Deception

(James 1:13-14) But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James is writing to people trying to excuse their sin much the way Adam and Eve did in the Garden, pinning the blame on God. But James says that the whole guilt of sin lies in the sinner, as he is hoodwinked by the desires of his own flesh.

First, the goal the flesh aims at is death. Whatever sin pretends, it will end in death. The flesh wants us to believe that the consequences for dallying with sin will only be slight.

Second, the way the flesh works for your death is by temptation. The essence of temptation is deceit, to be tempted and to be deceived are the same thing. Here is a lists that James gives us that he calls the five degrees of temptation:

1. dragging away
2. enticing
3. conceiving sin
4. the birth of sin
5. death by sin

"The first degree relates to the mind, it is dragged away from its duties by the deceit of sin. The second aims at the affections, they are enticed and entangled. The third overcomes the will, the consent of the will is the conception of actual sin. The fourth degree disrupts our way of life as sin is born into it. The fifth is the flesh's goal, a hardened life of sin, which leads to eternal death."

"Each of the faculties of your soul has duties before God. The mind is the sentinel, commanded to watch carefully over the soul by questioning, assessing, and making judgments: "Will this please God?" "Is this according to God's Word?" If the mind determines that an action is right, the affections should then fall in line and desire, long for, and cling to that which the mind said was good. Last, the will puts the soul into action, carrying out what the mind said was good and the affections hungered for."