IS GOD RESPONSIBLE FOR EVIL? – James 1:13-14

“No one is to 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. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” (James 1:13-14) 

So the question is…is God responsible for evil? NO. Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil as stated by our main verse: “God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). And 1 John 1:5 states: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). And “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Since this is the absolute truth, He cannot in any way be the author of evil.

God is holy, and just as water and oil do not mix, so holiness and sin do not mix. 

God created everything perfect, and when sin entered into the world – death, pain, suffering, error and confusion came about as a result of it. 

God created Adam and Eve holy and perfect and they had daily fellowship with their Creator. This, until they decided to disobey and eat of the forbidden fruit and the consequences were expulsion from the Garden as God told them, “through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19). 

As humanity increased in numbers so did sin, and the only way God could reconcile people back to Himself was by sending Jesus Christ as the sacrificial Lamb who took the penalty for our sins on the cross. Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is a free choice that God gives each one of us. He gave us His Son and God gave us His Word because He loves us and He does not want us to be ignorant of His commandments. 

Many believe that adulterers, drunkards, thieves, homosexuals, sodomites, extortioners, etc. are born that way which is not true. God created a man and a woman to be joined together and become one flesh in fidelity to one another for the purpose of companionship and for pro-creation and to have children. These children in turn make their own decision once outside the womb and under the influence of Satan they become these kinds of people. Children are born with sin but are innocent until they are attacked by the evil one and are trapped under the influence of the world around them that Satan controls.  

We need to remember that we (true born again Christians) were all dead in our offenses and sins, in which we previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), of the spirit that has been working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace we have been saved) – Ephesians 2:1-5. 

Therefore a question to ponder is: Does God approve of adulterers, drunkards, thieves, homosexuals, sodomites, extortioners, etc.? According to 1 Corinthians 6:9, the answer is NO – here is what the verse says: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.  

Please understand that God does not tempt any man with evil (James 1:13). He loves righteousness and hates wickedness (Psalm 45:7).

Therefore, when we are confronted with situations where people tell us that this is how God made a person that has adopted a debauched attitude and character, we need to be able to refute them with the word of God and be able to teach them patiently, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:23-26). 

So, who is responsible for evil? According to God as written in Scripture, Satan and man are responsible for it. As stated before, we see this in Genesis 3 when God, in His conversation with Adam, Eve, and the serpent tells each of them what they did. In Genesis 3:14, God tells the serpent, “Because you have done this,” a clear statement of responsibility on the serpent for his lie. In Genesis 3:17, God tells Adam, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife,” a statement that places responsibility at the feet of Adam. The ground is cursed because of Adam. Notice that, despite Eve’s sin, the ground isn’t cursed on account of her eating the fruit, but rather, it is because of Adam’s sin, in not taking the leadership and stopping the act of disobedience, making both of them culpable that resulted in all of creation becoming bondage to sin. 

In these verses God reveals the first guilty parties – Satan and man. As we see man bears responsibility for His sin. God judges justly because He is a Holy and just God, and He let’s us know that: “Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life; but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of mankind who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:5-11). 

Never forget that: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18). 

While Christians must stand firm on what the Bible teaches about sin, we are instructed to “speak the truth…in love” (Ephesians 4:15). And our message should be focused on the forgiveness and freedom from sin that is available only through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Always remember that God is Holy (Isaiah 6:3), that our Creator is not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; and that no evil can dwell with Him (Psalm 5:4). 

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