The Blessed Man

James 1:12–15 speaks about two kinds of people: the blessed man and the cursed man. There is no question there are blessed people in every true church, but there also may be cursed people. If after reading this, you conclude you are not blessed, I pray you will repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal salvation.

The Blessed Man

In this passage, the brother of our Lord describes the nature of a blessed man and a blessed woman. Jesus himself spoke about blessed people in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”; “Blessed are those who mourn”; “Blessed are those who are meek”; “Blessed are those who are pure in heart,” and so on. Jesus says those blessed by God will inherit the kingdom of God. Here James says, “Blessed are those who endure trials of various kinds”—trials that include persecution, poverty, sickness, loneliness, slander, imprisonment, and even martyrdom.

The blessed man loves the Lord with all his heart. He finds his total happiness in the Lord alone, by virtue of his vital union with him. Having entered the kingdom of God, he now experiences righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He has said goodbye to the pleasures of sin and seeks to please God in all areas of life: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

A Christian finds his happiness in God, as the psalmist declares: “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11). The psalmist also says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25-26).

Are you a blessed person? A blessed person finds supreme joy in his God, not in gold or silver or the other things of this passing world. Blessings eternal flow to him from his God, from whom nothing can separate him. In Christ, he is given eternal life, and he shall never perish.

The Christian is a blessed (makarios, Gk.) man. He delights in God, in God’s word, and in God’s holy church. The word makarios appears fifty-four times in the New Testament. We are a people blessed by God. We are, therefore, a happy people, a people full of indescribable, inexpressible joy.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation.” Abraham endured testing and received God’s blessing (Gen. 22). Joseph endured testing, as did Daniel and the three Hebrew children, and God took care of them. Stephen endured testing and died in faith. Paul and Peter endured testing and suffered martyrdom. Above all, Jesus endured testing and died in faith for our sakes, even the death on the cross. In contrast, Israel failed to endure testing, and the vast majority of them perished in the wilderness.

Every believer will be tested by God and tempted by the devil. Our testing lasts all our lives. A Christian born of God shall endure testing, for God himself will help us to endure. The elect shall confess Christ, because it is impossible for God’s children to be deceived and forsake Christ as Judas and Demas finally did.

The Holy Spirit shall enable us to endure testing. God guarantees it. We are in God, and God’s hand will infallibly grip us, uphold us, and guide us.

As believers, we will go through fiery trials. Yet our Lord, who himself was tested and approved by his Father, will go before us. So in Christ, we will endure trials, and we shall be approved by God. In Christ, we are more than conquerors, and we can even conquer every temptation we face. Our God is great and mighty to help us.

Remember also that all trials are for our spiritual, everlasting good. They make us strong, perfect, holy, and blameless in God’s sight. So we can glory in afflictions because we know that they produce endurance, character (that is divine approval), and hope of the glory of God. Trials wean us away from this evil age so that we may focus on Christ, our living Savior, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down on the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

As believers, therefore, we shall suffer trials of various kinds, external and internal, because sin still dwells in us. But God will help us to endure all trials successfully so that we may receive the crown of life. By the Holy Spirit we shall endure trials and overcome them. We are overcomers in Christ.

Paul speaks about this work of the Holy Spirit in Titus 3: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (vv. 5–6). Paul also writes, “So I say, [walk] by the Spirit,” and then there is the guarantee by God, “and you will not fulfill the desires of the [flesh]” (Gal. 5:16). Why do we sin? We are not walking by the Spirit. Why do we sin? We don’t fear God. We must understand this.

Paul also says, “But if you are [being] led [agesthe, Grk. ] by the Spirit, you are not under law. . . . Since we live by the Spirit, let us [walk] in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:18, 25). And we read in Hebrews 2:18: “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Those who have been defeated by sin should grab hold of that verse, and start living in the victory and success that God delights to give you. The Hebrews author also says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need,” or our time of temptation (Heb. 4:16).

God will help us in all our trials. We like to exaggerate our little trouble. But note Paul’s words: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” Even martyrdom is common to man. “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). We can do so in triumph, successfully, with God’s help. Elsewhere, Paul assures us, “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). Christ is interceding for us who are experiencing temptation and trials. And his prayer and intercession are always, absolutely effective.

James says, “When he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). Having endured temptation, we shall receive a crown. The crown of life is a crown consisting of eternal life, not a wilting crown of leaves given to successful Olympian athletes. We may enjoy the blessing of eternal life now in the midst of trials and temptations. But in the future, we shall enjoy eternal life in its heavenly fullness.

Because Christ wore a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:29), the people of Christ shall receive a crown of life of everlasting joy. We do not earn it. James says we receive it as a gift. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

The Bible speaks of three crowns we are to receive. First, of course, is the crown of life. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

We also receive a crown of righteousness. Paul said right before his martyrdom, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). And we must ask: what are we longing for?

We also receive a crown consisting in our glory. Peter says, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Pet. 5:4).

These crowns are emblems of highest joy, glory, and immortality. Christ died for our sins and lives forever. In him we also live forever. He is our life, he is our righteousness, and he is our glory.

