Sin makes you stupid

Sin makes you stupid. I know of a once famous pastor who used to say this. He was correct, sin does make you do stupid things. But this expression doesn’t tell the whole story. In James 1:13-16 we read:

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:  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.  Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

The Holy Spirit says sin not only makes you stupid, it brings forth death. Let’s take a brief look at the path:

every man is tempted – tempt is a big word and the specific meaning is determined by context. Here, it is “an inner impulse to do evil.”

when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed – “The metaphor is taken from hunting and fishing: as game is lured from its covert, so man by lust is allured from the safety of self-restraint to sin.”  We are being hunted by sin! The bait is dangled before us and when we give in we are caught!

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin – lust gives birth to sin

and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death – The child of sin is death. Sin not only makes you stupid, it makes you dead.

Consider Adam and Eve in the garden. God made Adam and then the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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. That sounds a lot like sin, when it is finished,  bringeth forth death. We know what happened. But how did it happen?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  – this is the place of safety
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  – the temptation
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  – lured from safety and enticed
And the eyes of them both were opened – when lust has conceived it brings forth death

Things haven’t changed much since then!

For in the day you eat from that tree you shall surely die. Did Adam or Eve know what that meant? Did they really understand the consequences? Probably not. But more importantly, did they really die the very day they ate the fruit? Adam did not die for another 930 years. Was God wrong? No. Sin brought forth death immediately: Adam was aware that he was naked (died to innocence); hid from God (died to fellowship); got kicked out of the garden (died to his home); had to work by the sweat of his brow (died to paradise); Eve would have pain in child-bearing and yet her desire would be to her husband (died to paradise); they saw one of their own children murder another of their children; and yes, they eventually died physically. Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.

Consider David, a man after God’s own heart. He was going along fine until his encounter with Bathseba. Then, to hide that, he arranges to have her husband killed. The rest of his life is marked by the death brought forth by this sin. He remained king and retained the messianic promise, but the rest of his life was marked by such sadness.

Consider Saul, chosen by God to be king before David. What a great beginning! Anointed with oil by Samuel then anointed with the Holy Spirit. Then he decided he knew better than God and chose to disobey. Sin. He lost the Spirit and he lost the kingdom.

You may be thinking, “What you say is true, but that is the Old Testament. The New Testament is so full of grace that this is just no longer true.” Consider that James is a New Testament book. What about Annanias & Sapphira? And the Corinthians: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.  No, it is still true, Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. And I’m talking about believers who slip into sin.

I can hear someone saying, “Lighten up, man. The Gospel is all about grace and love and life. Not all this sin and death stuff.” Without “this sin and death stuff” all you have is cheap grace. We need to be aware of this lust-sin-death pattern. I’m not suggesting there is a tit-for-tat arrangement: don’t pray today, go bald tomorrow. But I am saying sin brings forth death. It may show up in small ways: failure to give thanks is death to joy; not praying robs you of peace. But this verse seems to be dealing with the sin that comes from lust. Like Adam and Eve, we don’t all physically die the moment we sin. But just like them we suffer the consequences. We can lose position, prestige, respect, family. Most importantly, sin has a definite impact on our fellowship with God. There is grace, but when we fall into sin some things may be lost that can never be regained.

So, how does “sin makes you stupid”? Well, despite the Word of God, you do it anyway. THAT is stupid! I know, some people seem to get away with it. But remember, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” Therefore, do not err, my beloved brethren. Remember, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.