'17Every 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
The bible is full of wonderful promises which God has given to us. The verse in James 1:17 describes the nature of the promises of God by calling them good gifts and perfect gifts. It is worthwhile noting that this verse distinctly gives us two expressions that go with the gifts of God, and these expressions are good and perfect.
We will study these two expressions in the light of what the word of God says in order to get a deeper understanding of what they mean. Reading through the passage of scripture in James 1:5-8 the bible says, '5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who DOUBTS is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will RECEIVE anything from the Lord; 8he is a DOUBLE-MINDED man, unstable in all his ways.'
You will notice that James is talking about receiving wisdom from God in these verses. In the 6th, 7th and 8th verses, James points out what would be the greatest hindrance to receiving wisdom from God, and that is doubt, being double-minded and being unstable.
Now we must note that James does not say that God will not give anything to the doubtful or double-minded man. James rather implies that the presence of doubt in the man is what hinders his ability to receive anything from the Lord. You see as far as God’s end is concerned, wisdom will not be denied to any man that asks for it, because James 1:5 says, '5If ANY of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, WHO GIVES TO ALL liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ' It is the doubtful or double-minded man that is unable to receive the wisdom that God gives to him, because he doesn’t have the capacity to accept the wisdom of God.
In the next verse, James shows what one ought to do in order to receive from God, saying in James 1:6, 'But let him ask in faith… '
Say for instance you wanted to listen to a particular radio station in your car. You would have to tune in to that station's frequency. Now let’s assume that you were driving out to the countryside while tuned in to this station, and the further you drove into the countryside, you began to notice that the radio reception got poorer. Now you wouldn’t call the radio station to complain about the poor reception because they wouldn’t be responsible for that. You would instead have to do something about your car radio’s capacity to receive a signal from the radio station.
This is the thought that James is giving to the church in this passage in James 1:5-8. It is not the sending end of God that holds back wisdom from anyone. Instead, it is doubt, double mindedness and instability on the part of man that hinders him from receiving the wisdom that God freely gives.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the subject of James’ discussion in this chapter. James is dealing with the believer who has a need in his or her life and comes to God seeking to have their needs met. James therefore gives you, the born-again Christian, the biblical principle to follow for getting your needs met by God, and that is by seeking out the wisdom of God concerning the things you have need of.
The word of God contains the wisdom of God. If there is any need in your life, find out what God’s word has to say about that need and stand on that promise as you pray. Jesus said in John 15:7, '7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. '
The only way you can receive the wisdom of God into your life as a believer is by having the word of God abide in you. As you meditate in the word of God daily, that word will abide in your spirit and you will be able to ask for your needs and get results.
Jesus begins his statement in John 15:7 by saying, '7IF you abide in Me, and My words abide in you… ' Notice that word 'IF.' Jesus infers that you, the believer, have something to do with whether or not the word of God abides in you. It is not God holding back your prayers from getting answered, because based on what Jesus says in this verse, the key to getting answered prayer is to have the word of God abiding in you. Now God’s word has already been spoken and revealed to us in the scriptures; it is therefore entirely up to us to find out what the word says about our needs, meditate on the promises that are found in God’s word and then ask in faith.
James is teaching the believers the same principle that Jesus taught through John’s gospel. James points out that God’s wisdom is given to all men freely, so that by this wisdom, men can receive every good gift and every perfect gift from God.
Every Good Gift
We have laid good enough ground to understand the two aspects of God’s gifts. James talks of every good gift and every perfect gift. In order for the believer to receive these gifts, God’s wisdom must first find expression in his mind.
We have already established that the subject of James' discussion has to do with the wisdom of God, because James 1:5 says, '5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ' Therefore, every good gift and every perfect gift has to do with receiving from the wisdom of God.
By definition, the good gift of God as James discusses in his epistle, refers to the knowledge of the promises of God that are in His word. The following scripture will qualify this fact for us in Romans 15:14, '14Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are FULL OF GOODNESS, FILLED WITH ALL KNOWLEDGE, able also to admonish one another. '
Notice that Paul when writing to the Romans commends them for being, 'full of goodness.' He then goes on to tell what that goodness consists of by saying, 'filled with all knowledge.' Paul is saying to these Roman believers that as a result of the abundant knowledge of God in them, they have been filled with goodness. The knowledge of God’s wisdom as received through His word will cause you to receive every good gift from God.
Here is another scripture worth considering in Hebrews 6:4-5, '4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, 5and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, AND HAVE TASTED THE GOOD WORD OF GOD and the powers of the age to come...'
Notice that the book of Hebrews refers to those who are enlightened as the ones who, 'have tasted the good word of God.' The word 'good' is used to describe the character of the word of God. The Hebrew Christians were recipients of the good gift of God having been filled with the knowledge of His word. From these verses in the book of Hebrews 6:4-5, we can readily see that the word of God is the good gift that we taste when we ask God for wisdom.
As a believer, whatever area in your life you find yourself needing God to intervene, find scriptures that promise that God can help you in that area. Meditate on those promises daily until your faith is built up. By meditating on these promises you will become a recipient of the good gift of God’s word and you will be as Paul said, 'full of goodness, filled with all knowledge.'
Every Perfect Gift
You can readily see then, that there is a pattern in the scriptures for receiving from God. We must first have His words abiding in us - the good gift. Then, when we ask God what we desire according to His promises, we will receive the things we desire from Him. The perfect gift is the fulfillment of the promise that is desired from God.
The knowledge of God’s word by itself is not completed or perfected until the manifestation of the promise of that word has been received. That word being fulfilled in our lives is how we become recipients of every perfect gift of God.
James was careful to point out that receiving from God had to do with the two elements of hearing the word and doing the word. James 1:22 says, '22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ' Being a hearer of the word will make you a recipient of the good gift of God’s word; but it’s being a doer of the word that guarantees you will become a recipient of the perfect gift of God.
You see, hearing the word will produce faith in your heart. Romans 10:17 says, '17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' But faith alone does not get you the results you need if it is not combined with actions. James 2:17 says '17Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.'
Being a doer of the word of God is what matures the good gift of the word that you have received through knowledge into the manifestation of the perfect gift that is the fulfillment of that word. Speaking along this line, James 2:22 says, '22Do you see that faith was working together with his[Abraham’s] works, AND BY WORKS FAITH WAS MADE PERFECT? '
Notice the expression, 'and by works faith was made perfect.' Your faith which comes from hearing and hearing the good word of God, will be made perfect through the doing of the work.
There is a work that believers need to do that will mature the good gift of the word that they have heard into the perfect gift of the fulfillment of the promises of God. James 1:2-4 says, '2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4BUT LET PATIENCE HAVE ITS PERFECT WORK, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. '
We can readily see from these verses that the work of patience is required in order for the faith of the believer to be made perfect. Now we know from Romans 10:17 that faith comes as a result of hearing the good word of God, but after faith has been received in the believer’s heart, the believer must do the work of patiently enduring the various trials that come to try his faith until the perfect gift of the fulfillment of the word comes to pass.
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