Stages Of Sinful Temptation To Death
Steven Garofalo M.A.A., March 14, 2025
All of us experience temptations daily. Whether that is temptation with food, money, power or sex, Satan and our fallen modern world is bent on tempting us in every area, on every level.
Today, we are going to dig into the Book of James, Chapter 1, verses 13-18 in explaining the pedigree of trials-explaining temptation in verses 13-15.
In James 1:1-12, James in the Book of James not only explains, but outlines the “purpose of trials”. Today, we are going to study what James has to say about the mechanics of “temptation(s)”.
GOD DOES NOT TEMPT ANYONE
James makes clear that God himself does not tempt anyone, saying: “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” (James 1:13 ESV). James goes onto write about God as only being able to give good things. This includes the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that is key to the spiritual battle that entails deterring temptation. This begs the question as to “what is temptation?”
TEMPTED DEFINED: For starters, to tempt is to test, try, prove, or solicit to evil. In verse 2 and 12, the same Greek word is used to mean those trials that are designed to prove the quality of one’s character. In verse 13 the word “tempt” means “a solicitation to evil”; and this, James says, is not from God but from man’s own inner lust (v.14). Any attempt at self-excuse is ignorance about God and of the nature of temptation.
LURED AND ENTICED: James 1:14 says, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire”. The word “LURE” is the same word used for “fishing lure”. We lure fish by placing artificial or live bait on a line with a HOOK to entice, hook, and reel them in. The devil or his angels do the same with us-luring (soliciting) us to evil through our own inner lust. Again, the word picture behind these words is that of the hunter or fisherman (the lustful flesh, secular world or evil spirit) luring his prey (us) from its safe retreat into sinful thinking and/or actions.
THE PROGRESSIVE PATH OF SIN
Verse 15 goes onto explain the progressive path from lure to moral failure in the mind to sinful action, saying: “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death”. What James is saying here is that there is a progression of sin. As sin festers it eventually grows to the point that can lead to death (like Eve’s temptation in Gen. 3:6-22). In the end, the path starts with our being tempted or lured through our own moral weakness through being enticed by our own desire. Each person has their own weakness trigger-points founded on their fleshly desires. Those desires can include money, power, sex, prestige and many other areas. Either way, it’s by “HIS (our) OWN DESIRE” (v.14). And this process can be broken down into three stages.
THE STAGES OF SIN FROM TEMPTATAION TO DEATH
1) First, when we fail to flee from sin our desires give birth-becoming fully conceived, suggesting the image of a person’s will bending toward and finally seizing evil.
2) Second, in turn those desires give BIRTH to literal “SIN.”
3) And third, sin when sin is fully grown it can lead to physical death if not dealt with).
SUMMARY
In closing, let’s remember that God tempts no one. Enticement to sin does not come from God. God will never deliberately lead a person to commit sin because that would not only go against His nature, but would be opposed to His purpose, which includes molding His creation into His holy image. That said, God sometimes places His people in adverse circumstances for the purpose of trials and tribulations for the purpose of building godly character (Gen. 22:1, 12).
We must always be on guard and remember that the whole purpose of “LURED” or more explicitly, “DRAWN AWAY ENTICED” is to be drawn away (from God) and enticed by the evil one. Sin does not force itself on the unwilling but is chosen because of its attraction. When James uses the word of “CONCEIVED” sin, it’s the same idea so prevalent in today’s world of the tragic path of an addict: a habit once acquired by an individual in the end completely controls that person. And when sin is fully grown up, it brings its goal to completion. This is the idea that sin has reached its maturity and has possessed the very character of the individual to the point of “death”. And death, while often spoken about in the spiritual context, here it specks specially to physical death (Prov. 10:27; 11:19; Rom. 8:13). And these are the stages of sin that we ought to study and prepare against through our daily living.
