Answers from church history on today's questions
What Christian writers said, from about AD 391 to 1930.
38 passages · 18 writers · 6 centuries
Calvin, Wesley, and Fausset say the inclination to sin is inward, so the cause of sin is in ourselves. Spurgeon and Robertson describe the person drawn away and enticed by his own desire as a fish taken with bait. Augustine, Wright, and Fausset say lust conceives when the will consents, and then brings forth sin. Owen and South set out the steps as drawn away, enticed, conceiving, bringing forth, and death. Robertson and Barnes say sin when finished brings forth death.
19 passages · 15 writers · 1500s to 1900s
Calvin, Wesley, and Fausset say the inclination to sin is inward, so the cause of sin is in ourselves. Spurgeon and Robertson describe the person enticed as a fish caught by bait.
c. 1550–1551 · John Calvin, Commentary on James 1.14
14 When he is drawn away by his own lust. As the inclination and excitement to sin are inward, in vain does the sinner seek an cause from an external impulse. At the same time these two effects of lust ought to be noticed — that it ensnares us by its allurements, and that it draws us away; each of which is sufficient to render us guilty.
c. 1550–1551 · John Calvin, Commentary on James 1.13
In this way God tempted Abraham, (Genesis 22:1,) and daily tempts us, that is, he tries us as to what are we by laying before us an occasion by which our hearts are made known. But to draw out what is hid in our hearts is a far different thing from inwardly alluring our hearts by wicked lusts. He then treats here of inward temptations which are nothing else than the inordinate desires which entice to sin. He justly denies that God is the author of these, because they flow from the corruption of our nature.
1651 · Thomas Manton, Works, vol. IV A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes on the Epistle of James, Chapter I
That the cause of evil is in a man's self, in his own lusts, ἡ ἰδία ἐπιθυμίας, the Eve in our own bosoms. Corrupt nature is not capable of an excuse. Sin knoweth no mother but your own hearts. Every man's heart may say to him, as the heart of Apollodorus in the kettle, ἔγω σοὶ τούτων αἰτία—it is I have been the cause of this. Other things may concur, but the root of all is in yourselves. A man is never truly humbled till he ‘smite upon his own thigh,’ and doth express most indignation against himself. Do not say it was God. He gave a pure soul, only it met with viciously disposed matter. It is not the light, but the putrid matter that made the torch stink, though, it is true, it did not stink till it was lighted. You cannot altogether blame the devil: Suggestion can do nothing without lust, I remember Nazianzen saith, τὸ πῦρ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, ἡδε φλὸξ τοῦ πνεύματος—fire is in our wood, though it be the devil's flame. You cannot blame the world; there are allurements abroad, but it is your fault to swallow the bait.
1655–1662 · William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour Part 4. DIRECTION VIII.—SECOND GENERAL PART. [Argument pressing the exhortation.]
There is a secret disposition in the heart of all to all sin. Temptation doth not fall on us as a ball of fire on ice or snow, but as a spark on tinder, or [as] lightning on a thatched roof, which presently is on a flame. Hence in Scripture, though tempted by Satan, yet the sin is charged on us. ‘Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed,’ James 1:14. Mark! it is Satan tempts, but our own lust draws us. The fowler lays the shrap, but the bird’s own desire betrays it into the net.
1668 · John Owen, The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers 6
It doth so continually. It stirreth in the soul by one act or other constantly, almost as the spirits in the blood, or the blood in the veins. This the apostle calls its tempting: James i. 14, “Every man is tempted of his own lust.” Now, what is it to be tempted? It is to have that proposed to a man’s consideration which, if he close withal, it is evil, it is sin unto him. This is sin’s trade: Ἐπιθυμεῖ· — “It lusteth.” It is raising up in the heart, and proposing unto the mind and affections, that which is evil; trying, as it were, whether the soul will close with its suggestions, or how far it will carry them on, though it do not wholly prevail. Now, when such a temptation comes from without, it is unto the soul an indifferent thing, neither good nor evil, unless it be consented unto; but the very proposal from within, it being the soul’s own act, is its sin.
