[TEMPTATION] September 27, 2020

TEMPTATION

What is temptation?

A strong or desire to have or do something especially something that is bad,

wrong or un wise.

Temptation itself is not the sin, Jesus was tempted (mark 1: 13, Luke 4: 1- 13) but
he never sinned (Hebrews 4: 15). Sin occurs when we mishandle temptations.

Does God tempt us?

According to James 1: 13 – 14; we should never blame God for our sins He never
tempts us to do evil. The desires to do evil are clearly in the heart of man. When
we sin, we are sometimes tempted by our own lusts.

Did God tempt Abraham?

(Genesis 22; 1)

The Hebrew word used for tempt in genesis 22: 1 is nasah. This word means to
test or to try or to put through a trial when king soul offered David his armor,
David refused saying that he had not proved it. That same word nasah is used in
the passage. In other words David hadn’t tempted or tested the armor. Therefore,
he did not trust it. It is this sense in which God tempted Abraham. God wanted to
see an example of Abraham’s faith in action so that he could prove Abraham’s
faith. So God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable sacrifice of his beloved son,
so, through whom God promised tos make Abraham a great and mighty nation.
Would God have ever let Abraham do this evil at his own suggestion?

Of course not! God hates human sacrifice, so God had an angel on standby to
prevent Abraham from doing evil. God merely wanted to reveal Abraham’s
mighty faith, which is an incredible example to us today. God would never ever
coerce a man or woman to do evil for evil’s sake. That goes against God’s own
character.
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Satan will tempt us to do evil for evil’s sake but God will never. God sometimes
withdraws his protective hedge from us and he allows Satan to tempt us or sift us
so that we may be chastised or judged for sins. But never will God directly tempt
us to do evil for evil’s sake.

Can God be tempted to do evil?

God in his glorified state can never be tempted (coerced) to do evil. However,
God can be tested or proved by us. Consider these passages where the Israelites
tested the lord.

Numbers 14: 22; “because all these men who have seen my glory and the
miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now
these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice”

Exodus 17: 7; “and he called the names they tempted the name of the palace
massah and meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel and
because they tempted the lord. Saying is the lord among us or not.

Psalms 78: 18 “and they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

These passages clearly show that the Israelites tempted the lord; the word
tempted here does not mean they coerced God to do evil but rather they tested
His patience. They tested his holiness. God warns us against testing him in this
way. “You shall not tempt the lord your God as you tempted him in massah. (Duet
6: 16)

However, in Malachi 3: 10, God tells the Israelites that they can prove him by
tithing , revealing God’s faithfulness is a type of testing or proving we are allowed
to do esp. when it comes to finances.

Malachi 3: 10. “Bring you the entire tithe unto the store house, that there that
there may be food in mine house and prove me now here with, saith the lord of
hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour you out blessing
that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
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So God can clearly be tested which is a sin if used in a bad way. we prove God
which refers to his faithfulness in blessing us when we honor him with our
finances, but God cannot be tempted, meaning coerced to sin or do evil for evil’s
sake.

But wasn’t Jesus tempted?

Jesus is God and God cannot be tempted with sin, however, the bible clearly tells
us that Satan tempted Jesus to sin (Luke 4: 11) in fact, the bible goes onto say that
Christ was tempted at all points yet was without sin.

Hebrews 4: 15) the point to keep in mind in this passage is that Christ, in his
incarnation, took the form of a man and dwelt among us. Jesus was still 100%
God, but he emptied himself of his former glory and he gave up his divine
privileges so that he could take the true form of man (Philippians 2:6- 8)

In other words, Christ relinquished some of his divine attributes and clothed
himself with flesh so that he could relate with our infirmities and that includes the
temptations to sin, however, God in his eternal and glorified state cannot be
coerced to commit sin and even though Christ was tempted by Satan, he clearly
resisted the temptation to sin. He was the sinless lamb and God and his shed
blood covers the sin of whoever believes in him.

