Desire When It Has Conceived Gives Birth to Sin (James 1:15 and Proverbs 7:24-27)

James 1:15 describes how sinful desire leads to sin and how sin, allowed to mature, brings death. James uses conception, birth, and growth as a picture of this progression. Proverbs 7 gives a related warning: the young man follows temptation toward destruction. The chapter does not describe a pregnancy; the connection is the deadly result of yielding to sin.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Follow the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS

Consider these people who were killed by, of all things, their pets:

• Sandra Piovesan had nine half-wolves, half-dogs that she raised, and after they grew, they killed her.
• Kelly Ann Walz raised a black bear from when it was a cub. When it reached 350 pounds, it killed her.
• Marius Els had a pet hippopotamus, which ended up killing him after it grew.

We know many animals are deadly. There are lots of stories of people being killed by animals. These stories stand out because the people kept the animals as pets.

These tragedies remind us that familiarity with a dangerous animal does not make it safe. That is the point of the illustration: we can grow comfortable with something that still poses a serious threat.

Despite warnings, Marius regarded his hippo as a companion. Familiarity had not removed the danger.

Most of us recognize the danger of keeping wolves, bears, or hippopotamuses as pets. Yet we can be far less cautious about the sin we allow into our own lives.

We tend to treat our sin like a pet. It seems small and manageable, so we excuse it instead of repenting. James 1:15 warns us where that path leads. Proverbs 7:24-27 gives a vivid example of temptation leading toward death:

Proverbs 7:24 And now, O SONS, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. 25 LET NOT YOUR HEART TURN ASIDE TO HER WAYS; DO NOT STRAY INTO HER PATHS, 26 for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

Don’t you hear the father pleading with his son?

• Proverbs 1:8 Hear, MY SON, YOUR FATHER’S INSTRUCTION, and forsake not your mother’s teaching…
• Proverbs 1:10 MY SON, if sinners entice you, do not consent…
• Proverbs 1:15 MY SON, do not walk in the way with them;
• Proverbs 2:1 MY SON, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you
• Proverbs 3:1 MY SON, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

The opening chapters of Proverbs repeatedly address a son or sons with a father’s instruction. Proverbs is for everyone, and we all benefit from its wisdom. But young men should especially hear the personal appeal in these passages.

So, young men can read these verses and hear me pleading to resist the harlot. Young men hear Solomon, the human author of Proverbs, pleading to resist the harlot. But I hope even more that you look past Solomon and me to the even greater Person pleading with you in these verses, and that is God the Father.

In the previous verses, the young man follows temptation toward destruction. The slaughter and snare imagery warns where adultery leads; it does not narrate the woman personally killing him. Through this warning, our heavenly Father lovingly calls us to listen before we follow the same path.

Sin Begins in the Heart

Proverbs 7:8 [He passed] along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house

Now, I’m not trying to sound overly simple, but the foolish young man physically headed toward her house. Now look at what the Father says in verse 25:

Proverbs 7:25 Let not YOUR HEART TURN ASIDE TO HER WAYS; do not stray into her paths,

So, which is it? Did he turn aside toward the harlot, or did his heart turn aside toward her? Yes!

In verse 25, the words “turn aside” suggest walking somewhere, but obviously, our hearts don’t walk anywhere. So why does it say this? The heart is being personified as someone with the potential to go somewhere.

So here’s something we should learn from this: Before the young man physically turned aside toward the harlot’s house, his heart had already turned aside and gone that way. Before he ever took a physical step in that direction, he had already taken a step in that direction in his heart. This is why we’re told to guard our hearts:

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

There’s an emphasis on keeping or protecting our hearts because the rest of us will follow where our hearts go. Our hearts determine the course of our lives. If we let our hearts go where they shouldn’t, we will soon find ourselves going where we shouldn’t. Listen to Jesus’ words that also make this point:

Matthew 15:18 What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Before we say anything, it first comes out of our hearts. Our hearts determine our speech. Jesus makes the same point about our actions in the next verse. Before we ever commit these sins, they first come from our hearts. Our hearts determine what we do and think. So, the real battle with sin occurs in our hearts, so we must keep them from turning aside toward the wrong things.

