Why James 1:13-15 Does Not Apply to All Sins!

April 17, 2020

Based on several previous interactions with Christian friends, I wonder if many or most believers think that James 1:13-15 applies to all sins so that every time a person sins, it is because he gives in to a temptation to sin:

James 1:13 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: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Sin That Did Not Result from A Temptation to Sin

The following passage speaks of a situation that required a person to offer a sin offering for their sin, but it is impossible to say this sin always and only resulted because the person who sinned gave in to a temptation to sin:

Numbers 6:9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

A Nazarite who sinned by having someone die very suddenly by him did not do so by giving in to any temptation to sin in that way. It simply is not true that all human sinning is the result of giving in to a temptation to sin.

Conclusion

It it vitally important that we understand why James 1:13-15 does not apply to all sins!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.