02.01. Chapter 1 - Verse 17
James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
He taketh occasion from the former matter, which was to show you that God was not the author of sin, to show you that God is the author of all good, especially the spiritual gifts and graces bestowed on us; in which there is an argument secretly couched: the author of all good cannot be the author of evil. Now ‘every good and perfect gift’ is of God; and because the argument should be the more strong by an allusion to the sun, he representeth God, in the latter part of the verse, as essentially and immutably good.
Every good gift.—The vulgar readeth ‘the best gift,’ properly enough to the sense, but not to the original words. The gift is called good, either—(1.) To exclude those gifts of Satan which are indeed injuries rather than gifts: a blind mind, 2 Corinthians 4:4; unruly affections, Ephesians 2:2. These gifts, that are from beneath, are not good. (2.) To note the kind of gifts which he speaketh of; not common mercies, but good gifts, such as the apostle calleth elsewhere πνευματικὰς εὐλογίας, ‘spiritual blessings,’ Ephesians 1:3. It is true all common gifts come from the divine bounty; but the apostle intendeth here special blessings, as appeareth partly by the attributes ‘good’ and ‘perfect.’ It is true some distinguish between the two clauses, making δόσις ἀγαθὴ, or ‘good gift,’ to imply earthly blessings, and δώρημα τέλειον, ‘perfect gift,’ to imply heavenly or spiritual blessings; but I suppose that is too curious. These two words imply the same mercies with a different respect, as by and by; partly because such mercies suit with the context, look upon it forward or backward. In the foregoing verses he speaketh about God being the author of sin, and no argument is so fit to batter down that conceit as that God is the author of special and saving grace; and in the following verse he instanceth in regeneration, partly because those mercies are most clearly from God, and need little of the concurrence of second causes. And every perfect gift; that is, such as do anyway conduce to our perfection, not only initial and first grace, but all the progresses in the spiritual life, and at last perfection and eternal life itself, are the gift of God. Though eternal death be a wages, yet eternal life is a gift; and therefore the apostle diversifieth the phrase when he compareth them both together, Romans 6:23. The sum is, that not only the beginning, but all the gradual accesses from grace to glory, are by gift, and from the free mercy of God. Is from above; that is, from heaven. The same phrase is else where used: John 3:31, ‘He that cometh from above is above all;’ that is, from heaven. And heaven is put for God, as Luke 15:21, ‘I have sinned against heaven, and against thee;’ that is, against God and his earthly father. And I suppose there is some special reason why our blessings are said to be from above, because they were designed there, and thither is their aim and tendency, and there are they perfectly enjoyed; and therefore, Ephesians 1:3, are we said to be ‘blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places;’ therefore ‘in heavenly places,’ because thence was their original, and there is their accomplishment. And descendeth or cometh down; not ‘falleth down,’ to show (saith Aquinas) that we have not blessings by chance, but in the way of regular means. From the Father of lights; that is, from God. The word father is often used for the author or first cause, as Genesis 4:20-21, ‘The father of such as dwell in tents;’ ‘the father of those that handle the harp;’ that is, the author and founder. So God is elsewhere called ‘Father of spirits,’ Hebrews 12:9, because they do not run in the material channel of a fleshly descent, but are immediately created by God. Well, but what is meant by Father of lights? Some conceive that it intendeth no more but ‘glorious Father,’ as it is usual with the Hebrews to put the genitive case for an epithet, and the genitive plural for the superlative degree. But I conceive rather God is here spoken of in allusion to the sun, who deriveth and streameth out his light to all the stars; and so God, being the author of all perfections, which are also signified and expressed by light, is called here ‘The Father of lights.’ Therefore it is usual in the scriptures to attribute light to God and darkness to the devil; as Luke 22:53, ‘This is your hour, the power of darkness;’ that is, of Satan. More of this term in the points. With whom is no variableness, παραλλαγὰ.—It is an astronomical word or term, taken from the heavenly bodies, which suffer many declinations and revolutions which they call parallaxes, a word that hath great affinity with this used by the apostle. The heavenly lights have their vicissitudes, eclipses, and decreases; but our sun shineth always with a like brightness and glory.
