James and Me, God's Goodness

In our fictional conversation with James, the Lord's half-brother, and some guests (various Bible translations), we see God's goodness in James 1:16-18.

Transcript

Introduction

Good day, and thank you for sitting in with our fictional conversation with James, the Lord’s half-brother, and some special guests. Today, our conversationalists are: 

·       Mr. Wycliff (Wycliff translation)

·       ASW (A.S. Worell translation)

·       Bill (William Barclay translation)

·       J.B. (J.B. Phillips translation)

·       Scott McKnight (special guest, NIC, James)

·       MO (James Moffatt translation) 

·       AMP (The Amplified Version)

·       Vincent (Vincent Word Studies)

** 

As I sat, pleased with my suffering coin analogy and purpose of heart, Mr. Wycliff reached inside his tunic and pulled out a small scroll. The sun was setting, and I thought our day was over. The fire, dying down with the sun, offered enough light to see the spark in the elder’s eyes as he unrolled the scroll and read. 

It was from James' letter! I recognized the style immediately. I had heard that once his letter was sent, copies of small sections were written and disbursed amongst the community, unaware whether that was true. Mr. Wycliff had a small section, which was the conclusion to our conversation. 

We all looked at each other, both with astonishment and anticipation. Bill stood, grabbed the last few pieces of wood, and placed them on the fire. They were ablaze before he sat back down.  The new warmth mirrored our spirits as we listened to Mr. Wycliff read, 

“Do not err, my beloved brethren. 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. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:16-18 KJV). 

ASW broke the silence as Mr. Wycliff carefully re-rolled the scroll and placed it back inside his tunic. 

“[James is telling us] not to be deceived in matters of temptation, sin, and so forth,”[1] he said. 

I remember that discussion from our previous conversation: trials, temptations, and blame. Between then and now, I had heard more about the background James was addressing when he shared that several weeks ago. 

“[There are those in our community] who think tests are actual devious attempts by God to seduce us into sin are gravely mistaken. [With that] are tempted to think God is not good, that he does not dispense his wisdom to those who trust him, that he does incite his people into sin, and that he is hard to trust because he changes.”[2] 

I rehearsed what I had heard with the brethren. 

Then, a second unknown conversationalist, sitting next to H.L., leaned forward to speak. He introduced himself as Scott and commended me for my rehearsing, saying that he was the one who had originally shared that thought, and he was pleased it hadn’t been misrepresented today. I was glad I didn’t take credit for it—plagiarism never works.  

He continued, 

“[Three things are being said here] First, James contends that everything good is from God (Jas 1:17); second, that God does not change in his dispensing of good gifts, that is, in his faithfulness (Jas 1:17); and third, that this same good God has formed the readers into a community by the new birth (Jas 1:18).”[3] 

He concluded, 

“Every giving is good; every gift is perfect.”

MO accompanied his statement on God’s goodness, 

“Make no mistake about this, my beloved brothers: all we are given is good, and all our endowments are faultless, descending from above….”[4] 

Vincent then expounded on God’s goodness and His gifts, 

“The statement that these gifts are from God is in pursuance of the idea that God does not tempt men to evil. The gifts of God are contrasted with the evil springing from man's lust.”[5]

“How could anyone blame God for doing evil?” I thought. But people do it all the time, even with shadow statements like, “Why would God allow so much evil in this world….” I understand that statement from unbelievers, but believers must not be deceived. If the Father is in heaven and no evil is now present, no evil can be given. And that doesn’t even account for his holiness. 

“He is the Father of lights…” I spoke inwardly as my spirit raced with all that was being said. 

Vincent had continued speaking though dulled to me by my thoughts, but then verbally joined my silent rationale about coming down from the Father of lights, 

 “Lit., is coming down, from above. As usual, this union of the participle with the finite verb denotes something habitual.” 

“Lit., the lights, by which are meant the heavenly bodies. Compare Psalms 135:7 (Sept.); and Jeremiah 4:23 (Sept.). God is called “the Father of the lights,” as being their creator and maintainer.” 

“rightly, renders, shadow that is cast by turning; referring still to the heavenly orbs, which cast shadows in their revolution, as when the moon turns her dark side to us, or the sun is eclipsed by the body of the moon.”[6] 

I was grateful that AMP then summed up our lexicological friend, Vincent,  

“Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]” (James 1:17 AMPC).[7]

MO then concluded what he had begun earlier, 

“…the Father of the heavenly lights, who knows no changing of rising and setting, who casts no shadow on the earth. It was by his own will that we should be born by the word of truth, to be a kind of first fruits among his creatures. Be sure of that, my beloved brothers.”[8]

Bill, along with that said, 

“By an act of his own will, through the word of truth, he brought us into being….”[9]

It was then that I heard the contrast between good and evil, testing and tempting, begetting and begotten. 

I recalled how the entire conversation began with believers blaming God for temptations and confusing trials with those temptations. James refuted this and gave (what I called) the temptation timeline that used a genealogical theme—conception, birth, and ultimately spawning death. 

However, the goodness of God doesn’t spawn death but life through the new birth. Thus, God who gives life would never provide us with anything that would lead to death! 

That is the goodness of God: All God’s gifts are good, and salvation is the first! 

___ 

[1] A.S. Worrell, The Worrell New Testament (Springfield, Missouri: Gospel Publishing House, 1980). Page 341.
[2] Scott McKnight, The Letter of James, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2011). E-Sword Edition.
[3] IBID
[4] James Moffatt, A New Translation of the Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1935). Page 287.
[5] Marvin Vincent, Vincent’s Word Studies (Public Domain, 1886). E-Sword Edition.
[6] IBID
[7] The Amplified New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958). E-Sword edition.
[8] Moffatt, page 287.
[9] William Barclay, The New Testament A New Translation, 2 vols. (Great Britain: Collins, 1968). Page 198.