Conclusion;

God will never tempt humans to do evil for evil’s sake but Satan will. God in his
glorified state, can never be tempted to sin, sin is against the very nature of a holy
and eternal God. God hates sin.

But we can test God’s patience and he can be proved to us and God even
encourages us to test his faithfulness with our finances. Finally Satan may have
tempted Jesus in the flesh, but only because he may suffer all that we suffered.
Jesus was still 100% God but he emptied himself and gave up some of his divine
privileges so that he may take the true form of a man. (Philippians 2: 7)

Sources of temptations.
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1) It can come from the devil. Ephesians 6; 11, James 4: 7

2) From the desires and lusts of our human nature. Romans 7: 16, Galatians 5:
19- 21, James 1: 14 – 15
3) From the world. 2peter 1: 4, Galatians 1: 4, 1 john 2: 15

The difference between a temptation and a test

Sometimes it’s tough to tell whether we are facing a test or temptation. Situations
of struggle don’t always com e with a label to clue us on the source. The key is to
know the different purposes of each.

A temptation has one goal for you. When we read the New Testament, we see in
the original language two words for “test” we can easily mistake for synonymous.

 One word (dokimazo) has as its goal a test for the purpose of approval
 Another word (peirazo) has as its goal, generally speaking, a test to show its
weakness or point of failure.

Whenever Satan tests us the word always peirazo- that is the goal of his test is to
entice us to sin. Hence the test often gets appropriately translated as temptation.

A simple example finds its blaming in relation to sexual relations in marriage.

“stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may
devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not
tempt you (peirazo) because of your lack of self-control (1cor. 7: 5)

In each case Satan has one goal in temptation, our failure.

A test has another goal for you. On the other hand, you never find God tempting
us or placing us in situations with our failure as his goal. James makes this clear;
“let no one say when he is tempted, am being tempted (peirazo) by God, for God
cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt(peirazo) any one
(James 1: 13)
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Sometimes testing the testing of God occurs to discover the good or evil in our
hearts, but never with the goal of enticing us to evil,(Hebrews 11: 17). God’s tests
have our approval as their goal. This remains true even after we die. “Now if any
man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay is
straw, each man’s work will become evident. For the day will show it because it is
to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test (dokirazo) the quality of each
man’s work; (1cor. 3: 12 – 13)

The foundation in this context is Jesus Christ. God testing of us at the judgment
seat of Christ will find its basis on the quality and nature of the lives we build on
that foundation (1 cor. 4: 5)

The goal of this test is approval.

God’s provision during your temptation:

Thankfully even when we face temptation Satan designs to entice us to fail, God
steps in to provide away of escape.

Consider the familiar verse and its promise, “no temptation (that has as it’s goal
your failure) has ever taken man, and God is faithful. Who will not allow you to be
tempted beyond what are able but with the temptation will provide the way of
escape also so that you will be able to endure it. (1cor. 10: 13)

Every single time Satan tempts you to sin, God steps in to provide away of escape.

Jesus modeled how to succeed against temptation. Sin then for the Christian
becomes a choice not a compulsion.

Sometimes, admittedly, it’s tough to discern the difference between a test and a
temptation (from our perspectives). But whether the road test we face represent
Satan’s temptation of us to fail or God’s test of us to succeed. Our response to the
situation should always remain the same; we should obey God

How to resist temptation like Jesus;

The lord’s strategy in the Judaism wilderness also works today. Everybody faces
temptations and on some levels, everybody has fallen it. Everybody but Jesus.
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Point to note:

Temptations come in moments of need. We can barely stand to fast a day or two.
Can you imagine fasting 40days; Jesus did also in preparation for temptation and
became desperately. And in his moment of need, the devil slipped in (Satan waits
for the moment like this).

If you are the son of Gog, tell this stone to become bread (Luke 4: 3) the devil is
no idiot and also no gentleman. When he tempts he plays dirty, no rules, no
concessions, and no mercy.

