The Perils of Sin

 

King David Sees Bathsheba Bathing, James Tissot (1836-1902)

Each and every one of us is in the middle of a battle for our hearts and souls. Satan is perpetually on the prowl, seeking to devour us. He is our greatest enemy and if we do not resist him, we will be snared by his temptations and fall into destruction.

The Apostle James described this process of temptation, "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: 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 1:13-15)

In the previous post we examined how temptation and enticement work. Lust always originates in our own hearts and minds. We can never blame the Devil or God for our sin, every temptation originates within us, from our own unclean desires. Satan comes along with his enticements to seduce us into sin by filling our minds with thoughts and images. But the only reason those thoughts and images have any effect is because we desire them. Lust is said to conceive when it gains the consent of the will, that is, we begin to entertain those lustful thoughts, we enjoy the scene that Satan has introduced.

We will have unclean thoughts and enticements come into our minds. Satan will whisper his lies to us, but we have the choice to either entertain or reject those thoughts. If we choose to entertain those thoughts, then they will grow, becoming stronger and more influential. If we linger and indulge that lust and allow it to conceive, then we will end up in sin. Sin is the fruit of lust joined with the will.

When exactly a thought or desire becomes sin is hard to tell. But we certainly know when we take a sinful action. The more we indulge in sinful thoughts the more likely it is that we will end up in sin. Sin in our hearts will always produce sin with our hands. We cannot simply imagine sinful scenarios without putting ourselves at risk for sinful deeds. What we visualize will ultimately become the actions we take.

King David is a prime example. After he was well established as king, he lingered at home when he should have gone to battle with his armies. As he lounged on his balcony, he saw his neighbor's wife bathing on her rooftop. This provided that initial thought, that enticement that stirred up the lust that was already dwelling in his heart. He could have chosen to walk away, to redirect his thoughts, to pray, or meditate on Scripture, but instead he continued to think about her. He let the tape play. Then he played it again. The image of her preoccupied his mind. He asked after her and discovered her name, Bathsheba. This fed the flames of his lust further. His thoughts had become actions, at this point the cascade had begun, the chemicals were raging. His willpower was eroded, and he could no longer resist. He sent for her, and they spent the night together. (See 2 Samuel 11)

Bathsheba ended up getting pregnant as a result of the affair, and to cover it up, David had her husband killed in battle. Almost immediately afterward, he married Bathsheba.

The whole sordid affair had its start in David's heart and mind. He allowed the unclean thoughts to run free, and eventually they took control of him. David allowed himself to be drawn away with his own lust, to be enticed and to walk into sin.

Sin always has consequences, and James, along with many other passages in the New Testament, make it abundantly clear that the final result of sin is always death. 

This was quite literally the case with David and Bathsheba, the child that was growing in Bathsheba's womb died as a consequence of their sinful choices. There is nothing so deadly as sin. We may not face immediate, physical consequences like David did, but sin always kills. It kills peace. It kills hope. It kills love. It kills usefulness. It kills the conscience. It kills the soul.

Every sin, no matter how small, results in death. Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit and brought the curse of death upon the world and the entire human race. One of the most dangerous characteristics of sin is that it is never satisfied, it is insatiable. Sin always begets more sin. Sin works in us to draw us further and further into darkness and depravity. It drives us to further and further iniquity.

The Nineteenth Century Pulpit Commentary says this, "Sin, the progeny of lust, itself grows up from infancy of mere choice to the adult life of settled habit."  The more we allow ourselves to indulge in sin, the more that sinful pattern will entrench itself in our souls. This is essentially what happens with addiction, we become programmed by sin, and we can no longer resist it. We cannot live without it.

The more sin spreads through our life, the more destruction, chaos, and death it will produce. We play with sin at our own peril. If we are to continue to live sober, righteous lives then we must resist sin. The best time to do this is when the thought originates in our minds. When those unclean ideas present themselves, we capture them and cast them down.