"Temtpation Truths"
Temptation comes to the child of God in many ways, but James tells us that "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed" (James 1:14) teaching us that the source of temptation is the lust within man, not necessarily the devil as most of us would think. He goes on telling us: "Then when lust hath conceived it brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished, brings forth death." The natural progression is:
1. Man is drawn away by the conception of the child: indwelling lust, being enticed
2. Lust, then, becomes the Mother of all sin
3. Sin follows and becomes the Grand-Mother of all death.
The Inevitability of Temptation is a fact of life James tells us by concluding: "Every man is tempted, when..." So, temptation is in fact inevitable, it is going to happen to each and every one of us. Our responsibility is to learn how to effectively gain victory over temptation for the Bible clearly teaches: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also, make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (I Corinthians 10:13)
Dealing Biblically with temptation’s source, lust, is God’s way of escape. Paul continues in I Corinthians 10:14 to supply us with the negative method of dealing with temptation: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." Removing ourselves from the presence of temptation whenever possible is the best method of victory. By making "Not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14) we can eliminate the source of temptation. We are also told to: "Flee fornication" (I Corinthians 6:18); "Flee these things" (the will (desire) to be rich, the love of money, covetousness- I Timothy 6:11); "Flee youthful lusts" (II Timothy 2:22).
These commands are immediately followed by the positive commands designed to replace and control these lustful desires: "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14); "Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (I Corinthians 6:20); "Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life" (I Timothy 6:11,12); "Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace" (II Timothy 2:22).
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians when dealing with controlling these same lusts He commands: "Put off all these...put on the new man...Put on therefore as the elect of God... And above all these things put on charity...And let the peace of God rule in your hearts...Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Colossians 3:8-16) Here, Paul gets down to the specific activity whereby we can control our lust... by controlling our thinking! All sinful acts are born in the thoughts of the minds of men, it is there we must gain control!
Putting the Word of God in our hearts and minds directly replaces the old way of thinking, the "old man" is now replaced by the "new man" as we are "renewed in the spirit of out mind." The direct result of this blessed activity is: "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord." which is in essence the same result of being filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18,19) This one Biblically commanded activity gives us the ability to minister to others, ourselves, and the Lord!
James continues his teaching on temptation by proving the Impossibility for God to Tempt (v.13) His assertion that: God is good, God is giving and God is unchanging (v.17) supplies the answer. It is impossible for God, whose character and essence are directly opposite of the evil found in temptation, to be in any way involved in soliciting anyone to do evil!
He then states temptation is Instigated by Man’s Lust (v.14) When we are "drawn away" from what is good and right, drawn away from resisting evil, drawn away from enduring under pressure the testing and "enticed" the picture here is one of desirous bait being dangled before the eyes of our soul, bait that has within it the fatal hook of sin and the resulting consequence of death!
Yes, all 3 types of death are caused by sin. Many today are walking around separated spiritually from God, dead to the life of God, because they are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). We are all born this way and can only be cured by simply receiving the life of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, being born again by the Spirit of God. (John 3:3-7). But, if we as Christians take the desirous bait of temptation, and hook, line and sinker swallow the bait and therefore succumb to the temptation, we too will be spiritually dead to God for this commission of sin breaks our fellowship with God!
The cure for this separation is full and complete confession (having the same attitude and action toward sin that God does-I John 1:9), forsaking the sin (Proverbs 28:13), and replacing it by "Letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly" letting "This mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 2:5) thereby putting "On the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."(Romans 13:14).
The second type of death is physical death occurring at the time we die physically, our soul is separated from our body at the point of physical death. Physical death is the outworking of sin in the physical universe bringing on disease, deteriation and decay which eventually causes us to die physically. In Genesis 2:17 God told Adam if he disobeyed by eating of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...thou shall surely die." When Adam disobeyed he died spiritually immediately being separated from God, and as his body deteriorated he eventually died physically.
The third type of death is "the second death" mentioned by the Apostle John in Revelation 20:6, 20:14,& 21:8 referring to the eternal separation from God of the soul of man in "the lake of fire." All three types of death were authored by sin, and every man will experience the first two, except for those who will be raptured by the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not have to experience physical death but will be taken directly to heaven!
However, unless the life of God is received through being born again by the Spirit of God, every man will experience these 3 types of death for: "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) Every man is tempted because every man is born in sin. (Romans 5:12) Temptation then is man’s lust responding naturally, although to be tempted alone is not sin, but to allow lust to be enticed to the point of sin, is where man’s downfall occurs.
How can we, being Christians, win over temptation? What does the Bible teach concerning victory over temptation? Let us examine Eve’s temptation and apply the lessons we learn to our lives. In Genesis 3:1-6 Eve succumbs to the Tempter by being deceived (I Timothy 2:14). Obviously, knowing and believing the Word of God instead of allowing the Tempter to cause doubt, and deny God’s Word as Satan did to Eve is one of the best ways to win over temptation. Satan’s first statement: "Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? was designed to cause dissatisfaction in Eve’s mind concerning the Goodness of God.
