced. What this phrase is saying is that every person has his own personal weaknesses. What tempts one person does not tempt another, and the other way around. Some people are just naturally tempted to be offended. Other people are tempted with sex. Then, there are people that have grown up in the church, and they’ve never been tempted sexually, but they might be tempted to steal. Some people’s temptation is food or not eating healthy. I can tell you that that is my temptation.

Every one of us deals with our own issues, and James calls this being “drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” In the original Greek, those words “drawn away” and “enticed,” are actually fishing terms.

Imagine a fish in the river, just hiding behind a tree or a rock, minding his own business, and all of a sudden — “plunk” in the water — something falls right in front of the fish. A good fisherman will begin to slowly reel his line in, and the lure in front of the fish begins moving, and the fish follows it, as if hypnotized. Then the fisherman stops, and the lure begins to fall, but then, the fisherman will jerk the line to make that lure looks alive and then keep reeling it in, and the whole time, the fish is just watching this lure. After the fish watches for enough time, it finally becomes so hypnotized that when the fisherman jerks the lure again, the fish drops all resistance and strikes it. 

That is a wonderful picture of the way temptation speaks to us. It says, “Come out. You have a reason to be offended. Think about it. Think about what they did to you” — it draws you out, and draws you out — “It won’t hurt anyone if you steal this little thing. You’ll be alright if you have this one unhealthy snack, and it will taste so good.”

This is the way temptation speaks to us. There’s something right in front of you, and you know you shouldn’t do it, but it draws you out, and every time it moves, you follow it. It doesn’t matter what kind of temptation you have, because they all operate the same way.

James gives us another picture of temptation in the next verse:

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

—James 1:15

James is giving us the picture that our lusts, our temptations, can only conceive sin and death, and I want you to think for a moment — how does a woman conceive? If a husband is in one room and the wife is way over in the other room, how are they going to conceive? They can’t. It is only by closeness that conception occurs.

With these images, James is telling us how temptation operates. It will call to you, “Come out. Come out. Think about it. Look at it. Ponder on it,” and finally, when you get so close to it in your mind, it conceives sin. What you conceive in your mind, you will perform, and the Bible says that when you do, you will produce death.

With these ideas of temptation in mind, James commands the Church, “Do not err, my beloved brethren” (James 1:16). In other words, James is saying, “Okay, brothers. I just told you how temptation works, and you can stop it at any point, so don’t fall into it.” Friend, you can stop it at any point. If you know that it’s going to call to you, then you can stop it right there and just not respond. If you have already responded, you can still stop it — just don’t bite the bait. If you’ve already conceived it — if you’ve been living with this temptation in your head and you’re about to act on it — it’s still not too late! Repentance can still bring you back.

Now, I’m not saying that this is an easy process — temptation wouldn’t be so dangerous if it was easy to ignore — but it is simple. The first thing we have to do is recognize that our problem just isn’t that special.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man….”

When the Bible says temptations are “common to man,” it’s the word anthropinos (ἀνθρώπινος) which means it’s just regular. It’s just what every human being goes through. This is so important to know because when you’re being tempted, that temptation feels huge. It seems like a mountain that you cannot climb, but what Paul is talking about here is the correct thinking we should have about that temptation. We have to minimize it, not maximize it. We have to say, “This feels big, but it is nothing that other people haven’t faced and defeated.”  

This verse continues, saying, “…but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” This tells us the next step we need to take when dealing with our temptations. “Escape” is the Greek word ekbasin (ἔκβασιν) which means to walk out of something.

When you are in a situation where you are being tempted, and you’re praying to God for strength, this verse says that you already have the answer — two feet. That’s exactly what the verse means: “When there is temptation, God will enable you to walk out of it.”

For example, if you’re watching a film, and suddenly something sexual comes on that’s upsetting you, rather than sit there in the movie and pray for strength against your temptation, use your feet. Walk out of the movie. If walking isn’t enough, 2 Timothy 2:22 says to “flee” from lusts, to run as fast as you can from it. Think of Joseph in the Old Testament. When Potiphar’s wife made a move on him, what did he do? He ran. Running from temptation is the right thing to do. Put a distance between yourself and whatever is tempting you. It’s very simple. 

People don’t want it to be simple because it makes them responsible for it, but I think this is a wonderful thing. Just think about how easily you can apply this in your everyday life. Maybe there’s somebody who upsets you all the time, and for years you’ve been praying, “God, help me, not get upset at that person.” What should you do? Maybe what you really need is to quit spending time with them. You’ll love them better from a distance. If alcohol is a temptation, put space between you and people who drink. You don’t need to be with them. If smoking is a temptation, then don’t hang out with smokers. If you keep falling into sin with your boyfriend or girlfriend, don’t allow yourselves to be alone together. This is about taking responsibility for your life, and it’s really just as simple as making a decision to put space between you and that thing.

Even in a marriage, if Denise and I are talking and we’re somehow not understanding each other or if we’re offended or upset with each other, it doesn’t always help to stay there and keep talking. If we stay there too long, we may be tempted to fall into strife, so sometimes the answer is to say, “Let’s put some space between us and the conversation. Let’s take a break from this conversation.”

We have control over our lives, friend. Whatever we are tempted with, we have the opportunity to escape. First, we have to recognize that temptation for the evil that it is and realize that it does not come from God and we have no excuse for it. Then, we have to realize that, no matter how big it feels, it is just common to man. It is just a regular problem that other people have struggled with and fallen into and had victory over before. Once we have our minds right about our temptations, we are free of the illusion that we have to stay in them, and we can just use our feet to get us out, following the escape path that God is faithful to provide for every one of us.