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Lusts,
temptation and sin
As the title
shows, this issue is about temptation and how it may affect -if it
succeeds at what it aims - our fellowship with God. We are not going to
cover everything about temptation, as this would require more than one
issue. Instead, we will be concentrated on the well known passage of
James 1:14-15, documenting what is said there with four examples from
the Word.
1. The tempter
Since we speak about temptation, it
would be good to first introduce the one that is mainly involved in it,
and who for this reason is called "the tempter". Thus going to
Matthew 4:3, we read:
Matthew 4:3
"Now when THE TEMPTER came to him [Jesus], he said, If
you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread"
What is
recorded in the above passage, belongs to the temptations that Jesus
suffered in the wilderness. The one that was tempting him was the devil,
who for this reason is called "the tempter". This title is
also used for him in I Thessalonians 3:5, where it says:
I Thessalonians 3:5
"when I [Paul] could no longer endure it, I sent to know
your faith, lest by some means THE TEMPTER HAD TEMPTED YOU, and our
labor might be in vain"
The
tempter’s job is to tempt, to try, so that to make the one that is
tried to fall. As it is evident from the above, the one that does this
is the devil.
2. James
1:14-15
Having introduced the tempter,
let’s now move to the central passage of our article i.e. to James
1:14-15. There it says:
James 1:14-15
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his
own lusts and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth
to sin; and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death"
(KJV-NKJV)
Regarding the
word "lusts", this is the plural of the Greek noun "epithumia"
that occurs 38 times in the New Testament and it is translated (KJV) 32
times as "lust", 3 times as "concupiscence" and 3
times as "desire". Apart from the three times that is
translated as "desire", in all the other cases it is used with
the meaning of a lust of the flesh, a lust of the old man, a sinful
desire, therefore, a desire that is contrary to God and His will. That
the lusts of the flesh are not at all pleasant to God, is evident from
Romans 8:5-8, where we read:
Romans 8:5-8
"For those who live according to the flesh [old nature]
set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live
according to the spirit [new nature], the things of the spirit. For to
be carnally minded is DEATH, but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace. Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed
can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God"
The carnal
mind that is enmity against God of course includes the desires of the
old nature as well. It is for such desires that James 1:14-15 speaks
about. He is not referring to the desires of the new man, for these
desires are very pleasant to God and cannot lead to temptation.
Regarding now the phrase "but
each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and
enticed", this does not mean that a temptation is born only as a
result of desires of the old nature nor it also means that every time
that someone is tempted, he will necessarily be drawn away and sin. That
such a view of the above passage cannot be correct, is evident by the
fact that Jesus Christ "WAS IN ALL TEMPTED AS WE ARE, YET
WITHOUT SIN" (Hebrews 4:15). Was Jesus tempted because he was
drawn away by lusts of the flesh? If he was drawn away, he would have
sinned. But he neither was drawn away, nor he sinned, though he was
tempted IN ALL. What therefore James 1:14-15 tells us is not so much how
a temptation is born, but how it obtains its purpose (sin). Temptation
is always (implicitly or explicitly) a work of the tempter, the devil,
and it will obtain its purpose (sin), if we are drawn away and enticed
by the lusts of the old man, so that to go after them, fulfill them, and
sin.
Perhaps a better understanding of
the above, may be achieved by some examples from the Bible. In the next,
we will examine four such examples, starting from I Timothy 6:9.
2.1 I Timothy
6:9
There it says:
I Timothy 6:9
"But those who DESIRE to be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and in many foolish and harmful lusts [epithumies]
which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a
root of all evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their
greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows"
We saw that
temptation attains its goal (sin), when one is drawn away and enticed by
the lusts of the old nature. As it can be seen, one such lust is also
the lust to be rich, that according to the above passage, leads to
temptation, to other harmful lusts, and at the end to destruction. We
can conclude therefore, that to desire to be rich is NOT the will of
God, but will of the FLESH1.
This of course does not mean that
God does not want us to lay up treasures. However the treasures He wants
us to lay up are not on earth but in HEAVEN. As Jesus Christ said:
Matthew 6:19-21, 24-25
"DO NOT lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; BUT LAY UP
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS,
THERE YOUR HEART WILL BE ALSO.....No one can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal
to the one and despise the other. YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON [it is
an Aramaic word that means "riches"]
It is
impossible to serve both God and riches. You will either choose to serve
riches, in which case you may wonder after sometime, what happened to
the Word that once sounded so sweet to your heart (Matthew 13:22), or
you will choose to serve God in which case you will have your needs
covered abundantly (Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:25-34) and a great
eternal treasure waiting for you in heaven.
