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I.
v. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
a.
When lust - epithumia {ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah} - desire, craving, longing,
desire for what is forbidden
b.
Has conceived - sullambano {sool-lam-ban'-o} - to conceive, as a
woman with child
i.
A proposal of pleasure or profit being made, agreeable to lust,
or the principle of corrupt nature, sinful man is pleased with it;
and instead of resisting and rejecting the motion made, he admits
of it, and receives it, and cherishes it in his mind; he dallies
and plays with it; he dwells upon it in his thoughts, and hides
it under his tongue, and in his heart, as a sweet morsel, and forsakes
it not, but contrives ways and means how to bring it about; and
this is lust's conceiving. (John Gill)
ii.
Psalm 7:14 - See, he is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, and
gives birth to deceit
iii.
Sin being allowed to excite desires in us, it will soon ripen those
desires into consent, and then it is said to have conceived. The sin truly exists, though it be but in embryo. And, when it has grown
it its full size in the mind, it is then brought forth in actual
execution. (Matthew Henry)
iv.
The guilty union is committed by the will embracing the temptress.
"Lust," the harlot, then, "brings forth sin."
(Commentary Critical)
c.
Gives birth - tikto {tik'-to} - to bring forth, bear, produce (fruit
from the seed), a woman giving birth.
i.
The biological imagery is vivid.
The lust conceives and from this conception sin is born.
(BKC)
ii.
Lust dwelt upon brings forth positive sin, for as a man thinks in
his heart so is he (Prov. 23:7). (Ironside)
d.
To sin Ð hamartia {ham-ar-tee'-ah} - that which is done wrong, sin,
an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
i.
Brought into action, not only by consenting to it, but by performing
it. (John Gill)
ii.
It doth not follow that the desire itself is not sin. He that begets
a man is himself a man (John Wesley) (It doesn't make sense that
the desire itself is not sin.
In order to have a human child you must be a human.)
e.
When sin is accomplished - apoteleo {ap-ot-el-eh'-o} - to perfect,
to bring quite to an end, to finish.
i.
being solicited, is agreed to, and actually committed (John Gill)
ii.
Grown up to maturity, which it quickly does (John Wesley)
iii.
After sin is brought forth in actual commissions, the finishing
of it is its being strengthened by frequent acts and settled
into a habit. (Matthew Henry)
f.
Brings forth death - apokueo {ap-ok-oo-eh'-o} thanatos {than'-at-os}
- to produce, that separation (whether natural or violent) of the
soul and the body by which the life on earth is ended
i.
Sin indulged in leads to death, for "the soul who sins, it
will die." Ezekiel 18:4) (Ironside)
ii.
The grotesque child sin, then matures and produces its own offspring,
death. (BKC)
iii.
the first sin of man brought death into the world, brought a spiritual
death, or moral death upon man, subjected him to a corporeal death,
and made him liable to an eternal one; so every sin is deserving
of death, death is the just wages of it. (John Gill)
iv.
Your own hearts' lusts and corruptions are your tempters; and when
by degrees they have carried you off from God, and finished the
power and dominion of sin in you, then they will prove your destroyers.
(Matthew Henry)
v.
This "death" stands in striking contrast to the "crown
of life" (James 1:12)
which "patience" or endurance ends in, when it has its "perfect work" (James 1:4).
He who will fight Satan with Satan's own weapons, must not wonder
if he finds himself overmatched. (Commentary Critical)
II.
V. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren
a.
The steps are all to clear: unchecked sin brings forth death.
How strange that sin gives birth to death.
It may seem strange, but James warned his dear brothers and
sisters who were to read this "genealogy" not to be deceived
or lead astray. Just as right response to trials can result in growth to full
spiritual maturity, so a wrong response to lust will result in decline
to abject spiritual poverty and ultimately to death itself. (BKC)
b.
It is a grievous error to ascribe the evil and not the good which
we receive to God (John Wesley)
c.
Do not stray into erroneous opinions, and go off from the standard
of truth, the things which you have received from the Lord Jesus
and by the direction of his Spirit (Matthew Henry) |
