Lesson from Small Group

"Let no one say when he is tempted, "I'm being tempted by God";

 for God cannot be tempted by evil, 

and He Himself does not tempt anyone.  

But each one is tempted when he is carried away 

and enticed by his own lust.  

Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; 

and when sin is accomplished, 

it brings forth death." 

James 1:13-15

I am really looking forward to the culmination of my salvation - when I am completely transformed into Christ's image.  The day when Jesus returns.  The day of glorification.  The day when the child of God will shed all vestiges of sin.  No more battles with it.  We will see Jesus and when we see Him, we will be like Him - utterly and completely pure.  Sin, gone.  

Can't wait.

In the meantime, we are to be working out our salvation with fear and trembling.  We didn't have to work for being delivered from the penalty and power of sin.  Jesus did all that work for us.  People dead in their sin can't work to get out of their sin.  They are lifeless.  Helpless.  The Holy Spirit breathes life into us and then, we are to actively pursue obedience, to work at sinning less and less and looking more and more like our Savior, with a healthy fear of offending God and a righteous awe and respect for Him.  

God has no vulnerability to evil because of His divine, holy nature.  He cannot be tempted.  It's quite the contrary with us, even after we are granted salvation.  We still face the strong desire within ourselves to acquire something to fulfill the flesh.  These are corrupt, deformed desires, rooted solely in ourselves.  The passage above is not teaching us that the devil is roaring like a lion here, dragging off the unguarded believer into sin.  James is teaching us that it is the believer who drags himself off into sin.  We are the cause of giving in to temptation.  This passage is teaching us that sin is a result of a process.  We desire something we shouldn't.  Sex outside of the context of marriage.  Withholding intimacy within the context of marriage.  Too much food.  Watching that movie.  Reading that book.  Hurting someone.  Spending money we don't have.  Wanting clothes we don't need.   Gossiping about someone.  Honor and glory for what rightly belongs to God.  Worrying.  The list goes on and on.  When we don't cut the desire off as soon as we recognize it, we enter the next phase.  We entertain ideas on how to get that desire met.  We plan for getting that desire met.  Sin is born.  We execute, and our peace and joy in Christ and our communion and fellowship with Him and the Father is gone.  We are reveling in our sin.  

So what can we do about this?  

Know your weaknesses.  Take time right now to identify them.  Identify the sinful desires that visit you.  Figure out who you are in this area so when the desire appears you recognize it and cut it off, immediately.  Take the thought captive to the Word of God.  Replace the deformed desire with the Word of God and thinking upon that which is true and lovely and pure and good and excellent.  (Like Jesus, and seeing Him, face to face.)  You will then have success in keeping the temptation from turning into sin.  We will never be perfect at this, but we can get better and better at it.