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13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. ~ James 1:13-15
We return to our study of the New Testament book of James. Today, we are in the portion of this book that addresses the role of trials and temptations in the life of the believer in Christ. Our trials and our temptations are not the same. Trials are outward, while temptations are inward. When we are going through a trial, we are tempted not to believe in God's way, and, we are tempted to go the way which is contrary to God's way. Trials become temptations when we refuse the wisdom that we need to pass the test of the trial.
In v.13 of today's text we read, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me."'
Previously, in v.12, James reminded us that we are blessed when we endure a trial. We are blessed because once we have gotten through the trial we will have garnered God's wisdom. But, when we do not pass the test, we discover temptation is right there, waiting, to usher us away from the sphere of God's influence in our lives at that moment.
When we became believers in Christ, we defected from the domain of Satan. At that moment, we were secured for eternity for heaven due to Christ's work on the cross and our trust in His finished work on that cross. But, the battle for our souls rages on. You see, when we were born again, our spirit was made alive to God. But, our souls are now the battlefield. This battlefield is the arena of our sanctification which is the process whereby our souls (minds, wills, emotions) are being changed by God. Satan is the source of all temptation to reject God's reign in our lives on a given day. Satan wants to render our sanctification stunted in order to minimize our impact on the lives of others for eternity, so, he tempts us to go away from God.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."
In order to minimize our eternal impact for good in the lives of others, now, Satan appeals to the evil desires that are yet within us. Even though we are born again and on our way to heaven, we still battle sin. Believers in the Lord Jesus, even though on our way to heaven, are still sinful. Temptation comes from our own evil desires. And, the reason Satan tempts us is due to the fact that we are learning to love God. You will remember that in James 1:12 we read, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." Passing our trial tests grants our hearts the ability to love God more. The point of our trials and even our temptation is the possibility of our heart's ability to grow in our love for God.
There are three very instructive words in v.14 of today's text. These words are: "dragged away" and "enticed." The first, "dragged away" comes from hunting. And it is used of luring an animal into a trap. A trap is baited and the animal is lured into the trap. The verb itself means to be drawn by an inward power, an inward power. It means to be lead, to be compelled to be impelled, to be lured into a trap. To be baited and caught.
The second term, "enticed" is a fishing term. This word means, to capture or catch and its literal use was to catch a fish with bait. To bait a hook and catch a fish with bait. When we are tempted, we are being lured, deceptively, and then hooked and trapped in sin. Sin will always look attractive. But, when we grab the bait, with the bait comes the pain of capture and death. This is the way it is with temptation. It dangles out there and it promises great pleasure, fun, reward, and it lures the suckered victim into its trap and hook into a deadly way.
The word "desire" in v.14 is the strong passion of the soul. So, the blame in our sinning is not with God. The problem is not even the devil, the problem is not even demons. The problem is not even the world or wicked people around us. The problem is the traitor is within us. Our problem goes back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rebelled against God. And, don't ask, "Why does God punish me because of what they did?" We all know that if we had been there, we would have done the very same thing they did. Our problem is always ourselves. The real enticement is our covetousness or lust.
In v.15 of today's text we read, "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Sin starts with desire which is always connected to our emotions. Sin begins with the feeling of wanting to be satisfied. It is strictly emotional. And, if we follow its allurement, it leads us to deception. We start with the desire in our emotion and then it leads us to a deception in our minds. Then, we begin to justify and rationalize the right that we have for that which we desire. It is at this point that we believe it is fulfilling. And, once we have the opportunity to sin, we devise how we are going to satisfy the sin. This occurs in the will. At this point, we have gone from our emotions, to our minds, and then, to our wills. This all happens in the arena of our souls.
And, sadly, when lust has conceived, it brings with it, death. The end result isn't what it promised. This death is spiritual death, the separation of the soul from God. This does not mean that the believer in Christ loses his salvation because our salvation is based on our justification. And, our justification is what gets us into heaven. Nor does it mean that our souls will be discarded from God permanently. The changing of our souls by God is our sanctification, and our sanctification will go on until we transition into heaven. Our sanctification gets heaven or the influence of God on our souls, into us now. The believer can't lose his salvation but his sanctification can be temporarily short-circuited.
We were created with two needs: to be loved and to love. And, the ultimate in this life is to make an eternal influence on the lives of others. This is the point of our sanctification. And, when we get to heaven, we will then realize the enormity of our influence on others in the here and now. Our trials and temptations are not just about you and me. They are also about those whom we love and this whom we should love. As they see us grow in our love for God, they will be influenced to love God for themselves, for eternity.
