New Birth By the Word

July 9th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 1:18 In the exercise of His will [God] brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

Though some might blame God for tempting them with evil, James says that this is impossible. God certainly tests His people to mold us after His will, but He never tempts us to evil. Temptations come from our own lusts, and when we are carried away and enticed by them, God is not to blame. Our loving God cares for His creation, giving perfect gifts from above as the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (1:13-17).

Whereas in v. 17 James speaks of who God is, in v. 18 he speaks of what God has done. Rather than attempting to destroy His people by tempting them to sin, God not only gives them physical life, He gives them spiritual rebirth through “the word of truth”—the preached gospel. This is the greatest gift from above that God could give! And He did it “in the exercise of His will” which means that it was His choice to do so—by grace! Of His own freewill, in His love and grace and mercy, God gave the gift of eternal life—His Son Jesus Christ.

When James says, “He brought us forth,” he is not talking in this context about physical life but of the doctrine of regeneration—being born anew through faith in Christ by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:3, 5-8; Titus 3:5). This gift from above does not set man free from sin; rather, it cleanses him and gives him the ability to not sin. The means through which this occurs is the “word of truth,” namely Scripture (Ps. 119:43; Jer. 23:28; Deut. 22:20; Prov. 22:21; 2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 1:25). Moo says, “This reference to ‘word’ must also be seen in relation to the other important uses of the same term (Gk. logos) in this context (vv. 21, 22, 23). The ‘implanted word’ of v. 21 is sometimes thought to be a consciousness of God resident by nature in every human being. Yet this word, James says, can ‘save your souls’: indication, again, that the gospel is in view.”

God’s purpose in regeneration is “so that we would be a kind of first-fruits among His creatures.” The “first-fruits” are an allusion to OT passages like Exodus 34:22 and Leviticus 23:10 where first-fruits are the first portion of the harvest to be given to God. Peter Davids says, “The OT background is that of the first fruit of people, animals, and plants which belonged to God and were either redeemed or offered to Him (Ex. 22:29-30; Num. 18:8-12; Deut. 18:3; 26:2, 10; Lev. 27:26; Ez. 20:40). Israel was pictured as God’s firstborn (Ex. 4:22; Jer. 2:3) and thus specially belonging to Him.” Interestingly, the first-fruits in the NT are Christians (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rev. 14:4). Like the first-fruits of grain or crops, those first century Christians represented a harvest of souls that were the initial sign of the great multitude of people, called “His creatures” who through succeeding millennia would be born anew by the Spirit of God. In short, they were representative of every future soul that would be born again.

By appealing to the new birth of man, being brought forth by God’s will through the word of truth, James presents the greatest example of God’s good and perfect gifts from above. A God that would bring new life to a spiritually dead people is a God who could never tempt anyone with evil. In exercising His will in this way, God reveals Himself as loving and merciful.

Food For Thought
The grace of God can be seen when we look at our wretched lives prior to knowing Christ. We were rebels living only for ourselves, having forsaken our Creator for our own depraved desires. But after being born again, having submitted our lives to Jesus Christ by faith, we see a new creature saved by grace (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17), having been given the word of truth by a preacher or evangelist. Praise the name of God for regenerating our wretched souls! Sola de gloria!