I In my understanding, the sin of coveting is a case of attraction with desire. It's one thing to admire your neighbour's car, and it's no sin. But to want your neighbour's car, to be willing - were the circumstances favourable and you thought you could get away with it - to somehow obtain your neighbour's car, or the use of it; that's when it's coveting, and a sin. It's Ahab being willing to kill Naboth to get his vineyard, for example.
Ok, let's break it down a bit further.
I can think a car looks cool with no desire to own it, and certainly no desire to steal it. For instance, I couldn't sit comfortably in a Mazda Miata even if I wanted to, but I could still think they look cool.
Aesthetic appreciation is different than a desire that tempts you. One is just appreciating beauty, the other is a legitimate temptation to do something.
Obviously appreciation of beauty is not sin.
And temptation is not sin either, but it is what is referred to as a sinful desire, not because the desire itself is sin, but because it is a temptation to something that would be sinful.
So let's say that someone who has always liked sports cars, but does not have the money to buy one sees a review of the sports car that he wants in a magazine. He may like the look of it, read up on all the features, hope to buy one someday, etc. That is appreciation. He likes the car.
But then let's say that his friend from high school who had done really well for himself lately pulls up in that sports car that he wanted and he gets a feeling in his stomach because he really wants to be in that friend's position. Now it is a temptation A temptation to covet is when that general appeal turns into the temptation to sit around stewing about how he should have that car instead of his friend, how he deserves it, and his friend doesn't even know what the car can do, etc.
Coveting would be if he gives into the above and actually does sit around stewing.
So an aesthetic appeal is not the same as that next level where something is responding inside of us that wants to do something wrong. That is temptation. And that is a sinful desire because
a. it comes from our sinful nature, the flesh. That flesh is inside us and responds to the situation with enticement.
b to give into it would be to sin.
But now let's look at that in terms of sexual attraction. For simplicity we will take the case of a single person. So for that person (whether straight or gay) any decision to look at a person and actively lust after them would be sin.
You can find people of either sex to be aesthetically appealing, without any sexual thoughts at all, as
@The Liturgist noted earlier, just as you might find a sunset or a flower aesthetically appealing.
But the actual temptation comes in when you see a person and the temptation hits to continue looking and foster sexual thoughts. This is not yet sin. But it is temptation. And it is a sinful desire because
a. it comes from your flesh, your sinful nature
b. To give into this desire is to sin.
The actual sin occurs when you go ahead and give into the temptation to take that second and third look, etc. That is now lust. The desire that tempts is not lust itself, but is tempting one to do so.
Sexual orientation is not just an aesthetic appreciation, like enjoying art, or architecture, etc.
It is that second level, beyond aesthetic appreciation, and which can present as temptation. It is not just an appreciation of beauty, but a sexual attraction.
Similarly with the lust Jesus speaks of. It's not lust, or sin, to find someone attractive.
Agreed. Now if you mean aesthetically attractive, it definitely is not.
If you mean sexually attractive, that is where it gets difficult for fallen people. Sometimes we may be tempted, sometimes not. If it does tempt a person that is not lust yet. But it is a temptation to lust. And that comes from our sinful nature.
I don't know how it works out for you. I just know how it can with me, and a number of other folks I have talked to.
A person could be scrolling through a news story, come to a provocative ad and, boom, that person now finds that they have to actively decide between asking the Lord to dismiss this thought, or taking a second look. That instant flesh-based temptation is the result of the the desire that is within us. That is a sinful desire, because to give into it is to commit the sin of lust.
And it is called a desire, because on some level we want it! We usually are not tempted by what we don't want. Most folks are more tempted by donuts than broccoli for instance. You are tempted by donuts because you want them!
If we had no sinful nature within us that responded to the person, then we wouldn't be tempted to think sexual thoughts outside of the context God designed, outside of mutual giving.
But in a sinful world, with a sinful nature, there is something in us that responds, which allows us to be tempted. That something is the flesh. And the flesh has desires.
James describes this in detail:
Jas 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Jas 1:15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Gestation of sin:
-lured and enticed by desire
-desire conceives
-gives birth to sin
-brings forth death.
So the initial stage is something in us wants what we shouldn't. We are lured or enticed. At this point we can immediately say no. And if we do, that is the end of it. Notice that James says we are tempted when we are enticed by our own desire. That is the definition of temptation for James. So the temptation is the action of the desire within us (from the sinful nature, for a sinful action) that entices us.
But if we convince ourselves to consider for a moment, giving various reasons or excuses, etc. then we may move on to that split moment where we decide to go forward, that moment of conception which puts into motion something that is not going to be stopped.
Then it gives birth to full on sin as we go ahead and jump fully in.
Finally the outcome is death.
That initial enticement is from our sinful desires, our flesh.
That's just part of being human. It tips over into sinful lust when you want to use that person for your pleasure; when - were the circumstances favourable and you thought you could get away with it - you would go there with them.
But the temptation itself is a sign that you WANT something you should not. The problem is inside you! Your flesh desires it. You don't get tempted by something you don't want at all, on some level. That is why it is a sinful desire. It comes from your sinful nature, and it desires what is sinful.
