In Judaism, Yetzer refers to the concept of inclination. There are two types of Yetzer. One is Yetzer HaTov (the good inclination), which is the desire to do good and follow God’s commandments. The other is Yetzer HaRa (the evil inclination), which tends toward sinful behavior.
We can say that the concept of Yetzer HaTov, the good inclination was in the first man and woman, because God created them perfect. And the Yetzer HaRa came about later on after the fall of mankind.
In order to understand what happened with original sin, let’s take a look at an analogy which I think can help with understanding.
God created Adam and Eve to be perfect from the beginning. It is similar to the following analogy.
Imagine God created a couple of beautiful vases (perfect with no defects), and He set them on a beautiful table. And imagine these vases could move around by themselves. Now God filled those vases with many good things. So they were satisfied. And God said to the vases: “You may move around on this table and do whatever you like. But you shall not go towards the edge of the table or move off the table. If you do so, you will fall and die.”
Now the vases had Yetzer HaTov, the desire to do good. But another voice, the voice of Satan, tempted them. Satan said to one of the vases, “Why are you on this table and not free to move about? Come and see the edge. See, there is a whole new world down there. If you jump off, you will see the rest of the world.”
But the vase said (because of her Yetzer HaTov), “God said we would die if we jump off.” But Satan said, “You will surely not die! God knows that there is a whole new world out there. He is keeping you bound for Himself. But if you jump, you will become many pieces instead of one. With the many pieces, each piece can go wherever you want and do whatever you like. You can explore the whole world that God does not let you see.”
So Satan tempted the vase. And she chose to jump off the table, and become many broken pieces.
She came back to the other vase and said to him, “Come and be like me. We can go anywhere together now.” So the other beautiful vase, desiring to be with his wife, also jumped off the table and became many broken pieces.
From this analogy, we can see that God created the couple to be good and to be perfect. But they corrupted their perfection by deciding to fall off. They became many broken shards that hurt their Maker.
Evil is a corruption of good or a twist on what is good. Adam and Eve had Yetzer HaTov, but they were tempted by the devil, who twisted what is good.
Notice what Satan said in Genesis 3, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5). The devil basically said: God is not good because He is keeping from you knowledge and wisdom. So in order to be good and have greater wisdom, you should eat the forbidden fruit.
Satan changed the foundation of Yetzer HaTov from the foundation of following God to the foundation of following your own heart and getting wisdom apart from God. This way promises good but is a deception and a corruption of good.
So Adam and Eve ignored what they knew they should do, and deceived themselves into thinking that eating forbidden fruit was good (Yetzer HaTov). They suppressed the true Yetzer HaTov with lies. After the fall, they became sinful and had Yetzer HaRa internally.
As you can see, it was Adam and Eve’s own choice that brought them corruption. They corrupted themselves by not trusting God and hanging onto His word. They wanted to do good, but Satan was crafty to make them doubt that God is totally good. By doubting this, they thought they were obeying Yetzer HaTov (the good inclination) when they were actually being deceived.
Because of the fall, Yetzer HaRa reigns in us and is in constant conflict with Yetzer HaTov.
The apostle Paul said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:18-25)
Christ came and did what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus died for our sins on our behalf and made atonement for us. He sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God. He took the punishment for sins that we deserve upon Himself and paid for our sin debt in full. He restores our relationship with God the Father.
If we believe in Jesus and follow Him, He forgives us of our sins, and gives us new and eternal life in Him. He also gives us God the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. God the Holy Spirit dwelled in the temple in Jerusalem. Now the Holy Spirit dwells in each believer (Ephesians 1:13-14). He empowers us to do good and not succumb to Yetzer HaRa.
By diligently working with God and relying on Him, we can learn to overcome sins and do good.