Neither shadow of turning, τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα.—The allusion is continued. Stars, according to their different light and posture, have divers adumbrations; as, the nearer the sun is to us, the less shadow it casteth; the farther off, the greater: so that we know the various motions and turning of the sun by the difference of the shadows. But the Father of spiritual lights is not like the father or fountain of bodily: with him is no shadow of turning; that is, he is without any motion or change, any local accesses and recesses, remaineth always the same. This is a sun that doth not set or rise, cannot be overcast or eclipsed. The notes are these:—
Obs. 1. That all good things are from above; they come to us from God. Mere evil is not from above; ‘the same fountain doth not yield sweet and bitter waters.’ God is good, and immutably good, and therefore it cannot be from him, which was Plato’s argument. Evils do not come from God, because he is good; which reasoning is true, if it be understood of evils of sin; for otherwise, ‘Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?’ Amos 3:6. But for good that floweth clearly from the upper spring, there are indeed some pipes and conveyances, as the word, and prayer, and the seals; and for ordinary blessings, your industry and care. But your fresh springs are in God; and in all these things we must, as chickens, sip and look upwards. It is, I confess, the waywardness of flesh and blood to look to the next hand, as children thank the tailor for the new coat, and suffer the immediate helps to intercept their trust and respects; and therefore God often curseth the means, and blasteth our endeavours. The divine jealousy will not brook a rival. God delighteth in this honour of being the sole author of all our good, and therefore cannot endure that we should give it to another. When God was about to work miracles by Moses’ hand, he first made it leprous, Exodus 4:6. There he was aforehand with this sin; first or last, the hand of the creature is made leprous. This note, that God is the author of all the good that is in us, is useful to prevent many corruptions; as, (1.) Glorying in ourselves. Who would magnify himself in that which is from above? We count it odious for a man to set out himself in another man’s work and glory; as the apostle saith, 2 Corinthians 10:16, that he would not ‘boast in another man’s line of things made ready to his hands.’ Now, all good is made ready to your hand; it is the bounty of heaven to you. It is not your line and work, but God’s. (2.) Insultation, or vaunting it over others. Had we all from ourselves, the highest might have the highest mind; but ‘who made you to differ?’ 1 Corinthians 4:7. Carnal and weak spirits feed their lusts with their enjoyments. A straight pillar, the more you lay upon it, the straighter it is, and the more stable; but that which is crooked boweth under its weight: so the more God casteth in upon carnal men, the more is their spirit perverted. (3.) Envy to those that have received most. Our eye is evil when God’s hand is good. Envy is a rebellion against God himself, and the liberty and pleasure of his dispensations. God distributeth gifts and blessings as he will, not as we will; our duty is to be contented, and to beg grace to make use of what we have received.
Obs. 2. Whatever we have from above, we have it in the way of a gift. We have nothing but ‘what we have received,’ and what we have received we have received ‘freely.’ There is nothing in us that could oblige God to bestow it; the favours of heaven are not set to sale. When God inviteth us to mercy, he doth not invite us as a host, but as a king; not to buy, but to take: they are most welcome that have no money, Isaiah 55:1; that is, no confidence in their own merits. Some divines say, that in innocency we could not merit. When the covenant did seem to hang upon works, we could, in their sense, impetrare, but not mereri—obtain by virtue of doing, but not deserve. Merit and desert are improper notions to express the relation between the work of a creature and the reward of a Creator; and much more incongruous are they since the fall. Sin, bringing in a contrariness of desert, maketh mercy much more a gift; so that now in every giving there is somewhat of forgiving, and grace is the more obliging because in every blessing there is not only bounty, but a pardon. It was long since determined by the schools, that penitents had more reason to be thankful than innocents, sin giving an advantage to mercy to be doubly free in giving and pardoning, and so the greater obligation is left upon us. Oh! then, that we were sensible of this; that in all our actions our principle might be a sense of God’s love, and our end or motive a sight of God’s glory.
