Some people conclude that since Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, then this Scripture, in as far as it describes the source of temptation, must also apply to Him. I don’t believe James 1:14, 15 can be applied to Christ, and let me try and show you why this Scripture reveals instead the saving power of God.

Look at verse 14; it says that “every man is tempted.” It’s true. Everyone knows what it’s like to be tempted. There is not a soul on earth that has not experienced it. That’s because temptation is “common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Nobody is exempt. How, then, can this not apply to Christ? He “suffered being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18), and Paul writes that He “was in all points tempted like as we are” (Hebrews 4:15). How can it then not possibly apply to Christ?

Let’s investigate this. In James 1:2–12, he writes that we are to “count it all joy” when we are tempted. In these verses, James describes the blessedness of the man that “endures” temptation and trial, for he will receive the end result of a crown of life. In this case, temptation and trial serve to show forth the purity of this man’s faith in God to save him. This can certainly apply to Christ, for He was proved by trial and temptation, and His faith was perfected through sufferings.

From verses 13–15, James describes temptation under a different scenario. The scenario is of people tempted from within the evil of their own hearts. He describes how this temptation overcomes a person and the end result of certain death. In this case, temptation has served only to prove that this individual is in captivity to sin, unconverted, lacking faith in God’s saving power. This cannot apply to Christ because Christ was never tempted from evil within His own heart—because there was never any evil in His heart.

It is evident that verse 14 describes “every man” in an unconverted, captive-to-sin state. A clue to the state of these men is found in 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.”

Fallen humans ultimately like to blame God for evil or for their own sinfulness. Adam and Eve did it and this tendency was passed down to us. We naturally like to shirk our guilt and cast the blame upon somebody else.

When we find ourselves overwhelmed by sin in us and surrounding us—whose fault is it? If it weren’t for my circumstances . . . If it weren’t for my parents . . . If God hadn’t . . . and there the blame is laid.

In verse 13, it appears that James was writing to people who were suggesting that God was somehow responsible for the evil in their life. They weren’t suggesting that God was directly tempting them, but that He was somehow remotely responsible. In this way, we often cast blame upon God by not taking responsibility for our sins and by not understanding the real nature of our problems.

However, James tells them that it is not God that is responsible for the temptations that prompted them to do evil, but the source of the temptation was in themselves—their own evil lusts.

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

Clearly, the “every man” of verse 14 is in a state of captivity to sin, for he is dominated by lust. This is the natural inheritance of “every man” and is what we receive from Adam. Now, it could never be said of Christ, that He was dominated by lust. 

The word “lust” in James 1:14 is the plural of the Greek noun epithumia, which is translated 38 times in the New Testament. It is translated as follows:

32 times = lust

3 times = concupiscence

3 times = desire

Except for the 3 times that it is translated “desire,” the word is used to describe the sinful, corrupt, and perverted desires of the “flesh” or the “old man.” Needless to say that these are contrary to the will of God and not in harmony with the law of God.

To illustrate, Paul explained what lust was when compared to the law of God.

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7).

Notice that the words “sin,” “lust,” and “covet” are all synonyms. All are contrary to the law of God and come under the heading of “sin.”

The overwhelming strength of the “every man” who is tempted in James 1:14  is found in the fact that he is controlled by sinful lusts, or lusts to sin. They dominate his soul. He has absolutely no hope, no power, no desire in himself to defeat the temptation since he has a far more powerful drive within him that holds him captive.

There are two Greek words in James 1:14 that illustrate this. They are translated as “drawn away” and “enticed.” The first one is “exelkō,” which means to be drawn by an internal power. The second is “deleazō,” which is used of an animal being lured into a trap. This language describes certain defeat. And this is the inevitable reality of every person in whom lust is stronger than his or her will power.

Everyone has his or her own lusts that, unless remedied, eventually lead to sinful actions. Sooner or later, if we are unconverted, we will be drawn away of our own lust and be doing Satan’s bidding in the end.

