James 1:14-16, Do Not Err
James 1:14-16, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.”
“Drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
Twice in Proverbs we are told, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (22:3, 27:12) In other words, any reasonable person will evaluate a situation. If he sees evil, he keeps away from that evil. He actively seeks how to avoid sin, though he is not perfect. He is conscience of how temptation works so that he can defend against it. But the simple do not so. They clumsily and carelessly pass on without notice to the evil or care toward the temptation, placing themselves under punishment and consequence.
So many times we are quick to blame Satan for our sin, and certainly Satan does work against us. We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8 to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” We are told in the next verse, “Whom resist stedfast in the faith.” James 4:7 instructs us to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Satan wants to lead us astray, but he has no actual power over God’s children. He cannot force you into anything. James 1 brings the responsibility to rest where it belongs, upon us. “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
“When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.”
The sin is not in being tempted. Jesus Himself was tempted of Satan. In fact, Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus didn’t have the sin nature of lust to draw Him away, but Satan did his best to try to entice Jesus without success. Jesus being tempted in all points allows Him to be “an high priest” Who can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). The sin is not in being tempted.
Sin comes when we allow lust to conceive. Our own lust draws us away from the safety of the closeness of God and entices us toward sin. It works as Satan did in the Garden of Eden with Eve. When Satan spoke to Eve, he did so away from the direct presence of God. Not long after Eve and Adam sin, we see God calling unto Adam saying, “Where art thou?” There is distance where once was fellowship. We are safe when we are close to God, but our lust draws us away to entice us. We are susceptible to sin when we are drawn away. Our flesh is enticed; and we either rely on God for the way of escape that comes with every temptation, or we allow lust to conceive. By faith, we can rely on the truth of 1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” But when our faith wavers, we give room for our lust to conceive and bring forth sin. We are led by our own lust to do that which we know is against God’s commandment and desire for us. We sin.
“Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
Sin always results the same, death. This is what God warned Adam and Eve from the beginning, and it still is true today. Romans 6:23 tells plainly, “For the wages of sin is death.” Death is separation. We are most acquainted naturally with physical death, which is the separation of spirit and body within a person. The body cannot continue on its own. Physical death was a natural consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, but it wasn’t the worst consequence. Spiritual death, or separation from God, was also introduced that day. Immediately, Adam and Eve lost fellowship with God. We all are born into this condition through the bloodline of Adam. Romans 5:12 explains that “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Thankfully, Jesus conquered death on the cross to offer salvation from this condition. Romans 6:23 begins by explaining that the wages of sin is death; however, the end of that verse asserts that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” To escape the eternality of spiritual death, God by His grace sent Jesus as the payment of sin so that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Once saved, we are held in God the Father’s hand, where we are safe for eternity.
Sin can still cause a type of death for the Christian, however. Understanding that death is separation, sin will separate the immediate fellowship and closeness a Christian has with God. There is no permanent separation for a Christian, but we can lose the joy of our salvation and are in danger of quenching the Spirit. But God is gracious and promises in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can confess that which is breaking our fellowship with God and seek restoration as did David in Psalm 51 after being confronted about his sin. God, in His grace, will restore those who return to Him.
“Do not err, my beloved brethren.”
It is wonderful to be “beloved brethren.” The word beloved is not just loved, but it is “worthy of love.” We are not worthy of God’s love in any way of our own doing, but Jesus made us worthy. God has placed that value upon us. Because God loves us, He does not want us to err. Better to not have to suffer through the consequence of sin. Also, if we are told not to err, we are not bound to err. We do have a choice; there is another way. God’s Word tells us how to stay right with God, but God also knows us and loves us enough to give us a way back to Him when we do sin. 1 John 2:1-2 explains it well: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
