Temptation is Inevitable
What is temptation? The dictionary defines it as enticement to sin or do wrong. It involves some sort of pull or influence on you to act or do something. It almost always has a negative connotation – we don’t think of ourselves as being tempted to do good.
Matthew 18:7 NIV “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
First of all, Jesus said in Matthew 18:7 that temptations (literally stumbling blocks) are inevitable. As long as you are in your body, living on this earth, you will have to deal with temptation. Even He had to deal with temptation:
Hebrews 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Secondly, we need to realize that it is not a sin to be tempted. It’s what you do with the temptation that counts. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Hebrerws 4:15). He was subject to temptation, but He didn’t act on the temptation – He resisted. And because of His experiences, He knows and can understand what we go through. It was one of the reasons He became a man; God as God could never be tempted, but the second Person of the Trinity becoming a human, could.
What is Temptation?
It’s easy to recognize temptation when it’s something blatant like shoplifting, cheating on your income tax, or lying. But how about:
“I can’t expect God to get me that promotion after what I did.”
“They don’t appreciate me down at that church. I ought to go somewhere else.”
“I just got paid yesterday, paid my bills, and I only have $10 to last until next payday. What am I going to do?”
We need to expand our definition of what we perceive as a temptation to what the Bible says.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…
The KJV renders trials as temptations. The Greek word, peirasmois, actually means a test, trial, or temptation; and so on throughout the chapter. It refers not only to an inward temptation to sin, but also an external trial.
The Source of Temptation
“That’s easy – the source of temptation is Satan, the Tempter”.
How right you are. Satan is the tempter, but also our own flesh with its lusts and desires.
Note especially vs. 13: (I’ve added the parts in [ ])
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted [peiradzomenos – tested or tried], “I am tempted [peiradzomai – tested or tried] by God”; for God cannot be tempted [apeirastos – not tested or tried] by evil, nor does He Himself tempt [peirazei – test or try] anyone.”
There it is in black and white. God is not the source of temptation: either of temptation to do evil, or of trials and tests.
“But doesn’t the Bible say that God tempted Abraham?”
Ah, good question! The passage you refer to is in Genesis 22:1 where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The KJV says that God “tempted” Abraham. But any more modern translation uses the word “test” or “prove” rather than “tempt”.
We also have to realize that there are two different types of testing:
Firstly, there is a trial or tribulation, with the intent of destroying or doing harm.
Secondly, there is a testing which is more of a proving, assaying, putting to the test, or inspecting. Its purpose is to show the worth of something; like an academic test or a quality control test (you know, “Inspected by #15”). The implication here is that the one doing the testing desires the one being tested to pass the test; i.e., putting to the test with the intention of approving. It is a different word in the Greek, dokimion.
James 1:12 NASB Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial (peirasmon), for once he has been approved (dokimos – passed the test), he will receive the crown of life.
1 Timothy 3:10 But let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.
Many Christians look at every difficult circumstance in their life – their trials – as coming directly from God in order to teach them. That is not the case; trials can come from just being in the world, from other people, or from the devil.
The problem with looking for God’s purpose in every trial is that they passively accept it. But the real test of your faith may be to take a stand against the trial – to resist the devil.
If you have sickness in your body, are you to passively bear it, or believe God to heal you? If you have a lack of finances, or lose your job, are you supposed to accept that this is God’s will for you, or are you to believe God to meet your needs? I mention these two areas since they are the two major “external” trials that people have to deal with.
I did a study on the Greek words used for patience. There are two types of patience;
longsuffering, which means to suffer abuse without resorting to bitterness or retaliation (the “turn the other cheek” principle); and
perseverance, which means to take a stand, to be constant and immovable, to not quit, and to resist.
They are represented by different Greek words, although they might at times both be translated as patience.
James 1:3-4 says when our faith is tested, to put patience to work, and if you let patience have its perfect work, you’ll be perfect (mature), and lacking nothing. Guess what? It’s the perseverance type of patience used here. In a trial, when our faith is tested, we should be taking a stand and resisting.
Longsuffering should be used when dealing with people. Like in Ephesians 6:10-13, our battle is not with flesh and blood, with people, but with Satanic forces. But when dealing with Satan, or any circumstance he causes to steal, kill, and destroy, we should be exercising perseverance to take a stand against and resist him.
