Tempted To Death

July 7th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Sadly, man’s nature is to sin, a disease that always leads to death (Rom. 6:23). As Paul said, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all, for all sinned…” (Rom. 5:12). Man is thus not the good creation he was in the beginning. Though still in God’s image, from the time of Adam’s rebellion in Eden, man has sought his own way, driven by his inner lusts. Our inborn rebellion necessitates our need for a Savior.

James says that Christians, though tested by God, are never tempted by Him to sin. Our “own lusts” are responsible for that (v. 14). Peter likewise warns, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). But apparently Satan is only able to devour when we allow ourselves to be “carried away and enticed by [our] own lust.”

Although Scripture portrays Satan as tempting humans to sin, as he does with Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4; Luke 4), James was concerned with the Christian’s own role in leading himself into lustful temptations. God is never to blame when Christians follow after their own lusts, for even the redeemed struggle with their own flesh, conflicting with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).

Though James uses the term “lust,” or “desire” (NIV) in v. 14 in the context of sin, the term is not inherently evil in the NT (cf. Luke 22:15; Phil 1:23). Yet on most occasions “lust” either has a sexual undertone or a more general meaning for how man longs for that which is forbidden (cf. 1 Pet. 2:11; 1 John 2:17). This is James’ meaning for the term, for anything that man desires outside of what God permits is what carries us away and entices us. The Greek terms for “carried away” (exelkō) and “enticed” (deleazō) picture a fish being hooked. As the fish swims along it is alerted to something that looks good. Partaking of it, it is snagged and killed. The fisherman is not to blame, for the fish was enticed by what it saw and paid for it with its life. Such is sin. Like a child conceived that grows in his mother’s womb and is later birthed, so too are lustful desires —starting small becoming irresistible. Solomon pictures the scene in Proverbs 7:6-27 where a young man is lured by a loose woman. What initially looked good to him ended in his death.

Now the “death” that James is referring to here is not a reference to the end of life. If it were, no one would be alive today since all are lured by sinful lusts throughout their lives. Neither is he referring to eternal death in hell for succumbing to sinful lusts. Sinners are saved by God’s grace when they trust Christ, in spite of their sinful lusts (Eph. 2:8-9; cf. Rom. 8:1). The “death” James is referring to here reflects the Jewish way of thinking, namely that death was a way of life, “more as a trajectory than a destination” (Swindoll). As King David, in his lust, willfully sent for the married Bathsheba and committed adultery with her, then later had her husband killed, he lived in a state of death: “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer” (Ps. 32:3-4; cf. Deut. 30:15; Prov. 12:28; 13:14).

Thus, the “death” James is referring to is a “death-like existence”—not the “abundant life” Christ promised to those who love Him (John 10:10). In the death-like existence, having succumbed to our sinful lusts, we experience neither victory over sin nor the benefit of the Spirit’s fruit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23). David escaped this by repenting: “I acknowledged my sin to You… I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”

Food For Thought
We must pray for wisdom, for we all struggle with temptations to sin leading to a death-like existence. Wisdom is the antidote in those times of testing (Jas. 1:5-8). It’s not a prayer against Satan or a rebuke of the devil; it’s the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13) we must pray. Clearly, the “evil one” lurks during our times of testing. Our prayer therefore is that Satan not take us down during those vulnerable times. Note Agur’s prayer: “Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God’ ” (Prov. 30:8-9). Agur knew what his weaknesses were, namely too much and too little. So he prayed that neither of them would overtake him. He knew that his nature, like every human being, was as inclined to sin just as a fish is inclined to water. The antidote? Prayer to God for temptation to be removed. Wisdom!