God has promised the crown of life for every believer from all eternity. So we read, “For those God foreknew [foreloved] he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30).

It is not our little decision or our little repentance or our little obedience that saves us. It is not our little giving two dollars to the church that saves us. It is God’s eternal love, in which he chose you to this salvation.

In love, the Father chose us in Christ in eternity. In time, Christ on the cross accomplished our redemption. And the Holy Spirit applies this salvation to all the elect people of God. Man lies, but God always tells truth. God keeps his promises, as Paul says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20).

So let God be true and all men liars! Believe God’s promises, and you shall receive a crown of life. We shall receive the crown when the test ends, when we have stood the test.

We are told that when lead crystal bowls are made, they must go through the fire until, in a sense, they sing. So Paul says we also may glory in tribulations. We sing, we glory, we praise in tribulations. And James tells us to consider all trials pure joy. When a bowl is being made, the tester taps lightly at the edge of the bowl when it is taken out of the fire, and when he hears the musical reverberating sound, then he says, “It is done. It is approved.” So also our trials will be over soon, and we shall sing forever in heaven, where we hear only singing—not any sound of crying or weeping, for we shall receive the crown of life.

This crown of life is not for every person who claims to believe in Jesus. There is a limiting clause in this verse: “to those who love him.” Most of those who claim to be Christians are plastic, fake Christians. I have seen them in churches throughout my life. They are fools, liars, cheats, and deceivers. They only want to get something from a church. Like leeches, mosquitoes, bedbugs, or mistletoe, they come to churches to suck them dry.

These plastic, fake Christians lack the root of love. They lack obedience to our Lord. They are those of whom John speaks: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14).

Plastic, fake Christians have no good works. Their faith is not true saving faith. Such worldly Christians abound in all circles of Christianity. Theirs is easy Christianity. Yet because they “follow Jesus” without taking up the cross, they shall not receive the crown of life. Only those who continually love God shall receive the crown of life.

This truth is also stated elsewhere. James says, “Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” (James 2:5). “Love him” means obey him and sacrifice for him. Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). He also says, “However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’” (1 Cor. 2:9); in other words, who keep his commandments. Paul also says, “But the man who loves God is known by him” (1 Cor. 8:3).

Those who love God will obey God. The essence of God’s commandments is love. Jesus taught, “‘Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself”’ (Luke 10:27). Those who are born of God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit will love God who loved them first. We love God because the Holy Spirit has poured out the love of God and love for God into our hearts in abundance.

Paul said same thing: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:5). Jesus said elsewhere, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). I don’t know all that implies, but I do know that in his presence is fullness of joy and on his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Do not be deceived. Ask yourself: “Do I love God?” If we love God, he will give us a crown of life. We must make our calling and election sure. Jesus asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not obey my teaching?” (Luke 6:46). All lawless people shall be sent away from Christ on the day of judgment.

We cannot escape trials through easy believism or plastic Christianity. We cannot live like the rich man here and like Lazarus in paradise. We must love and obey God. Sinning is easy, and the highway of holiness is hard. (PGM) Yet with God, we shall mount up with wings as eagles and will reach Zion, the city of our God, which God has prepared for us.

Even now, God is crowning us with his loving kindness (Ps. 103:4). So rejoice, you saints! The crown shall surely follow the contest. Not the crown of death eternal, but the crown of life eternal is waiting for each of us.

The Cursed Man

What if you are not a blessed man or woman who has already trusted in Christ? There is also hope for you, because God is merciful. Today, if you repent truly and believe savingly in Jesus Christ, you will become a blessed person.

In James 1:13–15, James tells us what is waiting for those who do not endure temptation, but yield to sin; to those who shift blame to God, parents, pastors, spouses, and live the medical model of irresponsibility. Such people blame God for all their troubles, even while they take credit for all the good things they receive from God’s hands.

In these verses, we see imperatives. God commands; he never begs. He commands all people everywhere to repent. He commands all people everywhere to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. Likewise, pastors are to command, not beg. For example, Paul told Timothy to command the rich (1 Tim. 6:17–18).

So God commands, “Let no one being tempted say, ‘I am being tempted by God’” (v. 13). In other words, God is saying, “Shut your mouth.” We should not say, “I am innocent and blameless. God is evil, and he is giving me trouble.” This is a very popular argument. But it cannot stand up, because it is a big lie, for three reasons.

First, God is untemptable of evil. The Shorter Catechism teaches, “God is a spirit—infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” He is the perfect God. No evil can tempt him and make him fall, like the devil and our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell. Paul says in Titus 1:2 that God is apseudês, which means God is incapable of lying. God is truth; he cannot lie. So James says that God is apeirastos (untemptable). He is holiness; he is perfection.

Second, God does not tempt a single person in his universe. He is the Creator of all and all that he created was very good (Gen. 1:31). James denies that God is the source of evil. Rather, he affirms that he is the source of all good. It is a falsehood to say God is the source of evil. So James says in the next passage, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadow” (James 1:16–17).

Yes, there is a mystery of evil, but the truth that God is not the source and author of evil is no mystery. It is clearly revealed throughout the holy Scriptures. So stop blaming God for all your troubles! As God tested Abraham, he tests man, not that he may sin and fail, but that he may triumph in the testing with divine help. When we are tempted, God promises to provide a way out so that we can endure it successfully (1 Cor. 10:13).

