The Art of Deception
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). 15 Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15
- Deception is to make someone believe that things are other than they are, so that he will do something he would never otherwise do. This is the way your flesh makes you into the willing servant of sin.
- Deception starts in the mind: If you want to overthrow a fortress, start by knocking out the watchman—if he can’t warn the others, you will easily breach the wall and carry the day. The flesh plies deceit to knock out the watchman of your soul: your mind.”
- If the mind fails to identify a sin as evil, wicked, vile, and bitter, the affections will not be safe from clinging to it, nor the will from giving consent. This is one side of the castle wall, the first line of defense: to keep in mind that every sin is a forsaking of God (Jeremiah 2: 19), to never forget the polluting, corrupting, defiling power of sin—to be shaken to the core by how much God loathes sin.
JAMES 1:13-15
First, the goal the flesh aims at is death (verse 15). The flesh wants us to believe that the consequences for dallying with sin will only be slight (not as much blessing from God, a cheaper seat in heaven). Knowing this is our first means of arming ourselves against deceit.
Second, the way the flesh works for your death is by temptation (verse 14). The essence of temptation is deceit—to be tempted and to be deceived are the same thing. And James lists what we can call five degrees of temptation:
(1) dragging away (the mind),
(2) enticing (the affections),
(3) conceiving sin (in the will),
(4) the birth of sin (in actions, words, thoughts, and so on),
(5) death by sin. (Enslavement to sin is spiritual death.)
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 is the birth of continual actions, words and thoughts. Fifth, comes death.
- Meditate on God with God. Fill your mind with thoughts of God’s character, glory, majesty, love, beauty, and goodness— but not abstractly and impersonally, as you might contemplate a textbook. Speak to God as you contemplate him, humbling your soul before him, adoring and admiring him, delighting in him and giving him glory. Make your meditation into the worship of the psalmist:
O LORD, my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 1 (Psalm 8: 1)
- Meditate on the Word in the Word. Study the written Word to know the living Word. Never let it be your goal to search the Scriptures to find a new insight to tickle your hunger for learning or to have something neat to share with your small group. And never study and pray without God’s help. He is the one who revealed his truth, and only he can enlighten your mind to know it. He is the one who teaches us to pray when we don’t know what to say. Ask him to open his mind and will to you, so that you may know him and love him more. He delights to do it.
- Meditate on yourself in the Word and with God. The power of this meditation and prayer lies in its ability to expose the secret workings of sin—what advantages the flesh has gotten over you, what temptations it has used with success, what harm it has already caused, and what harm it still plans. This prayer and meditation calls on the Spirit to use his Word to shine light into the cracks and crevices of your soul, to show you every real need and danger there. Without these, prayer is not prayer.
