When someone does something wrong, doesn’t it mean that he has already given in to temptation? The pattern is (thoughts -> action -> sin) ? Is this right?
Answer:
In James 1;13-15, we read, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Temptation is therefore by desire → Sinful Thoughts and/or Actions → Death
This is the general pattern of how temptation leads to sin. It is not wrong to be tempted per se, for Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil (Matt 4:1); yet Jesus did not sin. But when we continue to dwell and entertain the temptation, we sin in our thoughts. (Matt 5:28; 15:19; Mark 7:21) When we do this, it leads to sinful thoughts, and eventually, Sinful actions. In the case of Genesis 4:7, Cain certainly sinned when he entertained murderous thoughts against Abel, but he had the opportunity to repent instead of choosing to act out his thoughts and sin further by actually murdering Abel.
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