I think some of the confusion over this has come from the fact that when the writers of the New Testament are talking about trials and suffering, they are almost always talking about persecution, which comes from people, so longsuffering should be practiced. But nowadays we don’t have persecution like they did, so we’ve substituted things like sickness or poverty or other kinds of trials and calamities.
Here is a revelation for you: the “test” is life. Jesus said, “In the world, you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). As long as we are in this world, we will have challenges, tests, and trials – we do have an enemy out there that wants to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10). And God wants us to be prepared for these attacks. He is not an overprotective parent that shelters a child from anything bad, and so they never learn how to handle themselves. So he does allow us to go through some things. But that is not the same as saying that He created the situation.
The truth is, many of our “trials” are of our own making. And if we learned to listen and obey Him, many trials could be avoided altogether. And on the others, He has provided the tools and the promises by which we can deal with them – if we learn to use them. And that is the “lesson” He is trying to teach us.
Let’s take the examples of the Israelites in the wilderness. Was it God’s will that they wander about for 40 years, and all those over 20 be killed? Absolutely not, that was a curse that came upon them because of their unbelief and rebellion.
When God through Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt, God was the one who did everything for them. But they were on their way to the Promised Land, where they would have to fight battles and face giants – i.e., they were going to have to do something. So this nation of slaves had to learn some lessons: how to listen to God, trust in Him for His help, and obey what He said.
So He gave them some tests. There was the test of the manna: Every day, go out and gather just what you need for the day, and do not keep any overnight. And since Saturday would be a day of rest, on Friday gather enough for two days, but do not go out on Saturday to gather. And what did they do? They kept some overnight, and it bred worms and stank. And they went out looking for manna on the Sabbath. They failed the test.
There was the test of the water. The first time, God brought water out of a rock for them, as an example. But there was a second time where they could find no water – and they started complaining that God wanted them to die out there. They forgot the first example. Even Moses got so exasperated with them that he struck the rock instead of spoke to it as God instructed. God still provided the water, but Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land because of his disobedience.
Their biggest failure was the bad report the spies brought back from the Promised Land. They reported accurately the condition of the land, and who dwelt there. But then they added words designed to discourage all the people, and said that they could not do what God had commanded them to do. And the people cried and wept, and wanted to kill Moses and go back to Egypt. They complained that God brought them out there to kill them all because He hated them (Deuteronomy 1:27). And even the God who is slow to anger and full of mercy, ran out of patience with them.
It was God’s will for them to be in the wilderness for a time, to teach them to trust and obey. Had all of Israel taken the attitudes of Joshua and Caleb after they spied out the land, they could have entered the Promised Land then. And only three or four months would have passed since they left Egypt.
Many Christians believe that the lesson to be learned from trials is to endure things without griping and complaining, and to maintain the joy of the Lord and trust in Him. And that is definitely a valuable lesson that must be learned.
But it is not the only lesson, or even the primary one. The thing he really wants to teach us is how to be giant killers.
The wilderness was not supposed to be the end goal for the Israelites (although for many of them, it was the end). It was the Promised Land, where they would have to fight and take for themselves the blessings and provision that was denied them in 400 years of slavery.
The Progression of Temptation
James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.
Notice a person is tempted when they are drawn away by their own lust. The word lust actually means a strong desire. It is only bad when the desire is for something bad. This verse tells us that temptation will only work when there is already a desire within us. That’s the devil’s job – to strengthen that desire until is becomes a lust, a strong desire. Often the thing we have a desire for is not bad in itself, but if it is strengthened to the point of obsession until we do wrong things to obtain it, then it’s become a sin. If you read James 4:1-3 we see people doing wrong things to obtain the objects of their desires. Then vs. 2 says “You have not because you ask not”. This tells me that these people could have gotten these things from God, had they asked with the right motive and attitude.
For example, let’s say you have a desire for a new whiz-bang. Nothing wrong with that.
Next, the desire is strengthened: “I gotta have a new whiz-bang”. You are enticed. Webster defines enticed as “to attract by offering hope of reward or pleasure. To lure by bait”. Even at this point, you haven’t necessarily sinned.
