In this verse, the same Greek word is used for "temptation" as in verses 2 and 12. However, here it is from a different angle. In verses 2 and 12, it refers to being tried by circumstances, while here it refers to being tempted to sin.

"Let no man say ..." When James says, "Let no man say," He tells us that no matter who the man is, he should never charge God with tempting him to do evil. Sometimes, the unsaved blame God for their sin, and occasionally even the saved do. Adam, already in the Garden of Eden, replied to God, "The woman whom thou gavest to with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." This was blaming God for his sin. Did not God give him the woman who gave him to eat?

Blaming God for sin: The story is told of three men. The first one said, "I am so weak, I cannot resist temptation;" the second said, "my environment is so bad, I am in sin before I know it;" and the third, "my associates are evil, they drag me down." Many people find ways to excuse sin, indirectly blaming God. I heard of a preacher who ran off with another man's wife, leaving his own with two children. He was found and attended a meeting of the church leaders where he had preached. They questioned him as to how he came to do such wickedness. He said, "The Lord led me to do it." This was charging God falsely. The sin was bad enough, but became much worse when God was charged with it.

Excuses, excuses: How seldom one says, "I am to blame, I have sinned." If you ask a man in jail, 'Why are you here?" Almost always you will hear excuses. Somebody else is to blame. “It was not me; I was framed.” “I did not have a fair trial; the judge should be behind bars.” “My friends slowly drew me into evil practices." One man even said, "It's my wife's fault," just like Adam in the garden.

"... God cannot be tempted with evil ..." There is absolutely nothing in the nature of God that responds to evil, so He cannot be tempted with it. Evil is repugnant and abhorrent to Him. He delights only in that which is good. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). We can be tempted to evil because we lack wisdom, spiritual power and purity, but God lacks none of these things. There is no way for evil men or Satan to take hold of God; to tempt Him.

Satan tempted Christ: Satan thought, because the Lord Jesus was man as well as God that he might be able to tempt Him to sin. With Adam and Eve everything was advantageous. They were in a garden in the midst of plenty, but Satan gained the victory over them. When Christ was tempted by Satan, all was different. He was in a desert and was hungry. Satan used his most artful wiles, but he failed completely. The Lord Jesus proved He could not be tempted to do evil. "... neither tempteth He any man." Because evil is entirely foreign to the nature of God, it is inconsistent to even think that He would tempt any man to commit evil. Because of the misunderstanding of some Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Scriptures, such as 2 Samuel 24:1, the Jews thought that God did sometimes tempt to do evil, and that when He did, He could not be resisted. By comparing 2 Samuel 24:1 with 1 Chronicles 21:1, we notice that God permitted Satan to tempt David rather than do it Himself.

Satan tempts: We find in the Word, that Satan tempts various ones, but always by the permissive will of God. We see this in connection with Job, and also with Peter. The Lord never Himself tempts anyone to sin, but He does permit Satan to do so. And Satan finds within the natural man that which is ready to yield to his allurements. However, the Devil's temptations do not excuse the faltering sinner. All moral evil is chargeable to the doer thereof.

God leads in the right paths: As for the Lord, "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Ps. 23:3). He never leads in the paths of unrighteousness. He seeks to lead us in the path of a holy life. He does send us trials sometimes, but these are designed to make us better, not to make us worse. Satan tempts to bring out the bad, but God tests to bring out the good.

Scripture Reading: James 1:14 (KJV)

This verse tells us the true source of temptation. It is the lust of the human heart. No use to blame it on men or women or even evil spirits. They may tempt us, indeed, but they can gain no entrance unless our hearts are open to them. They cannot get in until we open the door.

"But every man is tempted ..." Our verse says, "every man is tempted," but every man need not yield to the temptation. We are all by nature, corrupt. Even when saved, one does not totally lose the old nature, and it is a constant struggle to keep it in check. Sometimes Christians say, “That's no temptation to me,” and they are hard on any Christian falling into that particular sin. It is true that certain sins may not be a temptation to some, but are to others. Let us not be hard on those who sin, but rather be on guard lest we fall. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

Peter fell: Peter was over confident. The Lord had said that all the disciples would be offended because of Him. Peter said, "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended" (Matt. 26:33). He makes it still stronger in verse 35: "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." He did not know his own heart. That night he denied the Lord thrice.