1673 · Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory Chapter II
James i. 14, 15, "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." Little knoweth the fish, when he is catching or nibbling at the bait, that he is swallowing the hook which will lay him presently on the bank. When you are looking on the cup, or gazing on alluring beauty, or wantonly dallying and pleasing your senses with things unsafe, you little know how far beyond your intentions you may be drawn, and how deep the wound may prove, how great the smart, or how long and difficult the cure. As you love your souls, observe Paul's counsel, 2 Tim. ii. 22, "Flee youthful lusts." Keep at a full distance: come not near the bait.
1681 · John Owen, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded 1.5
There is, I confess, some difficulty in this matter, how to exercise our thoughts aright about our temptations; for the great way of the prevalency of temptations is by stirring up multiplied thoughts about their objects, or what they do lead unto. And this is done or occasioned several ways:— (1.) From the previous power of lust in the affections. This will fill the mind with thoughts. The heart will coin imaginations in compliance therewith. They are the way and means whereby lust draws away the heart from duty and enticeth unto sin, James i. 14; the means at least whereby men come to have “eyes full of adultery,” 2 Pet. ii. 14, or to live in constant contemplation of the pleasures of sin. (2.) They arise and are occasioned by renewed representations of the object of sin. And this is twofold:— [1.] That which is real, as Achan saw the wedge of gold and coveted it, Josh. vii. 21; Prov. xxiii. 31. Against this is that prayer of the psalmist, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;” and the covenant of Job xxxi. 1. [2.] Imaginary, when the imagination, being tainted or infected by lust, continually represents the pleasure of sin and the actings of it unto the mind. Herein do men “make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof,” Rom. xiii. 14. (3.) From the suggestions of Satan, who useth all his wiles and artifices to stir up thoughts about that sin whereunto the temptation leads.
1692 · Thomas Watson, The Lord's Prayer 6
The apostle says, ‘A man is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’ James 1: 14. Quisque sibi Satan est [Everyone is Satan to himself]. Bernard. Every man has a tempter in his own bosom. A traitor within the castle is dangerous. The heart can bring forth a temptation, though Satan do not midwife it into the world; if Satan were dead and buried, the heart could draw us to evil.
1738 · Jonathan Edwards, Temptation and Deliverance; or, Joseph's Great Temptation and Gracious Deliverance 2
A man, by gratifying his lusts in his imagination and thoughts, may make his soul in the sight of God to be a hold of foul spirits, and like a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. And sinful imaginations tend to sinful actions, and outward behaviour in the end. Lust is always first conceived in the imagination, and then brought forth in the outward practice. You may see the progress of it in Jam. i. 15. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.”—Such things are abominable in the sight of a pure and holy God.
1754 · John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on James 1.14
Every man is tempted, when - In the beginning of the temptation. He is drawn away - Drawn out of God, his strong refuge. By his own desire - We are therefore to look for the cause of every sin, in, not out of ourselves. Even the injections of the devil cannot hurt before we make them our own. And every one has desires arising from his own constitution, tempers, habits, and way of life. And enticed - In the progress of the temptation, catching at the bait: so the original word signifies.
