The Origin of Sin

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. – James 1:13-15

In the context of discussing the blessedness of one who endures and overcomes temptation, the apostle James, guided by the Holy Spirit, teaches us a vital truth regarding the origin of sin and temptation. No temptation comes from God. God does not tempt anyone to commit evil. Instead, temptation comes from within our hearts. We are tempted when we are drawn away by ‘our own desires.’

We should notice that the devil is not invoked in these passages. It seems natural that the devil would be pointed to as the tempter after God is cleared. But this isn’t the case. Instead, our own desires are pointed to as the source. I don’t mean to say that the devil never tempts, for he does, being called ‘the tempter’ in Scripture (Matthew 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:5). He does tempt, but he isn’t the ultimate source of temptation, nor does he need to exist at all for temptation to be present. Otherwise, how was he himself tempted? His temptation wasn’t from without, but from within. All free creatures, by definition, have the ability to exalt self over goodness and truth. If not, they wouldn’t truly be free. Free creatures don’t have to sin to be free; they must only have the capacity to do so. Notice that the Bible says that Satan was perfect before he fell. He did not have a ‘sinful nature,’ nor was he tempted by anyone. Instead, iniquity was found within him.

You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. – Ezekiel 28:15-17

Satan didn’t sin because he was tempted by God or anyone else. Thoughts arose in his heart that were contrary to what is good and right, and, instead of resisting those thoughts, he embraced them, and sin was conceived in his heart.

This is what our text teaches:

when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. – James 1:15

Satan’s sin was more grave than the sin of Adam and Eve. He wasn’t deceived, nor did he sin from weakness, nor did an eternal source tempt him. Angels are greater in power and strength, and, presumably, intelligence. His sin was ‘high-handed.’ This means that his sin was committed defiantly with a full understanding of what he was doing. This is also the reason that no forgiveness was available for him.

I have digressed a bit, however, for our intention is not to discuss Satan’s sin, but our own sin. I want it to be seen that sin originates in the heart, not from external sources. External sources can certainly trigger and amplify the desires within us, but it is ultimately our own desires that draw us away and entice us.

Jesus taught this very explicitly:

What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these come from within and defile a man. – Mark 7:20-23

The human heart is a sin-factory. It produces every vile thing that is in the earth today. This is famously testified by the prophet Jeremiah:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? – Jeremiah 17:9

Get a New Heart

The evil that spawns from the heart is the reason there are so many admonitions in the Bible to get a new heart.

Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? – Ezekiel 18:31

Jesus admonishes the same thing when he teaches that a man must be born again to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3). A ‘new heart’ and a ‘new birth’ are the same thing. To get a new heart is to be born anew. This is why Jesus rebuked Nicodemus for not understanding what He was teaching:

Are you (Nicodemus) the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? – John 3:10

In other words, Nicodemus should have understood this from his reading of the Old Testament. He should have known from the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that it was necessary to get a new heart in order to be saved and enter the kingdom of God.

But what does it mean to get a new heart? What does it mean to be born again?

A New Heart?

There has been much confusion over what all this means. I think this is because so many overthink what is simple. God speaks to us in language we understand, yet many people take it out of the context of normal language and spiritualize it too much. We understand what it means when people speak of the heart. For example, someone might say, “He has put his whole heart and soul into that job.” We know that to mean he has dedicated every bit of his thoughts and time possible to the job. He works hard while he’s there and thinks about it when he’s not. In the same way, before we come to Christ, our hearts are set on whatever selfish desire we might fancy, perhaps on gaining wealth, or ease, or recognition, or pleasure. But when we are born again, our hearts change from being engrossed in ourselves to being fixed on God and Christ, and following His ways. This change of heart comes when we are struck to the heart with the truth of our own sinfulness and need of a Savior. The Holy Spirit presses on us the need to repent and cast away our old life of sin and the evil that we lived for. At that moment, moved by the power of the Spirit and the love of Christ, we radically choose to embrace the new life God has called us to. God gives us a new heart, for it is His influence that brought about the change. But we also make for ourselves a new heart, for we choose to receive his grace and embrace a new life.

Guarding the Heart

Though our hearts are made new when we receive the grace of God, it does not free us from the possibility of sin being born again in our hearts. A heart made new must be continually renewed. A man may give his heart to his wife, but if he does not maintain his affection for her while parrying away other people and things that seek to steal it, his love for her can grow cold. In the same way, we must guard our hearts diligently (Proverbs 4:23), lest they stray from our devotion to God.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above. (From the Hymn, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”)

It is for this reason that the author of Hebrews warned us so solemnly to ‘beware’ lest any of us allow in ourselves an evil heart of unbelief:

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God… – Hebrews 3:12

That new heart can stray. The author was clearly writing to Christians. The fact is that a new heart can be corrupted into an evil heart if we are not careful. Sin can be conceived in even a renewed heart. If not dealt with, it will grow up and bring forth death.

This was the entire purpose of James’ teaching. James was not writing simply to give us some nice information. He is warning us that hearts can be turned away from Christ if we are not careful to keep our own desires at bay. This is why the apostle Peter said that we must ‘abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul’ (1 Peter 2:11).

Conclusion

Temptation comes from many sources. In the present age, we must resist the temptations that come from the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must learn to keep our hearts from embracing these desires that lurk within so that we might not be destroyed by them, nor fall into the same condemnation as the devil. By recognizing how sin originates in the heart, we can set a guard on it, quickly squashing any thought that seeks to raise itself up above the knowledge of God. If we can stop sin before it is conceived, we can prevent it from being born in our lives, and thus prevent it from growing up into death.