Our thoughts are the seed of sin.

Hello,
I was listening to a message this morning that really spoke to me. The message was on guarding your thoughts. Phil Johnson was teaching that every sin is hatched and cultivated in the mind. I agree with Phil because scripture backs up his thinking. James Chapter 2 verses 14 and 15 say 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. The evil desire is conceived, or birthed, in the mind and then grows into sin ( I guess you could say something like I am coveting a cor vet and then I actually commit the act of stealing it.) and then all sin leads to death. So with that small introduction please look over these little notes and tell me what you think..

Sins of the mind.

The sins of the mind grieve God. God destroyed the earth becasue of the thoughts and heart of men. This passage says that God the Almighty grieved and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:5-7
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."

God sees all of our thoughts, when we sin in our mind we sin in his presence. God sees you all the time.
Psalm 1391:-8
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.


What we think is what we are. If we are thinking abotu iniquity we will act out those actions if we think about righteousness we will act our those actions.
Proverbs 23:7
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “ Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

Jesus said that the sins of the mind are just as vile as the act, and require the same punishment.
Matthew 5:27-30
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Our acts cannot save us even Jesus looked on the heart. Defilement that is on the inside cannot be washed away by ceremonial cleansing. Jesus said outwardly a person can appear righteous, but on the heart (mind) they are full of full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:25-35
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?


We need repentance. Only God's Spirit can create in us a clean heart that breaks the unholy alliance from sin.
Psalm 51:10
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
2 Cor 7:9-12
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 12 Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.