The Anatomy Of A Sin

And, and there are going to be temptations. All people everywhere meet temptations. Whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost, but if you’re a child of God the strength of the temptation may increase, but the strength to overcome the temptation will increase also, and it makes it very glorious. But, don’t get proud. Don’t think that you come to the place where no longer you’re going to be tempted. That’s

absolutely ridiculous. The Bible says, “…let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). And, the proud man tempts the devil to tempt him. May I say that again? The proud man tempts the devil to tempt him. And, so there is a definite possibility when he is tempted.

II. A Divine Impossibility

Now, the second thing I want you to notice is a divine impossibility. Verse 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:” (James 1:13) with evil. Now the word “with evil” is supplied, but that of course is inferred. God does not tempt us with evil, because God cannot be tempted with evil. It is absolutely impossible to be—for God to do any tempting.

You see, man by nature wants to blame his sin on God. You didn’t know that did you? But, a lot of what we call the alibiing and the excuses for sin are really just blaming our sin on God. Now, most people don’t just come out and say, “God made me sin.” No, they’re more clever than that. They have sort of a disguised way of saying that, “God tempted me.”

Do you remember in the Garden of Eden? Well, of course you don’t remember, you weren’t there, not most of you. But, when Adam sinned and God came walking in the midst of the Garden—and God remonstrated with Adam about his sin. Do you remember Adam’s little neat alibi? Adam said, “The woman thou gavest me. She gave me to eat and I did sin” (Genesis 3:12). Now, really God, it wasn’t my fault. It was either her fault, or your fault. “The woman thou gavest me.” Now, that sounded pretty good. It really is not my fault. I’m not really guilty God. You did it to me, you placed me in this situation.

Someone said that God blamed Adam. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on. Well, let me tell you something, friend, Adam was the one who didn’t have a leg to stand on. Adam wanted to blame God. He just wanted to make it look like, well, it’s just circumstances, it’s just my environment.

Now, James is just going to pull the rug out from underneath you if you’re trying to blame God. He says, “Now, there are two things that are impossible. Number one: it’s impossible for God to be tempted with evil.” You can’t tempt God with evil. The devil can’t dangle any bait in front of God that God is going to go after. Why? Because God has it all. There’s nothing God needs, there’s nothing God wants. He is sufficient in Himself and God has no itch the devil can scratch, and God is completely whole.