Even the Strong and Mighty Must Be on Guard

The chapter is about a foolish young man, described in Proverbs 7:7 as simple and lacking sense. So it’s pretty easy to look at him and think, “Sure, he failed. He’s foolish and simple.” We might even say, “He’s weak. We would expect this to happen to him.”

And then, what do we think next? “But this would never happen to me! I’m not that foolish or simple. I wouldn’t have the same problems as him. He was weak, but I’m too strong for this to happen to me!” To prevent us from thinking this, God says:

Proverbs 7:26 for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain ARE A MIGHTY THRONG.

In the ESV, a “mighty throng” means a great number of victims. The emphasis is on how many have fallen, not a statement that every victim was physically or spiritually strong. That should humble us. Sin deceives us and appeals to our pride, making us believe we can handle what has ruined so many others.

Remember this warning when you are tempted to let your guard down. When considering giving in to temptation, do not assume you are an exception. As Paul warns, we must take heed lest we fall.

The Wages of Sin Is Death

Notice death is the theme in these verses:

• In verse 22, an ox to the slaughter and a deer in a trap
• In verse 23, an arrow pierced a deer’s liver, a bird in a snare, and the foolish young man didn’t know it would cost him his life
• In verse 26, her many victims form a mighty throng
• In verse 27, her house leads to Sheol and death.

These repeated images of slaughter, traps, and the grave underline the warning: sin leads to death.

Sin Is Compared to Pregnancy Because It Gives Birth to Death

James 1:15 (ESV) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James pictures desire conceiving and giving birth to sin. Then he pictures sin growing to maturity and producing death. The language helps us see that the desires we entertain have consequences and calls us to deal with sinful desire before it takes root in our conduct. Scripture uses similar imagery elsewhere:

• Job 15:35 They CONCEIVE TROUBLE and GIVE BIRTH TO EVIL, and THEIR WOMB PREPARES DECEIT.
• Psalm 7:14 Behold, the wicked man CONCEIVES EVIL and is PREGNANT WITH MISCHIEF and GIVES BIRTH to lies.
• Isaiah 59:4 No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they CONCEIVE MISCHIEF and GIVE BIRTH TO INIQUITY.

When we see a theme in scripture such as this, it is an example of God repeating himself, something he does to ensure we don’t miss something. So, we don’t want to miss that sin is compared with pregnancy.

Proverbs 7 and James 1:15 warn about the same destructive direction: temptation draws a person into sin, and sin leads toward death. We can compare those warnings without treating James’s imagery as a literal pregnancy in the Proverbs account.

Several commentators explain James’s personification of desire using the image of a seductress. Their comments illuminate the metaphor; they do not establish that Proverbs 7 records a pregnancy:

• Albert Barnes explains that desire is personified as a seductress: yielding to it produces actual sin, which in turn produces death.
• Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers traces the image from indulged desire to growing sin and its deadly outcome.
• The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary describes the will embracing temptation, followed by sin and ultimately death.

When we think of sin, we think of it causing problems, hurting people, leading to regret or shame, and requiring repentance. But we probably don’t think of it leading to death. That might even sound a little dramatic.

Have you ever rebuked someone and said, “Hey, if you don’t repent, it will kill you?” Probably not, unless they were committing a sin that you could see killing them, such as reckless behavior or an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Why do these verses speak about death when we do not die immediately every time we sin? The warning concerns sin’s ultimate outcome. James’s warning about death stands alongside his promise of life to those who persevere, and Romans 6:23 contrasts sin’s wages with eternal life in Christ. Sin also brings destructive consequences before physical death.

The following examples describe some of that damage. Calling them “deaths” is an illustration, not the full meaning of James’s warning. Sin can destroy a person’s employment, for example, when dishonesty or other wrongdoing costs someone a job.

Sin can also harm our bodies. But we must not assume that someone’s illness or disability results from a particular personal sin; Jesus rejects that assumption in John 9:1-3. In these psalms, David describes the physical burden he experienced in connection with his own sin:

Psalm 31:10 My life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; MY STRENGTH FAILS BECAUSE OF MY INIQUITY, AND MY BONES WASTE AWAY…Psalm 32:3 MY BONES WASTED AWAY through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; MY STRENGTH WAS DRIED UP AS BY THE HEAT OF SUMMER. Selah…Psalm 38:3 There is NO SOUNDNESS IN MY FLESH because of your indignation; there is NO HEALTH IN MY BONES because of my sin.