Watch and pray: The Lord Jesus says, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Matt. 26:41). We need to be continually on guard. Satan is continually on the alert to seek an opportunity to thrust in his darts when the flesh is weak. We need to be very careful not to play with evil. We must keep off the enemy's ground. It has been said, "Do not sail too close to the lake of fire, or you will burn your sails." We must watch and pray. If temptation besets us, the thing to do is flee to the Lord Jesus for refuge. In Him alone are we secure. He went through the filth of this world and came out unscathed. The Lord would have us in some measure approximate this. The only way this will be nearly possible is to watch our every step, leaning on Him, not on ourselves.

"... drawn away of his own lust ..." If we give our lusts the least opportunity, they will draw us away into sin. They are like ropes, binding us tighter and tighter, drawing us ever closer to evil. First, we will have evil inclinations, and then a fixed course of sin. First, we yield a little, then a little more, until finally we are engulfed in the evil. Satan's suggestions do not entice us until we make them our own, and yield to them.

Drawn away from truth: Our lusts will cause us to draw away from truth and virtue, and cleave to evil. This is the reverse of holiness. True holiness is a separation from sin and evil; a cleaving to truth and virtue.

"... of his own lust ..." Again, the cause of sin is in the lusts of our own hearts. God will lay the charge of our sins at our own doors. He will punish our tempters, but He will also punish us if we yield to the temptation. The Lord Jesus says, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man" (Matt. 15:19, 20). James says in 4:1, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" The Word in many places teaches that the heart is the spring of crime (Matt. 5:28, Rom. 7:7, 8).

"... lust ..." What is lust? It is all that a heart of sin may passionately desire. This lust comes naturally to the human heart. Adam and Eve were the first to demonstrate it. The only hope for deliverance from its power is in the Lord. He desires to work on our hearts, so that lust may be kept down.

Pleasures of sin: Satan says, "Let me satisfy the lusts of your flesh, and you will have pleasure." The scriptures do speak of the pleasures of sin (Heb. 11:25). But these pleasures cannot be compared with the joys of salvation. Sin may bring its pleasures, but it also brings its sorrows. In the end, these outweigh the pleasures. While the drunkard has his mirth and song in the bar, his wife has her sorrows at home. And then the drunkard, too, has his sorrow as an aftermath to his pleasure. Such is the vanity of pleasure – in this case, the folly of strong drink.

Lust personified: Lust is here personified like a harlot who lures one into sin. Like a harlot, lust is: deceitful, cunning, and filled with flattery. As lust is yielded to, first, conscience is forced, and there is a guilty feeling. Then slowly: the heart is hardened, the conscience seared, and one is sliding fast down the decline of sin and death. "But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb. 3:13).

"... and enticed." "Lust" speaks of the enemy within. "Enticed" speaks of the enemy without. One has pictured Lust and Lure as partners in crime. Lust is the spy within the city wall, conspiring with Lure, the enemy outside the gates. It is serious to have an enemy pounding at the gates, but far worse when there is another gnawing away from within. Satan could never gain a victory by his enticements, if it were not for lust within. He could entice the Lord Jesus, but could not win, because there was no lust within our Lord. Similarly, if lust is held down within us by our own watchfulness, and by our seeking help from the Lord, Satan will not be able to entice us into sin.

Scripture Reading: James 1:15 (KJV)

Our last verse told of the source of sin. This verse tells of its course and end. "Lust" is personified as a harlot who conceives and bears a child, "sin." "Sin" then conceives and brings forth a grandson, "death." This symbolism of giving birth to wickedness is found quite often in the scriptures. In Psalms 7:14, we read, "Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood" (also Is. 59:4, 5)

"... it bringeth forth sin ..." Lust is the bud, sin is the blossom, and death is the fruit. Lust is the harlot that will, if permitted, excite the passions, bring the consent, and then the sinful act. Lust will join guilty union with the will, and sin is brought forth. A sinful lust strikes the mind. It should be checked and stopped at its very beginning. If not, it will grow in the mind until there is an execution of the deed, and it is too late. The best way is to nip sin in the bud, and to resolutely refuse to meddle with it in any way.

Sin's sad affects: The pleasures of sin are only for a season (Heb. 11:25), but the sad effects of one sin may injure for life. And, of course, if not forgiven through trusting Christ, sin will damn one for eternity. The only safe way is to never trifle with it, but to confess it, forsake it, and to flee to the Lord Jesus. This is true for the unsaved and also for the saved. Satan will use sin to keep the unsaved from trusting Christ, and the saved from obeying Christ and living a useful life for the Lord.

"... sin, when it is finished ..." The Revised Version has it, "Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin when it is full grown, bringeth forth death." Sin has a way of growing, and when it is full grown it brings forth death. An occasional sin slowly strengthens its hold into a settled habit, and finally brings death. A young man was to be hanged on the gallows. He said, "The start of this was when, as a boy, I stole a penny out of my mother's pocketbook." Satan will paint the present acts of sin in glowing colors, but will blind the mind to the future of it. Sin, of course, even brings present sadness, and Satan will seek to blind the mind even to that.

