Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God" [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one. |
Bible Question: Does God lead us into temtation? If not, why did Jesus pray: "Lead us not into temtation"? |
Bible Answer: I suppose that there are times and occassions when God will, for one reason or another, put us in difficult situations; what we might call "trying" circumstances. There are even times when God will put us in places (circumstances) where we will be tempted to sin. But this verse (Jas. 1:13) is pretty clear that it will never be God Himself that would tempt or try to entice anyone to sin. In Gen. 22:1, it is recorded that the whole situation regarding the sacrifice of Isaac was God testing or tempting of Abraham. I believe that the word in the original language of the Old Testament can be translated as either "test" or "tempt" just like the word in the original language of New Testament. In Mt. 4:1, Jesus is taken out into the wildernes *by the Holy Spirit* in order to be tested or tempted *by Satan*. A very similar situation happened with Job. God permitted Satan to wreak tremendous destruction in this man's life, and in the lives of those close to him, all for the apparent purpose of testing or tempting or proving Job's character and faith. When I read the Lord's prayer (a.k.a. "the disciple's prayer), I am reminded to ask God for the grace to be spared from any such testing and tempting. When I read Jas. 1:13, I am reminded that if (or when!) testing, trials, and temptations come into my life, it is not God Himself that would ever entice me to sin. And when I read 1Co. 10:13, I am reminded, as Pastor Glenn said in a post above, that all of us face these temptations and that God is always willing and able to provide the strength to endure or the wisdom to see the route of escape (or both). |