James 1: 13-18
Jesus made it clear that man’s basic problem is not with what is outside of him but with what is within him. When we were born spiritually and given a new heart, God broke the back of sin and paid its penalty. But the tendency toward evil desires remains.
If a believer responds in faithful obedience to God’s Word, he successfully endures a trial; if he succumbs to it in the flesh, doubting God and disobeying, he is tempted to sin.
Right response leads to spiritual endurance. Wrong response leads to sin and death.
God purposes trials to occur, and in them He allows temptation to happen, but He has promised not to allow more than believers can endure and never without a way to escape. Believers choose whether to take the escape God provides or to give in.
Sin is not merely a spontaneous act, but the result of a process. Christians are not to make the mistake of blaming God rather than themselves for their sin.
Excerpt from James: Guidelines for a Happy Christian Life by John MacArthur
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