Always Starts in the Mind

Sin begins in the mind. What you think eventually becomes what you do (Prov. 23:7)! “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart [mind]; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Matt. 15:18-20).

James 1:14-15 shows that when men entertain wrong thoughts, they will eventually produce wrong actions. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death [the wages of sin].” For example, every war, every battle, every fight throughout history has happened because men have coveted something that did not belong to them. And because men have failed to control their carnal desires, we live in a world wracked by the pain, suffering and anguish of war (James. 4:1-2).

Example of Lust Conceiving Sin

The Bible records a tragic, historic example of how one man’s lustful thoughts conceived sin—lawbreaking—and gave birth to death. That man was King David.

One spring evening, as David walked on the roof of his palace, he spotted a naked woman who was washing herself (II Sam. 11:2). Instead of looking away, and putting her image out of his mind, he stared at her. He allowed his mind to entertain wrong thoughts—and in so doing, David broke the Tenth Commandment.

This sin led him to ask about her (II Sam 11:3). He discovered that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his most trusted servants. But this did not stop David from committing adultery with her ( II Sam 11:4), breaking the Seventh Commandment. David also broke the Eighth Commandment by taking what did not belong to him—Uriah’s wife.

These sins resulted in David and Bathsheba conceiving an illegitimate child ( II Sam 11:5). Wanting to cover up the pregnancy, David tried to deceive Uriah, who had been away, faithfully fighting a war for his king. Recalling him from the frontlines, David tried to deceive Uriah into sleeping with Bathsheba, so he would think the unborn child was his (II Sam 11:6-13). These actions broke the principle of the Ninth Commandment.

When Uriah refused to sleep with her, David’s growing mountain of sins led him to use his enemies to murder Uriah ( II Sam 11:14-17)—thus breaking the Sixth Commandment.

What had begun with evil thoughts soon led to multiple sins—lawbreaking—and eventually to murder. This is just one example of how sin always spreads. Every action—adultery, murder, stealing, among others, invariably requires at least the additional sin of lying to cover it up.

God Hates Sin—Lawbreaking

Eventually, David repented. He came to see his sins the way God saw them—as terrible lawbreaking—iniquity. That is why David wrote, in Psalm 5:4-5, “For You are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with You. The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity [sin].”

After God had freed the Israelites from slavery, fed, protected and provided for them, gave them the Promised Land, and fought their battles for them, they still continued to sin—to break His commandments. “Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God, and kept not His testimonies: but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, He was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel” (Psa. 78:56-59).

God cannot, will not ever, tolerate sin or those who practice it! He would never allow such people in His kingdom.

Solomon, David’s son, wrote in Proverbs 15:26, “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD.” This is because God knows that, if unchecked, wicked thoughts always produce wicked actions, as in Jeremiah 44:1-30 “So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed…because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in His law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies…” (Jer 44:22-23).

Sin—breaking God’s spiritual law—cuts us off from God. “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that he will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). And Jeremiah wrote, “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you” (Jer. 5:25).

When God used His prophet, Nathan, to confront David, the king begged God to “Cast me not away from Your presence” (Psa. 51:11). He acknowledged his transgressions to God, saying, “My sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight: that You might be justified when You speak, and be clear when You judge” (Psa 51:3-4). David pleaded with God to “blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin… Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psa 51:1-2, 7, 9-10).

God heard and forgave.