John Calvin Commentary James 1:2

"Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;" — James 1:2 (ASV)

All joy. The first exhortation is to bear trials with a cheerful mind. It was especially necessary at that time to comfort the Jews, who were almost overwhelmed with troubles. For the very name of the nation was so infamous that they were hated and despised by all people wherever they went; and their condition as Christians rendered them still more miserable, because they regarded their own nation as their most inveterate enemies. At the same time, this consolation was not limited to that specific time but is always useful to believers, whose life is a constant warfare on earth.

To understand more fully what he means, we must undoubtedly take temptations or trials as including all adverse things; and they are so called because they are the tests of our obedience to God. He commands the faithful, while tested by these, to rejoice; and that not only when they fall into one temptation, but into many; not only of one kind, but of various kinds. And undoubtedly, since they serve to mortify our flesh, as the vices of the flesh continually shoot up in us, they must necessarily be often repeated. Besides, as we suffer from diseases, it is no wonder that different remedies are applied to remove them.

The Lord then afflicts us in various ways, because ambition, avarice, envy, gluttony, intemperance, excessive love of the world, and the innumerable lusts in which we abound, cannot be cured by the same medicine.

When he commands us to count it all joy, it is as though he said that temptations ought to be considered such gain as to be regarded as occasions of joy. He means, in short, that there is nothing in afflictions that ought to disturb our joy. And thus, he not only commands us to bear adversities calmly and with an even mind, but shows us that this is a reason why the faithful should rejoice when pressed down by them.

It is indeed certain that all the senses of our nature are so formed that every trial produces in us grief and sorrow; and none of us can so far divest himself of his nature as not to grieve and be sorrowful whenever he experiences any evil. But this does not prevent the children of God from rising, by the guidance of the Spirit, above the sorrow of the flesh. Hence, in the midst of trouble, they do not cease to rejoice.