Albert Barnes Commentary James 1:15

"Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death." — James 1:15 (ASV)

Then when lust has conceived . The allusion here is obvious. The meaning is, when the desire that we have naturally is stimulated, or made to act, the result is that sin is produced. As our desires for 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 for gratification are formed, when they are developed in actual life, the effect is sin.

In the mere desire for good, for happiness, for food, or for clothing, 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 that 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 brings forth sin. The result is sin—open, actual sin. When that which is conceived in the heart is matured, it is seen to be sin.

The design of all this is to show that sin is not to be traced to God, but to man himself. In order to this, the apostle says that there is enough in the heart of man to account for all actual sin, without supposing that it is caused by God.

The solution that he gives is that there are certain propensities in man which, when they are allowed to manifest, will account for all the sin in the world. In regard to those native propensities themselves, he does not say whether he regards them as sinful and blameworthy or not; and the probability is that he did not design to enter into a formal examination, or to make a formal statement, of the nature of these propensities themselves.

He looked at man as he is—as a creature of God, as endowed with certain animal propensities, as seen, in fact, to have strong passions by nature; and he showed that there was enough in him to account for the existence of sin, without bringing in the agency of God, or charging it on him.

In reference to those propensities, it may be observed that there are two kinds, either of which may account for the existence of sin, but which are frequently both combined.

1. Our natural propensities: those which we have as men, as endowed with an animal nature, as having constitutional desires to be gratified, and wants to be supplied.

   Such Adam had in innocence; such the Savior had; and such are to be regarded as in no respect in themselves sinful and wrong.

   Yet they may, in our case, as they did in Adam, lead us to sin, because, under their strong influence, we may be led to desire that which is forbidden, or which belongs to another.

2. The propensities and inclinations that we have as the result of the fall, which are evil in their nature and tendency; these, as a matter of course, and especially when combined with the former, lead to open transgression.

It is not always easy to separate these, and in fact they are often combined in producing the actual guilt of the world.

It often requires a close analysis of a person's own mind to detect these different ingredients in their conduct, and the one often gets the credit of the other.

The apostle James seems to have looked at it as a simple matter of fact, with a common-sense view, by saying that there were desires (ἐπιθυμίαι) in a person's own mind that would account for all the actual sin in the world, without charging it on God.

Of the truth of this, no one can entertain a doubt.

And sin, when it is finished, brings 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 (Romans 6:21–23), and it is probable that James had this passage in his mind. See Barnes on Romans 6:21-23.

And see Barnes on Romans 5:12.

Anyone 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 mastery and be beyond our control; and the end may be seen in the grave and the awful world of woe.