Quote of the Day

Speaking on James 1:14: 

Temptation finds its strength and source from within ourselves. The brutal truth of our sin, personal sinning, is that it is all in and of ourselves - not only can't God be blamed, but no other (person or thing) can be blamed - it is sad to realize how many still trust the validity of their 'blame shifting' and then add an extra 'perimeter fence' of protection by no longer identifying sin as sin - sinners are encouraged by other sinners to find shelter in their being a victim. 

The process is ls illustrated by James as being , first, each person being tempted (tested to prove slavery to sin) by their own desire/lust (ἐπιθυμίας - passions, inner cravings and inclinations) - this process of temptation first "lures" (NASB has "carried away") - "lure" is a better descriptive word since it was used of luring a fish with bait and visuals. 

Then they are "enticed" (another hunting/fishing term) and so are trapped and ensnared - there is an attraction, leading to exploration, ending in entrapment (hooked) - these lusts then become the trap itself (prison, unhookable hook).

 

This can be pictured as if there are internal counselors working to achieve an inner desire - the counselor of feelings begins to prod us for attention for some "needed relief" or fulfillment, followed closely by the advisor of reason (not considering that feelings has paid-off/bribed or blackmailed reason by its relentlessness and insistence) - the advisor of reason is then accompanied by the scholar of memory, vividly portraying past yielding, only showing photos of the "good times" - with all such counsel, we play along (disregarding the Holy Spirit) and so the manager of decision, believing all needed research has been dutifully done, signs-off to action (sin). 

So rather than being a victim of the external influences to sin, we discover we are instigators, working with even the enemies from without to conquer any convicting and motivating work of God within us - the "conspiracy" ends up being us.

- Don Lambert

From his sermon series on James

Quote of the Day

  "To sin is to love yourself at the expense of your neighbor.  More than that, it is to love yourself at the expense of God. Sin-shaped love expresses itself primarily in the form of narcissism.  It is self-absorbed love. This affection is hate masquerading as love, compelling us to engage in self-destructive behavior. Sin promises freedom and delivers slavery.  It speaks the language of friendship while treating us like enemies.  Sin is a cruel master who promises good wages only to reward our loyalty with hard service, disappointment and death.  For some reason, we return again and again to this false lover and expect a different result.

The answer to sinful lust is love - God's love, which comes to us from the outside, like the righteousness of Christ.  Adopting the language that Martin Luther used to speak of Christ's righteousness, we might call it 'alien love' because it does not originate with us. It is a love that begins with God and can come to us only as a gift. For the Christian, this greater love is the organizing force for all our other desires.  In this regard, love is not so much an emotion as it is a disposition. We might call it a divinely empowered direction for our lives.....What is true of lust is true of all capitol sins.  Change may require discipline, but it does not begin with discipline.  What is required is a miracle of grace." 

John Koessler

Dangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good

Quote of the Day

While God most often appeals to our wills through our reason, sin and Satan usually appeal to us through our desires.

Jerry Bridges

Quote of the Day

 Slavish fear makes the naughty heart imprison truth in his conscience, because, if that had it's liberty and authority in the soul, it would imprison, yea, execute every lust that rules the roost...

 

William Gurnall

Quote of the Day

I wish that saints would cling to Christ half as earnestly as sinners cling to the devil.  If we were as willing to suffer for God as some are willing to suffer for their lusts, what perseverance and zeal would be seen on all sides!

 

Charles Spurgeon

Quote of the Day

Lord, I am hunted with such a temptation, dogged with such a lust, either thou must pardon it, or I am damned; mortify it, or I shall be a slave to it; take me into the bosom of thy love, for Christ's sake; castle me in the arms of thy everlasting strength, it is in thy power to save from, or give me up into, the hands of my enemy. I have no confidence in myself or any other: into thy hands I commit my cause my life, and rely on thee.

William Gurnall

Quote of the Day

My Dad on Romans 7:

To the believer, it(the law) still serves to keep our 'fleshy self'(carnal)identified....

Beware of the viewing of self as 'this body'.  We are not what we see and feel in the flesh - the body is the interface for the real me to interact with the physical world….'sin' would have us believe it is our true master, stifling progressive work by instilling a habitual defensive posture.  So, do believers sin and if so, why?  Yes they do sin, but there is now a difference - the 'lusting after the Spirit (Gal.5:16-17) walking and being led by the Spirit, not the flesh.  The law still serves to make clear the sins still dwelling in our fleshly members but when looked to for righteousness it still seems defeating!...So, the goal of the believer is not the perfection of action(law) but perfection of cooperation with the work of God's spirit in us - a completely trusting submitter…(so what do) we expect while we live in our bodies…There is a 'law'(principle, truth) that when I seek(will) to do good, evil will also be at my side seeking to counter it….Many deem themselves failure even when they obey, not knowing what to make of that part of them that did not want to…this is that principle at work in us - accept it as fact so as to be aware of resistance to my submission to God. ..The war is ever present….Never, never accept a defeatists attitude - as clarified earlier in Romans 6, the war is won, but as clarified here, the enemy has not yielded. …When inconsistencies can be accepted as normal and  'lived with' there is cause for concern - this is not normal…These inconsistencies stir in us a 'groaning' as with creation for the redemption of our body' )Rom8:21-23…The reality of the conflict reminds us to be humble - realizing our steady, unending dependence upon our Savior…What are we actively pursuing now?  IS it more the removal of something or the engrafting of what is better?  It is easy to develop a life of 'do nots' …We are more to be defined by what we do than what we don't do…We take comfort in the work of the Spirit 'pricking our hearts not having to fret over the 'probability' of our abandoning the faith.

 

Don Lambert

Quote of the Day

Slavish fear makes the naughty heart imprison truth in his conscience, because, if that had its liberty and authority in the soul,it would imprison, yea, execute every lust that rules the roost; and he that imprisons truth in his own bosom, will hardly lie in prison himself as a witness for truth.

William Gurnall