James 1:14-16 - Do Not Be Deceived

14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires.
15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Do not be deceived, my dear friends!.

Temptations - Lust, Sin, Death

Vs. 14 - “ But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires.” - Don't blame God if your trials become temptations.

“Lured, or Drawn away” - Think of wild game lured into a trap. I love fly fishing. The lure, the artificial fly, is bits of feather, hair, attached to a fishhook by thread. The fly doesn’t necessarily look exactly like an insect, but the way it floats (a ‘dry’ fly) on the surface, or bounce along the bottom (a ‘wet’ fly) is enough to trick the fish into thinking it is an insect. Luring land animals into a trap involves making sure the trap does not look like a trap. The animal must be unsuspecting, wanting the object or food enough to enter the space and become trapped. If we looked at sin the way God sees it, we would be repelled and not enter in.

“Trapped” - To catch with bait (similar to drawn away, above). Sin is not just a spontaneous act, but the result of a process. Seldom, if ever, does a person move through a day of their life, and then snap and without warning commit a sin. We’ve thought about it; we’ve pondered on it, maybe even wondered what it would be like. There is a predilection within us, that has us leaning in that direction.

“Own evil desires” - Lust is an internal drive, part of our human nature. See Adam & Eve (Gen 2:15-17; 3:1-6) - what does it mean to all people that temptation to sin is not from God? Our flesh (from Adam) has a propensity toward sin. "selfish" best characterizes our nature.

There seems to be two elements in a temptation - outward and inward. The outside (outward) element is an attack from the enemy in which we are enticed to stray. Proverbs 7:10-21 has a good illustration of the lure or temptation. The woman calls out to the foolish young man, telling him that they will enjoy themselves, and won’t get into trouble (her husband is out of the country on a business trip). She’s seductive, and the lies she tells draws him into sin. He is without sense - not understanding the danger sin puts him in.
The inside attack (inward) is the attraction of the evil root of sin, any strong desire, or lust. Evil desire originates from within ourselves. It is the sin nature we are born with.  When we are re-born in Christ, we do not need to follow the old  nature. We now have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us, and do not need to be trapped by those evil desires.  

How would you Define 'Christian endurance'? How about: Live your life depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God. That sounds trite or flippant. It is not intended that way. Jesus Christ promised a ‘Helper’ to those who believe and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. He promised the Holy Spirit. We are missing a lot when we do not listen to the Holy Spirit, or do not ask the Spirit to work in us and empower us.

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From a devotion by Oswald Chambers “Not to be tempted would mean that we are already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level, where we would face temptations of a another kind. A person’s inner nature… determines what he is tempted by on the outside.” (for Sep 17) (see Note 1, below):

Vs. 15 - “ Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” - Paul shows the progression of sin in our life when we succumb to temptation. The three basic phases of temptations are: Conception; Birth; Maturity. The previous verses have discussed the ‘conception’, i.e., being enticed or lured to sin. The next phase, ‘birth’ is giving in to the lure of sin, committing the sin. Death is the ‘maturity’ portion. We can see that temptations are life taking!

I am not saying that we are condemned because we have committed sin. The commission is a result of our sin nature. Without the death of that sin nature we are destined to eternity without Jesus. The sin nature can only be done away with through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Also be aware that the propensity to sin does not magically disappear when we believe and accept Christ. The sin nature only dies and no longer has an effect when we see Jesus face-to-face when He returns. Our physical death brings us to Jesus in heaven, and the sin nature does not follow us there. We go from damaged goods to pristine and pure just as Jesus is pure. He does this for us, not we ourselves. That means, however, that as long as we are physically alive we have this sin nature in us to lead us to sin. The sin nature remains, but rejoice because “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creature, the old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:17) We receive a new nature as well as the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. No longer are we condemned to sin. We have the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and protect.

Temptations can be considered different from trials. This may not be a hard-and-fast definition of the difference. A trial seems to be an outside influence which brings us to react negatively and commit sin. A temptation is internal, a luring in our imagination or mind that make the situation seem okay, if not wonderful and exciting. The temptation happens within ourselves.

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Vs. 16 - “Do not be deceived, my dear friends!.” - Don't make the mistake... Do not confuse the source of the troubles. (The “Christian Standard Bible” translation sends the warning to “brothers and sisters”. I suppose the ‘modern’ translations are trying to make the scripture ‘inclusive’, making sure that women feel included in the warning. Alrighty, then.)

I think we are seeing a change in focus on this subject.  Our attention is being changed from enduring to resisting. James provides four (4) proofs that God is not responsible for temptation or sin, nor for weakness in giving in to sin:

1. Nature of man - Our flesh (from Adam) has a propensity toward sin. "Selfish" best characterizes our nature.
2. Nature of lust - Our mental and emotional processes (inherited from Adam) tends to lure us into sin. We can convince ourselves that it “isn’t all that bad”; our mind will dwell on a temptation or a trial, we will roll it around and inspect it from all sides and eventually decide it is okay when it is definitely not. In our own power we will walk ourselves into a trap.
3. Nature of God - He is loving and forgiving. He is not soft or manipulated. There are standards which must be kept. Failure leads to death. We are not condemned to sinning. His loving and forgiving nature has provided a means for each of us to avoid sacrificing our lives for sin. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, to take the penalty of sin for us. We can accept that and be free from the penalty. God does not allow a flippant or cavalier belief. He demands all of our attention and faith. His Holy Spirit lives in each believer that each may be free of sin and its penalty. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). See also, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9)
4. It is not about the test, but our response to it. Compare these verses to Rom 7:8-25.

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Note 1: Oswald Chambers; “My Utmost for His Highest”; Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.; 1992.