“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (Heb. 2:14)
The point wasn’t to kill Jesus, the point was to make Him sin, or perhaps a better way to state it would be to coerce Him into sinning. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” (Gen. 3:17)
Think of it in terms of a pyramid scheme, Satan deceived Eve into sinning, thus causing the truth of our opening verse here, and the fulfillment of the words of the Lord. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) Eve died, and then coerced Adam into doing the same.
The context of this short, poorly written letter is from Hebrews 2:14, that Satan has the power of death, yet although in part he may be allowed at times to kill the body, I believe the context when taken as a whole in the Scriptures is clear, sin brings forth death, a separation from the Most High’s blessings, but the question is this, can Satan make people sin?
I am old enough to remember when foul language used to be called curse words, words of cursing, and they were only heard in the most stressful situations or in places of great ill repute. I also remember watching as certain comedians began using these words on a stage in public, and how when each one of these repulsive words came from their lips, the crowd would roar in approval, and to my shame in those days of my youth I joined them. Sin in this form and many other ways was brought out into the open, exhibited freely, and to the approval of all present.
Satan’s work was being done by mankind, the pyramid scheme worked, is working perfectly, and people are dying.
If you have even glanced briefly at the world today, you will see the truth of this, sin of all sorts is not only in the open but celebrated as the inverse of what it truly is, freedom. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18) Most are believing the lie. “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” (Exo. 32:6)
Moses had been gone too long in their eyes, and this correlation fits our day perfectly, many who claim to serve the Lord Jesus Christ have sealed their lips in protest against these blatant sins against the Most High, and as such He has given many over to the reprobate mind that they desire. Death has come, and sadly many who sit in the pews across the planet are doing little to nothing about it.
Can the unregenerate man not sin, can any who have come from Adam withstand the wiles of the devil, do we have power within ourselves to resist him, or can only the Holy Spirit keep us from his advancements? You should be able to recognize the answer to this question.
If Adam, who was created perfect, who walked in the garden with God Himself could be coerced by our adversary, not one of us by our own power can stand against Satan, it is only the Holy Spirit within us that can. Yet we have the free will to choose, even when we are dead to the sins of Adam, even when we are in Christ, crucified with Him, we can and do choose of our own volition to sin. Satan cannot make anyone sin, he has the power of death, but our free will must agree with his advancements.
He suggests, you choose.
In this regard we hold no more power to resist the devil than the lost do, though we have the only means to do so within us, the Holy Spirit of God. It is His voice that must take precedence over that of Satan’s, it is His voice that must override that of our own flesh and the desires that rest within us until we are glorified.
If you sin it is your fault, not Satan’s.
The armor that God has given you must never be taken off, not for one moment, you are responsible to keep every thought captive for Christ, you are responsible to be obedient to the Holy Spirit as He transforms your mind. We have no power when it comes to our justification or our glorification, these are completely in the hands of He who created us, our power is in our desire to be sanctified, we can either agree with and be obedient to the Holy Spirit as He transforms us, or we can grieve Him.
The second death holds no power or fear for those who have been chosen by God, Satan knows this, but that does not mean that he, or our flesh, will stop trying to make us sin.
