GOD

… Reconciling the world unto God …

The Scripture used throughout this study is quoted from the King James Version. Any explanatory insertions by the author within a Scripture verse are enclosed in brackets [ ].

© 1995 by Vincent C. Finnegan

P.O. Box 3098, Latham NY 12110, USA

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God created the heavens and the earth. The purpose for this creation was man. The purpose for man was to have an intimate, loving relationship with God. Due to the Devil's influence on Adam and Eve and their wrong doing, God's original plan was destroyed. From the fall of Adam until Christ, God's desire for a loving relation ship with man persisted but was never completely real ized.

Due to the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, the purpose of the ages was brought into fruition. Today, God can have the loving relationship for which He has longed because people can be born again of God's holy spirit. This new birth makes one a child of God. God lives in the Christian, and the Christian has direct access to God. God has children with His nature in them making fellowship with Him available once again. We as Christ- ians can fellowship with God as our Father.

The temptations we face as Christians may be many, but they are single in purpose — to destroy our fellowship with God. When a person is born again he receives God's incorruptible seed; therefore, the Devil cannot destroy our sonship relationship with God. However, he can influence our lives to hinder our utilization of the spirit within so that we do not enjoy the fellowship with our Father. The adversary wants to ruin the intimate loving relationship God has with His children.

"Temptation" is the act of enticing someone to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain. "To tempt" is to allure or seduce one into evil or sin. The adversary tempts for the purpose of causing us to ruin our fellowship with the Father.

God can and will deliver us from temptation. God our Father is rich in mercy and grace, and He loves us. As our Father, God wants us to depend humbly on Him for everything in our lives. He, and He only, will deliver us from all temptation. Our first response to temptation should be to pray to Him for help. "The Lord's Prayer" is given as an example of how our prayers should be. This prayer exemplifies that for which we should pray with the correct, reverent attitude towards our Father.

Matthew 6:9-13:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This prayer is shared in the midst of Jesus Christ's teaching called the "Sermon on the Mount." In the teach ing he presents many truths. One predominant truth is that our prayers and our actions should not be mindless and mechanical, but from the heart. God wants our hearts, not meaningless actions. As Matthew 6:7a clearly tells us, "...when ye pray, use not vain repetitions...." Certainly, the intent was never for it to be by rote, by memory, without thought of the meaning.¹ We should pray with believing, reverence, and assurance that God can and will lead us away from temptation.

Matthew 26:41:
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit [one's inner desires] indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

The inner desire can be willing to do that which is right, but the flesh is weak. The temptations we face are continually deceiving because they are cunningly camou flaged. We simply do not have the ability to cope with temptations without the help of God. The good news is we do not have to contend on our own. We can and should continually pray to God for His help and deliver ance.

The way Jesus Christ combated temptation provides the perfect example for us to follow.

Luke 4:1-12:
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

With each temptation given Jesus Christ responded with "It is written." He knew the exact Word of God to think, believe, and speak for each temptation with which he was confronted. How did he know? He studied God's Word and obviously thought about the Word he studied. We, too, must develop our understanding of the scriptures. The best situation for us would be to have a comprehen sive understanding of the whole Word of God. However, this endeavor takes diligent effort over a long period of time, honestly a lifetime of studying God's Word.

What do we do in the meantime because temptations are a very present reality? There are Bible concordances and many books which focus on specific scriptures dealing with the common temptations we all face. We should identify the temptations with which we are confronted and then find appropriate verses to combat them using these study aids. Right now we can find the right scriptures for the temptation with which we are currently tried. As the lord did, we can commit the verses to memory, and at the point of attack believe, think, and speak that which is written. The Word of God will do the work, for it is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword...."

The account continues.

Luke 4:13:
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Temptations are a continual attack which will not end until Jesus Christ returns to gather us out of this world. After Jesus Christ stood on God's Word, the Devil left him alone, but only for a season. When we take a stand on God's Word and do not succumb to temptation, the adversary will back off, but not forever. Galatians 1:4 informs us we live in a present evil world. Because Satan is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4) temptations will continue to press us. We must learn to deal with and be successful over temptations as he did. The temptation itself is not a real problem unless we let ourselves be diverted by it.

The book of Hebrews provides very reassuring truth in light of temptations with which we are confronted.

Hebrews 2:18:
For in that he [Jesus Christ] himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Jesus Christ was tempted and stood. Now he is able to succor (run to aid or help) us when we are tempted.

Hebrews 4:14-16:
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Help is readily available for us. We can boldly ap proach the throne of grace and find help in time of need. We do not have to live on our own! This is good news because we cannot live successfully on our own.

The Apostle Paul provides us with another example to follow. He suffered many temptations in his life, yet he walked with God as few others have done. How did he do it? Humility of mind.

