The first step of protecting oneself from sin is knowing what sin is. That was studied in the last lesson. The second step is to know how sin develops in a person's life. To understand this, read James 1:12-15.
James says temptation gives the Christian an opportunity to show his love for God. The Christian can prove he has real faith in Christ and real love for God and Christ by saying "NO" to temptation. James also warns Christians not to blame God for temptation or sin. God cannot be tempted to do evil, and God does not tempt any person to do evil.
What causes a person to sin? It is possible for people to sin because they are human. Each person has lived in this sinful world from the day he was born. All have grown up seeing sin in every form and being told about the pleasures of sin. Each person has sinned in many ways after becoming old enough to do evil. Because every person has known sin for so long and has sinned in so many ways, it is impossible for any person to completely forget sin. Even a person who is trying to live a spiritual life will have times his fleshly body will hunger for some sin he has known in the past.
When a person remembers a sin or learns of a sin and his body wants that sin, this is temptation. TEMPTATION IS NOT SIN! All people are tempted--even Jesus was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11). Temptation is the time when sin sounds enjoyable, and a person is encouraged to sin. If a person refuses the temptation, if he says "NO!" to the desire and the opportunity to sin, he does not sin.
When temptation comes, if the person encourages the desire for sin until it is a strong hunger he plans to satisfy, this is lust. It is a person's lusts, his strong hunger for sin, which he encourages, that brings sin. When a person lusts, sin is conceived. The person then holds that lust or hunger until he has opportunity to do sin. When he accepts to do the evil thing he hungers for, sin is full born.
When a person sins, if he does not destroy that sin, his soul will be destroyed by sin. The person who lets sin live in his life, who enjoys and encourages sin, is spiritually dead. He does not belong to God; he belongs to Satan.
Every person will be tempted. Temptation is both an opportunity for good and evil. If you refuse temptation, it builds your faith. If you accept temptation, you sin. The Christian must always say "NO" to temptation.
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