ENDURING TEMPTATION AND OVERCOMING SIN
Study Text: James 1: 12 – 16
Introduction:
- One of the greatest challenges of living the Christian life is dealing with temptations. This is especially true for new Christians: For it can be frustrating to know that your sins have been forgiven, only to immediately find yourself bombarded by temptations to continue in your sins.
- Temptation is the enticement of our natural, God-given desires to go beyond God-given bounds. We can blame our failure to resist temptation on others, Satan, or God Himself, but in reality, we are the ones who choose to indulge.
- Being tempted is not, in itself, a sin, Our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted on every side, yet without sin (Hebrews 4: 15). But failing to adhere to the boundaries that God intended, and therefore yielding to temptation is a sin, and will certainly bring adverse consequences.
- In order to wisely counteract the pull of temptation, we must guard our minds and bodies with the whole armour of God. Scripture offers us wisdom, while the Holy Spirit gives us discernment and forewarning in the difficult times.
- We shall discuss the topic under three sub-headings:
1. The Process and Stages of the Temptation
2. The Pressure and Strategies of the Tempter
3. The Power and Strength of the Tempted
1. The Process and Stages of the Temptation
- We are daily assaulted with a wide range of temptations, and we all have one area where we are particularly susceptible.
- The means of temptation are the properties of the world: The Lust of the Eyes, The Lust of the Flesh, and The Pride of Life. 1 John 2: 15 – 16.
- The process of temptation involves several sequential stages with one leading to the next unless the sequence is interrupted. These include:
1. The Creation of a Lust
- Lust is a strong desire for something. Satan makes it look like that sinful thing you desire will get you where you want to go right now. It will meet your needs. Why deny yourself? At this stage the opportunity may not be there yet.
2. The Drawing away by the Lust
- When the craving for the sinful thing becomes so strong and gripping as if one’s life depend on it. An opportunity for a pleasurable, but sinful desire or act comes, and one is being encouraged to seize the opportunity fast and satisfy the desire.
3. The Enticement with the Lust
- This is a stage when all one could see is the pleasure or benefit one would get from the sinful desires, and not the consequences of fulfilling the desires.
4. The Conception of the Lust
- This is a stage where someone appears that he has lost control over restraining from carrying out or obtaining the sinful desires, especially when it is still available.
5. The Fall by the Lust
- This is the real action stage, where one actually carry out the sinful desire. This is the sin with a consequence of separation from God until a forgiveness is sincerely sought.
- Victory is possible over the temptation from stage one to four, except that it becomes more difficult as one progresses in the stages.
- Let us consider some examples:
1. The case of Eve: Genesis 3: 1 – 6.
- Satan succeeded in making Eve to see that the forbidden fruit is good to look upon, good for food and that it will make one to be wise.
- We can notice the properties of the world: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and also observe all the above stages that led to the fall into the sin.
2. The case of David: 2 Samuel 11: 1 – 5.
- We can also carefully observe the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and the stages of temptation as David fell into the sin of adultery.
- He saw the woman, and discover her beauty, and he started to desire sinful pleasure with the woman. He went to the extent of inquiring about her and how to get her, and he used his position as the king to order the woman to be brought.
2. The Pressure and Strategies of the Tempter
- Satan is only interested in tempting the Christian and not the unbeliever. After all, he already has the lost person.
- He loves nothing better than causing one of God’s children to fall into sin. However, temptation, while it cannot be avoided, can be overcome! While it is hard to endure, temptation can be used to help us grow in Jesus.
- The Devil’s main objective, as far as you are concerned, is to cause you to fall so that God is dishonoured and you become useless to the Kingdom work of God.
- He knows every weakness you have and he exploits them trying to get you to sin. He loves to point at fallen saints and laugh before God as he stands accusing us of evil.
- The Devil has no power to force the believer, but he can create the cravings. He has different strategies and can use a combination of two or more strategies one at a time for a particular believer. These include:
1. The Strategy of Enticement
- The Devil make you to see a common thing as uncommon, or can make what already belong to you as if you just want to have them.
- In the temptation of Jesus, the Devil showed Him the glories of this world, and promised to give all to Jesus if He can worship him. Matthew 4: 8 – 10.
- The Devil will make a married man to see another woman as special as if something is in the woman that is missing in his wife.
- The Devil can give you a mental picture of the pleasure you will have or the great things you will gain or benefit if you yield to the sinful desires he is presenting to you.
2. The Strategy of Deception
- The Devil comes to you as a friend, with a hidden identity.2 Corinthians 11: 14. This is the strategy whenever any ungodly thing comes to you as a godly thing or through a godly way.
- He told Eve that God was hiding something beneficial to them from them and that he has come to help them out. Genesis 3: 4 – 5.
- The Devil used the old prophet to deceive the young man of God that the angel of God spoke to him to bring him back and eat, which was a disobedience to the instructions God has earlier given to him. 1 Kings 13: 15 – 19.
3. The Strategy of Persistency
- The Devil knows that most people that will resist sin at first approach will yield to it after a lot of pressure, so he never give up on an individual.
- He can persist in tempting an individual with different temptations one after the other, like the example of Jesus (Mathew 4: 1 – 10), or with similar temptation over and over again, like the example of Joseph (Genesis 39: 1 – 9).
4. The Strategy of Opportunity
- This is the strategy when something you are not thinking of comes to you as an opportunity. For instance, it was a coincidental opportunity for David that while he was walking on the roof, a woman was having her bath. 2 Samuel 11: 1 – 5.
