A temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions, for various reasons:
- Legal
- Social
- Psychological (including feeling guilt)
- Health
- Economic
Temptation also describes the coaxing or inducing a person into committing such an act, by manipulation or otherwise of curiosity, desire, or fear of loss.
Oswald Chambers: “Until we are born again, [this is] the only temptation we understand. But by regeneration we are lifted into another realm where we face the kind of temptations Our Lord faced… Satan does not tempt us to do wrong things, he tempts us in order to make us lose… the possibility of being of value to God… Temptation is a suggested short-cut to the realization of the highest at which I aim—not at what I understand as evil, but towards what I understand as good… [At this point Satan] does not come along the line of tempting us to sin, but on the line of shifting the point of view, and only the Spirit of God can reveal this as a temptation of the devil.”
Do Not Defend Yourself
Mat 5:25-26 (NIV) “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
1 Tim 1:15-16 (NIV) Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
The Flesh Is Weak
1 Thes 3:5 (NIV) For this reason… I [Paul] sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
2 Cor 2:11 (NIV) …in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Oswald Chambers: “A man’s disposition on the inside, i.e., what he possesses in his personality, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the nature of the one tempted, and reveals the possibilities of that nature. Every man has the setting of this own temptation, and the temptation will come along the line of the ruling disposition. Temptation yielded to… is a proof that it was timidity that prevented the sin before.”
1 Jn 5:18 (NIV) We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one does not touch him.
James 1:13-14 (NIV) When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desires, he is dragged away and enticed. The Tempter, And The One Who Beat Him
Mat 4:1 (NIV) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Heb 2:18 (Phi) By virtue of his own suffering under temptation he is able to help those who are exposed to temptation.
C.S. Lewis: “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.”
Our High Priest, Our Defense Attorney Against The Accuser
Heb 4:15-16 (Phi) For ours is no High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses—he himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that he never sinned. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need.
Fight The Good Fight
Heb 12:4 (NIV) In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood… In fact, most of us have not even made an honest attempt at resisting temptation. We cave in immediately without much of a fight. “Well, I’ll quit doing that next week. Why struggle now when I know I am going to do it again anyway? It is just a matter of time, and now is as good a time as any.” But temptation feeds on weakness and bent desires. We need to start struggling to see what holiness is all about, to see if we will like it in eternity with God. We will also see just how strong we are and what we are made of.