David describes the loss of strength and the burden of guilt. These psalms do not identify the specific occasion as his adultery and murder, so we should not present that connection as certain. The lesson remains serious: unconfessed sin weighs heavily on a person.

Sin can lead to the death of self-respect and dignity. How many men can’t lead their families well because they don’t respect themselves because of the sin they’re committing?

Sin has caused the death of how many marriages? How many families and relationships have been killed by sin? Relationships with children, parents, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

Because we can’t lose our salvation, I’m not saying that a believer’s sin ends Christ’s saving work. But sin does grieve God and hinder our growth in Christlikeness. Security in Christ is a reason to repent and pursue holiness, never a reason to become comfortable with sin.

The damage sin causes should make us take its ultimate outcome seriously. We must not excuse it or delay repentance. Charles Spurgeon said, “If you will not put sin to death, sin will put you to death. There is no alternative. If you do not die to sin, you shall die for sin. If you do not slay sin, sin will slay you.”

Sin Is Compared to Pregnancy Because It Is a Process

James uses the stages of conception, birth, and growth to show a progression. An act of sin can happen quickly, but the desires we nurture matter long before outward consequences become visible. James 1:14-15 directs our attention to that progression:

James 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Think of the foolish young man in Proverbs 7. Was he walking along, tripped, and fell, and the next thing you know, he found himself committing adultery with the harlot? No, he took many steps. His sin was a process. Consider David in 2 Samuel 11. He had to go through a process to sin with Bathsheba, and then he had to go through another process to murder Uriah.

The first degree [of temptation] relates to the mind – it is dragged away from its duties by the deceit of sin. The second aims at the affections – they are enticed and entangled. The third overcomes the will – the consent of the will is the conception of actual sin. The fourth degree disrupts our way of life as sin is born into it. The fifth is the flesh’s goal, a hardened life of sin, which leads to eternal death.

Kris Lundgaard, The Enemy Within, 1998, P&R Publishing, p. 58.

This also means that before we sin, there are many opportunities for us to turn from, or repent, of the course we’re on:

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

This verse means that before sinning, we can decide to use the means of escape God provided.

Sin Is Compared to Pregnancy Because It Grows

James 1:15 (ESV) says, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin WHEN IT IS FULLY GROWN brings forth death.” Unfortunately, here’s the thought we often have when it comes to sin: “I’ll stop eventually. At some point, I’ll repent and bring this to an end. Just not yet. And until I do, my sin will remain the same. It won’t get any worse.”

So, let’s say we plan on repenting weeks, months, or years down the road. By the time we repent, do we think our sin will look the same as it does now? Do we think it won’t have grown, taken over some part of our life, and become stronger and harder to remove? Sin is not stagnant. It doesn’t remain the same. The longer sin is in our lives, the stronger and more mature it becomes. It keeps growing and growing and growing.

Assuming we don’t repent, sin grows in our lives just like a baby grows in the womb. Without repentance, our lives become the incubators for sin to thrive. This is one of the most important reasons in Scripture that we must repent as early as possible. It’s the only way to remove sin before it grows.

This is why repentance is a continual part of Christian life on this side of heaven. Repentance is not a one-time act. It is the behavior of Christians who want to conform to Christ’s image and likeness.

But What About When We Still Sin?

No matter how many sermons we hear like this, we will continue to sin. Like Paul, we will find ourselves saying:

Romans 7:15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

So here’s some encouragement: We are deeply convicted not to sin, but we can be freely forgiven through the gospel when we do.

Think about David’s adultery and murder. He was the king of God’s people and had received extraordinary blessings. He knew God’s commands, yet deliberately violated them. His position did not excuse his sin; it made his responsibility all the more serious.

We’ve been talking about sin giving birth to death, and if anyone’s sins ever should’ve resulted in death, it was David’s. But he confessed, and Nathan said:

2 Samuel 12:13 “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

David received forgiveness when he confessed, although the following verses show that painful consequences remained. God’s grace does not make sin harmless, but it gives repentant sinners real hope. Romans 6:23 joins the warning about sin to the promise of life:

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are going to experience physical death because of our sins. But we don’t have to experience eternal death. Because of Jesus’s perfect, sinless life and sacrifice on the cross, we can be given eternal life.