James 1:18

18. Of his own will That is, not by any changeful caprice or shadow of inconstancy.

Begat he us By a regenerative begetting.

With the word of truth The preached gospel was the external instrument by which he regenerated us.

Firstfruits The first gatherings of the harvest were by the Hebrews gratefully consecrated to God. Hence the word firstfruits symbolically indicates pre-eminent excellence and divine consecration. We are regenerated by divine, unchanging will, through the promulgated word, that among the creatures of God we may be the consecrated and truly first in rank and value. By creation man is first among lower creatures; by regeneration and consecration the sons of God are first even among human creatures.

Kind of That is, not literal firstfruits, but a figurative sort. This firstfruits has no reference to time; and hence cannot indicate the earlier Christian converts as compared with the later, (as Alford,) and so is no proof of the early writing of this epistle.

The immutability of God’s regenerative will is none the less conditional, and our apostle will next show how we must meet the conditions. It is by due attention to, and reception of, the regenerative word.