Falling “OUT” Of Temptation

Is Temptation From God?

James 1:13-15 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

In order for us to overcome temptation we must know that temptation does not come from God. He never needs it for our spiritual development. The Holy Spirit and the word of God is enough for our growth. Can we imagine a father giving his children a poisonous snake in order to develop his child and teach them something.

If God in all His sovereignty uses the devil as a part of our spiritual growth He would be in conflict with Himself. The reason is because God also said, “He gave us authority over all the power of the enemy”. According to the Bible we are instructed to only do one thing with temptation and the devil. That is to crush its head!

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

So if it’s Gods sovereign will for Him to use the devil for our spiritual development we come against Gods will when we use our authority over the devil.

No doubt many of us makes bad choices and God can use those bad choices and work it out for our good (see Rom 8:28).  God can take our problem from our problems! But just because God can take the bad and make it into good does not mean He is the author of the bad. When we can’t understand this we are left confused if God loves us or not. We are never to embrace temptation as if God sent it but we are to use our authority over the devil.

This is what James is trying to warn us about. Observe the verses after James 1: 15, In James 1:16-17 it says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

So it’s clear the author of temptation is not God. As long as we believe temptation is ordained by God we will submit to it and never over come it because we believe it’s of God. Gods plan is to save us not destroy us! John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Anything in our life that has been killed, stolen or destroyed is not Gods work but the devils. God cannot give us what He does not have. God does not have addiction therefore He cannot give us an addiction. God does not have evil therefore He does not give evil to us. What God does have is life! He desires to give us that in abundance.

Where Temptation Began And Where It Ended

Imagine an athlete training for years to win an Olympic gold medal. The first day of the Olympics the athlete is ready to run a sprint. As the gun fires off and the race begins all of a sudden the athlete trips and falls at the starting line.

In the beginning Adam fell into temptation as a result death entered the world. This is a depressing defeat for us all. What is worse is we already lost before we started. It’s like a new car getting into an accident before it left the car dealership. It’s also like getting a wedding ring and losing it within the first few hours of marriage. They fell before they had a chance to live their life and have children.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

When Jesus came to earth His purpose was to fix this situation of Adam and Eve. Instead of a garden Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In the world of boxing we call this, “round 2”. The 1st round was between Adam(us) and the devil. Unfortunately we were defeated in the first round. The second round was different the devil is about to face the champion of the world. What happened? Well, Jesus knocked the devil out three straight times, TKO (see Matthew 4:1-11).

We don’t have to be connected anymore to what Adam did. The nature of death and sin we inherited from Adam is now cut off from us. What we are disconnected to has no power over us. We are now connected to the new nature and the life of Jesus. Galatians 5:24-25 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We are now connected to what Jesus did. Where Adam fell Jesus succeeded. Adam brought death but Jesus brought life. Adam brought sickness but Jesus brought healing. Adam brought a curse but Jesus brought a blessing. Jesus completely fixed what Adam messed up in the garden. We have a new beginning but not a beginning that begins in the book of Genesis but a beginning that begins in books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John! We don’t have to die in the beginning work of Adam but now we can live in the finished work of Christ!

How Do We Overcome Temptation?

Why did Jesus go into the wilderness instead of a garden to be tempted 40 days? Maybe that was the place where the garden of Eden originally was but in a fallen state. We really don’t know but what we do know is we now have a new beginning! We are not living from the fall of man but we are now living in the rise of man. Jesus overcame temptation on our behalf. The first way we defeat temptation and the devil is faith in Christ alone. By doing this we overcome all temptation 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Without Jesus in our lives it’s impossible to overcome temptation. It’s not years of counseling or sacrificing more in order for us to overcome. The key to overcoming temptation is in our new nature we received when we ask Christ in our lives. 2 Peter 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

What is the way of escape? Our new nature! This is what the Bible was talking about when Paul said, “God provides a way of escape”. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

This is the solution to overcome temptation in our life. What is the way of escape? It’s our new super natural nature that God has given to us when we were born again. God has supernaturally took the passion, strength and power of sin and addiction out of our hearts. Now all we need is for our minds to be renewed by Gods word to line up with our new nature. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We Are No Longer Like A Wild Horse

Salvation is not being apart of the right church, denomination or group. It’s believing in Christ alone. It’s experiencing a supernatural transformation of our hearts. It’s Christ living in us! We are born again to succeed!

An illustration would be of a wild horse. A wild horse does not like to be tamed. Even when we put a fence around the horse it’s not effective because the horse will attack and destroy the fence. That is why electric fences have to be in place to contain the horse. Likewise we are like this horse and the rules and religion are like the fence that only commands us to fight harder. It just does not work. Jesus came to give us a hope and a solution to this problem. What is the solution? Jesus killed the wild horse and replaces it with another animal, the lamb. Now there is no need for a fence because of the new nature of the lamb. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Likewise we no longer need religion or rules to tame us because of our new nature! All we need is a shepherd to follow. Without Jesus in our lives it’s impossible to overcome temptation we are slaves to sin and the devil. We got two choices we can make. We can reject Christ and allow temptation to destroy our life, family and relationships or we can say yes to Jesus and accept Him as our savior. When Christ lives in us we have all power to overcome.

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Right now ask Christ into your life He will never fail you. He wants to save, heal and deliver you. You will find the purpose of your life when you accept Him.