Shifting blame is as old as mankind. When God questioned Adam for his disobedience, the man blamed the woman (Gen. 3:11-12). When the Lord questioned Eve, the woman blamed the devil—“The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (3:13). In other words, “The devil made me do it.”
Except, the devil didn’t make Eve do anything that she didn’t want to do. She “saw” the tree, she thought it was “good for food,” she found it “pleasant to the eyes,” and it was “desirable” to her. Thus, “she took of its fruit and ate” (Gen. 3:6). Certainly, the devil “deceived Eve by his craftiness” (2 Cor. 11:3), but the choice was 100% Eve’s! She could not legitimately shift blame to anyone else for what she had done!
Some 4,000 years later, the devil was busy again. Ananias and Sapphira had “sold a possession…kept back part of the proceeds,” and then “brought a certain part” of the proceeds to the apostles but conveyed it as the entire amount (Acts 5:1-4). Greed, pride, love of money and conceit are dangerous foes to a child of God. The apostle Peter said to Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” There it is! It wasn’t Ananias’ fault! It was the devil’s fault! The devil made Ananias do it! Wait a minute—keep reading. Just two sentences later, Peter said, “Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?” Whose idea was this? Whose desire was this? While Satan had deceived this couple into justifying their action, the choice to lie to God was 100% on them! They could not legitimately shift blame to anyone else for what they had “agreed together” to do (5:9)!
This is exactly what the Bible teaches regarding the onset of sin in someone’s life. Look carefully at the progression outlined in James 1:14-15. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” The temptation comes from the devil, no doubt, but the temptation is only “tempting” because of one’s “own desires.” When one is “enticed” by the temptation and yields to “his own desires,” the Bible teaches that “it gives birth to sin.” Ultimately, when “sin” is left to grow and contaminate one’s heart, it “brings forth death” (i.e., separation from God).
Satan cannot “make you do anything” that you do not want to do yourself! So, the Bible teaches us to “resist the devil” (Jas. 4:7). The best way to resist him is to change our “desires” to be “conformed” to the will of God (Rom. 12:2). When I want what God wants, sin will be less appealing and the devil will have less influence over me. But I must take full responsibility for my desires and for my actions.