In moment of vulnerability, Satan tempted Jesus to satisfy his legitimate need for
food in an illegitimate way. It’s if Satan said turn this stone to bread; use your
power to gratify your need.

What a cheat shot. Every stone would then become a temptation and believe me,
the wilderness of Judea has plenty of stones. Jesus reply shows that though he
was physically hungry, he was spiritually full. It is written man shall not live on
bread alone. (Luke 4: 4)

How Jesus prepared for temptation?

What had Jesus, the meek and mild carpenter, been doing all those silent years
growing up in Nazareth? We just saw it. His first words revealed it to us. Its
written, Jesus grew up with a hammer In one hand and a scroll in the other. He
prepares for 31/2years of ministry by spending about 31/2 decades memorizing
portions of the word f God.

4 ways to resist temptation like Jesus

Jesus attention to the word gave Him a spiritual reservoir to draw from in time of
temptation. The scriptures can do the same for us.

1. Determine to commit portions of the word of God to memory. Get a friend

to hold you accountable.
2. Meditate on the verse in your mind throughout the day. The goal is the
renewal of your mind (Romans 12: 1 - 2)
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3. When tempted, quote the verses out loud, remembering they are true and
the temptation offers a lie.
4. If you find yourself tempted in the same areas repeatedly lean verses that
speak to that topic.

NB. Jesus knowledge of the word of God remains a model for us of faithfulness
under fire. Like Jesus, we can resist temptation.

A comparison in summery between a trial, test and temptation:

A trial(s) are difficult events that inevitably come to every life. Trials
are unpleasant circumstances that occur as a result of living in fallen world and
are basically done by the devil and allowed by God and are accompanied by
bad happenings e.g. The story of Job and Joseph, others include the viruses in
the air, disappointment in friends, accidents on the roads etc.

Peter wrote, dear friends, don’t be surprised at the painful trial you are
suffering as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that
you participate in the sufferings of Christ. So that you may be over joyed when
his glory is revealed (1 peter 4; 12 – 13)

A temptation is sent by Satan to bring out our worst. The word

tempts means to entice to d wrong by a promise of pleasure or gain and is a
deliberate enticement to sin. The devil’s goal is that you destroy God and are
spiritually weakened. His desire is to eventually entrap you in sin so that you
will suffer defeat and ultimately death.

While God temporarily permits Satan to tempt us. God is never the author of
temptation and he always provides the means for us to be victorious over
Satan’s crafty seductions. God permitted Jesus to be tempted so that he would
identify with our experience and demonstrate victory

The bible assures us, no temptation has seized you except what is common to
man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that (you)
can stand up under it (1cor. 10:13)
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NB; Jesus endured the trial of living in Spartan, wilderness conditions for forty
days. He fasted the entire time which was a test of endurance. When Satan
initiated the temptations to sin, Jesus resisted his strongest allure

A test (s) is a difficulty sent deliberately by God to reveal the depth of

our character and ultimately bring out the best in us. Gen 22: 1, God tested
Abraham when he commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar. A
school principal may order to fire drill as a test. The purpose of the fire drill is
not to burn the school down but to test the student’s ability to vacate the
building in emergency and to prepare them for potential disaster. The principal
knows it’s a test but the students do not. God sometimes sends a test to
nature us and enhance our witness. God’s purpose is that we pass the test and
thereby gain confidence and provide a positive testimony of faithfulness to
others.

More about trials;

The purpose of trials is to refine our lives and leave us with a purer strong faith
as well as a character that God can bless and use. (1 peter 1: 7)

The result of trials is that over time are begin to look more and more like Jesus.
(Romans 8: 28 – 29)

Trials are painful and difficult by nature but how we handle them makes all the
difference.

We live in a fallen, broken world where hurricanes come, earthquakes occur.

Trials can come from our own mistakes and errors i.e. through neglect,
inattention and selfishness.