JAMES 1:17

The Bible says in James 1:17, “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.” God is a giver. God is light. God never changes. These are three important things to know about God. James had already told us in chapter 1 and verse 5 that says that God “gives to all liberally.” God gives to the evil and to the good, to the believer and to the unbeliever. God gives life and opportunity. God gives the sun, and the rain, and the earth. God gives salvation. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” It is no wonder that God loves a cheerful giver. When you give of your time, your money, your heart, or anything else, you are being a little bit like God. Anything that you have that is good, God gave it to you. Hopoefully you recognize that fact and thank Him for it.

God is a giver, and He is also an enlightener. James calls Him the Father of lights. He has always been the Father of lights. When He created the universe He said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” One of the problems with the world is that people need more enlightenment concerning what is good and what is true. The greatest enlightenment is the enlightenment of salvation. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” When the light of Christ shines into your soul, you will be transformed as nothing else can do. This light is so great that even the blind can see it. Sinners for countless ages will sing His praises singing, “I saw the light. I saw the Light. Praise the Lord, I saw the Light.” John said about Jesus in John 1:4-5, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

James tells us that God has “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Of course, this speaks of the consistent and unchanging nature of God. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This is a major difference between God and this present world and the people who are in this world. Life is full of changes. The only certainty about life is that everything changes. Nothing stays the same. If things are going really well for you right now, then watch out because things always change. If things are not going so good for you, then at least you know that things always change and therefore they just might start getting better.

People are always changing also. Those who are growing in the knowledge of the Lord are being transformed little by little into the image of Christ. If you are not in a process whereby you are changing for the better, then you are changing for the worse. The point is that no one is staying the same. Every person is heading in some direction. Every person is changing. But God is not changing. God is always the same. Jesus loves you just as much today as He did when He died on the cross for you. In spite of all the times that you may have failed Him, Jesus loves you just as much today as He did when He first saved you. The unchanging nature of God is a wonderful thing. This is true of all of His attributes. It is true of His righteousness and His justice. Sexual immorality was wrong in Sodom and Gomorrah, and it is still wrong: because God never changes.

The same concept must be used to understand how and why the Old Testament and the law apply today. God never changes. We are no longer under law, but under grace. But the same moral principles of the law still apply because God never changes. For example, one of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” In the times of the Old Testament a person would be stoned to death for committing adultery. We live in the age of grace. Times have changed, but God has not. It is still wrong to commit adultery. The same moral principle is still relevant, but the way that the principle is applied is different. Knowing that God never changes can help you to figure these things out and can help to keep you from falling into the trap of new-age morality.

A little earlier in this chapter we were told what does not come from God: namely temptation. Now we are told what does come from God: spiritual life. The Bible says in James 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.” The word that is translated “begat” is a word that literally means to give birth to. The emphasis is on the fact that a new life has been created. This new life is a spiritual life. The word “creatures” means His created beings. This is the same teaching that we find in John chapter one when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the new birth. The Bible says in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

There are several similarities between James 1:18 and John chapter one. Both speak of a new birth. Both emphasize the fact that it is God’s will, not man’s will, that creates this spiritual life. Both point out that this new life is directly related to the Word of God. James says that this spiritual birth comes by means of “the word of truth.” John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:4 says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” And John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” There is a direct and unalterable relationship between eternal spiritual life, Jesus Christ who is the living Word, and the Bible which is the written Word. Without Jesus you would never have spiritual life. Without the Bible you would never hear about Jesus.

If you have received eternal life through Christ, it only happened because you first heard the Word of truth about Him. How very important it was that you heard the truth and that you listened to what you heard. In connection with this concept James 1:19 says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” If all that you did was talked and never listened, you would have never gotten saved because you would have never listened to the gospel. The same principle is true in other aspects of life. There is a time to speak, but there is also a time to listen. The less that you speak, the more that you will learn. The less that you speak, the less that you will sin. Many sins that are committed by people are the sins of saying the wrong words and saying words that should not be said: lying, condemning, gossiping, cursing, and many other words are sins.

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Why should we be slow to wrath? What is wrong with wrath or anger? James 1:20 tells us. It says, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” One of the purposes of life is to work the righteousness of God, in other words to do His will. But when human beings are angry, it is usually because of some selfish motivation. A person did not get what they wanted when they wanted it, and so they got angry. Or things did not work out the way that someone wanted, and so they got angry. All of that is directly associated with selfish human will. If you are angry, you are usually not living by faith, and you cannot serve God without living by faith. “The just shall live by faith.” Learn to control anger. Learn to do away with anger. Beware of anger and wrath. You will only cause yourself misery and suffering. If you have a quick temper, then you need to ask God to help you apply James 1:20 to your life and to help you become “slow to wrath.”

In the next several verses James emphasizes the importance of both hearing and obeying the Word of God. Some people do not understand the importance of hearing the Word of God. Other people do what it takes to hear the Word of God, but some of them do not understand the importance of both hearing and putting into practice what has been heard. The Bible says in James 1:21-25, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

In these verses an emphasis is made upon the Word of God. Three things are mentioned as needing to go along with receiving the Word of God: repentance, meekness, and obedience. James 1:21 says, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word.” Service to God in any form must always go hand-n-hand with repentance. King David said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” John the Baptist refused to baptize anyone who had not shown evidence of truly repenting. He said in Luke 3:7-8, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” If you have sin in your life, there is no sense in picking up the Word of God and looking for a blessing. You must first repent of that sin and get cleansed from it by Jesus.

When we receive the Word of God, we are told to “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness.” We are also told to receive the Word of God “with meekness.” Biblical meekness means to not be self-willed. A meek person is a surrendered person: surrendered to the will of God. A proud person or a selfish person will not understand the Word of God and will not receive a blessing from it. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek.”

In order to receive the Word of God the way that He wants you to receive it, you must be repentant, you must be humble and meek, and you must receive it being ready to obey it. This is a very important point to remember. That is why out of these three points, James spends the most time explaining and expanding upon the third one. Whenever you read the Bible, do not read it just to find out what it has to say. Make sure that you also read it always with the intention of putting into practice what you have read. Do not be a ”hearer of the word, and not a doer.” Do not be a “a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work.” If you follow this admonition, then according to James you will be “blessed” in your deed.

We have just looked a little bit at the importance of the Word of God, and the importance of obeying as well as hearing the Word. In the last two verses of James chapter one we will be shown a couple of other things that are very important if we wish to truly serve God in this world. The Bible says in James 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.” This is already the second time that James mentions the tongue, and the importance of being under control in what we say. Words are important. The right words spoken at the right time can do great good in the world. The wrong words can do great evil. According to Jesus, we will be judged one day by the very words that we have said. The words are not forgotten. They are recorded by God who hears everything. One of the best measures of your true spiritual condition has to do with what words come out of your mouth. Your religion is vain, it is empty and of no practical value, if you do not bridle your own tongue. Do you give financially to help the ministry? Do you attend church services? Do you study God’s Word? Do you pray? Do you witness to lost souls? It is all vain if you do not bridle your own tongue? If you do not bridle your own tongue but do all these other things, you have deceived yourself into thinking that you have true religion.

Concerning true religion the Bible says in James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

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