The Devil is able, without our planned forethought, to inject into our minds distracting, tempting, hateful, harmful, sinful thoughts. It’s obvious that with TV programming and advertisements play to greed and lust. Our sexualized culture; women’s dress (“undress” is more accurate) and the other accepted degrading cultural trends, provide plenty of provocation to temptation in our eyes and our mind’s thoughts. But also some sinful thoughts simply seem to come out of the blue.

Biblically knowledgeable and alert Christians should know what these thoughts are and from whence they come.

1 Peter 5:8 (AMP) Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

The sinful thoughts sometimes come to us as ‘internal accusations’ that resurrect our past errors and failures that are common to all of us, even Christians. These are a tool of the Devil to divide us from Christ as if that were possible. These are what that Apostle Paul calls the “fiery darts” (KJV) or “flaming missiles” (AMP) of the enemy of our soul – Satan.

Paul says the members of “the body of Christ” are equipped with “the sword of the Spirit” which is the truth of the “WORD OF GOD” that we stand on, and with “the shield of faith” we can “extinguish” these “fiery darts.” We can do this by maintaining faith in “the word of truth,” especially as written in Paul’s epistles to us today.

Ephesians 6:16 (AMP) Lift up over all the [covering] SHIELD OF SAVING ‘FAITH,’ upon which YOU [the believers] CAN QUENCH [Gk. sbennymi; extinguish] ALL THE FLAMING MISSILES of the wicked [one].

Another great positive that gives us confidence in the face of all the evil thoughts and accusations that may come to mind is that we are forever ‘counted as being righteous in the sight of God’ … because our lives are “hid with Christ IN God.”

As soon as we recognize such evil thoughts as Sin’s temptations and accusations we need to dismiss or ‘cast down’ such thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ;”

Realizing that we live from moment to moment and that our thoughts are fleeting we still need to recognize and ‘cast down’ these evil thoughts over, and over again. This tactic of Satan is broken by turning our heart to Him in thanks giving again and again for His loving unconditional grace. This is as an expression of our continued faith in Him and the truth of the written word for us today… that we are “crucified with Christ,” knowing that “he that is dead is free from Sin [free from Sin’s dominion] (cf. Rom. 6:7).

Colossians 3:3 (KJV) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

In the Bible the word ‘lust’ is not always referring to sexual. The “lust of the flesh” simply means “strong desire” of the sinful flesh nature. These lustful, self-seeking, hateful, unbelieving, and ungodly thoughts can spontaneously appear in the subconsciousness of our soul’s mind. These are what Paul calls “strong holds” (2Cor 10:4) that can usurp our thinking. These “strong holds” can gain a home in our soul’s mind by the repeated promptings of the Sin-nature that has established them over the years before and even after our salvation. Our wrong thinking can become habitual, through being tempted over and over. It may seem that we cannot get away from these thoughts, but as I’ve written we do have a way to deal with these awful unwanted thoughts.

The truth of our spirit in union with Christ is foreign to our soul’s mind … until we hear and learn of the Biblical truth of our Status as a beloved child of God, love by Him unconditionally, no matter what.

You may have heard the saying, “you are what you eat.” We need to eat, taste, and masticate the written ‘words of God’ daily to become strengthened with the might of His life that is available to us as our new life. Then we can withstand the wiles (trickery) of the Devil, the lying deceiver.

Ephesians 6:10-11 (KJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [trickery] of the devil.

Solomon wrote, Proverbs 23:7 “… as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” This agrees with what I once heard Norman Grubb say; “What you take hold of will take hold of you.”

E.g., if you take hold of a chair by sitting in it, it will take hold of you by supporting you, and that’s good. Now conversely, if you take hold of those fleeting evil, fearful, jealous, grievous, or anxious thoughts, entertaining the “imaginations” that suddenly appear in your mind; then these thoughts may take hold of you as all consuming, ultimately prompting you to act on those thoughts, choosing to make a bad decision. Such thoughts are what Paul calls “imaginations” that are contrary to “the knowledge of God.” These temptations, which if entertained in our mind, can draw us away from the Truth of the ever-present Lord within us.

