Victory Over Temptation
It was the Apostle Paul’s practice to deliver to his hearers that which he received from the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Paul was a mighty man of God but like Elijah he was a man with a nature like yours and mine (James 5:17). You may be redeemed in the Blood of the Lamb but you still carry around in your body feet made of clay. Therefore, Paul knew well the meaning of defeat, what it meant to grieve the Holy Spirit by yielding to temptation and the battle one wages when the flesh wars against the spirit (Galatians 5:17). Paul felt oppression so great that he despaired even of life (2 Corinthians 1:8). He knew the darkness of depression and the emotional agony and pain of suffering. He was not immune from these trials and tribulations anymore than you or I. Therefore, Paul understood and identified personally with the desire and need in your own heart to be delivered from besetting sins and the ongoing lure of the enemy.
If Satan had had his way, he would have stolen Paul’s heart, robbed him of joy and left him in bondage. However, God was working in Paul’s life and causing things to work together for good. (Romans 8:28) He had a great plan for Paul as He does you and me. Therefore, God used Paul’s experiences to teach him (read Romans 7 concerning his struggles with temptation) victory cannot be achieved in your own power. Paul knew firsthand you are powerless when less than Christ’s power is working in, through and for your life. (Read Philippians 2:13) After pleading with the Lord three times concerning his thorn in the flesh, the Lord told Paul, “…"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." (1 Corinthians 12:9) From these words, Paul learned through his fleshy struggles, his carnal defeats and his emotional ups and downs to look through eyes of faith and say, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (1 Corinthians 12:10) That can be your prize as well: victory over temptation.
Therefore, when Paul instructs believers they can overcome temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), be freed from bondage (Galatians 5:1) and become more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37), he is speaking from the deliverance side of the temptation. He is a man like you or I with feet of clay but he succeeded in gaining victory over temptation. God brought Paul through the darkness of each temptation in his life into the light of deliverance – the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). God did this so Paul would not trust in himself but in God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9-10). But God also did this for Paul so his writings and life could teach you and me with passion that which he received from the Lord and knew first hand to be true.
When God brings you victory over temptation, you too can proclaim like Paul and Peter: “But resist him [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:9) Why? Because if God be for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31) You can rest in God’s truth recorded in Psalm 34:19: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” If you are a Christian, God has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14) But are you experiencing this deliverance in your life? Do you have victory over temptation? Are you still plagued by besetting sins? Are there things in your life you fear no one else will find out? Does the ongoing lure of the flesh wage war with your soul and sometimes you feel like giving up? Does the flesh with its passions and desires keep getting the upper hand leaving you guilt-ridden with feeling defeated? Then, Paul has words of hope and deliverance for you. They are words the Lord intends to use to set you free (John 8:32) so you can experience victory over temptation. Listen to Paul’s words to the churches at Ephesus:
“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you." Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:11-17)
Notice Ephesians 5:11 is a command. Paul gives you and I the first step in having victory over temptation: “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness.” In other words, MAKE A CLEAN BREAK. He makes a similar statement in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He will mix light and darkness together in an effort to keep you from making a clean break from the deeds of darkness. You can live in denial. You can think you are stronger that you are. But Paul says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) There are inherent dangers you do not realize – like mine fields you do not see. You will be overtaken in a trespass (Galatians 6:1) if you don’t make a clean break.
Here is a simple test. Think of a sin in your life you struggle with over and over? Think of the number of times you have prayed to be free only to fall into the same pattern again. Could the answer be you have not made a clean break? Maybe you are participating in someway, which seems harmless to you [everyone’s doing it of course] but then you get drawn in again to a deed of darkness. Paul says make a clean break – it is unfruitful in your life. Focus on the result you end up with [guilt, unworthiness, depression, etc.] rather than the passing pleasure the sin brings your flesh.
Paul goes on to say, “but instead even expose them;” [the unfruitful deeds of darkness] Only the Light of Christ enables you to see a situation clearly. When God brings you through the temptation, HE gives you victory for the same reasons he gave Paul victory. He wants you to depend on him alone and impart to others His truths so they may avoid the same inherent dangers – the same dangerous mine fields. Light reveals the deception for what it is: An effort of the enemy to divide your heart. Remember a house divided will not stand.
Paul says it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret (vs. 12). Even the words associated with your besetting sin or temptation could fuel the lusts in your heart. Scripture gives you a wonderful alternative if you will act upon it: “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22) The result in your life will be what Paul describes in verse 13: “But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.” When you gain victory over temptation, God allows you to see how deceived you were, how Satan was trying to still your heart and how your devotion to Christ was being divided. And you will experience not only the satisfaction of not yielding to the temptation but also God will position you where you can help others gain victory.
Second, victory over temptation means A DAILY COMMITMENT TO REDEEM LOST TIME. Paul exhorts you: “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” Have you ever noticed when you awake in the morning, you are not aware of the hours you lost sleeping? Of course, you have frames of reference such as clocks, biological cycles, etc. to let you know the hours slept but the actual sleep time escapes you – it is lost time. Therefore, you must not only awake but also arise from your spiritual stupor. Otherwise, Satan, the World and your Flesh will put your spiritual alarm clock back on doze and lull you back to sleep.
Paul says you must watch and pray. King David yielded to temptation when he broke from his game plan. He was pacing on the roof when he should have gone off to war. As a result, David was defeated on his home front because he didn’t treat it as a battlefield. You, likewise, must arise everyday with a watch and pray attitude. To arise from the dead is to walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Notice, if you do this, Paul says, “Christ will shine on you” (vs. 14). Like a light in the darkness, your path will become clear and your journey filled with peace. The Old Testament saints knew this truth well and made it their prayer for others: “The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:25-26)
Finally, victory over temptation means DEATH TO YOUR WILL AND LIFE TO CHRIST’S WILL. Paul exhorts you: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Have you noticed Christians who are careful how they walk? My experience is that they openly express their need for cautious behavior. They know their vulnerability. There is a transparency and quiet humility in their life. Galatians 6:1 is a godly reminder: “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” Godly men and woman of God know that saying yes to temptation means saying no to God. They know the wisdom in avoiding the anesthesia of the World, the Enemy and the Flesh.
Like those that walk wisely, you must depend on God’s wisdom each day to gain victory over temptation. You must pray and mean Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Death to your will and life to Christ’s will means you do not want a life filled with missed opportunities. It means you rest upon the power of Christ. Say like Paul: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) Death to your will and life to Christ’s will is to live Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Victory over temptation requires a clean break with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, a daily commitment to redeem lost time and death to your will and life to Christ’s will. Remember, Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe,
Give Him the Glory!
