Title: Trials and Temptations / James 1:2-4
Content 1. In our daily life, we face various kinds of tests. According to the Bible, the different kinds of temptations that come to humans are based on two roots. One is a “test” from God (Gen. 22:1), and the other is a “temptation” from the devil (Matt. 4:1). Temptations from God are painful in the process, but the result is always a valuable experience connected with blessings, but temptations from the devil always promise sweet fruits that can be followed without pain in the process. The result is always a taste of failure.
We need to pay attention to the words of the 19th century Denmak religious philosopher Kielkegol: "God gives trials to man, but the devil always tempts man." All human beings have a desire for success and success without pain or hard work. When this aleatory psychology faces real challenges and pains, we easily fall into the trap of the devil's plausible temptation. Therefore, the mind to find a way to live comfortably without effort and pain easily follows "self-greed" and adopts modesty, tactivism, expedientism, compromising with reality, and cold-heartedness. "Temptation" avoids pain and comes as a plausible promise of good fortune, but the result is always bitter regret and the pain of failure. On the other hand, “trials” entail bone-shearing pain in the process, but through these trials, God brings His beloved children to a more mature level of life (Job 23:10).
2. The Bible interprets the trials (pain) we face in the world in two ways. One is the suffering (the negative meaning of suffering) as a result of the sin of disobeying God's Word. This understanding of suffering is based on Old Testament thought as suffering as a result of sin (James 1:14-15) stemming from “self-greed” rather than the Word of God. For example, in the words of advice given to Job by his friends who witnessed Job's suffering, the expression "Have you seen anyone suffering without sin?" (Job 4:7) indicates that the truth behind Job's suffering is ultimately due to sin. When the disciples of Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth, what sin was it that this man was born blind, or was it his own or his parents? (John 9:2) Suffering was immediate. It implies that it is the result of sin. The Bible testifies that even in the suffering and trials that come as a result of sin, as long as you realize your sin and turn to God, God will use the adversity (environment of suffering) as a means of grace. )
Another meaning of trials is the positive meaning we have to endure in obeying (obeying) God's Word, that is, the suffering of the righteous that God allows. For example, it is the active meaning of suffering interpreted from the sufferings of Abraham (Genesis 22), the sufferings of Joseph, and the numerous trials and sufferings of Jesus Christ, which he had to endure through obedience to God's command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. In response to the question about the sin of a man who was born blind, Jesus answered, "It is not because of the sin of this man or his parents. It is to show what God wants to do" (John 9:3). I see that the interpretation is related to God's good will (motive), not because of sin. Trials with such positive meaning do not end in suffering, and in the end, the Bible testifies to us that God not only solves the suffering but also exalts him.