A Tale of Two Births

In James 1:13-18 James uses the metaphor of birth to describe two responses to God's trials. 1)There is a birth that leads to death (the Gospel-less response). The characteristics of this response are: A. Blame God; B. Be wooed by your own desires; C. Be mastered by your own desires, which gives birth to sin, which gives birth to death; and D. Be deceived by your view of God. 2) There is a death that leads to life (the Gospel-centered life). Characteristics of this response are: A. Realize that your faithful, unchanging God gives good, perfect gifts; B. Respond through your new birth: The ground of the Father's gift--His own will, the means of the Father's gift--the Gospel, the purpose of the Father's gift--that we would become the firstfruits of His faithfulness, and the result of the Father's gift--a Gospel-centered life leading to life.