Origin and Nature of Sinful Longing in Human Nature
Sinful longing originates in the human heart as an inward disposition that precedes outward transgression. Jesus identifies the heart as the source from which "evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts" proceed [4], locating moral corruption not in external circumstances but in the interior life. This inward reality is what Scripture calls "lust"—a term denoting not merely sexual desire but any sinful longing that draws the will away from God [1].
The Mechanism of Temptation
James describes the process by which desire becomes sin: "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed" [8]. The imagery suggests either a fish lured by bait or a person seduced by enticement [9]. Crucially, the lust is identified as "his own"—inherent to the individual, not imposed from outside. Even demonic suggestion poses no danger "before [it is] made our own" [8]. The sequence culminates in James 1:15: "Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death" [3]. Desire thus functions as the generative principle, conceiving and bearing forth actual transgression.
The Inherited Condition
This corrupt principle is not acquired through personal choice but inherited. One commentary notes that "lust flows from the original birth-sin in man, inherited from Adam" [8], while another observes that all human beings "are born sinners" and the wicked "indulge their sinful nature" rather than resist it [5]. The principle of corrupt nature "is natural and hereditary," something in which a person is "conceived and shapen" [9]. The Fall introduced not merely a bad example but a fundamental reorientation: "a love of self, dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the best of Masters—a preference of the creature to the Creator" [6].
The Seat of Moral Agency
Lust occupies "the heart, not of necessity, but because it is the centre of all moral forces and impulses and of spiritual activity" [1]. Sin is therefore "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" in both "the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life" [2]. The distinction between inherited corruption and actual transgression matters: one source differentiates between "the present GUILT remaining (until cleansed) from the actual sins committed" and "the SIN of our corrupt old nature still adhering to us" [7], acknowledging both the ongoing presence of sinful nature and the reality of discrete sinful acts.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Lust — Sinful longing; the inward sin which leads to the falling away from God (Rom. 1:21). "Lust, the origin of sin, has its place in the heart, not of necessity, but because it is the centre of all moral forces and impulses and of spiritual activity." In Mark 4:19 "lusts" are objects of desire.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Sin — Is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment,”
- James “Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. -- James 1:15”
- Mark “For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, -- Mark 7:21”
- Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 58:3: 58:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5); however, whereas the wicked indulge their sinful nature, the godly fight against it (Rom 7:19-23; Jas 4:1-10).”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 3:13: beguiled--cajoled by flattering lies. This sin of the first pair was heinous and aggravated--it was not simply eating an apple, but a love of self, dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the best of Masters--a preference of the creature to the Creator.”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 1:10: Parallel to Jo1 1:8. we have not sinned--referring to the commission of actual sins, even after regeneration and conversion; whereas in Jo1 1:8, "we have no sin," refers to the present GUILT remaining (until cleansed) from the actual sins committed, and to the SIN of our corrupt old nature still adhering to us. The perfect "have . . . sinned" brings down the commission of sins to the present time, not merely sins committed before, but since, conversion. we make him a liar--a gradation; Jo1 1:6, "we lie"; Jo1 1:8, "we deceive ourselves"; worst of al”
- James (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on James 1:14: Every man, when tempted, is so through being drawn away of (again here, as in Jam 1:13, the Greek for "of" expresses the actual source, rather than the agent of temptation) his own lust. The cause of sin is in ourselves. Even Satan's suggestions do not endanger us before they are made our own. Each one has his own peculiar (so the Greek) lust, arising from his own temperament and habit. Lust flows from the original birth-sin in man, inherited from Adam. drawn away--the beginning step in temptation: drawn away from truth and virtue. enticed--literall”
- James (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on James 1:14: But every man is tempted,.... To sin, and he falls in with the temptation, and by it, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed; the metaphor is taken either from fishes, who are enticed by the bait, and drawn out by the hook; or from a lascivious woman, who meeting with a young man, entices him, and draws him away after her to commit iniquity with her: by "lust" is meant the principle of corrupt nature, which has its residence in the heart of man; is natural and hereditary to him, and therefore is called his own; he is conceived and shapen in it; he brings i”