“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)

Actions have consequences. This is a lesson we need to teach children and youth. It is also a lesson we learn and relearn. Sadly we are often taught this truth by our failings regardless of whether they consist of actions or inaction. Where there is sin, there will always be consequences.

Adam and Eve discovered this terrible truth as they were expelled from Eden and consigned to life in a world suffering under the curse of God. As they buried Abel years later, murdered by the hand of his brother – the truth later expressed by James must have been painfully evident to them, stirring their guilty consciences – “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death”. David likewise after his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, which led to the murder of her husband Uriah in the battlefield, heard the words of judgement from Nathan the prophet – “the sword shall not depart from thine house”. As he suffered the deaths of two sons in later years in the most violent of circumstances the truth James is here articulating must have weighed heavily – “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death”. Sin has consequences – terrible consequences.

James in these verses takes the scalpel of Holy Scripture, dissecting the anatomy of our hearts and natures. Perhaps, in a way, that is unique among the New Testament writers, he opens up our hearts and shows us the path of sin. He leads us on a journey from its conception to its terrible and catastrophic conclusion.

Sin has consequences.

Dear unsaved friend – listen carefully. Continue in the path of worldly pleasure rejecting Jesus Christ. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

Dear backslider – this applies to you likewise. Once you walked well with the Lord. Your Bible lies unopened. The Lord hardly hears your voice in prayer. Your place at the prayer meeting is empty. Your attendance at God’s House has become sporadic. Old sins have crept into your life. The brightness and enthusiasm has gone. There will be consequences. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

Dear Christian. I need to take this to my heart. So must we all. It all starts with what appears to be a very little sin. But no sin is little. Every sin is consequential. There is a battle going on for hearts day and daily. Moment by moment the struggle is unrelenting. We must live in victory. If we don’t – sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

Let us therefore consider James’s solemn dissection of our spiritual anatomy.

The Origin of Temptation

Sin begins with temptation. This begs the question – ‘ Where does temptation come from?’ James is at pains to emphasise that temptation does not originate with God. The word translated “tempt” has two uses in James 1. It may mean trials. This is how it is employed in verse 2 – “divers temptations”.

The providence of God brings trials into our lives to strengthen our faith. He did this with Abraham for example in guiding him up Moriah to sacrifice Isaac.

God, however, cannot tempt us to sin. This is the other use of the word. Sometimes the trial is a circumstance which makes the act of sin extremely attractive. God never does this. He cannot lead us to sin. James actually makes the logical point that if God Himself cannot be tempted to sin – how can he then tempt us.

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” (James 1:13).

The reason why God cannot be tempted lies in His nature. His holiness is such that He cannot sin. Therefore God cannot desire sin. He is utterly revolted and offended by it.

This brings James to the point at which temptation gains its power over us: our own fallen desires. We cannot ultimately excuse our sin by blaming the Devil or another person who has led us astray. Temptation finds an ally within — the evil desires that lurk within our own hearts.

The Authorised Version employs the word ‘lust’, which basically means desire. In this context it is a desire for something contrary to the law and will of God. That which is against God’s law is sin. We do not need to be taught sin. It comes naturally to us. We derive pleasure from sin. We are sinners and this means we desire that which is wrong.

We all have sinful tendencies. One person’s desire for a particular sin may be different from another. Yet there is a sinful tendency that latches onto each individual’s heart. It is these tendencies which explain the nature of man in all of its corrupt forms. These tendencies are our lusts.

One person’s lust may be alcohol or other substances.

Another person’s lust may be lying and deception.

There is the lust for sexual relationships outside of marriage; whether that be fornication among the unmarried or adultery among the married.

There is the tendency for homosexuality or some form of unnatural relationship.

We cannot treat any of these sins and others differently, because it is all sin, it is all depravity. We cannot wring our hands as if we had no lusts because we do. There is the gossiping tongue, the unforgiving heart and the angry words. It is all sin.

Philo, an early Jewish writer was not wrong in his analysis of the world in which he lived:

“For all the wars of Greeks and barbarians between themselves or against each other … are sprung from one source, desire, the desire for money or glory or pleasure. These it is that bring disaster to the human race.” (Moo, Douglas J. 2000. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos).

Philo’s words may well have been written in the 21st Century, suggesting that the heart of man remains the same. Perhaps, if Philo is to be faulted, he focused on the Greeks and Barbarians, not on the Jew. We too are adept with this approach. Castigating others. Neglecting our own hearts. Sin is formulated within all our corrupt natures. Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone!

The Conception of Sin

We must always take care and deal with our sinful desires and thoughts. The longer we entertain a lust, the more it will grow and intensify. As it grows in our hearts, the greater the likelihood that what we long for will become a lived experience.

