Mortifying Sin
The Tricks of the Trade

Back To
Teaching Ministries

ERC
October 13, 2002
Adult Sunday School
Class #5

Key Points:

Sin proceeds only when deception goes before it. When the flesh deceives us, we will sin.

James 1:14-15 describes the flesh's strategy—it does so by way of temptation: it drags away the mind, entices our affections, the will then says "yes" (sin is now conceived), sin is acted upon (creating havoc), and the last stage (never reached in true believers) is a life hardened in sin which leads to death.

Our mind is the "watchman of our soul"—so it is there where the flesh begins its deceit. When the mind is deceived (that sin is "good"), our affections follow, for our affections long for what the mind says is good. The will is next, it acts upon what the mind said was good and what our affections now hunger for (it's like dominoes—once the mind has been deceived and our affections seduced, sin follows).

Said another way, sin deceives the mind, entices the affections, and the conception of sin then takes place with the consent of the will (even though yet to be acted upon, we reach "sin status" when our will consents/chooses/grants permission to sin.