1820 · John Tillotson, Works, Volume 5 115
Second; That every man is his own greatest tempter. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn aside of his own lust, and enticed.” God does not tempt any man to sin: but every man is then tempted, when by his own lust, his irregular inclination and desire, he is seduced to evil, and enticed; καὶ δελεαζόμενος, is caught, as it were, with a bait, for so the Greek word signifies. In which words the apostle gives us a true account of the prevalency and efficacy of temptation upon men. It is not because God has any design to ensnare men in sin; but their own corruption and vicious inclinations seduce them to that which is evil.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 5 19
By lust the apostle here means, not that particular inordination or vice that relates to the uncleanness of the flesh; but that general stock of corruption that possesses the whole soul through all its respective faculties. But principally is it here to be understood of the prime and commanding faculty of all, the will, as it is possessed and principled with sinful habits and depraved inclinations. And this is the grand tempter, that tempts and seduces, so as actually to engage and determine a man to the choice of sin.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 12
As when the mind, being surprised, or suddenly struck with the taking representation of some sinful act or object, begins to think of it, so as by such thoughts to be for the present drawn aside from its duty. For seduction literally and properly signifies a man’s being drawn away, or drawn aside. As the Greek word here has it. He is ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐξελκόμενος, drawn off, or drawn away by his concupiscence. As for instance; when a man is intent upon the honest works of his calling, and two or three lewd companions come, and desire his company to a debauch; here he first begins to hearken to the proposal, and to think with himself of the pleasure and satisfaction which he might find by complying with it. During which thought he ceases for that time to intend the business he was upon before, or to employ his mind about it. And this is seduction, the first invading step of a temptation, whereby it seizes a man’s thoughts, and actually draws him off from his duty, by diverting the intention of his mind from that to something else; much like the first unbending of a bow, which though it does not spoil it, yet for the present renders it unserviceable.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 12
2dly, The second degree of temptation may be called enticement or allurement. As when a man does not only think upon a sinful object or proposal, but also suffers his thoughts to dwell, and, as it were, to brood upon it with delight, pleasing his imagination by frequent reflections upon it, and representing it to himself under its most advantageous colours and circumstances, while he thus turns and rolls it about in his fancy. And this is expressed here by the next Greek word, δελεαζόμενος, which the translation renders enticed, and imports in it a metaphor taken from the practice of such as cast or lay some bait before any fish or fowl; which, as soon as they spy it, do for a while view and look upon it with appetite and pleasure, before they are brought to take it in, or swallow it. Now if a temptation chance to be stopped here, the main and principal drift of it is defeated: nevertheless this is a great and a dangerous step; for when it comes so far, it rarely happens but it proceeds farther.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: James 1.14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust - That is, the fountain or source of all temptation is in man himself. It is true that external inducements to sin may be placed before him, but they would have no force if there was not something in himself to which they corresponded, and over which they might have power. There must be some "lust;" some desire; some inclination; something which is unsatisfied now, which is made the foundation of the temptation, and which gives it all its power. If there were no capacity for receiving food, or desire for it, objects placed before us appealing to the appetite could never be made a source of temptation; if there were nothing in the soul which could be regarded as the love of acquisition or possession, gold would furnish no temptation; if there were no sensual propensities, we should be in that quarter above the power of temptation. In each case, and in every form, the power of the temptation is laid in some propensity of our nature, some desire of that which we do not now possess.
1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on James 1.14
Every man, when tempted, is so through being drawn away of (again here, as in Jas 1:13, the Greek for "of" expresses the actual source, rather than the agent of temptation) his own lust. The cause of sin is in ourselves. Even Satan's suggestions do not endanger us before they are made our own. Each one has his own peculiar (so the Greek) lust, arising from his own temperament and habit. Lust flows from the original birth-sin in man, inherited from Adam.
1907 · Alfred Plummer, The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude The Epistle of St. James, Chapter VIII. The Source of Temptations and the Reality of Sin.--The Difficulties of the
The temptations proceed, not from God, but from the man's own evil nature; a nature which God created stainless, but which man of his own free will has debased. To tempt is to try to lead astray; and one has only to understand the word in its true sense to see how impossible it is that God should become a tempter. By a simple but telling opposition of words St. James indicates where the blame lies. God "Himself tempteth no man (πειράζει δὲ αὐτὸς οὐδένα); but each man is tempted when by his own lust he is drawn away and enticed" (ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας ἐξελκόμενος καὶ δελεαζόμενος). It is his own evil desire which plays the part of the temptress, drawing him out from his place of safety by the enticement of sinful pleasure. So that the fault is in a sense doubly his. The desire which tempts proceeds from his own evil nature, and the will which consents to the temptress is his own.
