God tests us, but God doesn’t tempt us. What’s the difference between testing and temptation? God tests us to bring out the best in us, and to cause us to grow. But Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us, and to cause us to sin.
That’s why we say that God never tempts us, because it is never His desire to see us sin. But God will test us, because it is always His desire to see us grow. We all go through testing so that our faith can be refined by fire. And we all grow as a result of it.
From James 1:13-18, here are three observations about temptations.
1. Temptations destroy us
“but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)
These verses describe the process of temptation. James was explaining to us how temptation actually works.
Temptation works like fishing. Satan drops a bait to appeal to our sinful desires inside (he knows what kind of bait to use on different individuals). Then, we are enticed, lured and dragged into deception.
A sinful desire now results in a deception. Every sinful act does not begin in the body, but in the mind – a deception.
When we take the temptation and choose to sin, that becomes disobedience. That’s basically what sin is. And when sin has finished its work, it will result in death, which is separation from the presence of God.
That’s the whole process from temptation to sin. From the heart, to the head, to the hands. Temptations destroy us, and that’s Satan’s goal… but there is also good news.
2. Trust defends us
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:16-17)
Don’t be deceived. In other words, don’t even take that first step. Don’t even believe in the lie.
James then also reminds us that it is by trusting in the goodness of God that we will remain unmoved by Satan’s temptation.
Isn’t it true that we often yield to Satan’s bait because we cannot wait for God’s blessing? We take matters into our own hands because we cannot trust His timing and His sovereignty, and we cannot trust that God has our best interests at heart.
Therefore, we pursue what we think will bring us happiness and pleasure.
We see that in the story of Adam and Eve. They were allowed to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That was the only boundary that God set for them.
But what happened was that they refused to stay within God’s boundaries. They wanted to define their own boundaries. And as a result, they sinned and mankind fell.
It all boils down to whether we trust God’s timing, God’s sovereignty, and that He has our best interests at heart.
My point is, we are setting ourselves up for Satan’s bait. When we choose to go beyond God’s boundaries and create our own, that becomes the problem.
The battle with temptation boils down to a battle of faith. It’s not about how alluring the world is or how much we can resist all these things. It is simply about who we believe in. Do we believe in God? Do we believe in ourselves? Or do we believe in Satan?
It all boils down to whether we trust God’s timing, God’s sovereignty, and that He has our best interests at heart.
3. Truth delivers us
“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:18)
It is not enough that trust defends us, because we don’t want to just live a defensive life. We want to live a life that advances.
We have been delivered and set free by what Jesus has done on the cross. We can now live a victorious life in Christ. And to do that, we need the truth to deliver us and cause us to be fruitful.
When God’s Word is received into our spirit, there is a union between the Word and our spirit. That gives birth to faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. But it’s not just hearing with our ears, we need to hear it with our hearts and receive it into our spirit.
It doesn’t matter if you have heard a thousand sermons or own 16 different translations of the Bible — unless you read it, believe it and apply it. Only when you receive the Word in your spirit, will there be real faith. And that is a faith that gives birth to life!
Truth has no effect until it finds union with our spirit. That’s how we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free (John 8:32).
To end off, here are three practical applications:
- Flee from temptation (1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 10:14, 2 Timothy 2:22)
- Fight the devil (James 4:7)
- Focus on God (Psalm 119:9-11)
The blood of Jesus is what cleanses us from committed sins, but it is the Word of God that cleanses us from temptations. Even when we do fall into temptations, know that it’s not the end because the blood of Jesus washes us clean.
But why even go there? Why not keep God’s Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him?
This article is adapted from a sermon by Pastor Benny Ho titled “Overcoming Temptations”
