TEMPTATION & SIN
INTRODUCTION
A. (Mt.6:13) The word temptation occurs 16 times in the KJV.
a. OT - 1 time maccah (mas-saw')
b. NT - 15 times peirasmos (pi-ras-mos')
B. Used in KJV to refer to testing, trying, and enticing to evil. When the KJV was
translated in 1611, "temptation" meant all of these, but the word has narrowed in
meaning in modern times. Modern translations use “testing,” “proving,” “trying,” and
“tempting.”
a. “to test (obj.) i.e. endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline:--assay, examine, go about,
prove, tempt (-er), try” Strong’s Bible Dictionary
b. “to try whether a thing can be done; to attempt, endeavor; to try, make trial of, test
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon
a. good sense - ascertaining one’s quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself
b. bad sense - to try or test one’s faith, virtue, character, by enticement to sin (to solicit to sin)
C. It is temptation in its bad sense that this lesson will examine. Our text will be (Jas.1:12-18).
I. PEOPLE WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR SIN
A. (Jas.1:13a) Some people, not willing to accept responsibility for their own sins, try to
indict God with being the cause of their sin.
a. Adam sought to shift the blame to God (Gen.3:12)
b. some Jews - observed an evil tendency in man & called it yetzer hara (some argued that
Satan put it in man & others argued that God did, since He is the Creator)
c. Adam’s posterity - “God made me this way” “God should have kept the temptation away”
d. criminals are viewed as not being responsible for their crimes, etc.
e. today we blame environment, heredity, God, anybody or anything except the offender
f. Devil (but Satan can’t make us do anything that we don’t want to do, he only tempts)
B. (Jas.1:13b) James makes two observations about God regarding temptations.
a. He cannot be tempted - God has no evil desires, thus no temptation to do evil
b. He does not entice people to do evil - allows Satan to tempt (we are given a choice)
II. ORIGIN OF TEMPTATION & SIN
A. (Jas.1:14,15) Some observations should be made from these 2 verses.
a. no man is immune to temptation - “But every man is tempted” (even Jesus - Heb.4:15)
b. we are responsible for our own temptation & sin - “he is drawn away by his own
desires”
B. James’ analysis, breakdown, or dissection of temptation and sin:
a. “drawn away” - exelko (ex-el'-ko) - “drag forth, i.e. (fig.) to entice (to sin):--draw away”
a. used in describing fisherman luring fish away from safety of rocks & weeds
b. used in describing hunter luring game away from safety
c. used in describing prostitute luring a man from safety (by action or speech-flatter)
d. our safety - God, Bible, Christian fellowship, church
b. “by his own desires” - desires/epithumia (ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah) - “a longing (espec.
for what is forbidden):--concupiscence, desire, lust (after)”
a. the prostitute trying to lead us away from God & into sin is - “our own desires”
b. man is personally responsible & to be blamed for his sins
c. “and enticed” enticeddeleazo (del-eh-ad'-zo) - “to entrap, i.e. (fig.) delude:--allure,
beguile, entice”
d. “when desire has conceived” conceived/sullambano (sool-lam-ban'-o) - “to clasp, i.e.
seize (arrest, capture); spec. to conceive (lit. or fig.); by impl. to aid:-catch, conceive, help,
take”
a. a union occurs - “desires” & a yielding will
b. “..desires becomes the mother of sin because the will surrendered to the desire, &
suffered seduction” - Guy N. Woods
e. “it gives birth to sin” gives birth/apokueo (ap-ok-oo-eh'o) - “to breed forth, i.e.
(by transf.) to generate (fig.):--beget, bring forth”
a. “And, just as that which is conceived must eventually be born, so it is not possible to hide
evil desire long in the heart, it must ultimately spring forth into life, fullborn.” Guy N. Woods
b. (Prov.4:23; Php.4:8; Prov.23:7)
f. “and sin, when it is full-grown” full-grown/apoteleo (ap-ot-el-eh'-o) - “to complete
entirely, i.e. consummate:--finish”
a. sin starts out small, but does not remain small - it grows & grows
b. example of the kudzu ????? plant
e. BI - Topic Temptation; Subtopic Satan the Chief Agent in (Svetlana getting Miller to spy)
g. “brings forth death” - end result of union between lust & yielding will
a. brings forth/tikto (tik'-to) - “to produce (from seed, as a mother, a plant, the earth, etc.), lit.
or fig.:--bear, be born, bring forth, be delivered, be in travail” often used in Greek literature
of unusual or monstrous births (child is still-born)
b. death/thanatos (than'-at-os) - “death (lit. or fig.):--X deadly, (be . . .) death” -
Strong’s metaph “the loss of that life which alone is worthy of the name, i.e. the misery of soul
arising form sin, which begins on earth but lasts & increases after the death of the body”
c. BI - Topic Temptation; Title The Crowd’s Attraction (alligator waiting for its dinner)
C. Illustrations of the origin of temptation & sin:
a. Eve (Gen.3:1-6,24)
b. Achan (Josh.7:21)
c. BI - Topic Temptation (story of Camelot; King Arthur, Sir Lancelot & Queen Guenevere)
CONCLUSION
(Jas.1:16-18) Instead of blaming God for what we produced, we need to accept
responsibility of our sins, repent of them, turn to God, and recognize Him as the giver
of “every good and every perfect gift” - example of God’s gifts is salvation & all its
accomplishments (Jas.1:18).
(Jas.1:12) The “crown of life” is only for those who have been “approved”. Those
who are “approved” are the ones who “endures temptation”.