Bible Truth Foundations
Part 1 of 3: New Life in Christ
Please begin by answering this question honestly in your own words.
When something painful or destructive happens in your life or in the life of someone you love, is your instinct to assume God sent it or allowed it for a reason? Where did that assumption come from?
James 1:16–17 (NKJV)
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James inserts "do not be deceived" immediately before this statement. That phrase signals he is correcting a widespread error. The correction is: God is the consistent source of good. He does not alternate between sending blessings and sending afflictions.
The central idea of this lesson
God is the source of every good and perfect gift. He is not the author of evil, sickness or destruction. Knowing who is responsible for what in this world is not abstract theology; it determines whether you submit to difficulty as God's will or resist it as the enemy's work.
Confidence Declaration
The question of who causes suffering is one of the most debated questions in Christian theology, touching on divine sovereignty, human free will and the problem of evil. This lesson presents a position held widely in Pentecostal, charismatic and many evangelical traditions: that God is not the direct author of sickness, tragedy or evil; these arise from the devil, human choice and the fallen state of creation. This position is grounded firmly in James 1, John 10:10 and Acts 10:38. It is not the only position held by genuine Christians. The Reformed and many other traditions hold that God is sovereign over all events, including suffering, which He permits or ordains for purposes beyond human understanding, rooted in passages such as Romans 8:28, Job 1-2 and Isaiah 45:7. The lesson's core claim — that God does not tempt anyone with evil and is the consistent source of good things — is uncontested across all traditions. Where the traditions diverge is on whether God sovereignly ordains suffering for redemptive purposes. Engaging with that question honestly is encouraged; flattening it into a simple answer should be resisted. Speak with your church leaders if this lesson raises pastoral questions that need working through.
Most people, including many Christians, operate from an unexamined assumption: if something significant happens, God must have sent it or permitted it for a purpose. This assumption feels reverent; it attributes ultimate control to God and appears to protect His authority. In practice it creates a devastating problem. If God is the author of a difficulty, the faithful response is to accept it passively and learn from it. Resistance would be fighting against God Himself. James 4:7, however, gives an entirely different instruction: submit to God and resist the devil. That instruction only makes sense if there are two distinct sources of things in the world, and the right response depends on correctly identifying which one is at work.
James 1:13–17 (NKJV)
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James makes two statements that together define the nature of God in this area. First, God cannot be tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone. The word "cannot" here is absolute; it is not a statement about what God chooses not to do but about what is impossible given His nature. He is not in a position of restraining Himself from sending evil; evil is incompatible with what He is. Second, He is the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. The image of the Father of lights invokes a source of consistent, unvarying illumination. God does not alternate between good and evil in what He sends. His character does not shift.
Note
"Shadow of turning" in James 1:17 is an astronomical image. In the ancient world, the most predictable objects in the sky were the heavenly bodies; their movements were constant and could be calculated. Even so, they cast shadows as they moved and were subject to eclipses. James is saying: God is even more consistent than the most reliable object in the sky. He has no shadow of turning, no moment where His character shifts from good to harm. This directly contradicts the idea of a God who sends blessing one moment and sickness the next.
John 10:10 (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus draws a direct contrast between two distinct agents with two opposite purposes. The thief steals, kills and destroys. Jesus gives life abundantly. This verse does not describe God sending difficulty in one hand and blessing in the other; it describes two separate forces with two separate agendas. When you see something stolen, killed or destroyed in your life or in the world around you, Jesus has identified the source. When you see life and abundance, He has identified that source too.
Note
This does not mean every difficulty in life is a direct demonic attack, nor that human responsibility and natural consequences do not exist. James 1:14 makes clear that human desire is itself a source of temptation and sin quite apart from external demonic activity. The source material acknowledges this in the example of the teenagers who made choices that led to their deaths; the devil may have enticed, but the choice was theirs. The framework is: God is the source of good; evil, destruction and death are not from God; they arise from the enemy, from fallen human nature and from the broken state of creation. Not every bad thing fits neatly into one category.
Peter's summary of Jesus's earthly ministry provides a direct window into how the early church understood the source of sickness and affliction:
Acts 10:38 (NKJV)
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Peter describes healing as "doing good." He describes sickness as oppression by the devil. This is not an isolated reference; it reflects how the entire ministry of Jesus was understood by those closest to Him. Jesus never told a sick person that their sickness was from God and they should accept it; He healed them. Jesus never told a grieving family that the death of their loved one was God's plan; He wept with them and in at least three recorded cases, raised the person (Luke 7:14-15; Luke 8:54-55; John 11:43-44). His response to suffering consistently looked like opposition to it, not affirmation of it as divinely sent.
Going Deeper
First John 3:8 (NKJV) states the purpose of the Incarnation in terms of this very conflict: "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." The word "destroy" is luo in Greek, meaning to loose, dissolve or undo. The Son of God came specifically to undo what the devil had built. If sickness, depression and destruction were God's tools for shaping His people, then Christ came to undo what God was doing. That conclusion is impossible. The consistent logic of the New Testament is that Christ came as God's agent against the works of the enemy, not as a modifier of God's own afflictions. The atonement itself has a healing dimension: Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) states: "By His stripes we are healed." Matthew 8:17 (NKJV) applies this explicitly to Jesus's healing ministry: "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 'He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.'"