Remember, nothing the Deceiver says is without purpose, and his great purpose is to unseat the God of heaven from His rightful position in the lives of men. If he can accomplish this one simple goal, He can overthrow the authority of God in the mind of men. His method here was to cast dispersion on the character of God, God’s goodness, in the mind of Eve.
His second statement: "Ye shall not surely die" directly denies God’s Word. He then continued lying with the partially true statement: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Their eyes truly were opened or to say it more accurately, their eyes were now opened to see the evil side which before in their innocence God had wisely guarded them from. They now also knew good and evil, although their eyes were already opened, seeing the good before they sinned, they now were made aware of the evil.
However, Satan’s lie: "Ye shall be as gods" never came about. Satan promised her equality with God if she would listen and act upon his deceptive and tempting proposition by turning against what she knew God had commanded not to be done! Seemingly trapped by the Tempter, Adam, then, acting alone, not being deceived, knowingly sinned. He takes the fateful step to join Eve by also partaking of the forbidden and is rightly blamed for the fall of all mankind!
Where did they go wrong? In hindsight we can learn from their mistakes. Eve, first of all, made an important decision without consulting her earthly authority Adam, and without following her heavenly authority God. Instead she:
1. Listened to the Tempter (Whether she recognized who was the source of what she heard is not known. We must remember that Satan came to her using the subtlety of the serpent )
2. After Satan’s probing dispersion of Gods requirements, She appears discontented with the fact of not being able to eat of the forbidden tree to the point of adding "Neither shall ye touch it" which is not found in the Biblical record. 3. She then looked upon the forbidden tree
4. She desired the forbidden tree
5. She partook of the forbidden tree.
This same series of events has taken place over and over again throughout history. Satan comes to the child of God continually with "forbidden fruit" tempting them to partake with statements of partial truth: "A little bit won’t hurt you"..."Just try it this once, once won’t hurt you"..."It’s not that bad"..."You can handle it"..."After all, you’re a grown man, you can always stop if you want to, just do it"..."Nobody will know"...and Satan’s lies go on and on! Appealing to the lust of man, the inordinate desires of the old nature, Satan tempts and often wins many battles in the spiritual war that has been raging since Adam’s fall.
But, James 1:13 says: "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed". He never mentions the tempter, he does not say the devil made me do it! No, man is drawn away of his own lust. Man’s lust is the guilty party here, not the tempter!
The child of God is commanded to gird up the loins of his mind, to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof, Put on the new man, Put on the whole armor of God, Set your affections on things above, Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". We can not blame the tempter for our lack of obedience to the Word of God! We have the equipment to win if we only will utilize it!
Jesus soundly demonstrates the positive way to victory in Luke 4 when the Devil himself confronts Him with 3 very specific temptations. The "lust of the flesh" is the focus of Satan’s first attack when he suggests: "Command this stone that it be made bread." Jesus was fasting forty days and this tempting suggestion of Satan’s would have hit the spot with the natural man, but Jesus the supernatural God man gave this Biblical reply:
"It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
Tempting Jesus in the area of the lust of the flesh was a likely way for Satan to try to defeat the Son of God, and it is also the most likely way he will come to tempt us. Our Lord’s utilization of already written Scripture was for the direct purpose of being an example to us, for He could have spoken any words and they would have been the Word of God!
The second temptation focuses on the "lust of the eye". Satan by a supernatural panoramic display which he had the power to bring about "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" bringing into the eyes of Jesus all the riches and possessions the world could offer. Satan’s offer to give them to Jesus was valid for he is "The god of this world", the one who truly could give these material things to whoever he wants! But, Jesus, again faithfully wields the Sword of the Spirit magnificently turning away Satan’s temptation by quoting already existing Scripture.
In the third temptation Satan turns his attention to the "pride of life." Pride of position, who we are in the eyes of others, our rank among those with whom we live, this is the final temptation Satan used to try to bring down the Lord of lords and King of kings. Show the world just who you are, demonstrate your position and your person by forcing God to miraculously save your life and therefore display to everyone your importance! This temptation, too, was met instantly by Jesus as He continued His successful ways to victory by quoting Scripture.
This is God’s tried and proven method of winning the battle over the temptations we encounter in our everyday lives. Jesus’ illustrates what Paul would one day write: "And take...the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) instructing us on how to "Stand against the wiles of the devil" when he records this most important command! Temptation Truths that are invaluable, coming from the Lord Himself and Paul the Apostle, harmonize beautifully in the Infallible Word of God!
James, now, closes the introduction to his brief but pointed letter to the dispersed Jews by supplying us with this Insightful Warning and Conclusion (v.16-18) "Do not err my beloved brethren". His emphasis on not being deceived in this all important subject of temptation must not go unheeded. Do not blame God for temptation, but know the true source and it’s results and recognize God’s working in ’begetting us with the Word of Truth’, for the select purpose that we might be the "first-fruits of His creatures". Jesus resurrection made Him the "First-fruits of them that slept". James tells us we, too, have the exalted privilege of being "First-fruits" like Jesus by His same resurrection power!
