Can I sin WITHOUT the devil?

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DavidFilmer

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The devil is often mentioned as a factor in temptation. And, of course, it played an important role in the temptation that led to humanity’s fall from grace.

But does the devil play a daily role in my life? I think (and maybe this is prideful, in a way) that I am perfectly capable of screwing up all on my own!

If the devil and his horde took a day off, would the world be free from sin? Would it really make much difference?

What is the role of the devil in individual sin and temptation?
 
The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Certainly we’re capable of sinning witout each sin being the result of a specific temptation from the Evil One.
 
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DavidFilmer:
The devil is often mentioned as a factor in temptation. And, of course, it played an important role in the temptation that led to humanity’s fall from grace.

But does the devil play a daily role in my life? I think (and maybe this is prideful, in a way) that I am perfectly capable of screwing up all on my own!

If the devil and his horde took a day off, would the world be free from sin? Would it really make much difference?

What is the role of the devil in individual sin and temptation?
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Yes, you could sin easily without the devil and I would say that many of our sins are completely free of him.

God created Lucifer good, but he still sinned without anyone tempting him. A sin is just a corruption of the good. You can easily corrupt what is good just by not doing anything when you are called to.
 
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jimmy:
Yes, you could sin easily without the devil and I would say that many of our sins are completely free of him.
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So, if God decided today to destroy the devil and his horde, what difference would this make in the world tomorrow?
 
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DavidFilmer:
So, if God decided today to destroy the devil and his horde, what difference would this make in the world tomorrow?
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There might be less temptation, but people would still sin because that is what they have been accustomed to. Sin is commited with free will. It is me who falls into sin.
 
I think we sin more without the devil then when old slew foot is around. I believe in our flesh we have a nature that is prone to sin. The bible calls this the lusts of the flesh. Anger, hate, greed, envy, illicit sexual desires, and stuff like that. Also we are tempted by circumstance and people. Sometimes we think, now if my boss would just fall off a cliff somewhere, life at work would be nicer. Or if that girl didn’t come on to me that way I wouldn’t have lewd thoughts. Then there are movies and television. What we watch is what our minds dwell on.
So, the devil doesn't have to do much. Most of the time, he just has to sit back and watch.
 
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Reepicheep:
The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Certainly we’re capable of sinning witout each sin being the result of a specific temptation from the Evil One.
Click to expand...
Of those three, I always find the fight against the flesh is the hardest. The Devil you can come to recognise more and more and learn to resist him (and he will flee). The world can be avoided or you can walk as much as possible in the parts of the world that don’t pander to your own weaknesses (if you crave cakes, don’t set up house in a bakery).

But the flesh is always with us and the desires that rise up from within us all are by far the hardest to overcome. Most of us don’t need any help whatsoever in giving in to these desires. The Devil can usually just let us get on with things. Very often he’ll do nothing much to us unless we’re progressing spiritually. Then he’ll act. And if we get serious with prayer he’ll try to stop us.

Strongish views I have - I’ve been in and seen churches that very much over-emphasise the Devil. Whatever the sin, you rebuke the devil or the demons and they get blamed rather than anyone taking much responsibility for their own sin. But as someone said (not someone I’m particularly keen on but I like this statement) - you can always cast the demon of lust out of a man successfully but you will find the demon returns the very next time he sees a pretty woman. I sincerely hope he meant that as a joke not as something to be taken seriously.
 
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DavidFilmer:
The devil is often mentioned as a factor in temptation. And, of course, it played an important role in the temptation that led to humanity’s fall from grace.

But does the devil play a daily role in my life? I think (and maybe this is prideful, in a way) that I am perfectly capable of screwing up all on my own!

If the devil and his horde took a day off, would the world be free from sin? Would it really make much difference?

What is the role of the devil in individual sin and temptation?
Click to expand...

We sin because we are damaged already - because we are corrupt and self-centred. Not because the devil is always at our elbows.​

“It is what comes out of a man that defiles a man…” - Our Lord does not mention the devil as a cause of those defilements. ##
 
I believe the term we’re looking for here is concupiscence: The natural tendency in persons to pleasures which are evil. This results from the fallen nature of human existence. This presents a struggle between the flesh and spirit. There are two opposing forces: one which is carnal and the other which is spiritual. The carnal force must be controlled by the spiritual so that the person is not brought to destruction but rather to the fullness of life in God. (That’s from my Encyclopedic Dictionary in the back of my Bible)

Also, remember that each of can tempt others too, and we should never cause our brothers and sisters to stumble in the faith. (1 Cor 10:32)

Dei gratia,
Greyhawk
 
My completely unsubstantiated guess:

60% of my sins are due to my disordered human nature

30% are due to the temptations of the world and peers

10% are due to the devil.

We really make his work rather easy for him.😉
 
no…in the millenial rain of christ satan will be shut up from deceiving the nations for 1000 years…in the mean time there will still be sin…sin is in our nature…satan only temps us to conform to our nature…and deceives us…when you become a believer your spirit is reborn…(refer to the conversation between christ and nicodemus) but the flesh still has sin…that is why we are to get a new body …one other factor is our mind…we are to renew our minds so that they conform to our spirit which is pure and undefiled…kinda look at it as a balancing scale you have the absolute evil and the absolute good and your mind is the deciding factor on which side you choose…

Ceasar
 
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