James 1:15—The Lineage of the Internal Trait

I. The Lineage of the Internal Trait

James 1:15

Then his lust having conceived gives birth to sin: and when sin is full grown it brings forth death.

Dr. James B. Adamson highlights how James 1:15 outlines the mechanical progression from hidden temptation to external sin and spiritual death, echoing the internal analysis of Thomas à Kempis¹ regarding thought, imagination, pleasure, and assent.

II. The Three-Stage Anatomy of the Process

Adamson maps the internal progression of desire into three chronological checkpoints:

• Stage One: The Bait. Experiencing the raw pull of temptation without spiritual injury.
• Stage Two: The Conception. Lust conceives and gives immediate birth to the sinful act.
• Stage Three: The Full Growth. Unrepentant sin hardens into an automated habit leading to terminal spiritual death.

III. The Analogy of Human Maturity

The Greek grammar for “having conceived gives birth” parallels Genesis 4:1, linking the hidden thought and act into unified accountability. James uses motherhood as a metaphor for the self-destructive process, where sin nurtures its outcome until final judgment, leaving zero alibis for human accountability.

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1. “At first it is a mere thought confronting the mind; then imagination paints it in stronger colors; only after that do we take pleasure in it, and the will makes a false move, and we give our assent.” The imitation of Christ, tr. Ronald A. Knox and Michael Oakley [1959], p. 32 [↩]