Step By Step

Step by step, Satan works through our uncontrolled flesh to lure us through temptation into his trap.

He “baits” us by placing some form of temptation that arouses a desire within us.
We become tempted when we are drawn away by our own evil desires.
Sin is conceived in our hearts and minds when we yield our wills to our desires and entertain those desires in our minds.
Sin manifests itself through our actions.
Sin brings death.

Satan’s major strategy in luring and seducing us into temptation is to gain access into our minds through what we see and hear. Eve gave Satan access to her mind by first listening to him. He gained a foothold in her mind through her thought life. His next strategy was to deceive her. As the arch deceiver, he lied to her about the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit and said, “You surely shall not die!”

God had made it clear what the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience would be. To disobey God’s command was rebellion against Him. The consequence was death, yet Satan made the temptation appear so satisfying and rewarding to Eve that she ignored the consequences. He told her that when she ate the forbidden fruit she would have the knowledge of good and evil and be like God.

Satan did not have the power to make Eve sin. When God created Adam and Eve, He made them in His own image. He gave them free will. Eve had the power to say “yes” or “no” to the temptation. Satan’s strategy was to place a temptation so strong before her that she would use her will to disobey God.

Having gained access into Eve’s mind through her thoughts, Satan filled her mind with temptation:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6, NAS)

Eve gave Satan access into her mind through the eye gate — what she saw with her eyes.

When she saw the tree with the forbidden fruit, she desired it. What she saw with her eyes triggered a desire and longing within her. Her mind became filled with thoughts of the satisfaction it would bring. The more she looked, the greater the desire filled her mind.

Eve knew the fruit of the tree was forbidden. She knew if she ate it she would be disobeying God, but the desire that filled her heart was so strong that instead of using her will to reject the temptation, she yielded to it. Sin was conceived in her heart and mind and manifested in her actions when she took the fruit and ate it.