It Just Happened!
by Glen Young
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 4, December 1996
The elders met with the two couples to resolve the problem, if possible.
One of the women sat and sobbed quietly. The other sat staring at a wall with red, swollen eyes. The first husband stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, while his counterpart sat off to himself, anger and hurt on his face.
What problem needed to be resolved? Adultery!! Two Christian couples, the best of friends, now find themselves having to deal with the heart-rending sin of adultery.
The husband who was standing spoke, "I didn’t mean to do it; it just happened!" It just happened!
How is it that sin happens? James tells us, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beared sin: and the sin, when it is full-grown, bringeth forth death. Be not deceived, my beloved brethren" (James 1:13-16). The temptations of man come from his own lust. When we sin, it is because we first had a desire to commit the act. The only exception is when one sins in ignorance; I doubt very seriously if anyone thinks that the sin of adultery can be committed in ignorance.
The age-old problem of sin is man’s unwillingness to admit he has committed a sinful act and then take full responsibility for it. We want to blame others for what we do.
Adam and Eve fell prey to this weakness: ״And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12-13). Adam first blamed the woman for his sin. Then he even went so far as to blame God by pointing out that it was God who had given him the woman. Eve tried to lessen her guilt by blaming the serpent for her sin. If we study the incident of Adam’s and Eve’s sin, we will discover that Eve succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vain glory of life (I John 2:16). With these forces against her, I guess she could say, ״It just happened.״
Paul adds to this discussion by saying, ״For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety" (I Timothy 2:13-15). Adam not being beguiled reveals the power Eve had over him and that he knew full well what he was doing. Surely, he could not say, ״It just happened.״
We need to be like King David and be willing to admit our sin without blaming others (II Samuel 12:7-13). The simple words, ״I have sinned, are most refreshing.
What happened to the incident we spoke of in the beginning? Two homes were destroyed, unscriptural marriages resulted after the divorces, and a congregation was thrown into turmoil and anguish. And all this because it just happened.
Beware, "lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13).