Obs. 3. That among all the gifts of God, spiritual blessings are the best: these are called here good and perfect, because these make us good and perfect. It is very observable that it is said, Matthew 7:11, ‘If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him.’ Now in the parallel place in Luke 11:13, it is, give ‘the Holy Spirit to them that ask him;’ that is the giving of good gifts, to give the Holy Spirit. Nihil bonum sine summo bono1 there can be nothing good where there is not the Spirit of God: other blessings are promiscuously dispensed; these are blessings for favourites. The ‘men of God’s hand,’ Psalms 17:14, may have abundance of treasure, that is, violent, bloody men; but the ‘men alter God’s heart’ have abundance of the Spirit. A man may be weary of other gifts; an estate may be a snare, life itself a burden; but you never knew any weary of spiritual blessings, to whom grace or the love of God was a burden; therefore, it is ‘better than life,’ Psalms 63:3. Well, then, they are profane spirits that prefer pottage before a birthright, vain delights before the good and perfect gifts. David makes a wiser choice in his prayer, Psalms 106:4, ‘Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit me with thy salvation.’ Not every mercy will content David, but the mercy of God’s own people; not every gift, but the good and perfect gift. The like prayer is in Psalms 119:132, ‘Look upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do to those that love thy name.’ Mark, not the mercies that he used to bestow upon the world, but the mercies he used to bestow upon his people and favourites. Nothing but the best mercy will content the best hearts.
1Aug. lib. 4. contra Jul.
Obs. 4. That God is the Father of lights. Light being a simple and defecate quality, and, of all those which are bodily, most pure and spiritual, is often put to decipher the essence and glory of God, and also the essences and perfections of creatures as they are from God. The essence of God: 1 John 1:5, ‘God is light, and there is no darkness in him.’ There light, being a creature simple and unmixed, is put to note the simplicity of the divine essence. So also the glory of God: ‘He dwelleth in light inaccessible,’ 1 Timothy 6:16; that is, in inconceivable glory. So Jesus Christ, in regard he received his personality and subsistence from the Father, is called, in the Nicene Creed, φῶς ἐκ φῶτος, θεὸς ἀλήθινος ἐκ θεοῦ ἀληθίνου, ‘Light of light, and very God of very God.’ So also the creatures, as they derive their perfections from God, are also called lights; as the angels, ‘Angels of light,’ 2 Corinthians 11:14; the saints, ‘Children of light,’ Luke 16:8. Yea, reasonable creatures, as they have wisdom and understanding, are said to be lights; so John 1:9, ‘This is the light that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world;’ that is, with the light of reason: all the candles in the world are lighted at this torch. In short, reason, wisdom, holiness, happiness are often expressed by light, and they are all from God. As the stars shine with a borrowed lustre, so do all the creatures; where you meet with any brightness and excellency in them, remember it is but a streak and ray of the divine glory. As the star brought the wise men to Christ, so should all the stars in the world bring up your thoughts to God, who is ‘the Fountain and Father of lights.’ Thus Matthew 5:16, ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify,’ not you, but ‘your Father which is in heaven.’ If you see a candle burn brightly and purely, remember it was lighted and enkindled by God. If there be any light in them, a sight and sense of the mysteries of the gospel, if they be ‘burning and shining lights,’ if they give out the flame of a holy conversation, still remember they do but discover that lustre and glory they received from above. Well, then, if God be the Father of lights,—
1. It presseth you to apply yourselves to God. If you want the light of grace, or knowledge, or comfort, you must shine in his beam and be kindled at his flame. We are dark bodies till the Lord fill us with his own glory. Oh! how uncomfortable should we be without God. In the night there is nothing but terror and error; and so it is in the soul without the light of the divine presence. When the sun is gone the herbs wither; and when God, who is the sun of spirits, is withdrawn, there is nothing but discomfort and a sad languishing in the soul. Oh! pray, then, that God would shine in upon your soul, not by flashes, but with a constant light. It is too often thus with us in point of comfort find grace; holy thoughts arise, and, like a flash of lightning, make the room bright, but the lightning is gone, and we are as dark as ever. But when God shineth in by a constant light, then shall we give out the lustre of a holy conversation: Isaiah 60:1, ‘Arise and shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ We, like the moon, are dark bodies, and have no light rooted within ourselves; the Lord must arise upon us ere we can shine. So also in point of comfort: Psalms 34:5, ‘They looked to him and were lightened; their face was not confounded.’
