Can the devil make us sin?

Hello everyone and have a wonderful safe New Years!

I want to share a response that I posted today to the question; Can the devil make us sin?

This is my recommendation on how we should study the word of God. Exactly how I have it written below. This allows you to read it how the Spirit of God is teaching you. This is basically from my Bible study notes. It’s an expository method of methodically reading, researching, and understanding the scriptures. Precept upon precept, line upon line, a little from this book of the bible and a little from that book of the bible which gives the proper interpretation of the passage being studied.

According to the Bible, the answer is no.

James said that temptation comes from the desires stored in our souls (minds & conscience) along with the natural appetites of the body. Combined these two leads to sin if they act apart from what the word of God says is godliness. The devil can only present opportunities, these are the arrows or darts fired at our thought life (minds).

Nevertheless, if we (true believers) don't do what we are commanded to do, in renewing our minds (our souls) then it is possible that our weakened soul will instruct our bodies to commit sin. Our bodies simply obey, irrespective of right or wrong, having your soul which is the conscience mind, filled with the word of God from which the Holy Spirit takes and emphasize to our spirits, who relays it to our soul. This is the key to walking in the Spirit which we are commanded to do.

Now read this carefully:

5 For those who live (stop: we must define live. This is speaking of a lifestyle of living) according to the flesh (this is an unbeliever) set their minds on the things of the flesh (unbelievers do not have the capacity to obey because they are DEAD to God), but those who live (a lifestyle) according to the Spirit (produced and influenced by the Holy Spirit), the things of the Spirit (Why? Because they are now alive to God through the washing {read baptism} of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit).

6 For to be carnally (fleshly-earth dweller-unbeliever) minded is death (there is no other alternative without the Spirit of life living inside of you), but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (the believer receives life from God and peace with God. Peace is a byproduct of life. Isaiah states that there is no peace, says my God to the wicked unbeliever).

7 Because the carnal (fleshly-earth dweller-unbeliever) mind is enmity against God (unbelievers are enemies of and at war with God); for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Why not? Because a dead person can't be obedient!).

8 So then, those (those? Yes, unbelievers) who are in the flesh cannot please God (Dead people cannot go to church, pray, or perform any other so called "good deeds" IN GOD's EYES. They can in man's eyes but that cannot get them into heaven because that is not God's criteria).

9 But you (the believer) are not in the flesh (true believers are not concerned about becoming rich or any of the other things earth dwellers seek to please themselves. True believers understand that everything gain here on earth will be lost at death or when God burn this present earth and heaven to a crisp) but in the Spirit (this is from God's perspective because it is in the spirit realm. This is seen by angels and demons too because they also live in the spirit realm), if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you (This is how God identifies His children, not by their behavior. This is also how the demons know who true believers are because they can see the Holy Spirit inside of the believer. Do you understand that it has nothing to do with behavior which is a byproduct of WHO AND WHOSE YOU ARE?). Now if anyone (any human who) does not have the Spirit of Christ (living inside of him, with his newly BORN-AGAIN human spirit CREATED INSIDE HIM), he is not His (meaning is not in God's family, they are an unbeliever who is currently in the devil's family. I didn't say that, God did. Unbelievers are not identified by their behavior IN GOD's EYES nor the demons' eyes. They are only identified through the ABSENCE OF THE PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit inside of the unbeliever's body).

10 And if Christ is in you (stop, listen carefully to what God just said to us: the Spirit of Christ, who is the Holy Spirit, MUST BE IN YOU! Never forget that, for it is the seal of God that guarantees the true believers salvation, not the true believers works of saving faith which are performed as a result of the new birth and renewed mind which controls the body. I will give you several verses from multiple books below to show where God states this truth over and over again), the body is dead because of sin (notice this time that it is only the BODY that is dead. Why is the body dead? God said the body's life is in the blood. We exchange our wicked wretched sin-filled fleshly lives with Christ's spotless, blameless, holy, and righteous life. True believers are no longer of this world consisting only of flesh which requires blood, but we are now at the very moment of repentance and saving faith belief in Christ, transformed by the power of God the Holy Spirit, then transferred from the kingdom of the devil into the kingdom of God where everything and everyone there is as holy and righteous as God. That is God’s criteria to enter heaven), but the Spirit is life (Our human spirit has been made alive because it now possesses the life of God which is His Spirit. How did this happen?) because of righteousness (Because true believers heard the call of the Lord God through the gospel, repented because they recognized their wicked wretched sinful life, then by believing the testimony that God gave concerning His Son. By responding to God's call, all the true believer’s sins were taken from off him/her us and placed upon Jesus where the wrath of God was poured out on the cross, in the grave, and accepted by God on the true believer’s behalf with the resurrection being proof.).

11 But if the Spirit of Him (Who is the Spirit? The Holy Spirit. Who is Him? The Father) who raised Jesus from the dead (Jesus' body from the dead. The Holy Spirit was Jesus' human Spirit thereby making the man Jesus the Godman) dwells in you (now this is extremely important, does the Spirit of Christ DWELL IN YOU? If your response is, no, I don't know, or maybe, then you are in serious trouble with God because that is the only way God know and speak with His children. Everyone that have the Holy Spirit living inside them KNOWS THAT HE IS THERE! How do they know that? God tells us how in Romans 8:16 "The (Holy) Spirit Himself BEARS WITNESS WITH OUR (human) SPIRIT that we are children of God,"), He (the Holy Spirit) who raised Christ (Jesus the man who was anointed by the Father) from the dead (speaking of Jesus's human body) will also give life (resurrection life) to your mortal bodies (Oh oh, this is how our resurrection body receives life. You mean not by any good behavior? Ahhhh, that's too bad for those who wants to help God keep themselves in the kingdom of God) through His Spirit who dwells in you. (God says biblical salvation is by grace through faith only with the guarantee provided by the seal of the Holy Spirit. That's what the Bible teaches). Romans 8:5-11

Now what is this guarantee and seal you are talking about Kevin?

Okay, below are the scripture references. Remember, it is not what you and I think or believe. Truth is only what God said in His written word, the Bible.

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts AS A GUARANTEE. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, YOU WERE SEALED with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 WHO IS THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance (for how long Lord?) until the redemption of the purchased possession, (for what purpose Lord?) to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom YOU WERE SEALED (for how long) until the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (only those who are led by the Holy Spirit are God’s children)15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:14-16

10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness (Who is this witness? The Holy Spirit. Where is the Holy Spirit?) in himself (in the true believer); he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (Salvation which is eternal life is a person, Jesus Christ) 12 He who has the Son has life (salvation which is eternal life is not found in saving faith works of righteousness. Eternal life is the Son of God who must be living inside of you if you are a true believer. What happens if I do not have the Holy Spirit living inside of me, God says this); he who does not have the Son of God DOES NOT HAVE LIFE. (It doesn’t matter how often you attend church or which church you attend. It doesn’t matter how often you pray, give to the poor, raise the dead, baptized in a river of water, speak in 50 tongues, heal entire hospitals whereby everyone instantly gets up and go home, or become the riches person in the world from man’s perspective. Without the Holy Spirit living inside you, you are headed to hell. That is what we just read in God’s word.) 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life (true believers can absolutely KNOW that they possess ETERNAL LIFE), and that you may continue to believe (this is the preservation of the saints who are the true believers, they NEVER STOP BELIEVING regardless of their physical or financial situations) in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:10-13

Hope that helps. Take care.