Who Is At Fault For Our Choses? God Or Man?

Let no man say when he is tempted,

I am tempted of God: for God cannot'

be tempted with evil, neither tempted

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.

James 1:13-15

     Scripture is very clear and plain that God is Good, not just an attribute, which He has, but that He is Good. Therefore, God cannot produce evil and no man can tempt God for God is above all temptation. Our God is not the god of the Grecian where their gods are anthropomorphized and cause all sorts of evil, fighting among each other, and even causing evil things to occur among humans. Our God is Supreme and has need of no other god, as the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons teach. Yet, we must understand that God has not taken away our humanity making us some sort of puppet doing only His will and we then have no recourse and all we do then is not of us but of another, either God, or in some cases the blame is put on Satan (the devil made we do it as Flip Wilson the comedian used to say). We are the ones who choose to either follow the wiles of Satan or to choose to follow God and His commands and precepts. Yes, Satan caused sin to enter into the world but we have, as Authentic Christians with Authentic Christian Faith, the ability to choose God for we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit leading us if we allow Him to do so. Our souls having been corrupted by original sin of Adam and passed down to all of his progeny we have sinful desires that can only be overcome by choosing to follow God. 

     Lust, what is it? It is uncontrolled or illicit desires, an ardent enthusiasm, zest, relish a pleasure or delight, to have that which one desire now, and have no desire to wait or examine that desire. This person who falls prey to lust is a lustful person and is so motivated by this lust that they stop following the will of God. We cannot expect a non-Christian to follow God and we can expect that person to follow their lusts. As for Christians to allow lust to overcome us is to sin, and this sin leads to death. This death may come only at the end of life, but it can and does so often lead to disease or some malady that leads to premature death: i.e., syphilis, or HPV, or heart disease, whatever it was this lust that led that person into sin and death. 

     So you want a gift? You can have it for: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is not variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures: (James 1:17-18). We, just as those early Christians are the "firstfruits" of God, and until Jesus comes again for His bride we are His "firstfruits" so we should live as what we are, the bride of Christ and the harvest that brings His fruit into His warehouse: heaven. God does not change, the wind of change on this earth does not change Him, He is not us for He is another Being, an everlasting being which means that He does not live in time as we do, and is before all things, knows all things from the beginning until the end and beyond the end of our sequential time. 

     We then, as Authentic Christians should be known  as what we are: God's "firstfruit" of all His creatures. We are to be a witness to and for God. This is our responibility to live and be what God has called us to be and are and only each person can decide whether or not to be an Authentic Christian or not. Did not God give us a perfect Gift? Yes, His word. Should we not be studying His word? Yes! This is how we keep from allowing lust to have control over our life. What then will you choose? God or yourself?

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD,

    and my servant whom I have chosen:

that ye may know and believe Me, and

    understand that I am He: before Me

there was no God formed, neither shall

    there be after Me. I, even I am the 

LORD: and beside Me there is no saviour.

                    Isaiah 43: 10-11

Choose wisely: Believe God

Richard L. Crumb