2. It showeth the reason why wicked men hate God: John 3:19-21, ‘Light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light;’ and again, ‘They come not to the light, for their deeds are evil.’ Men that delight in darkness cannot endure God, nor anything that representeth God. Rachel could not endure Laban’s search, nor wicked men God’s eye. He is the Father of lights; he hath a discerning eye, and a discovering beam.
3. It presseth the children of God to walk in all purity and innocency: ‘Ye are children of light, walk in the light,’ Ephesians 5:8. Walk so as you may resemble the glory of your Father: faults in you, like spots in the moon, are soon discerned. You that are the lights of the world should not shine dimly; nay, in the worst times, like stars in the blackest night, you should shine brightest; therefore the apostle saith, Php 2:15, ‘Shine as stars in the midst of a perverse age.’
Obs. 5. That the Lord is unchangeable in holiness and glory; he is a sun that shineth always with a like brightness. God, and all that is in God, is unchangeable; for this is an attribute that, like a silken string through a chain of pearl, runneth through all the rest: his mercy is unchangeable, ‘his mercy endureth for ever,’ Psalms 100:5. So his strength, and therefore he is called ‘The Rock of ages,’ Isaiah 26:4. So his counsel, Mutat sententiam, sed non decretum (as Bradwardine); he may change his sentence, the outward threatening or promise, but not his inward decree; he may will a change, but not change his will. So his love is immutable; his heart is the same to us in the diversity of outward conditions: we are changed in estate and opinion, but God he is not changed; therefore when Job saith, Job 30:21, ‘Thou art turned to be cruel,’ he speaketh only according to his own feeling and apprehension. Well, then,—
1. The more mutable you are, the less you are like God. Oh! how should you loathe yourselves when you are so fickle in your purposes, so changeable in your resolutions! God is immutably holy, but you have a heart that loveth to wander. He is always the same, but you are soon removed, Galatians 1:6; ‘soon shaken in mind,’ 2 Thessalonians 2:2; whirried with every blast, Ephesians 4:14, borne down with every new emergency and temptation. The more you do ‘continue in the good that you have learned and been assured of,’ 2 Timothy 3:14, the more do you resemble the divine perfection.
2. Go to him to establish and settle your spirits. God, that is unchangeable in himself, can bring you into an immutable estate of grace, against which all the gates of hell cannot prevail; therefore be not quiet, till you have gotten such gifts from him as are without repentance, the fruits of eternal grace, and the pledges of eternal glory.
3. Carry yourselves to him as unto an immutable good; in the greatest change of things see him always the same: when there is little in the creature, there is as much in God as ever: Psalms 102:26-27, ‘They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; they shall all wax old as a garment: thou art the same for ever, and thy years have no end.’ All creatures vanish, not only like a piece of cloth, but like a garment. Cloth would rot of itself, or be eaten out by moths; but a garment is worn and wasted every day. But God doth not change; there is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity; the arm of mercy is not dried up, nor do his bowels of love waste and spend themselves. And truly this is the church’s comfort in the saddest condition, that however the face of the creatures be changed to them, God will be still the same. It is said somewhere, that ‘the name of God is as an ointment poured out.’ Certainly this name of God’s immutability is as an ointment poured out, the best cordial to refresh a fainting soul. When the Israelites were in distress, all the letters of credence that God would give Moses were those, Exodus 3:14, ‘I am that I am hath sent me unto you.’ That was comfort enough to the Israelites, that their God remained in the same tenor and glory of the divine essence; he could still say I AM. With God is no change, no past or present; he remaineth in the same indivisible point of eternity; and therefore saith, I AM. So the prophet Malachi 3:6, ἕγω κύριος, οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι, ‘I am the Lord, that change not’ (or am not changed); ‘therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ Our safety lieth in God’s immutability; we cannot perish utterly, because he cannot change.