1914 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 60 (1914) 3434
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. This is the wanton harlot that deceives the heart of man—his own desire, grown strong and hot till it comes to be a lusting—this draws a man away. It baits the hook and man swallows it and is thus entrapped and enticed. 15. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. There is the history and pedigree of sin! God save us from having any connection with the desire to sin, lest from that we be led into sin and then, from sin, descend into death!
1930–1933 · A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament: James 1.14
When he is drawn away by his own lust (υπο της ιδιας επιθυμιας εξελκομενος). Επιθυμια is old word for craving (from επιθυμεω, to have a desire for) either good (Php 1:23 ) or evil (Ro 7:7 ) as here. Like a fish drawn out from his retreat. Enticed (δελεαζομενος). Present passive participle of δελεαζω, old verb from δελεαρ (bait), to catch fish by bait or to hunt with snares and Philo has υφ' ηδονης δελεαζεται (is enticed by pleasure). In N.T. only here and 2 Peter 2:14,18 . Allured by definite bait.
15 passages · 9 writers · 300s to 1900s
Augustine tells the hearer not to consent to lust, because if he consents it conceives and brings forth sin. Wright and Fausset say lust conceives when the will consents.
391–430 · Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (Sermones 51-147) 8.9
Lust has risen up, deny thyself to her, follow her not. It is a lust unlawful, impure, and shameful, it will alienate thee from God. Give it not then the embrace of thy consent, lest thou have to bewail the birth; for if thou consent, that is, when thou hast embraced her, she conceives, “and when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.” Dost thou not yet fear? “Sin bringeth forth death;” at least, fear death.
c. 1550–1551 · John Calvin, Commentary on James 1.15
15 Then when lust hath conceived. He first calls that lust which is not any kind of evil affection or desire, but that which is the fountain of all evil affections; by which, as he shews, are conceived vicious broods, which at length break forth into sins. It seems, however, improper, and not according to the usage of Scripture, to restrict the word sin to outward works, as though indeed lust itself were not a sin, and as though corrupt desires, remaining closed up within and suppressed, were not so many sins. But as the use of a word is various, there is nothing unreasonable if it be taken here, as in many other places, for actual sin. And the Papists ignorantly lay hold on this passage, and seek to prove from it that vicious, yea, filthy, wicked, and the most abominable lusts are not sins, provided there is no assent; for James does not shew when sin begins to be born, so as to be sin, and so accounted by God, but when it breaks forth. For he proceeds gradually and shews that the consummation of sin is eternal death, and that sin arises from depraved desires, and that these depraved desires or affections have their root in lust. It hence follows that men gather fruit in eternal perdition, and fruit which they have procured for themselves.
1563 · John Calvin, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, part 3 Exod.20.17
James points out these progressive steps, where he says that lust conceives before it begets sin; and then “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” (James 1:15,) for the begetting of which he speaks, is not only in the external act but in the will itself, before it has assented to the temptation. I admit, indeed, that the corrupt thoughts which arise spontaneously, and so also vanish before they affect the mind, do not come into account before God; yet, although we do not actually acquiesce in the evil desire, still, if it affects us pleasantly, it is sufficient to render us guilty. In order that this may be understood better, all temptations are, as it were, so many fans; if they hurry us on into consent, the fire is lighted; but, if they only awaken the heart to corrupt desires, concupiscence betrays itself in these sparks, although it neither acquires its full warmth nor breaks forth into a flame. Concupiscence, therefore, is never without desire (affectu,) although the will may not altogether yield. Hence it appears what entire perfection of righteousness we must bring in order to satisfy the Law, since not only are we commanded not to will anything, except what is right and pleasing to God, but also that no impure desire should affect our hearts.