Third, we are responsible for our own sin. Blameshifting is an ancient sin. Adam and Eve were created perfect, yet they sinned in paradise: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Gen. 3:6). Then God called Adam to account, and he blamed God: “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Gen. 3:12). In other words, Adam was saying to God, “I just obeyed you by obeying the woman you gave me.”

We must never say that God is tempting us. James says each of us is being tempted by his own evil desires within him, by his own evil heart. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt. 15:19). Our hearts are wicked; we can blame only ourselves for our sins.

Though a Christian is, by reason of new birth, no longer under the rule of sin, sin still dwells in him (Rom. 6, 8). But in Christ, it is possible for all believers to overcome sin. Only at death shall our spirits be perfected. But thank God, “the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

Yes, sin still dwells in me, but the Holy Spirit also dwells in me, and the Holy Spirit is greater than sin in me. As I am filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, I am able to put sin to death. So Paul says, “For if you live according to the [flesh], you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). He also says, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (Rom. 6:22). We have been set free from sin and made slaves of God. There is no greater freedom than to be made a slave of God. If the Son has set us free, we are free indeed!

The unbeliever has no such freedom. He is described by the term, “Non posse non peccare” (not possible not to sin). He can only sin, unlike believers, who are posse non peccare (possible not to sin). The unbeliever is a slave of sin. He can only sin, night and day, every day, all his life, in his imagination, in his words, and in his deeds. Oh, he may lie and say, “I am a wonderful, fine person. My parents have problems, my pastor has problems, my wife has problems, and even God has problems. But I am a wonderful person.” But such a person will not stand up under temptation; he will yield to it. Yet he always blames God and exculpates himself.

We can stand only with the help of the Holy Spirit. Peter writes, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). We can do so only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Gal. 5:17). Stand with the Spirit, and you will experience victory.

Believers wage war against the lusts of the flesh that war against our souls by yielding to the Holy Spirit, who rules in us. Joseph was successful in overcoming temptation when he was being tempted daily. But King David, the mighty warrior, failed and yielded to temptation. Think about it. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So James counsels believers to submit to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from us (James 4:6–7).

The sinning person is an arrogant, weak, graceless person. The psalmist says, “He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment” (Ps. 7:14). And we read, “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD” (Prov. 19:3).

Don’t blame God, James says, if you yield to temptation and fall into sin. You have found the enemy, but it is not God; it is not your father; it is not your wife; and it is not your pastor. It is you—your own evil heart, your own lust. You cannot even blame the devil. The Bible does not say we all sinned in the devil; it says we all sinned in Adam. The ultimate responsibility for sin rests in every sinning person. Our own lust is the mother of sin and death.

Why do people sin? They sin because there is very temporary pleasure in sin. The lust of man drags him and entices him as a fish is dragged and enticed by the bait that hides the hook. The pleasure of eating the worm that wiggles causes the fish to swallow the bait. Thus, it is caught, killed, and roasted on the fire and eaten.

Think about your own past. Peter speaks of certain false teaching as bait used to tempt people to sin: “With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!” (2 Pet. 2:14). He also says, “For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error” (2 Pet. 2:18).

James says that when anyone yields his will to his evil desires, he sins. Lust conceives when one’s will is yielded to it. Achan saw, coveted, and took. David saw, coveted, and took. But Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:28–29). So we must take drastic action to deal with sin. Sin in the heart becomes sin in the act. The child of lust is sin, and the child of sin is death eternal.

How many church people finally wind up in the pit of sin and degradation? A sinner is a slave to his lusts. Only true Christians can say “No” to their heart lusts. Only they can be overcomers in Christ. So Paul writes, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11–14).

Yet there is hope for those who are slaves of sin. God gives grace to the humble. Peter says, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Pet. 1:4).

So when we yield to our lusts with our wills, that lust becomes pregnant with sin, and sin is the result of the union of the will of man with his own lust. When sin is fully grown, it gives birth to eternal death. So Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death.” Then he adds, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Paul also says, “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death” (Rom. 7:5). He also says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). There are only two controllers: we are controlled either by lust or by the Spirit, and the result is death or life. I pray that even today we would all choose life!

Conclusion

The blessed man is one who by the grace of God endures temptation and is approved by God to receive the crown of eternal life. The cursed man is one who is a slave of his sinful passions and receives eternal death as the wages of his lifelong sin and enmity towards God, whose gospel of eternal salvation he rejected. He alone is responsible for his eternal damnation. So we read, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. . . . If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11–12, 15).

John Calvin expressed the following thought, that only those who love God are born of God,¹ not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” but do not obey him. The elect of God are effectually called, justified, and adopted; they are being sanctified with the goal of being glorified. By the love of God, they endure trials; they are approved by God; and they shall receive the crown of life. May God bless you, that you may be a blessed Christian, proving your status by the obedience of faith as you love and serve God.

¹ “[James] intimates that the elect who love him are alone approved by God.” John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistle of James (Grand Rapids: Baker, reprinted 1999), 287.