SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:18
El, de su voluntad nos ha engendrado por la Palabra de verdad, para que seamos las primicias de sus criaturas.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - James 1:18
Verse 18. Of his own will begat he us] God's will here is opposed to the lust of man, ver. 15; his truth, the means of human salvation, to the sinful means referred to in the above verse; and the new creatures, to the sin conceived and brought forth, as above. As the will of God is essentially good, all its productions must be good also; as it is infinitely pure, all its productions must be holy. The word or doctrine of truth, what St. Paul calls the word of the truth of the Gospel, Col. i. 5, is the means which God uses to convert souls. A kind of first fruits] By creatures we are here to understand the Gentiles, and by first fruits the Jews, to whom the Gospel was first sent; and those of them that believed were the first fruits of that astonishing harvest which God has since reaped over the whole Gentile world. See the notes on Rom. viii. 19, &c. There is a remarkable saying in Philo on this subject, Deuteronomy Allegoris, lib. ii. p. c1: God begat Isaac, for he is the father of the perfect nature, speirwn en taiv yucaiv, sowing seed in souls, and begetting happiness.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 18. Of his own will begat he us , etc.] The apostle instances in one of those good and perfect gifts, regeneration; and he pitches upon a very proper and pertinent one, since this is the first gift of grace God bestows upon his people openly, and in their own persons; and is what involves other gifts, and prepares and makes meet for the gift of eternal life; and therefore may well be reckoned a good one, and it is also a perfect one; it is done at once; there are no degrees in it, as in sanctification; a man is born again, at once, and is born a perfect new man in all his parts; no one is more regenerated than another, or the same person more regenerated at one time than at another: and this comes from above; it is called a being born from above, in ( John 3:3) as the words there may be rendered; and it comes from God the Father, even the Father of our Lord Jesus, as well as of all lights, ( 1 Peter 1:3) and who in it produces light, in darkness, and whose gifts of grace bestowed along with it are without repentance. And since this comes from him, he cannot be the author of evil, or tempt unto it. This is a settled and certain point, that all the good that is in men, and is done by them, comes from God; and all the evil that is in them, and done by them, is of themselves. This act of begetting here ascribed to God, is what is elsewhere called a begetting again, that is, regeneration; it is an implantation of new principles of light and life, grace and holiness, in men; a quickening of them, when dead in trespasses and sins; a forming of Christ in their souls; and a making them partakers of the divine nature; and this is God's act, and not man's. Earthly parents cannot beget in this sense; nor ministers of the word, not causally, but only instrumentally, as they are instruments and means, which God makes use of; neither the ministry of the word, nor the ordinance of baptism, can of themselves regenerate any; nor can a man beget himself, as not in nature, so not in grace: the nature of the thing shows it, and the impotent case of men proves it: this is God's act, and his only; (see John 1:13) and the impulsive or moving cause of it is his own will. God does not regenerate, or beget men by necessity of nature, but of his own free choice; Christ, the Son of God, is begotten of him by necessity of nature, and not as the effect of his will; he is the brightness of his glory necessarily, as the beams and rays of light are necessarily emitted by the sun; but so it is not in regeneration: nor does God regenerate men through any consideration of their will, works, and merits: nor have these any influence at all upon it; but he begets of his own free grace and favour, and of his rich and abundant mercy, and of his sovereign will and pleasure, according to his counsels and purposes of old. And the means he makes use of, or with which he does it, is with the word of truth ; not Christ, who is the Word, and truth itself; though regeneration is sometimes ascribed to him; and this act of begetting is done by the Father, through the resurrection of Christ from the dead; but the Gospel, which is the word of truth, and truth itself, and contains nothing but truth; and by this souls are begotten and born again; (see Ephesians 1:13 1 Peter 1:23) and hence ministers of it are accounted spiritual fathers. Faith, and every other grace in regeneration, and even the Spirit himself, the Regenerator, come this way: and the end is, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures ; either of his new creatures, and so it has respect to such, as James, and others; who received the firstfruits of the Spirit, who first hoped and trusted in Christ, and were openly in him, and converted to him before others; or of his creatures, of mankind in general, who, with the Jews, are usually called creatures; (see Gill on Mark 16:15), and designs those who are redeemed from among men, and are the firstfruits to God, and to the Lamb, as their regeneration makes appear: and this shows that such as are begotten again, or regenerated, are separated and distinguished from others, as the firstfruits be; and that they are preferred unto, and are more excellent than the rest of mankind, being made so by the grace of God; and that they are by regenerating grace devoted to the service of God, and are formed for his praise and glory.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-18 - It is not every man who suffers, that is blessed; but he who with patience and constancy goes through all difficulties in the way of duty. Afflictions cannot make us miserable, if it be not our own fault The tried Christian shall be a crowned one. The crown of life i promised to all who have the love of God reigning in their hearts Every soul that truly loves God, shall have its trials in this worl fully recompensed in that world above, where love is made perfect. The commands of God, and the dealings of his providence, try men's hearts and show the dispositions which prevail in them. But nothing sinful in the heart or conduct can be ascribed to God. He is not the author of the dross, though his fiery trial exposes it. Those who lay the blam of sin, either upon their constitution, or upon their condition in the world, or pretend they cannot keep from sinning, wrong God as if he were the author of sin. Afflictions, as sent by God, are designed to draw out our graces, but not our corruptions. The origin of evil an temptation is in our own hearts. Stop the beginnings of sin, or all the evils that follow must be wholly charged upon us. God has no pleasur in the death of men, as he has no hand in their sin; but both sin an misery are owing to themselves. As the sun is the same in nature an influences, though the earth and clouds, often coming between, make i seem to us to vary, so God is unchangeable, and our changes and shadow are not from any changes or alterations in him. What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and glory; and infinitely more. A every good gift is from God, so particularly our being born again, an all its holy, happy consequences come from him. A true Christia becomes as different a person from what he was before the renewin influences of Divine grace, as if he were formed over again. We shoul devote all our faculties to God's service, that we may be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
Greek Textus Receptus
βουληθεις 1014 5679 απεκυησεν 616 5656 ημας 2248 λογω 3056 αληθειας 225 εις 1519 το 3588 ειναι 1511 5750 ημας 2248 απαρχην 536 τινα 5100 των 3588 αυτου 846 κτισματων 2938
Vincent's NT Word Studies
18. Begat (apekuhsen). Rev., brought forth. See on ver. 15, and compare 1 John iii. 9; 1 Pet. i. 23.
A kind of first fruits (aparchn tina). A kind of indicates the figurative nature of the term. The figure is taken from the requirement of the Jewish law that the first-born of men and cattle, and the first growth of fruits and grain should be consecrated to the Lord. The point of the illustration is that Christians, like first-fruits, should be consecrated to God. The expression "first-fruits" is common in the New Testament. See Romans viii. 23; xvi. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 20, 23; Apoc. xiv. 4.