Paul says we are equipped with defensive weapons; “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [of the flesh], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV). We can “pull down” and “take captive” evil thoughts by learning to turn our mind away from the thought to the truth of “the word of God,” Jesus said; “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63) Thereby we are turning our heart to the Lord within us. Paul wrote; “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom 8:6). This single motion of turning our heart to “the word of the Lord” is simultaneously a turning away from the evil thought. Christ in us in accord with His written word is able to save us from those thoughts in that very moment. He desires to live His righteous Christian life through us.

James here clearly outlines the progression and consequence of falling into temptation to sin.

“Blessed is the man (of Israel) that endureth (stays true in) temptation: for when he is tried (tempted), he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him (Christ). ¹⁴ But EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED, when he is DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST, and ENTICED. ¹⁵ Then WHEN LUST (GK., epithymia, forbidden desire) HATH CONCEIVED, IT BRINGETH FORTH SIN: and SIN, WHEN IT IS FINISHED, BRINGETH FORTH DEATH. (James 1:12, 14-15).

Again, “lust” here in James 1:15 (above) is defined as strong desire for what is forbidden; this includes all manner of sin; it is not limited to sexual sin. Hebrews 11:25b tells us the “pleasures of sin are for a season.”  All manner of “sins of the flesh” (Col 2:11) are manifested as result of a person going along with or giving into the tempting thought.

Here we summarize James’ four-step process leading us to actualize sin that begins in the mind’s thoughts.

1) A spontaneous “temptation” arises as a thought in the soul’s mind.  

2) Being “tempted,” we may be “drawn away,” “enticed,” due the “lust” of the “Sin in the flesh” (cf. Rom 8:3).

3) When “lust” is conceived it culminates in an act of sinning against what we know as “truth.” These thoughts are contrary to our true identity “in Christ.”

4) Then, with the act of sin, we bear the first consequence of “sinning,” falling into the “condemnation of the Devil; his other name is “the accuser of the brethren”)” (1Tim 3:6). The Devil works to condemn us further, saying; “Well, you thought it, you might s well do it.” But the fact is you did not think it of yourself, the Devil shot that thought into your mind… and then he accuses you.

5) If we don’t know and stand upon the truth of “the word of truth,” we likely will proceed to actualize the sin. This brings ‘spiritual death,’ whereby we feel hopelessly cut off and distant from God and those around us. This all because we of ourselves were deceived and chose to turn away from… our righteous position in union with Christ in our spirit.

Remember, Paul says the members of “the body of Christ” are equipped with the “sword of the Spirit” which is the truth of the “word of God.” We stand upon the truth as our “shield of faith.” Thereby, we can “extinguish” the Devil’s “fiery darts.” We can do this by maintaining faith in the truth written in Paul’s epistles.

Ephesians 6:10-14 (KJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ¹¹ Put On The Whole Armour Of God, That Ye May Be Able To Stand Against The Wiles Of The Devil. ¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against [Satan’s angelic] principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked [Evil One]. Ephesians 6:15-16 (KJV)

John wrote to Israel of the last days saying;

¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)

Yet know this, as grace age believers, even in our sin and failure, our ‘position’ is still forever sealed securely “in Christ” (Eph. 1:13) and the Lord Jesus never leaves us or ceases to love us unconditionally. If we proceed to trust Him and His wisdom, Him He will lead us out of the quagmire of sin we may have fallen into.

We need to believe and stand upon the truth of His written word for us today, we turn our heart’s mind again and again to Him, recognizing that Sin is not of our true identity in Christ… that Sin is the very nature of Satan. This “Sin in the flesh” is resident in believer’s flesh body (cf. Rom. 8:3) … and will be until we are resurrected in our new, glorious, unsullied, eternal spirit-body.

Paul says we have the withal to have victory over sin in the flesh, recognizing Christ’s life in our spirit is more powerful. We can “mortify” (‘put to death’ the deeds of the flesh) moment by moment. Thus Paul wrote;

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die [you shut off the light]: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live [Gk. zao, you will enjoy the light and power of His life in your spirit].” Romans 8:13 (KJV)