1654 · John Owen, The Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance Explained and Confirmed 15
The next thing in the progress of sin is lust’s conceiving. When it hath turned off the heart from its communion with God or consideration of its duty, and entangled or hampered the affections in delight with the sinful object proposed, prevailing with the soul to dwell with some complacency upon the thoughts of sin, it then falleth to “conceiving;” that is, it warms, foments, cherisheth thoughts and desires of the sin entertained, until it so far prevails upon the will (in them in whose wills there is an opposition unto it), that, being wearied out with the solicitations of the flesh, it giveth over its power, as to its actual predominant exercise, and sensibly dissenteth not from the sin whereunto it is prompted.
1656 · John Owen, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers 11
It is impossible to fix bounds to sin. It is like water in a channel, — if it once break out, it will have its course. Its not acting is easier to be compassed than its bounding. Therefore doth James give that gradation and process of lust, chap. i. 14, 15, that we may stop at the entrance. Dost thou find thy corruption to begin to entangle thy thoughts? rise up with all thy strength against it, with no less indignation than if it had fully accomplished what it aims at. Consider what an unclean thought would have; it would have thee roll thyself in folly and filth. Ask envy what it would have; — murder and destruction is at the end of it. Set thyself against it with no less vigour than if it had utterly debased thee to wickedness. Without this course thou wilt not prevail. As sin gets ground in the affections to delight in, it gets also upon the understanding to slight it.
1668 · John Owen, The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers 12
When it hath drawn the mind off from its duty, and entangled the affections, it proceeds to conceive sin in order to the bringing of it forth: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.” Now, the conception of sin, in order unto its perpetration, can be nothing but the consent of the will; for as without the consent of the will sin cannot be committed, so where the will hath consented unto it, there is nothing in the soul to hinder its actual accomplishment. God doth, indeed, by various ways and means, frustrate the bringing forth of these adulterate conceptions, causing them to melt away in the womb, or one way or other prove abortive, so that not the least part of that sin is committed which is willed or conceived; yet there is nothing in the soul itself that remains to give check unto it when once the will hath given its consent. Ofttimes, when a cloud is full of rain and ready to fall, a wind comes and drives it away; and when the will is ready to bring forth its sin, God diverts it by one wind or other: but yet the cloud was as full of rain as if it had fallen, and the soul as full of sin as if it had been committed. This conceiving of lust or sin, then, is its prevalency in obtaining the consent of the will unto its solicitations.
1668 · John Owen, The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers 8
Thus it was in the first temptation. It is everywhere called the serpent’s beguiling or deceiving, as was manifested before: “The serpent beguiled Eve;” that is, prevailed by his temptations upon her. So that every man is tempted, — that is, every man is beguiled or deceived, — by his own lust, or indwelling sin, which we have often declared to be the same. The degrees whereby sin proceedeth in this work of tempting or deceiving are five; for we showed before that this belongs unto the nature of deceit, that it works by degrees, making its advantage by one step to gain another. The first of these consists in drawing off or drawing away: “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust.” The second is in enticing: “And is enticed.” The third in the conception of sin: “When lust hath conceived.” When the heart is enticed, then lust conceives in it. The fourth is the bringing forth of sin in its actual accomplishment: “When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin.” In all which there is a secret allusion to an adulterous deviation from conjugal duties, and conceiving or bringing forth children of whoredom and fornication. The fifth is the finishing of sin, the completing of it, the filling up of the measure of it, whereby the end originally designed by lust is brought about: “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” As lust conceiving naturally and necessarily bringeth forth sin, so sin finished infallibly procureth eternal death.