2.2. Eve and
the serpent
Another example where we see the
devil working deception and enticement so that to make the one that is
tempted to do things contrary to God’s will, is in Genesis 3. In
Genesis 2 God had commanded the man that "of every tree of the
garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Therefore, Adam and Eve knew that it
was not God’s will to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. But Genesis 3:1-5 tells us:
Genesis 3:1-5
"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has
God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?" And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of
the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, nor
shall you touch it, lest you die." Then the serpent said to the
woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you
eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing
good and evil".
(NKJV-KJV)
Temptation is
always a work of the devil, "the tempter", and here we see him
working his profession very well. Thus, he first challenges with a
question what God had said. Then, seeing the woman’s reaction, he
moves to a complete disagreement with the Word of God, promising to her
that if they ate, they would become as gods, knowing good and evil. But,
obviously, he was deceiving her. As II Corinthians 11:3, tells us:
II Corinthians 11:3
"the serpent DECEIVED Eve by his craftiness"
Also I Timothy 2:14 says:
"the woman BEING DECEIVED, FELL INTO TRANSGRESSION"
Comparing the
temptations of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 with the
temptation of Eve here, we can see that in both cases the devil first
tried to deceive them. Really, when for example he promised to Jesus
that "All these things [all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory (Matthew 4:8)] I will give you if you will fall down and worship
me" (Matthew 4:9) he was obviously trying to deceive
him2. Yet he
blatantly FAILED. As Matthew 4:10 tells us, regarding this temptation:
Matthew 4:10
"Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For
IT IS WRITTEN, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only
you shall serve."
Jesus was NOT
deceived. Had he been deceived, he would have walked against the will of
God (the "written" of the above passage) and he would have
sinned. But as the Word says: he "was in all points tempted as we
are, YET WITHOUT SIN" (Hebrews
4:15). Jesus was
not deceived but he ADHERED to the Word of God. As a result the devil,
seeing that his attempts were unsuccessful, left him (Matthew
4:11). On
the contrary, Eve, being enticed and deceived by the adversary,
NEGLECTED the word of God and...
Genesis 3:6
"when she SAW that the tree was good for food,
that it was PLEASANT TO THE EYES, and a tree DESIRABLE to make one
wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with
her, and he ate"
Being
stimulated by the devil, the woman disregarded the Word of God, was
drawn away following her senses3,
and as a result she (and her husband) sinned and died4.
2.3 David’s
numbering
Another example where we see the
devil moving someone to act contrary to God’s will, is in I Chronicles
21. There, starting from verse 1 we read:
I Chronicles 21:1-4
"Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David
to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the
people. "Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the
number of them to me that I may know it." And Joab answered,
"May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are.
But my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why
does my lord the king DESIRE this thing (II Samuel 24:3) ? WHY SHOULD HE
BE A CAUSE OF GUILT IN ISRAEL?"
The
regulations regarding numbering are recorded in Exodus 30:11-16. There,
in verse 12 it says:
Exodus 30:12
"When you take the census of the children of Israel for
their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the
Lord, when you number them, THAT THERE MAY BE NO PLAGUE AMONG THEM WHEN YOU
NUMBER THEM"
Obviously
therefore, if a census was not done according to the regulations of
Exodus 30, a plague would strike Israel, which is exactly what happened
in our case. Really, II Samuel 24:15 tells us:
II Samuel 24:15
"SO THE LORD SENT A PLAGUE UPON ISRAEL...."
The very fact
that a plague came upon Israel because of the numbering, shows that
David didn’t follow the relative regulations of Exodus 30. As Eve, he
knew the Word of God BUT HE NEGLECTED IT5.
We are not told what exactly Satan did to make him to walk contrary to
God’s will, but we are indeed told that it was HIM that moved him to
do so, making the sin (i.e. a numbering without following the
regulations of the law) to look DESIRABLE (II Samuel
24:3) IN his eyes.
What was the effect of David’s act on God is recorded in verse 7:
I Chronicles 21:7
"And God WAS DISPLEASED WITH THIS THING;"
God is indeed
pleased when we do His will, and He is indeed displeased when we do not
do His will. The tempter’s job is to deceive us so that to make us
neglect the Word of God, and do things that, being not God’s will, are
sins. As David said, confessing his sin:
I Chronicles 21:8
"So David said to the God "I have sinned greatly,
because I have done this thing; but now I pray, take away the iniquity
of your servant, for I have done very foolishly"
Whenever we
sin, we are deceived and "do very foolishly", though we may
not understand it that time.
