Concupiscence, the KJV's rendering of the Greek epithymia (earnest desire), is not merely sexual desire but every kind of wrong desire, craving, or longing for what God has forbidden. Paul's list in Colossians 3:5 runs from the physical act of fornication back through evil desire to covetousness, which is idolatry, so Christians must put to death not only the outward sin but every associated act, emotion, desire, and motivation, all the way to its roots. James 1:14-15 traces the same path in reverse: desire conceives, gives birth to sin, and full-grown sin brings forth death. Eden shows how it works. Adam and Eve, knowing God's prohibition, craved the fruit that looked good, tasted good, and promised wisdom, and they took for themselves what God had denied. Human nature resents being denied and turns its resources toward getting the forbidden thing. John names these desires the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and he calls them the lust of the world, which is passing away, while the one who does God's will abides forever. God calls His people to reverse this course: to cease longing for carnal, worldly, useless things and to direct their desires toward spiritual, godly, eternal things. Ungodly desires of every sort must be jettisoned, and righteous living and God's character take their place, shown in gentleness, patience, and humility toward all. Temptation will remain while in the flesh, but believers can resist and overcome it by constantly seeking God, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).

The Tenth Commandment, "You shall not covet," is the capstone of the law, because wrong desire in the mind precedes every other sin. Paul saw this in Romans 7: sin lies dormant until the commandment forbids it, then rises up and produces all manner of evil desire. Coveting means craving what God forbids, putting the idol of one's desire before His law, which is why Colossians 3:5 calls it idolatry. The pattern is laid out in James 1:13-15: desire conceives, gives birth to sin, and full-grown sin brings death. Satan introduced this formula to Eve by lying to stir desire for the forbidden fruit, and coveting cost him everything. Human nature still wants to do what comes naturally, so Satan arranges the world to inflame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (I John 2:16). Coveting harms the whole body of Christ, as Korah's rebellion shows. God gives right desires, but inordinate cravings destroy, and godliness with contentment is great gain. Desire is ruled by running the race with discipline, as Paul did in I Corinthians 9, and by answering temptation with Scripture, as Christ did. Satan's real aim is to get us to obey and worship him. Romans 12:2 calls for the mind to be renovated through study, prayer, and fasting, so that it is subject only to God and His laws. Deliverance comes through Jesus Christ.

Coveting and lust, the sin of the tenth commandment, begin in the heart and imagination, and every other sin flows from them. Desire is not wrong in itself, since it is right to desire a mate, but it becomes sin when it reaches for what lawfully belongs to another or sets the self at the center. James 1:13-15 shows that temptation drawn from within becomes sin when desire is brought to fruition, and that no one can blame God, other people, or things, as Adam and Eve tried to do. Sin has nothing to appeal to unless human nature works through desire. Desire is a feeling that can be nourished or stifled, or, by God's grace, eliminated when a person is so given to Christ and righteousness that no room is left for evil desire. Jesus' command to pluck out the eye and cast it away means radical action: avoid whatever deliberately stirs lust, and stop feeding the imagination dirt. Philippians 4:8 directs the mind to what is true, pure, and lovely. Covetousness (pleonexia) is idolatry, because it puts the self in God's place, and Colossians 3:5 commands that it be put to death. Unchecked desire also corrupts whole cultures, as Jeremiah 6 shows. The remedy is for God to create a clean heart while the believer fills the mind with His Word, which discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Lack of peace and a guilty conscience warn that coveting is at work.