c. 1714 · S. Wright, Commentary on James 1.13-18
The success of corruption in the heart (v. 15): Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; that is, sin being allowed to excite desires in us, it will soon ripen those desires into consent, and then it is said to have conceived. The sin truly exists, though it be but in embryo. And, when it has grown to its full size in the mind, it is then brought forth in actual execution.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 12
3dly, The third degree is, when, after such possession had of the thoughts and fancy, the temptation comes to make its way into the consent of the will, and to gain that great fort also; so that the mind begins to purpose, and accordingly to contrive the commission of the sin proposed to it; and this the Greek text here calls συλλαμβάνειν, to conceive; εἶτα δὲ ἡ ἐπιθυμία συλλαβοῦσα, when lust, or concupiscence, has conceived; so that the soul hereby grows, as it were, big and impregnate with a temptation. In which case, as all immoderate fulness naturally endeavours after evacuation and vent; so the soul now becomes restless, and, as it were, in labour, till it disburdens itself, and discharges what it has thus conceived, by some sinful act or commission. And this directly introduces and brings in, 4thly, The fourth degree of prevalence which a temptation gets over the soul; and that is, the actual eruption of it in the perpetration or commission of the sin suggested to it; and this in the forementioned place of St. James is called τίκτει ἁμαρτίαν, to bring forth sin; when lust or concupiscence in the heart sends forth a cursed brood or litter in the actions: like a fountain, which having been for some time imprisoned and pent up in the bowels of the earth, at length forces its way through, and casts forth its streams with a violent, uncontrolled effusion.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 20
He that would keep the power of sin from running out into act, must restrain it from conversing with the object. For when that has once cast the bait before the heart, so that the heart begins to look upon it, and by degrees to delight in it, and to feed its imagination with pleasure, then let a man beware, for the tempter is then hammering and framing out a sinful action; sin is then conceiving; and if we do not fright it by humiliation, so far as to make it prove abortive, it will certainly bring forth; and we know that when the heart has brought forth sin, sin will be sure to bring forth death.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 12
For that a person truly pious, sincere, and sound at the heart towards God, may through the inveiglements of the world, and the frailty of his own nature, be sometimes surprised, and for a while drawn into the ways of sin, I do no more doubt or question, than that a sound and healthful constitution may some times be disordered with heats and colds, battered with wounds and bruises, and indisposed by swellings and breakings-out; and yet all this without destroying the main, substantial health and habit of the body. And he who asserts the contrary, and acknowledges no holiness but what is perfection, will upon trial find it a much easier matter, by the faulty passages of his life, to prove himself sinful and unholy, than by the very best and holiest of them to prove himself perfect. But that I may give some light and resolution to this great and weighty case of conscience, how far a person truly godly and regenerate may, without ceasing to be so, be prevailed upon by temptation, I will here set down the several degrees, steps, and advances, by which a temptation or sinful proposal gradually wins and gains upon the soul, and those all of them comprised in St. James i. 14, 15. Every man, says the apostle, 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. I say, in these words we have a full and distinct account of five several steps or gradations, by which a temptation grows upon, and at length prevails over, the souls of men.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: James 1.15
Then when lust hath conceived - Compare Job 15:35. The allusion here is obvious. The meaning is, when the desire which we have naturally is quickened, or made to act, the result is that sin is produced. As our desires of good lie in the mind by nature, as our propensities exist as they were created, they cannot be regarded as sin, or treated as such; but when they are indulged, when plans of gratification are formed, when they are developed in actual life, the effect is sin. In the mere desire of good, of happiness, of food, of raiment, there is no sin; it becomes sin when indulged in an improper manner, and when it leads us to seek that which is forbidden - to invade the rights of others, or in any way to violate the laws of God. The Rabbis have a metaphor which strongly expresses the general sense of this passage - "Evil concupiscence is at the beginning like the thread of a spider's web; afterwards it is like a cart rope." Sanhedrin, fol. 99. It bringeth forth sin - The result is sin - open, actual sin.
1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on James 1.15
The guilty union is committed by the will embracing the temptress. "Lust," the harlot, then, "brings forth sin," namely, of that kind to which the temptation inclines. Then the particular sin (so the Greek implies), "when it is completed, brings forth death," with which it was all along pregnant [Alford].