2.4 David and
Bathsheba
Finally, the last example that will
be examined here is in II Samuel 11-12 and refers again to David. There,
starting from verse 1, we read:
II Samuel 11:1
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when
kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his
servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of
Ammon and besieged Rabbah. BUT David remained at Jerusalem."
The Word in
this verse, apart from the historical information that it gives us, it
also contrasts (see this "BUT" there) the fact that though it
was "the time when kings go out to battle" David
stayed.....home. This was certainly not something usual for such a bold
and brave man as David. But let’s carry on.
II Samuel 11:2-3
"Then it happened one evening that David arose from his
bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he
saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beutiful to
behold." So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone
said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of
Uriah the Hittite?"
David saw a
beautiful woman whom he liked and he inquired about her. From the
incoming information, he knew that this woman was married with Uriah the
Hittite. One would expect that since David knew this, he wouldn’t even
think to approach her for he knew very well that according to the law
(Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22), this was a sin whose penalty
was death. Well.... unfortunately David didn’t think the way one would
expect. II Samuel 11:4 tells us:
II Samuel 11:4
"Then [AFTER he knew that Bathsheba was married with
Uriah] David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he
lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned
to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and
said, I am with child."
In verse 1
David stayed home instead of what was usual for a king: to lead his
people to the battle. In verse 2 he got up from his bed to have a walk
exactly at the time that Bathsheba was bathing. In verse 3 he inquired
about her and he learned that she was married. I don’t know whether
something was going wrong with him till here, but I do know that
something was certainly wrong with him in verse 4, as he slept with a
married woman whom he also made pregnant. From that time onwards, the
one sin was succeeding the other. Verse 6-12 tells us:
II Samuel 11:6-12
"Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me
Uriah the Hittite". And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah
had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were
doing, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to
your house, and wash your feet." So Uriah departed from the king's
house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah
slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord,
and did not go down to his house. So when they told David, saying,
"Uriah did not go down to his house", David said unto Uriah,
"Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your
house?" And Uriah said to David, "The ark, and Israel, and
Judah, are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my
lord, are encamped in the open fields; Shall I then go to my house, to
eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as
your soul lives, I will not do this thing". Then David said to
Uriah, "Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.
So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day, and the next."
David’s
"solution" to the problem that he himself created, was to send
Uriah to his home, so that to sleep with his wife and be charged with
her pregnancy! But Uriah didn’t "co-operate". He couldn’t
afford the ark of God to be out in the field, his co-warriors to fight
and he be at home sleeping with his wife. It is not accidental that the
Word of God classifies him as one of the thirty seven "mighty men
whom David had" (II Samuel 23:8, 39). Uriah was certainly a
faithful soldier of David, though David was not faithful to him.
Having failed to deceive Uriah,
David went further. Verses 13-15 tells us:
II Samuel 11:13-15
"Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him;
and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with
the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. In the
morning it happened, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it
by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in
the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may
be struck down and die."
It is really
difficult to believe that a man who was moved by God (II Peter 1:21) to
write a considerable part of His Word, and whose name the Word refers
hundreds of times, wrote also such a nasty letter that he sent by the
hands of his own victim! However, let’s again recall that what we are
reading here are not acts of David as a man of God. David was NO longer
walking as a man of God, when he did these things. Instead, he was out
of fellowship with Him, at least from the time that he slept with
Bathsheba. But let’s carry on:
II Samuel 11:16-17, 26-27
"So it was, while Joab observed the city, that he
assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men.
Then the men of the city came out, and fought with Joab: And some
of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died
also........And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was
dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David
sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him
a son."
David finally
succeeded in his plan and killed Uriah. He would now expect that he
would have no problem as no-one, apart from few people, knew what was
done. But the story does not stop here. For though almost no-one knew
what had happened, GOD KNEW IT. So let’s see what He did:
II Samuel 11:27, 12:1-12
"BUT THE THING THAT DAVID HAD DONE DISPLEASED THE LORD.
Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him:
"There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The
rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man
had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and
nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It
ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and
it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who
refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one
for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s
lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." So David’s
anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As
the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall
restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he
had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "YOU ARE THE
MAN! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I annointed you king over Israel,
and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s
house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the
house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I
also would have given you much more! WHY HAVE YOU DESPISED THE
COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD to do evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah
the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your
wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now
therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because YOU
HAVE DESPISED ME, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be
your wife." Thus says the Lord: "Behold I will raise up
adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives
before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with
your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will
do this thing before all Israel, before the sun. So David said to
Nathan, "I HAVE SIN AGAINST THE LORD."