Next, sin is conceived. This is when you decide to do the wrong thing, given the opportunity. The New Testament is clear that you can sin in your heart before you ever commit an outward transgression.
Lastly, the transgression is committed. This is sin given birth.
So in the case of the whiz-bang, everyone would recognize that stealing it would be a sin. But it could also be a sin to put it on a credit card when you are already struggling to make all your payments.
Classes of Sin
As Christians we usually say that God does not break sin down into levels of how bad they are. This is true as far as our need for a Savior is concerned: the wages of any sin, no matter how large or small, is death. It is the same sin disease, and requires the same cure – being born again.
But the Bible does classify sin according to seriousness. A sin done in ignorance or in a moment of weakness is not as serious as one committed in open rebellion. A sin of the flesh that affects only yourself is not as serious as one that does harm to others.
Psalm 19:12-13 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression.
- Errors. Moral mistakes, often done in ignorance.
- Secret Faults. A fault is a crime or its penalty, an offense. A secret fault is something hidden from others that only you (and of course God) know about.
- Presumptuous sins. The root word here means arrogant or proud. Presumption involves assuming something, taking authority that is not yours. This is willful, defiant sin. Notice here it mentions sin having dominion over you.
- Great transgression. Rebellion. Open, willful, premeditated sin. Done purposefully.
Note that if you stay clear of the first three, you will be innocent of the great transgression.
Categories of Temptation
The devil is not an original thinker. He has been using the same tactics since day one. He wraps it up in different packaging, but it’s still the same basic categories.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.
- Lust of the flesh – physical desire. Sexual lust, drugs and alcohol, gluttony. Having the body in control.
- Lust of the eyes – the desire for possessions, covetousness. The desire to have. The “love of money”.
- Pride of life – inordinate desire for recognition and power, to control others. Wanting your own way. Also, always making people “prove” they love you. The heart of this is selfishness.
Most temptations are a perversion of a basically good desire. Sex is a good thing in its rightful place. The desire to prosper, ambition, or the desire for recognition, is not wrong if in the right priority.
Here we see the devil using these three methods in the first recorded temptation:
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree desirable to make one wise (pride of life) , she took of its fruit and ate.
We can also see the devil using these tactics on Jesus in the temptation in the wilderness:
Matthew 4:1-3 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
Was it wrong for Jesus to want to eat? Certainly not, especially after fasting 40 days. The sin would be in misusing God’s power to fulfill a physical desire under the motivation of the devil. This one is lust of the flesh.
Matthew 4:5-6 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “
The devil took a hint from Jesus quoting scripture, and quoted some of his own. The scripture is true, but putting yourself in danger for the sole purpose of having God rescue you so He can prove He loves you is sin. This is the pride of life. Whenever people do goofy things to prove how special they are, that’s the pride of life – they’re seeking attention, recognition; usually because they are insecure in themselves. The pride of life is about position.
Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
This is the lust of the eyes. The lust of the eyes is always about things.
Other Tactics
Christians have a desire to please God and basically know what is right and wrong. Therefore the devil must be more subtle in temptation, since we won’t go for something blatantly wrong.
False doctrine and misuse of the Word of God. He tried this on Jesus, quoting scripture to Him. He also tried this with Adam and Eve, mixing truth with untruth. The truth is like the bait, the untruth is the hook. The devil will get people to do all sorts of crazy things, appealing to their desire to know God, and they’ll think they’re being scriptural.
Taking matters into your own hands. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”. If he can’t get you to quit, the devil will encourage you to do “God’s work”. If fact, he’ll encourage you so much, that you won’t wait for God’s plan and timing and you’ll attempt to bring it about on your own. The results are almost always disastrous.
Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of this world – what Jesus had come to earth to get back from the devil – without the pain of the cross.
Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands to fulfill God’s promise and produced an Ishmael.
Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil. I’m sure when they were ready for it, God would have taught them about evil. But they took matters into their own hands and learned evil by experiencing it firsthand.
Fear and anxiety. Another main tactic of Satan. Doubt, lack of trust in God. All these things can paralyze a Christian and make him ineffective and harmless to the devil.
Condemnation. Lack of righteousness. First he’ll put pressure on you to do something wrong, then he’ll condemn you for doing it. Since God is the source of our strength, if we can be separated from Him, we are weak.
