James 1:12-18 - Testing And Tempting

¹² The person who perseveres under trials is blessed, because when he has been approved by God, he will receive the crown of [never ending] life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

¹³ No one should say when he is tempted, "God is tempting me," because God cannot be tempted by evil and He does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own evil desire. ¹⁵ Then, when the evil desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it produces [spiritual] death.

¹⁶ [So], do not be deceived, my dearly loved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good thing that is given and every perfect gift [received] is from above, coming down from the Father of [heavenly] lights, with whom there can be no change or shifting shadow [i.e., God always remains the same]. ¹⁸ It was God's purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of "firstfruits" of those He created. [Note: "Firstfruits" here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God's creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].