James 1:16-18 brings the third paragraph of the epistle to its conclusion. James 1:16 serves as a turning point in this paragraph with the loving, pastoral admonition, “Do not err, my beloved brethren.” This admonition renews that of verse 13 and returns the focus of the paragraph to the counsel concerning our right attitude toward the Lord our God. Yet with this admonition the focus of this counsel turns from the negative truth that the Lord our God never tempts anyone with sin and turns to the positive truth that the Lord our God provides every good and perfect gift. On the one hand -- “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” (verse 13). On the other hand -- “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (verse 17). On the one hand, we must never attribute to the Lord our God or accuse Him of any sinful temptation. On the other hand, we must acknowledge and appropriate the truth that He is eternally good and that He is the Source of all good. This truth concerning our Lord God’s eternal goodness is revealed in the declaration of verse 17 and illustrated in the declaration of verse 18. Grammatically, verses 17-18 provide two separate declarations of truth, wherein verse 17 may be divided into three parts and verse 18 may be divided into two parts.
1. Our Lord God’s Perfectly Good Care 2. Our Lord God’s Purely Righteous Character 3. Our Lord God’s Permanently Unchanging Constancy 4. Our Lord God’s Personally Loving Choice
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Pastor Scott Markle was raised in a Christian home, and received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior at the age of four. He has served the Lord his God and Savior in pastoral ministry since 1992. He has served as the pastor of Melvin Baptist Church, a small country church in the...