David,
DESPISED THE COMMANDMENT, THE WORD, OF THE LORD, as he also had done
with the numbering and as Eve also did with the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil (and as Christ DIDN’T DO, though he was tempted IN ALL).
The result? Sin and evil. However, when he was reproved, he regretted,
and confessed his sin. Let’s now see whether the Lord forgave him, and
what happened with the death penalty of the law. Verse 13 tells us:
II Samuel 12:13
"And Nathan said to David, "THE LORD HAS PUT AWAY
YOUR SIN; YOU SHALL NOT DIE."
The Lord PUT
AWAY David’s sin AS SOON AS HE CONFESSED IT. His confession also saved
him from the death penalty. The phrase "you shall NOT die",
obviously refers to the death penalty of the law. This was not done
exceptionally for David. God really never desired the death of a sinner
but his repentance. As it says in Ezekiel 33:11:
Ezekiel 33:11
"Say to them: "As I live" says the Lord
God "I HAVE NO PLEASUERE IN THE DEATH OF THE WICKED, BUT THAT THE
WICKED TURN FROM HIS WAY AND LIVE."
What God
desires is LIFE and fellowship with Him. That’s why he immediately
forgave David, as He also immediately forgives us, when we confess our
sins to him.
3. Conclusion
Concluding therefore:
i) The master of temptation, the
tempter, is the devil.
ii) We give in to temptation when we
are deceived by the adversary (explicitly or implicitly) to go after
things contrary to the will of God, as this is declared in the Bible or
by revelation. The result is always sin. Really, Eve neglected what God
had said regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The
result? Sin. David neglected what the Word of God said about the
numbering. The result? Sin. He also neglected what God had said about
adultery. The result? Again sin. On the contrary, Jesus Christ RESPECTED
THE WORD OF GOD. He never neglected it, but he used it to face the
temptations of the devil. The result? "He was in all tempted as we
are, YET WITHOUT SINS." In other words, let’s seek and be
aware of the will, the word, of God and let’s put it deep into our
hearts. Let’s hold it there and not neglect it, and the devil will not
manage to draw us away and make the temptation to bring the result it
aims at: i.e. sin.
iii) If it now happens to fall and sin,
then there is a need for confession of our sin to God, who in turn will
immediately forgive it. As I John 1:9, 2:1-2 tells us:
I John 1:9, 2:1-2
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness....My little children, these things I write to you,
so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world."
As soon as we
confess our sins to God, HE FORGIVES US. We saw it with David. He did
much evil. He even killed Uriah one of his most faithful soldiers.
However, as soon as he confessed his sin, "the Lord put it
away". The giving in to temptation means sin and the sin needs
nothing else but forgiveness: confess therefore your sin to God, forgive
also yourself and those that probably played some role there, ask the
forgiveness of those that you probably hurt, get any lesson that you can
get, AND MOVE AHEAD.
The problem of
the lusts [epithumies] of the flesh is not solved by looking at the
flesh and what was done. In contrast, it is solved by looking at God and
using to the full extent all that He has given us in the new birth. As
Galatians 5:16-18 tells us:
Galatians 5:16-18
"I say then, WALK BY THE SPIRIT [new nature] AND [as a
result] YOU SHALL NOT FULFILL THE LUST [epithumies] OF THE FLESH
[old nature]. For the flesh lusts [epithumo (the verb form of epithumia)]
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
wish."
Old and new
nature are contrary to each other and this passage tells us how we will
not fulfill the lusts of the old nature that bring to temptation and
sin. The way is simple: "WALK BY THE SPIRIT [new nature]"
(i.e. put on and direct your heart to the NEW man, and to all that God
has given you in the new birth), "AND" [as a result],
"YOU SHALL NOT FULFILL THE LUST OF THE FLESH" (therefore the
devil will not manage, though he will still try, to draw you away so
that to sin and destroy your fellowship with God).
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Footnotes
1.
Regarding the material possessions with which one should be content,
I Timothy 6:6-8 tells us: "For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And HAVING FOOD AND
CLOTHING, WITH THESE WE SHALL BE CONTENT" (press
here to return where you stopped).
2. i.e.
to draw him away from the truth, "the written" (press
here to return where you stopped).
3.
That’s why such phrases as: "she saw", "it was
pleasant to the eyes", "it was desirable" (press
here to return where you stopped).
4. For this
death, see: The Journal of
Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Issue 5, May 1996 (press here
to return where you stopped).
5.
Though he was warned by Joab (I Chronicles 21:4) (press
here to return where you stopped).
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