Peter highlighted this, indicating the internal struggle that plagues each of our natures:

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

In relating the progress of lust in the soul James uses the words “drawn away” and “enticed”. The language is metaphorical. The word ‘entice’ pictures the fisherman’s baited hook, offering the fish the prospect of food. The drawing is the fish being landed, dragged away to its death. This is very much a Jewish way of thinking, as Philo once again demonstrates:

“There is no single thing that does not yield to the enticement of pleasure, and get caught and dragged along in her entangling nets.”

Moo, Douglas J. 2000. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

You today may be in the process of being baited. The pleasure of sin is dangled before your eyes, your heart is drawn towards it. There is an attraction in the bait. Satan is adept at making sin look pretty. Once you are hooked, however, you are caught, dragged away to destruction. If there is one thing I know about a fish hook, it is this – you can’t extract it easily once the hook pierces. The barbs hold it in place. Ever get a fish hook caught on a piece of clothing? So it is with sin. Easy to get into but very difficult to extricate yourself from.

Perhaps, there is someone who is being dragged away as we speak. You are beyond caught. You are captured. You wish you had never got into the sin that has caused such grief. But still there is redemption. Thank God for Christ who breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free!

James also uses this word translated “conceived”. The act of sin is conceived in the human heart before it becomes a lived reality. The conception of a child in the womb of the mother is hidden, mysterious yet it is very powerful. Every characteristic of that child is contained in the embryo produced at conception. From conception the embryo grows through the foetal stage to birth. To grow the baby must be nurtured and fed.

In like fashion sin, when conceived in our hearts, will grow if we continue to feed it.

Don’t feed your hearts with sin. Be careful with what you read, what you listen to and who your friends are. When sinful desire begins to gain the consent of the heart, arrest its progress. Recognise that you have a problem. Then spend much time with the Lord. Cut off the blood supply. Prevent the sin from birthing in your life.

The Outcome of Sin

Once sin comes to birth and thought becomes behaviour the problem intensifies. But there is an end. Once sin is done with you – DEATH!

“Sin when it is finished”. I find these words most evocative. You treat sin as a friend. You enjoy the pleasure. But then the day comes – Sin is finished and there is no-one to assist. You are left alone to wallow in the misery of it all.

David enjoyed his pleasure. He saw Bathsheba bathing from his royal window. He did not turn his eyes away. He was hooked. The barbs cut into his spirit. He was dragged into sin that devastated his peace, scarred his family and grievously damaged his testimony.

But when sin was finished with David, David was not finished. How he regretted the wrong decisions of those days, but it was too late to undo them. It was not too late for forgiveness and mercy. He did repent. The joy of his salvation was restored. But still he had to live with the frightful consequences of his sin.

That is the terrible reality of sin. It may be forgiven, its guilt may be cleansed, fellowship with God may be restored — but consequences can remain. When sin is finished, it leaves a toll behind.

Solomon describes the young man who was taken in by a beautiful woman who seduces him to take their fill of love until the morning while her husband was away. What was the end of the affair?

“He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs 7: 22-27).

There is an end. The same is true of the Scripture’s description of alcohol:

“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” (Proverbs 23:29-32).

The pain and misery that accompanies loose and dangerous living is real. The warnings of this old Book, given by our kind Creator, are being borne out around us every day.

What an amazing example Joseph was. A young man forced into slavery. Deprived of the opportunity to have a wife and family. But when his master’s wife offered him her bed he said no – “…how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). Joseph’s response insightfully teaches the greatest preventative standing between us and sin – the fear of the Lord. His holiness, His justice and our accountability before Him ought to restrain us from sin.

Joseph did what Paul exhorted Timothy to do:

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2nd Timothy 2:22).

Thank God there is a life of victory over the dominion of sin. That victory is found in Christ.

We have been thinking about how awful sin is — its darkness, its bitterness, its power and its consequences. We have seen where sin leads. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” But that very truth directs us to Calvary.

There we see the awful price of sin. We see the shame, the suffering and the death. Christ took the place of sinners. He bore the guilt of sin and endured the judgement that our sin deserved. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” By His stripes we are healed.

Perhaps you feel yourself being dragged away by sin. Perhaps you have already tasted its bitterness and are living with its consequences. Do not despair. There is mercy in Christ. He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free.

And to you, dear unsaved friend, the warning is solemn: continue in sin and its end is death. But there is another way. Christ died for sinners. The penalty of sin was borne by Him at the cross, and all who come to Him in repentance and faith may find pardon, peace and a new life.

Come to Christ today. Look and live. Flee from sin, but above all flee to the Saviour. The end of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.