- This is also applicable to the temptation of Joseph, because most men will see it as an opportunity when a woman willingly give in to sexual relationship.
- Joseph resisted and fled that temptation because his focus was on God: “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).
5. The Strategy of Desperation
- The Devil makes you impatient and makes you feel you need to have something or get something done at all cost within the shortest possible time.
- It is not wrong to prayerfully attend to some pressing urgent things, but in our urgency, we should remain open to God and ensure that we actually move at a speed provided by God.
- The reason the Devil tempted Jesus first with food was because he knew He was hungry after a long fast, but Jesus reveals to us that obedience to the word of God is the most desperate thing in life.
- Some had yielded to this strategy of the Devil by involving themselves in what they will not naturally do, but because of a need. Example include:
1. Getting married to an unbeliever, because no believer was forthcoming and age is not on one’s side.
2. Looking for children through extra-marital affairs, or through involvement in satanic practices and idolatry.
3. Young girls giving out their bodies to secure a favour, such as passing an examination or getting a job.
6. The Strategy of Demonic Subjection
- This is a situation where the Devil has succeeded in gaining access to the heart of somebody, and can drop some thought in it, which the person accept as his own thought and may carry out the action.
- This situation is possible when one has been consistently living in hidden sin without repentance. Example was the case of Judas, who has been stealing money from the purse without repentance, and then the Devil came to put in his heart to betray Jesus. John 12: 4 – 6, John 13: 2.
- If your heart is always flooded with evil, wicked and sinful thoughts that you struggle to overcome, you need to seek deliverance and then fill your heart with the word of God.
7. The Strategy of Demonic Possession
- Sometimes, the Devil has to enter into a person to make the effect of the temptation stronger and difficult to resist by the person.
- This was what he eventually did for Judas and led him to where he will negotiate with the people to betray Jesus. John 13: 26 – 30.
3. The Power and Strength of the Tempted
- Our greatest danger is to think we have arrived at a place where we are above sinning, Proverb 16:18. When our pride tells us that we cannot fall, then we are headed for a huge one.
- This is because we cannot overcome temptations by our own power or strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit.
- So we need to pray regularly asking for and trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit for our continual victory over the temptations of the Devil.
- That is why we are asked to first submit ourselves unto God, before resisting the Devil. James 4:7. You cannot run away from him, but you can drive him away from you.
- You must face him in the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t fear you, but he trembles before the blood of the Lamb. Resist the Devil and he will flee! (Ephesians 4:27; 1 Peter 5:8).
- The summary of help made available to the believer to overcome temptation is described as God’s way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10: 12 – 13.
- From this scripture, certain things are clear:
1. God will not tempt you with evil, but will permit the tempter whenever he decides to tempt you.
2. Every Christian will face temptations, irrespective of your level of growth, and no one is exempted.
3. God will not permit the tempter to tempt us beyond the grace He has already given us to overcome.
4. In the midst of the temptation, God will also make a way of escape for us. It is our responsibility to be sensitive to the way of escape and to exploit it for our victory.
- God’s way of escape may include:
1. A word to caution you, encourage you or to strengthen you. The Holy Spirit will illuminate your heart with the scriptural word, which you are required to act upon immediately.
2. A message to revive you. You can listen to a message that will appear that you are the only one God is talking to, and the message can begin a revival in your life and a renewal of your strength.
3. A divinely arrange interruption. God may bring some obstacles or closed doors in your way of committing sin, recognize them and don’t try to walk around them.
4. An opportunity to flee. God can give you an opportunity to actually run away, avoid a person or avoid going to a place.
5. A strength to resist the temptation and manifest self-control, which is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God's instrumental agent by which He imparts strength to us - Ephesians 3:16. Strengthened by the Spirit, we are able to "put to death the deeds of the body" - Romans 8:12-13.
- There are steps we can take as believers to avoid temptations, some of these include:
1. Guard yourself in the area of your weakness, by deliberately avoiding some actions, places or some people.
2. Avoid idleness in times of your loneliness. Occupy yourself with true spiritual activities, such as prayers, praises and study of the word of God, and real profitable things for your spiritual and physical development. Ecclesiastes 10: 18.
3. Gain victory over your thought life through the help of the Holy Spirit and diligent study of the word of God. 2 Corinthians 10: 3 – 6.
4. Set your priorities right, give God the first place in your heart and life, and be determined to do only things that are not contrary to the will of God as revealed in His words. Matthew 6: 33
5. Work upon your affections and desires. Deliberately guard against worldly and fleshly desires in your actions, your dressings and your possessions. Desire to be great in the things of God and to be with God at the end of your journey here on earth. Romans 12: 1 – 2, Colossians 3: 1 – 3.
6. Repent and obtain forgiveness of your sins. Remember that sin is victorious when it results in punishment. But if we obtain forgiveness through the blood of Christ, we can avoid that punishment and thereby still overcome sin. - 1John 2:1-2. At any time the Christian can overcome sins that were committed, by repenting and confessing them to God.
Conclusion:
- Indeed, we can overcome sin by stopping its development at any one of the five stages leading to the final punishment.
- At each of the stages in the development of sin, God is able and willing to help us overcome sin.
- We need to focus on the blessings of overcoming temptations both for this world and the one to come, and allow that to motivate us to endure temptations.
