This passage has always confused me, and it wasn't until a few months ago that God gave me a little clarity on it. Now I'm finally getting around to writing about it.
So what's the confusion? Of course, we know that God doesn't tempt anyone. That's what Satan does. But why include the statement that God cannot be tempted? What about when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13)? Wasn't God tempted then? And isn't this passage in James talking about the temptation man experiences? What does tempting God have to do with it?
Let's start by defining temptation. We're familiar with the common understanding of what temptation is: a pull toward something that is immoral, unwise or, in other words, contrary to God's will. And, in fact, that may be enough to help us understand this verse. Because God is the One who knows and is in control of His will, nothing can convince Him to take a detour away from His own will. It may appear in certain passages in the Bible that prayer was used to change His mind about something, but the reality is that the end result that came from prayer was actually His plan all along. He simply tested His servants and drove them to earnest prayer by setting in their minds that His current course of action needed to be changed. By convincing them that His plan was unlike Him, He led them to seek Him more passionately in prayer so that He would be glorified more appropriately, and thus He accomplished His will and received greater glory through His servants than He would have if He had simply gone ahead with His will without giving His servants a part in it.
Anyway, let's look at it another way. If I say, "I'm tempted to buy this book," it can be assumed that my original plan was not to buy that book. My original course of action was already set, but temptation came and gave me an alternate route. Sometimes the word temptation can be misused in this case, when buying that book would be a good investment, but buying the book would still be a detour from the original plan. So in this case, "temptation" can convince us that the new course of action is better than the original. God, however, cannot be tempted in this way. He can never be convinced that another way is better than His way. Obviously. You'd think the Creator of the universe and the Orchestrator of all things would know the best way to organize the events of history for the good of His people and for the increase of His glory.
So I think what James is trying to say here is that when God seems to give us clarity on His purposes for our lives, we must test anything that seems to take us on a different path, even if it only delays us in getting to the same destination. God will not tell us to do something one day and the next day say, "Actually, I have a better idea." When God makes His way known and declares His word, His word is set up as a monument of truth for eternity.
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." ~ Isaiah 40:8
So what is temptation? Let's call it "anything that tries to convince a child of God to depart, even momentarily, from the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."
"When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." ~ James 1:13-15
Paraphrased:
"When you have been clearly given a plan by God, do not question His way when something pops up that may give you a logical reason to take a different path. Just because you heard God's voice in a certain way, do not immediately assume that it is His voice again when you hear it the same way again, especially if it contradicts what He first told you. It is not God telling you to disregard His original plan; it is your own natural inclination toward reason and safety. Any attempt to preserve your life or dignity that strays from God's will will only result in your eternal harm. God knows what He is doing, and He will not change His mind once He has told you His plan for you. Keep your ears open and your mind clear so that you can know when you have accurately heard the voice of the Lord; then stand firm in what He has told you."
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