The Devil or the Flesh?of the power of the air," works in people for evil, just as
the Holy Spirit works in God's people for good.
PHILIPPIANS 2:13
13 For it is God which WORKETH IN YOU both
to will and to do of his GOOD pleasure.
People can't lay everything off on the devil and
blame him for all the bad things that happen to them.
Not all evil is directly the work of a demon. Indirectly,
of course, everything that is evil originated with the
devil. But the point I'm trying to make is that people
still have their own part to play in wrongdoing—the
choice is theirs.
On one side of the ditch, just as believers try to lay
everything off on the devil, on the other side of the
ditch, they can't lay everything off on the Holy Spirit
either. In other words, they cannot put all the
responsibility for their actions on the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit prompts us and gently leads us, but
we have to yield to Him and respond to His
instructions. We still have to choose to do what is right
or choose to do what is wrong. When you choose to do
wrong, that's not the devil making the choice—it's you.
He may tempt you, of course, but you ultimately make
the choice to whom you are going to yield—Satan or the
Holy Spirit.
The Pleasures of the Flesh
This passage in James, which was written to
Christians, also addresses the subject of the works of
the flesh, or "pleasures of the flesh."
JAMES 4:1-3
1 From whence come wars and fightings among
you? come they not hence, even of YOUR LUSTS