Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
James has just traced temptation to its real source — a man's own desire, not God — and now he turns the eyes of his readers in the opposite direction. The verse answers two questions at once. Where does every good thing come from? And does the Giver ever change?
The Warning Behind the Verse
James is guarding his readers against a real mistake. One commentator reads the chapter as a contrast. First James traces evil back to human nature. Then he lifts his eyes to God.
We have had the evil traced to its source, which is the fallen nature of man... but here he simply looks at man's nature, and then he raises his eyes to God... The first thing in the mind of the Holy Spirit here is to defend God's character at all costs, and to do it without any reference to us. As evil comes from us, so all that is good comes from God.
That makes the verse a practical instruction about where to look for good.
Let nothing deceive you about this. Don't look around you or inside you for good. The world, the devil and temptation are around you, and desire is inside you. LOOK UP.
Two Words, Not One
The verse uses two different phrases. Writers note that this is not saying the same thing twice. One covers the act of giving, the other what is handed over.
The Greek word for "good gift" refers to the giving, the word for "perfect gift" to the thing given. All that is good both in the manner of giving as well as the thing given comes from God.
Father of Lights
The title covers more than the lights in the sky. It reaches every light there is — and it shows how shaky the lights people make for themselves are.
He is the Source not only of every good and perfect gift, but of everything we can call light. The light of creation came from Him. Every ray of true light for the heart or conscience or intellect comes from Him... Human lights are very uncertain. The light of so-called "science" keeps changing. It burns bright, it dies down, it comes back, it flares up. In the end it goes out, put out by a rising generation that is sure it knows more than the one before it.
No Variation, No Shadow
One writer hears the closing phrase as language borrowed from the sky. The very lights God made do shift and eclipse each other; He does not.
The heavenly bodies that give us light have what is called parallax. They seem to change position when you look at them from different points. They pull on one another, and as they turn they cast shadows on one another. That is what causes eclipses. But with God there is nothing of this kind... From whatever point we observe Him He is the same, and nothing that He has created can move Him from His purpose or cast a shadow over Him.
Why That Steadiness Matters
Kelly treats God's unchanging nature as comfort, not as a bare fact about Him. A great gift is only as secure as the one who gave it.
The greater the blessing, the greater the sorrow if it can be lost or changed. Now in our relationship with God we can be sure that the goodness He has shown never lessens and never suffers an eclipse... it is not so with the Father of lights. He never changes, and He is as perfect in this as He is in His goodness. And that goodness is toward us, who deserve it least — still weak, and still in a world of evil.
The Gift the Verse Is Leading To
The next verse names the supreme instance of this giving: God brought us to birth by the word of truth. What comes down from above is not only help, but His own nature shared.
It is not only that God is good, but that He is a giver. He gives nothing that is not good, and everything that is good... God is active in His love, and out of this active, sovereign love He does not stop at blessing... We are ourselves born of Him: He communicates His nature to the believer. He does it without being asked, and without any deserving on our part.
The Practical Result: Ask Without Wavering
Earlier in the chapter James told anyone lacking wisdom to ask God and not doubt. One writer links that command back to this verse.
Doesn't verse 5 of our chapter answer the question? "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." God is who He is, and His word is the word of truth. So there is no room for doubt about this... Why should he waver, since God is the unwavering God, and His word is the word of truth?
Summary
- Source. Evil traces back to us. Every good traces back to God. So stop looking around you or inside you — look up.
- Giving. The verse uses two words, one for the act and one for the thing given. God's way of giving is as good as what He gives.
- Light. He is the source of light in creation, and of every true ray for heart, conscience and mind. The lights people make for themselves flare up and go out.
- Unchanging. The stars shift and cast shadows on each other. The One who made them never does. His goodness can suffer no eclipse.
- Result. The best gift from above is His own nature, shared with those born of Him. And because the Giver never wavers, the one who asks Him need not waver either.