1888 · W. G. Blaikie, The Expositor's Bible: The First Book of Samuel Chapter XXXIII. David’s Second Flight To Gath
Like a skilful adversary who first attacks an outpost, apparently of little value, but when he has got it erects on it a battery by which he is able to conquer a nearer position, and thus gradually approaches, till at last the very citadel is in his hands,—so sin at first hovers about the outposts of the soul. Often it seems at first just to play with the imagination; one fancies this thing and the other, this sensual indulgence or that act of dishonesty; and then, having become familiar with it there, one admits it to the inner chambers of the soul, and ere long the lust bringeth forth sin. The lesson not to let sin play even with the imagination, but drive it thence the moment one becomes conscious of its presence, cannot be pressed too strongly. Have you ever studied the language of the Lord’s Prayer?—“Lead us not into temptation.” You are being led into temptation whenever you are led to think, with interest and half longing, of any sinful indulgence. Wisdom demands of you that the moment you are conscious of such a feeling you resolutely exclaim, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” It is the tempter trying to establish a foothold in the outworks, meaning, when he has done so, to advance nearer and nearer to the citadel, till at last you shall find him in strong possession, and your soul entangled in the meshes of perdition.
1930–1933 · A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament: James 1.15
Second aorist active participle of συλλαμβανω, old word to grasp together, in hostile sense (Ac 26:21 ), in friendly sense of help (Php 4:3 ), in technical sense of a woman taking a man's seed in conception (Lu 1:24 ), here also of lust (as a woman), "having conceived." The will yields to lust and conception takes place. Beareth sin (τικτει αμαρτιαν). Present active indicative of τικτω to bring forth as a mother or fruit from seed, old verb, often in N.T., here only in James. Sin is the union of the will with lust.
4 passages · 4 writers · 1600s to 1900s
Robertson and Barnes say death follows from finished sin.
1658 · Richard Baxter, A Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live 4
“Let no man say, when he is tempted, that he is tempted of God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, (to draw him to sin) but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. You see here that sin is the offspring of your own concupiscence, and not to be fathered on God; and that death is the offspring of your own sin, and the fruit which it will yield you as soon as ripe.
1668 · John Owen, The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers 8
It is not, say they, from themselves, their own nature and inclinations, their own designings, that they have committed such and such evils, but merely from their temptations; and if they know not where to fix the evil of those temptations, they will lay them on God himself, rather than go without an excuse or extenuation of their guilt. This evil in the hearts of men the apostle rebuketh, 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.” And to show the justness of this reproof, in the words mentioned he discovers the true causes of the rise and whole progress of sin, manifesting that the whole guilt of it lies upon the sinner, and that the whole punishment of it, if not graciously prevented, will be his lot also. We have, therefore, as was said, in these words the whole progress of lust or indwelling sin, by the way of subtlety, fraud, and deceit, expressed and limited by the Holy Ghost. And from hence we shall manifest the particular ways and means whereby it puts forth its power and efficacy in the hearts of men by deceitfulness and subtlety; and we may observe in the words, — First, The utmost end aimed at in all the actings of sin, or the tendency of it in its own nature, and that is death: “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” the everlasting death of the sinner; pretend what it will, this is the end it aims at and tends unto.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: James 1.15
And sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death - The result of sin when it is fully carried out, is death - death in all forms. The idea is, that death, in whatever form it exists, is to be traced to sin, and that sin will naturally and regularly produce it. There is a strong similarity between this declaration and that of the apostle Paul Rom 6:21-23; and it is probable that James had that passage in his mind. See the sentiment illustrated in the notes at that passage, and Rom 5:12 note. Any one who indulges in a sinful thought or corrupt desire, should reflect that it may end in death - death temporal and eternal. Its natural tendency will be to produce such a death. This reflection should induce us to check an evil thought or desire at the beginning. Not for one moment should we indulge in it, for soon it may secure the mastery and be beyond our control; and the end may be seen in the grave, and the awful world of woe.
1930–1933 · A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament: James 1.15
The child of lust is sin, of sin is death, powerful figure of abortion. The child is dead at birth. For death as the fruit of sin see Ro 6:21-23; 8:6 .
Each morning, a few short passages on one topic from different writers, with sources. Free.