Few verses are more widely quoted at moments of tragedy, and few are more consistently misread:
Romans 8:28–29 (NKJV)
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The verse does not say "all things come from God." It says all things work together for good to a specific group: those who love God and are called according to His purpose. There are two qualifications. First, the promise applies to those who love God; it is not a universal statement about everyone in every situation. Second, the verse describes God's capacity to work in all circumstances, including circumstances He did not initiate, and bring good out of them for those who are walking with Him. The ability to redeem a situation is not the same as having caused it. A surgeon who repairs a broken bone caused by a car accident is not the same person who caused the accident. God's redemptive activity in the aftermath of tragedy does not make Him the author of the tragedy.
Caution
The danger in this lesson is moving too quickly from "God does not cause evil" to either of two mistaken conclusions. The first is that difficulty will never enter a believer's life, and that if it does, it indicates lack of faith or some hidden sin. The New Testament does not support this; Paul described his own experience of suffering at length in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 and did not present it as a spiritual failure. The second mistake is to become angry at God for things He did not do. A clear theology of the source of evil can in fact deepen trust in God: if you know He did not send the cancer or the job loss or the broken relationship, you can bring it to Him as an ally rather than approach Him as its author. He is for you in the storm, not the one who made the storm.
James 4:7 (NKJV)
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
This verse only functions if the distinction between God's activity and the devil's activity is clear. Submit to God means yield to His character, His Word, His purposes. Resist the devil means actively oppose what he is doing. These are two different actions directed at two different targets. If everything that happens comes from God, the instruction to resist becomes incoherent: resisting the devil would be resisting God. The clarity of James 4:7 requires the clarity of James 1:13-17 and John 10:10 as its foundation.
Practical Tip
When you face a difficulty this week, instead of asking "what is God teaching me through this?" as your first question, try asking two questions in sequence. First: is this something to submit to as God's instruction (a conviction from Scripture, a clear call to repentance, a word from a trusted leader)? Second: is this something to resist as the enemy's work (sickness, fear, a destructive pattern, an attack on your identity or relationships)? Both questions are legitimate and sometimes the answer to the first is yes. But the habit of asking both, rather than assuming everything is in the first category, will sharpen your discernment and your response.
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| Question | My Answer | Group Discussion Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read James 1:13-17. James says God cannot be tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone. He then says every good gift comes from God, "with whom there is no variation." In your own words, what does that say about God's consistency as a source? | ||
| Read John 10:10. Jesus identifies two agents with two opposite purposes. In your own life, how do you distinguish between what comes from each? What criteria do you use, or have you used? | ||
| Read Acts 10:38. Peter describes Jesus as "healing all who were oppressed by the devil." How does that description of healing change how you understand Jesus's response to sickness during His ministry? | ||
| Read Romans 8:28-29 carefully. The verse says all things work together for good — not that all things come from God. What is the difference between God causing something and God redeeming something? | ||
| Read James 4:7. The instruction is to submit to God and resist the devil. In a specific difficulty you are facing or have recently faced, which of these two responses was called for? How does the distinction between submit and resist change your approach? |
These questions are designed for open conversation at any level of experience. There are no trick questions and no single correct answer.
Knowing who is responsible for what in the spiritual realm is not academic; it determines how you respond when things go wrong. These applications move the lesson into three specific areas of lived experience.
| Context | How I Apply This |
|---|---|
| When difficulty arrives | Before you respond to a difficult situation, pause and apply the two-question test from the Practical Tip: is this something to submit to as God's instruction, or something to resist as the enemy's work? Not every difficulty fits neatly into either category, and wisdom is required. But the habit of asking both questions prevents the passive acceptance of everything as God's will, which James 4:7 does not support. Bring the question to God in prayer and to trusted people in your church community. |
| When someone else is suffering | When someone you know is going through a painful season — illness, loss, failure — resist the reflex to explain it as God's plan or to quote Romans 8:28 as a closure to their pain. First, listen. Then, if appropriate, stand with them against what is happening rather than affirming it as inevitable. Pray in the spirit of James 4:7: submit to God and resist the situation in His name. That posture may be more useful than a theological explanation. |
| In how you relate to God during difficulty | If you have blamed God for something that this lesson's framework suggests was not from Him, bring that honestly to Him this week. You do not need to have everything figured out theologically. The pastoral gift of this lesson is that it frees you to bring difficulty to God as an ally: "You did not send this; help me resist it and trust You through it." That is a different prayer posture from "You sent this; help me accept it." Both prayers can be honest; the first is rooted in what James and Jesus actually said. |
Tap each card to reveal the answer.
What does James 1:17 say about where good gifts come from?
James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
James 1:17 (NKJV). God is the consistent source of good. He does not alternate between blessing and affliction.
What is the contrast Jesus draws in John 10:10?
John 10:10
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
John 10:10 (NKJV). Two agents; two opposite purposes. Theft, killing and destruction identify one source; life and abundance identify the other.
How does Acts 10:38 describe those whom Jesus healed?
Acts 10:38
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."
Acts 10:38 (NKJV). Healing is doing good. Sickness is oppression by the devil.
What does Romans 8:28 say, and what does it not say?
Romans 8:28
It says all things work together for good TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD. It does not say all things come from God. God's capacity to redeem a situation is not the same as having caused it.
What two actions does James 4:7 instruct, and toward whom?
James 4:7
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
James 4:7 (NKJV). Submit to God; resist the devil. Two distinct targets requiring two distinct responses.
What does 1 John 3:8 say was the purpose of Christ's coming?
1 John 3:8
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."
1 John 3:8 (NKJV). He came to undo what the enemy built. That mission defines whose side God is on in the struggle against evil.