"... bringeth forth death." Scripture and everyday life witness to the fact that sin bringeth forth death. If sin had not come into the world, there would be no death. Besides, many cut their lives short by special sins. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23; 5:15-21). Sin not only brings natural death, but spiritual and eternal as well.

Lust – sin – death: We have the start of this vicious cycle, lust, sin, and death, in the Garden of Eden. God had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Then, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (Gen. 3:6) First, she lusted, then she partook, and Adam, too. And so sin and death came into the world.

Achan: We have the same vicious cycle in connection with Achan in Joshua 7. He says in verse 21, "When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and I took them." Because of this Achan was stoned to death. Because of his lust he sinned, and because of his sin, he died.

David and Bathsheba: In 2 Samuel 11, we have the story of David and Bathsheba. David should have been out with his men fighting the battles of the Lord. Instead, he sits at home, and one evening from a roof top he sees beautiful Bathsheba washing herself. This filled him with lust; he inquired about her, sent for her, and although he knew that she was the wife of Uriah, he committed adultery with her. Then when Bathsheba conceived, in order to cover up his sin, he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. The little one born to Bathsheba does not live and from that day on David had troubles in his household – many cases of sexual sin, and even murder.

Ahab and Naboth's vineyard: Wicked king Ahab saw Naboth's beautiful vineyard and wanted it. He offered to buy it, but Naboth would not sell to him (1 Kin. 21). This disturbs him so much that he cannot sleep. His sinful wife, Jezebel, schemes to have Naboth put to death, and then gives the vineyard to Ahab. Here, as in the case with David, the sinners were not the first ones to die. However, in a very few years, Ahab was killed in Battle. Jazebel was later thrown from the wall of Jezreel, and before she could be buried wild dogs left nothing but her skull and a few bones (2 Kin. 9).

Herod and John the Baptist: Herod had no business living with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. It is another case of lust and sin. John the Baptist dares to tell Herod that he is doing an unlawful thing. This greatly angers Herodias, and she persuades Herod to have John imprisoned. Then we have that awful drunken feast of Herod and his lords, at which the daughter of Herodias danced. What kind of a lewd dance this was, we are not told, but we can be sure it was bad, or Herod and his men would not have been so pleased. Then we have that foolish promise of Herod: "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee" (Mark 6:22). She runs to her mother, "What shall I ask?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist." Herod did not expect this, and hated to do it, but he had promised, and he would not reject her. What a sight. A wicked though probably beautiful girl, carrying the bleeding head of the great man of God to her mother on a platter. Without doubt, the Lord saw to it that all of these were justly punished for their wicked deed.

Judas Iscariot: With Judas, it was the lust for money. He held the bag, and stole from it. Judas never called Christ "Lord," but followed Him perhaps for mercenary reasons. We see him bargaining with the priests to betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver. This lust, humanly speaking, brought Christ to the cross and death. Judas, evidently, did not expect to see things go that far, and tries to bring back his ill-gotten gains. When they will not hear, in remorse he hangs himself.

Lust, sin and death today: O, that vicious cycle: lust, sin, and death. We can hardly pick up a newspaper, but an example of it is on the front page. Murder, suicide, and many other deaths are just the end of this cycle. Really, every death is the effect of this same cycle. If there was no lust, there would be no sin, and if there was no sin, there would be no death. Christ and sin: It was this cycle that even brought on the death of our Lord Jesus. Of course, He had no lust or sin of His own, but it was needful for Him to die in order that our sins might be put away. He had to die, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18). If there had been no sin, Christ would not have had to die.

Eternal death: The saddest part of the cycle, lust, sin, and death, is not natural death, but eternal. If death ended all, it would be serious, but not too serious. However, the Scriptures emphatically state that death does not end all. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). This appointment with death and judgment, none can escape. If one is saved through trusting Christ and obeying His commandments, he will not be condemned, but let not the wicked, unrepentant, and unbelieving think that they shall escape. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forgot God" (Ps. 9:17). The New Testament has many references to this awful place of judgment for the unsaved. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15).

Death or the crown of life: Here in verse 15, we have the end of lust and sin. Death is the sad end of one who pursues a path of sin and indulgence. This is in contrast to what we have in verse 12. There we read of those who love the Lord, and suffer trial for Him, receiving not death, but "the crown of life." This ought to stir us on, beloved, to live for Him, who died for us.

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