To be human is to face temptations of all kinds. Jesus was tempted in all ways as well, yet he did not sin1. To often though we tend to think of temptation as some kind of external, even demonic or satanic force that is attacking us. But the truth is even more disturbing than an external demonic attack. Today we are going to look at the source of temptation and sin, and it is not pretty.
James 1:12-18 [ESV] Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
God is Good
We have talked about this before, but the first lie the snake told us was that God was withholding good things from us, and therefore if we wanted good things we were going to have to take them for ourselves. In other words, God is not good and cannot really be trusted. But did the temptation really begin with the snake or did it begin someplace a lot closer to home?
What were we doing under the one tree that God told us we could not have? Why were we examining its fruit to see if it might be good to eat? Why were interested in a source of knowledge that God had forbidden? The snake did not give us our wandering desires, he simply exploited them. The actual pressure to sin was not external it was internal.
From Desire to Death
James says we are “lured and enticed” by our own desires. So it seems that the true root of our trouble begins with our own desires. Are these desires universally evil? Well, no, but also yes. Take hunger it lets us know when it is time to eat. However, that same desire can cause us to steal or even to kill. At this point we are talking about temptation or enticement, not sin. But James describe our desires like they are living things things that conceive and give birth. They are not static or harmless they are relentless and progressive. And what do they progress to? Well, James tells us that when our desires “conceive” they “give birth” to sin. And when sin grows up it’s child is death.
To Sum up this passage
This little passage is an example of what is sometimes called an “inclusio”. Which is an idea sandwiched between two instances of another idea. It is a technique used in the Bible for emphasis at times. So here is the big picture inclusio of what James is saying:
God is Good (He is not the source of temptation and evil)
Our desire leads to sin which leads to death (on the other hand)
God is Good (All good things come from Him and He never changes)
The point here, when you see these ideas together, is pretty obvious. James does not want his readers to forget that sin comes from us and only good things come from God. It seems then as now people are all too eager to blame others, the devil, or even God himself before considering the role of their own evil hearts in their failures.
Are we Doomed?
So how do we overcome ourselves? When I think of this I am reminded of my Dad who used to tease me when I was trying to impress him, “that’s nothin’, why, when I was young I could jump in a bushel basket and lift myself 10 feet in the air”. It made me laugh because even then I knew you couldn’t lift yourself into the air, not 10 feet in the air anyway. Funny how we think we can lift ourselves all the way up to God. Faith is believing that Jesus has done what we can not. Faith is believing,
that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.
2 Cor 5:14-16
Our desires flow from our old natures, but we are not who we were. Through Jesus we have died and the enslaving power of those desires died as well. Believing this and walking in that faith is true freedom. We are not doomed to live a life of endless failure.
This Week
So this week, let’s not live as though nothing has happened, let’s not act as though we are on our own against our desires that entice us to evil. This week let’s remember that our new creation in Christ is an eternal life destined to be “conformed to the image of His Son”2. When our desires rise let’s remember that Jesus has conquered, the cross is more powerful than our desires, and the Holy Spirit now does in us what we are not able to do for ourselves. And let’s encourage each other with that truth.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [Rom8:3-6 ESV]
Our temptations spring from our own desires it’s true, but something greater than our desires is at work in us! God is good!
Have a great week!
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Rom 8:29
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