Where does temptation come from? Does it come from our own desires that wage war within us? Does it come from the world, a culture that opposes God? Or does all temptation come from Satan? Do we blame our sin on ourselves, the anti-God culture, or Satan?

Several passages address this question of where sin comes from. James says that jealousy and selfish ambition are “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:15). In his first letter, John says that sin comes from the world, which he describes as “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:15-17). He adds that the person who “makes a practice of sinning is of the devil” (1 John 3:7-10). The three enemies are most clearly described in Ephesians 2:1-3.

Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

The world is the culture around us that pushes an unbiblical worldview through all its platforms. The flesh is our inclination to do what we want to do. And Satan is our powerful enemy intent on blinding the eyes of unbelievers and discrediting and destroying believers. So, where does sin come from? I would argue that these three forces are woven together in every temptation.

Authors Thomas Ice and Robert Dean explain the sinful combination of the world, the flesh, and the devil well.

What gives these two enemies [Satan and the world] an opportunity to operate in the believer’s life is the enemy that is in each of us. Satan (and demons) can tempt the Christian, and the world-system can provide philosophies and ideas that give a rationale for sin, but it is the individual who makes the choices, yields to temptation, or utilizes the philosophy in order to justify his sinful action.[1]

The driver behind our sin may be the world, the flesh, or the devil. Most likely, as Ice and Dean point out, it is a combination of all three. The bottom line is this. We can’t blame anyone or anything. Each of us is held responsible for our sin.

Father,
Help us own our sin, repent of it, and find your forgiveness. Help us depend on you to protect and guard us from heading down the wrong path. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] William F. Cook III & Chuck Lawless, Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of Scripture (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2019), 217.