"The Devil Made Me Do It" Excuse - Divorce Minister
….but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
-James 1:14-15, NIV (emphasis mine)
James gives us clear teaching on the origins of sin. And adultery is certainly a sin as it is a violation of the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20).
Do you see James blaming sin upon the Devil anywhere in these two quoted verses? Does James lay responsibility on “evil forces” external to the sinner for causing one to fall into sin or are the origins internal to the sinner?
They are internal.
The Devil or demons do not make a cheater commit adultery. What makes a cheater commit adultery are the “evil desires” in the cheaters heart. This is what the Bible clearly teaches.
Jesus taught as much when he delivered an explanation about what makes a person unclean. He pointed to the wickedness within a person’s heart as the true origins of what defiles a person (e.g. Mark 7:21-23).
The Devil is not the one defiling the person; rather it is the person themselves choosing to indulge the evil desires already within his or her own heart.
It all boils down to choice and choosing between good and evil. The cheater chose to give into the evil in his or her heart. Thus, they alone are responsible for making that choice and bear full responsibility for making such a morally bankrupt decision.
To cheaters:
