The man himself is responsible for his sin, and he need not seek to
place the blame elsewhere. The temptation is not a temptation to him if
he refuses to listen to the siren’s voice. The man is not responsible
for the efforts of others to allure him to sin but only in case he
listens and yields. Then he is really tempted “when he is drawn away by
his own lust, and enticed.”
The figure is very bold and impressive. The word for “drawn away” is
used in Oppian for drawing the fish out from its original retreat,
beguiling it from under the rock. Then the fish is ready to be snared by
the bait. The fish bites at the bait and is caught on the hook. So with
a man. He is drawn out by his own lust for the sin placed before him. In
the case of sexual sin the impulse is not in itself sinful any more than
the fish’s hunger for food. The sexual nature is from God and is meant
only for blessing for high and holy ends. But the misuse of this impulse
is very easy and very dreadful in its results. Satan sets many kinds of
bait for unwary boys and girls, men and women, who at first are taken
off their guard and then are drawn away by desire stirred within them
toward evil. The evil suggestion is entertained, and sin is the outcome.
This very word “entice” is used of hunting (trapping with bait), and
then it is used of the harlot who entices to sin. “My son, if sinners
entice thee, consent thou not” (Prov. 1:10). Philo speaks of our being
“driven by passion or enticed by pleasure.” The pitfalls are many in
modern life—in the country, in the village, and in the city. The modern
demons of drink, drug, and the brothel are busy in finding victims. But
the point made by James is that the one who yields does so because of
the sin within his own heart.
A person’s own evil desire plays the part of temptress (Plummer), and he
is drawn away by it and enticed. “If thou doest not well, sin coucheth
at the door” (Gen. 4:7) like a panther ready to spring upon the intended
victim caught for the moment off guard. One is reminded afresh of the
opening chapters of Proverbs, which cannot be excelled by any of the
modern books on sex instruction, some of which stimulate more immorality
than they prevent. Wise warning is needed and plain talk is demanded,
but not pruriency any more than prudery. Alas, that the paw of the
modern Moloch draws into the fire so many thousands of young men and
women from the homes of our land. The best capital of America is the
children, and we lose too much of it in the worst of gambles—the traffic
in souls.