Acts 20:19:
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

"Humility of mind" is the sober realization that we are completely dependent on God. When Jesus Christ taught about humility he used an infant as an illustration. An infant is totally dependent on others for everything in his life. Paul served the Lord with humility of mind. He did not try to walk on his own. When temptations came, he went to God for help. We can do likewise.

I Corinthians 10 provides examples we should not follow — those of the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness, after leaving Egypt and before entering the promised land. The records are given as examples of people who, when tempted, did not stand. They had every opportunity to believe God and not succumb to the temptations they faced. Because they succumbed, they suffered greatly. But these records are followed with this reassuring, wonderful promise for those of us who want to walk above temptations.

I Corinthians 10:13:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God is faithful. He will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able. With each temptation we face, we can be victorious. There is always a way to escape. We may feel overwhelmed with the temptations at times, but we can still escape. When these overwhelming thoughts come, we can call to God for His help. Prayer! (Remem ber Matthew 6 and 26; and Paul's example in Acts 20:19?) Also, we can find the right Word, and change the focus of our minds to the Word of God. (Remember Luke 4.)

James 1:2-4:
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

We have joy, not because we are tempted, but because we know we can combat the temptation and be victorious. The word "faith" is from the Greek word pistis, which has a number of different usages determined by the context. In the book of James pistis means "believing" in each place. To "believe" means to have information from God and to have confidence and trust in the information to the end of acting on it. When faced with temptation we should claim God's Word regarding the temptation. When we believe God's Word it "works", or achieves, patience.

Often the natural response to temptation is impetuous action or reaction. The temptation is very much like the bait on the hook of a fisherman's pole. The bait is the attraction to catch, or hook, the fish. In like manner, temptation is used by the adversary to hook us into sin. Temptations to sin are disguised with the lie of fulfillment of something. The exortation in James is to believe God's Word and be patient, because the perfect work of patience is that we "may be perfect, entire, wanting nothing." That which satisfies the soul of man is believing, not sin. So, be patient and watch God provide as you stand on His Word.

To live a godly life in an ungodly world, we need wisdom from God.

James 1:5:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. There fore, the beginning of wisdom is knowledge. We are responsible to know God's Word; but to understand or rightly apply our knowledge, we need wisdom. Wisdom comes from God and is received by man when he asks God for it. When we are faced with temptation wise conduct is necessary; therefore, we must go to God for help. He gives wisdom liberally. "Liberally" means in simplicity with a readiness of heart, answering to the need without a second thought. God is readily willing to give wisdom to us with simplicity. We do need for it to be simple. "Upbraideth" means to find fault with, severely reprove. God does not upbraid us when we ask for wisdom; He gives it as promised.

James 1:6-8:
But let him ask in faith [believing], nothing waver ing. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

One wave comes in, and you are trying to figure things out on your own. Another wave comes in, and you ask God. The third follows along, and you go back to figuring it out on your own. The requirement to receive God's wisdom is to stay faithfully single-minded.

When studying temptation we must address a wrong teaching which seems to permeate Christianity which is that God tempts people with evil. So often this logic is supported by taking verses out of context, like verse 3 "knowing this, that the trying of your faith ...", while ignoring a later verse in the same chapter.

James 1:13:
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

God does not tempt us with evil. The truth is we are tempted by our own lust.

James 1:14,16 and 17:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God is the provider of every perfect gift.

Some temptations can be avoided by keeping ourselves away from tempting situations. Lot, for example, could have refused to live in Sodom.

II Peter 2:6-9a:
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conver sation of the wicked:
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations....

Sodom and Gomorrah were cesspools of sin. Lot would have simply avoided much temptation by not living there. He had much less temptation when he lived with Abra ham, but made the deliberate choice to live in a place that was sure to tempt him and his family. Lot was saved by God's mercy. But he did lose his wife and family with the exception of his two daughters. They continued to live, but their minds were definitely ill-affected by the evil associations with which they had surrounded themselves. Lot also lost everything he owned. All of the loss could have been avoided had he not lived in Sodom.

The Word tells us clearly to abstain from all appear ances of evil and to abhor that which is evil. If you have a problem with alcohol perhaps tending bar is not wise!

II Corinthians 6:14:
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbeliev ers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

To avoid temptations, fellowship with like-minded people who want to walk with God.

Temptations deceive us with the promise of an attractive outcome. The first temptation man faced was in the garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:5:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Adam and Eve lived in paradise and knew only good. The only thing to gain was a knowledge of evil. The adversary painted an alluring picture that looked "so good," but in reality was "so bad." All temptation is similar in this sense.

Walking with God, living a godly life, is the only way to attain the things we really want — love, joy, and peace. We are all well-advised to take heed to these simple ways to avoid temptation.

God is so good always to make a way out of temptation. By directing our own thoughts and lives with wisdom and not being baited by an alluring illusion, we, too, can live successful, godly lives. We can do it because of Him. God will deliver us from temptation!

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Footnotes:

¹ Note verse 9, "After this manner …"

 

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