"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."
Of all the truths found in Scripture that people (in general) struggle to understand, this message from James would be near the top of the list. Many of those who reject the Gospel echo mass misconfusion around this topic. Their opinions primarily grounded in emotions prove only that who they believe God to be is subject to their experiential construct and not absolute truth. This is essential to acknowledge though, because in truth, many within the church privately believe similar misconfusion. They too filter truth through emotion for validity rather than the Word, and it is a serious issue we cannot gloss over.
Let us be clear in distinguishing trials that God gives to test us versus temptation. A trial is an event designed by God to refine our character, strengthen our faith, and draw us closer to Jesus and His Word. God uses trials as tests to measure the depth of faith we truly maintain as He did for Abraham, Moses, and the nation of Israel. Simply stated, a test reveals the honest, spiritual state of our heart.
In contrast, temptation lures a man into sin. It bends and twists truth to satisfy fleshly desires that elevates self over God. Temptation is never content but increases in deviance and idolatry over time like a downward spiral. Therefore, God would never create or instigate temptation because it would purposefully lure man further away from Himself as it exists in complete opposition to who God is as revealed in His Word.
The key as stated earlier is to separate emotion from truth, which is difficult to apply in certain situations (i.e. death of a loved one, terminal illness, prodigal child, etc). Any of these trials could easily result in temptations to sin where people blame God. The main point James reiterates is that God tests but does not tempt and is in supreme control despite our free will.
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