Hal Chaffee Ministries

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. – James 1:12

James, in our text, refers to a man whom he calls “Blessed.” He is blessed, not because he must endure the pain of temptation, but because he has overcome and received his reward. This reward is the “crown of life.”

By “crown,” James does not mean a crown of royalty in the sense that most of us think of a crown, but he is referring to a victor’s crown. This is a crown awarded as a prize to those who accomplished great deeds. It could be given to athletes, soldiers, or anyone who achieved or accomplished something admirable in the eyes of the state. The Bible compares our endurance through trials and temptations to that of an athlete competing in the Olympic Games. In both cases, one must strive to overcome great adversity. However, worldly prizes are fleeting, but the heavenly prize is eternal:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Our crown is imperishable because it is eternal life. Eternal life is the reward we shall receive when we have ‘been approved,’ as James says. It is the life that we shall have when everything in this world passes away. All the wealth and the fame and the glory of this world are fading and will be gone, but ‘he who does the will of God abides forever’ (1 John 2:17).

It is essential that we remember this reward as we persevere upon this earth. It is the only way to make sense of our trials while we are here. Our hope is not in this life and what we can accomplish here. Instead, our hope should be on the things to come, how we can be counted worthy to obtain that heavenly reward. We should be very wary of those who teach and preach about what we can obtain in this life but speak very little about the next. A simple reading of the New Testament will show any honest reader where his focus ought to be.

Striving for this Crown

I want you to notice that this crown is not obtained by all, but only by those who ‘endure temptation.’ Only these are the ones who are blessed. There are many others, even those called Christians, who will not obtain this crown, though they could have. James writes his letter to Christians, calling them ‘brethren.’ With this passage, he both warns and encourages those saints who read it. He encourages them by reminding them that their trials are temporary and will be rewarded, but he warns them that it is only those who persevere who shall inherit the crown.

When James says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation,” he implies that the opposite is true for those who do not. Instead, they are cursed. And when he reminds them of the promise of the crown of life, he implies the exclusion of those who fall. Contrary to much popular teaching in many Christian circles, there is no guarantee in Scripture that everyone who starts following Christ will complete their course. Many fall by the wayside and into eternal darkness. For them, it is worse than if they had never known the good ways of the Lord:

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” – 2 Peter 2:20-22

I don’t like to dwell on issues that divide the brethren. I know that a large number of Christians believe that once a person escapes the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord, he can never be lost. I think it is extremely dangerous that anyone holds to this doctrine, for it only soothes the sinning soul, those whose conscience may be otherwise alarmed. The warnings of scripture against apostasy are many. It would be wise to take them seriously. The apostle Paul certainly did, for he warned his church in Ephesus ‘day and night with tears’ that wolves would come to scatter the flock:

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. – Acts 20:29-31

Why did Paul warn the believers day and night with tears for the space of three years? Was it because he was assured that all those who had come to Christ under his ministry would surely endure to the end, since ‘once saved, always saved’? Or did he understand Christ’s teaching that ‘many false prophets would rise up and deceive many,’ and that only those who ‘endure to the end shall be saved’? (Matthew 24:11,13). But those who teach eternal security say, in essence: ‘those who are saved shall endure to the end.’ They have it backward.

Isn’t this the same teaching that James gives? He teaches that the one who endures shall receive the crown of life. The teaching is consistent throughout the scripture. Do not be deceived.

The Bible is clear. We must strive for the crown of life. We must purposely move forward in our faith with our eyes on the prize. It is very easy these days to be distracted by so many worldly things, falling into sin and apostasy. We are all tempted every day to relax our faith rather than ‘pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:14).

Enduring Temptation

If we wish to be the blessed man who receives the crown of life, we must be ready to endure temptation. The word endure implies an unpleasant, uncomfortable, or painful period of time. To endure temptation is to resist and overcome the base desires lurking within us for things that we shouldn’t have. This experience can be challenging, with many people casting away restraint because they feel it is too difficult. It can often linger for longer than expected. Some have found it pointless, arguing even that it is impossible to endure.

Oscar Wilde, a playwright and author in the Victorian era of England, was one who found it pointless to try to endure the pain of resisting temptation. He wrote in his book, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a quote from one of his characters:

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.” – from “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Wilde generally lived according to this quote. He was a hedonistic man who spared himself no pleasure, even if it meant abusing many teenage boys.

But he wasn’t entirely wrong in his philosophy. Resisting temptation can definitely increase your desire for whatever it may be that you’re tempted to do. It is similar to Romeo and Juliet, whose desire for each other was only amplified by the forbidden nature of their relationship. It is human nature to want what we are told we cannot have. You can put a hundred toys in front of a child, but he’ll run from them all for the one thing he was told he cannot have. Even our mother Eve was drawn away this way. All the trees of paradise were there for Adam and Eve’s enjoyment, but one forbidden fruit proved too much to resist.

Paul wrote about this exact struggle that he had before he came to Christ.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. – Romans 7:5

He says the same thing that Wilde said, that sinful passions are aroused by the law, or amplified by prohibition. In other words, we want what we are told we cannot have.

This is why it is mostly futile to forbid yourself from doing this or that. Those who forbid themselves to smoke or drink or continue in some other vice mostly fail. Paul famously speaks about this, as well:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. – Romans 7:15

Those who walk in the flesh will never overcome sin. They will forever be in the cycle of seeking to do right and failing. They may be able to suppress it for a time, but usually that is a recipe for disaster when those passions can no longer be bottled up.

How to Overcome

The key to overcoming temptation and living a life of victory over sin is not to try to will your way out of it but to ‘walk in the Spirit.’

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16

In other words, focus much more on walking with God than on trying to stop sinning. Fill yourself with the Spirit, and sin will have no room to stay.

Running is the best way to avoid sin, actually. Run from sin and to God. “Flee fornication,” “Flee youthful lusts” (1 Corinthians 6:3, 2 Timothy 2:22). And run to God, for “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

Instead of putting our eyes on sin (what we should not do), we must turn our eyes to the solution to our sin, who is Christ.

Conclusion

There are two options for every believer in this world. We can either cave under the trial of temptation and be lost, or we can remain steadfast and receive the crown of life. We must not deceive ourselves into thinking we are safe because we’ve been baptized or said a prayer, were confirmed, or entered into church membership. None of these things secures our place in the kingdom of God by themselves. We must also continue steadfast in the faith until the end (Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 3:14), being ‘faithful until death’ to receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

We should have a healthy fear that we could indeed be cut off (Romans 11:22), but also a confidence that God knows how to deliver those who are His from every temptation and trial (2 Peter 2:9). If we remain with Him, He will not fail to help us. He is greater than our weaknesses, and His grace is deeper than our failures. He won’t fail to rescue those who cry out to Him, even if they have fallen many times.