God Is Wholly Good

July 8th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 1:16-17 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Since “Do not be deceived” is a present imperative, the gist of it is more like “Stop being deceived.” James is thus attempting to put to rest the idea that had crept into the minds of some Christians that God tempts with sin. He wanted them to stop believing this lie. Richardson aptly says, “If the great temptation of the sinner is unbelief, then the great temptation of the believer is misbelief.” All Christians must be taught about God’s role in molding His people through trials versus man’s role in being tempted to sin against God in the midst of those trials.

What James wants believers to understand in v. 17 is that “every good thing and every perfect gift” is from God—who is “above.” So, why the repetition of both “good” and “perfect”? Although “good” might be a predicate adjective in the sense that “every giving is good,” but “every perfect gift comes from God” distinguishes the two, the fact that there is no “but” in the text mitigates this. Moo says, “A popular poetic device among the Greeks was the hexameter, a series of words whose syllables formed six rhythmical sections… The repetition of the ‘giving’ idea, then, is necessary in order to create this literary form, and no difference in meaning between the two Greek words should be seen.” Richardson thus says, “The gifts of God are good because they never foster evil desire or sin. The gifts of God are perfect because they are the fulfillment of His will for His people.” D. Burdick likewise says, “God’s gifts are marked by kindness and helpfulness, not destructiveness. They are ‘perfect,’ which in this context excludes any possibility of moral evil, such as tempting His people to commit sin.”

Verse 17 speaks of God as being “above” (i.e., heaven), that is, not of this world. It is thus from the eternal heavens that good gifts derive. In contrast to “above” Jesus denounced those who were from “below” in John 8:23—those who are of this world. James wants all Christians to know that God ordains that which is good, those things that derive from His eternal mind. But that which is evil, the worldly temptations that stir our lusts, actually originate from the world itself. Consider the Garden of Eden as an example, created perfect so as to house the “very good” Adam and Eve. The gift of the Garden was from above, but the temptation to sin came from the devil who was from below. Jesus told those who hated Him, who were “from below,” that the devil was their father, the originator of murder and lies (John 8:44).

Unique to James is his label for God as the “Father of lights.” Speaking of God’s good gifts coming from “above,” context reveals that the lights are the stars and planets—birthed by God at the creation (Gen. 1:3-18). His creation of light makes Him the author of it, depicting His power and ongoing care for His creation (cf. Job 38:4-15, 19-21, 31-33; Ps. 136:4-9; Isa. 40:22, 26). But contrary to the “variation or shifting shadow” caused by the sun, moon, and stars God created, He Himself never changes (cf. Heb 13:8). God is thus not like His creation, for He remains above it and sovereign over it. In order to nurture it, God put man in charge of it to care for it. And in order to make man all that he can be, God tests him with trials. But God, who is from above, is in no way responsible for man’s depraved lusts which originate from below.

Food For Thought
God is the Giver of good and perfect gifts. No wonder He sent His unique Son, Jesus Christ, who came to give spiritual light to the world (John 1:5; 9:5). It is through Christ alone that God gives good and perfect gifts to those who ask Him (v. 5). God judges motives (4:3), but the prayer for wisdom in the midst of trials (v. 5) will always be answered with a resounding “yes!”