That is the law of sin that dwells in “every man” who is not connected vitally to Christ. It is a law that dominates the soul. It is another law that is contrary to the law of God and brings its victims into captivity to sin. That is the “enmity” (Romans 8:7) that exists in the “every man” of James 1:14. It is a state of lacking conformity to God’s law. It is the tyrant of the fallen, corrupt nature enthroned and commanding the human, rather than the human controlling his or her lower nature.

People often point to this verse and say that sin did not commence until it was conceived. They have a point in the sense that there is a sin that is a result of yielding. But here, we should realize that there is a “law of sin” in the corrupt nature of human that is there before the mind eventually consents. If we are not vitally connected to God, we cannot resist that “law of sin” (see Romans 7:20–23) that is in our sinful natures. This is the very thing from which God desires to save us.

All this tells me that until someone accepts justification by faith, he or she is in a state of alienation from God. Not just alienation, but captivity to sin and at enmity with God. The term, “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) looms more significant in the light of James 1:14.

We conclude therefore that when an unconverted person is driven and controlled by sinful tendencies, sinful lusts, and sinful desires, he or she is in a state of sin. They can do nothing but sin. People in such a state aren’t sinners because they sin, they sin because they’re slaves to sin—they need saving. I find that God deals with the root of the problem (not the sinful action), but the root of sin; which is the thing that drives us to sin—the captivity to the sinful bent of our natures.

Christ did not have this fallen drive to sin. He did not have that “enmity” in Him. As He said, the devil comes and “finds nothing in me” (John 14:30). There was nothing within Christ that lured Him to evil. There was no lust for sin, there were no sinful inclinations in Him. No “enmity” against the law of God. This is why the apostle Paul qualifies that Christ was tempted like as we are in all points but “without sin.”

That qualification is the essential difference between Christ’s human nature and the nature of “every man” in James 1:14. I cannot believe that Jesus was tempted by being drawn away by His own “lusts,” or desires of the “old man” because this would then mean He had an evil heart—something He never had. It would mean that Christ would have possessed what the Spirit of Prophecy explains in the following statements that He never did have:

“Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering.”1

“[Christ] was born without a taint of sin, but came into the world in like manner as the human family.”2

“[Christ] had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with our own nature, except without the taint of sin.”3

“Christ was the only one who walked the earth upon whom there rested no taint of sin.”4

Notice this one: “Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain a victory. . . . There was no sin in Him that Satan could triumph over, no weakness or defect that he could use to his advantage. But we are sinful by nature, and we have a work to do to cleanse the soul temple from every defilement.”5

What James 1:14, 15 shows us is not so much how and where temptation happens but why it achieves its purpose. The reason is because “every man” in an unconverted, captive-to-sin state cannot resist the sinful lusts within him. It is no wonder that the “every man” in James 1:14, 15 finds himself conceiving sin—he only conceived what was already in him and what was inevitably going to be revealed in the open.

By the way, there is another reason why this reference cannot be applied to Christ. James uses the figure of childbirth to illustrate this. There is a conception of sin and there is a birth of it. But what conceived it? Lust. Lust is the parent of sin. I cannot see how Christ would have had this type of lust within Him. There was nothing in him that would bring forth sin. Notice what He said: “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:18–20).

The strength of the temptation in James 1:14 lies in the fact that without the aid of Christ, people are captivated by the sin that “dwells” in them. This “law of sin” is all we inherit by nature. 

“We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3, emphasis supplied).

This is the defilement we naturally possess and which must be cleansed. And I praise God that the plan of redemption not only made provision for my sins to be forgiven, but God provided a remedy for me, that within myself this corruption may be taken away!

The Lord promises: “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26, 27, emphasis supplied).

One final statement. This one is beautiful:

“[Christ] was to bear the penalty of the transgression of the law of God, not to give men liberty to continue in sin, but to take away their inclination to sin, that they might not desire to transgress. Those who receive Christ are obedient to His commands; for His mind is given to them. He imbues them with His spirit of obedience, and they return to their loyalty.”6