Deceit of the mind is carried on by degrees, little by little. We are first drawn away from watchfulness, then from obedience. We become like Ephraim, of whom God said, “Strangers devour his strength, yet he does not know it; gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, yet he does not know it” (Hosea 7:9). We are drawn away from watchfulness by overconfidence. We come to believe we are beyond a particular temptation. We look at some else’s fall and say, “I would never do that.” But Paul warned us, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (I Corinthians 10:12). Even when helping a fallen brother, we are to watch ourselves lest we also be tempted (Galatians 6:1).
We are often drawn away from obedience by the abuse of grace. Jude speaks of certain men “who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4). We abuse grace when we think we can sin and then receive forgiveness by claiming I John 1:9. We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the compassion and mercy of GOd to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin.
We are drawn away from obedience when we begin to question what God says in His Word. This was Satan’s first tactic with Eve (Genesis 3:1-5). Just as he said to Eve, “You surely shall not die!” so he says to us “It is just a little thing!” or “God will not judge that sin.”
– Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, Navpress, copyright 1978, page 67-68