Resisting Temptation
1 Cor 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.
What part of NO above do we not understand? Many pastors for the love of money or reputation tickle the ears of the congregants and tell them, they cannot stop sinning and love to cherry-pick passages especially from Paul and the Apostles to support a doctrine that continued sin does not matter to ones salvation. That is the primary lie Satan has used since day #1 with Eve, telling us our sin will not result in eternal death. Do not be deceived my friends.
In the above verse, Paul makes it clear there there is not a single temptation that we cannot overcome. It is rare that we hear sin and the wrath of God preached anymore in a church and even rarer that we are taught how to not sin. Why don’t we teach people how to walk with God and overcome darkness instead of teaching them falsely that their sin does not matter? Wake up Christians, the judge is standing at our door!!
In its simplest form, we stop sinning when we follow Christ. Following Christ means we are guided by Him. That comes to us by the leading of the Holy Spirit, which will guide us in all truth. This is how God direct our paths, but we must first make sure we have the Spirit and then secondly follow the voice of that Spirit. Jesus told us that to follow Him we have to pick up our cross daily and deny ourselves. He told us we must be 100% committed, we cannot look back otherwise we are not fit for the kingdom (Luke 9:62).
Before we go any further, let’s get clear on one thing. GOD DOES NOT TEMPT ANYONE. James tells us how temptation comes upon us.
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. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
God does allow us to be tempted, there is a difference. That is part of the trials we are told we must endure and overcome to reap eternal life. But do not blame temptation on God. We are tempted by our own flesh if we have not suffered and crucified it by our obedience to God. Satan’s demons are hanging around to encourage us to choose disobedience so beware.
God knows what He is doing. He did not put us here to fail, He knows our weaknesses but He demands obedience from us. Here Peter reminds us of the wrath of God that comes to those who disobey but also gives us the hope that we too can overcome by trusting in Him alone.
2 Peter 2:4-10 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked — then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.
How We Resist and Overcome
The Bible gives us a number of powerful passages that speak to how we resist temptation, keep self control, walk in the spirit, deny ourselves, suffer which all leads to defeating the works of the devil which is sin. God has equipped each and every one of us that have His Spirit with the tools to be obedient. We must follow Him and as His sheep “hear His voice”.
Hebrews 2:14-18 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
As I wrote about in my last post, Sonship: Freedom From Sin; Jesus did not leave us as orphans to cope for ourselves in this wicked world. He gave us His Spirit. Jesus knows what we are dealing with, how we are tempted and our weakness. He knows because He created us but also Jesus lived as a mortal human and suffered in the flesh and endured the very same temptations we endure; yet He remained sinless. Jesus succeeded because He only did what the Father told Him to do. He was constantly guided by God’s Spirit, He never did anything of His human flesh. Who better to give us aid as the Hebrews passage states then the only one to have “been there and done that”?
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
To effectively hear God, we must walk in His spirit and put to death the lusts of the flesh. Peter, James and Paul spoke of being sober always maintaining self control. Indeed obedience is a choice, one we are presented each day to obey or to disobey the commandments of God. If we practice disobedience we show ourselves to be a fake Christian worshipping with our lips only. We must resist, hold firm, leaning on Christ to show us the way out of temptation. The Devil is seeking to deceive us and to entice us into sin and away from God.
1 Peter 5:8-10 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
Consider all these action verbs spoken below by James. This passage is a self contained primer on how to defeat sin. First we must submit ourselves to God. We need to seek to do His will, not ours. We must deny ourselves. Secondly, we must resist the devil, if we give in to the devil, he will continue to oppress us and entice us into sin. If we hold fast and resist we are promised the devil will flee. Most of us give up, we do not wait on the Lord, who tests our faith via our patience and our endurance. James tells us to cleanse ourselves of sins and purify our hearts. We must seek to be Holy, we must strive to obey, it is our choice and our love for God should drive us to do His will.
James 4:7-10 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James continues, and tells us we are to mourn and weep and what he refers to is that we must hate our sin. We must mourn over it and cry out to God to take away our desire to sin. That is the real power of Grace, but God again leaves it to us to seek obedience or disobedience. Lastly, James tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord. We must surrender to Him and trust fully in His guidance and let Him direct our paths. We cannot be Lord of our own lives and expect to do His will.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Paul defines the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. These are the characteristics true believers that are Born Again will exhibit in increasing measure as they are transformed, purified and prepared for His kingdom. Self Control is a critical component of this list of attributes, listed last as the glue that keeps us on course. If we do not exercise self control and choose obedience, practice righteousness, the other fruit of the Spirit cannot manifest.
We Can Do It Says God
The Scripture are full of additional encouragement and teaching that remind us and show us how to resist temptation and not sin. Consider the following hodgepodge of verses that speak to our need to exercise self control. We do have a role to play in our salvation but it all boils down to following Jesus by hearing and obeying His Spirit. It is not works as it is impossible without God’s Spirit and His Amazing Grace.
Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts
2 Peter 1:5-6 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. Self Control again is a key ingredient to bring out the full glory of God in our lives.
Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Paul tells Titus, the it is grace, the enabler of our salvation that allows us to say NO to sin and be self controlled and live Holy obedient lives.
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city
2 Tim 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Again self control is what grace enables us to accomplish, we must be able to say no to sin.
James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. Those who are never at fault in what they say are perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. Self control, self control, self control. We have to choose to stand on our faith or to believe the lies that says we cannot stand.
Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Collosians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. It is up to us, we need to take action when temptation comes. Here Paul tells us to put to death the lusts of the flesh. We can do it, the Bible tells us how but we can never do it on our own but with God all things are indeed possible.
I have at least 20 more verses that say the same thing but I will end it here for brevity. You get the idea. The Scriptures are clear about how we say NO to Sin. We must trust in God and Obey. He has not left us as orphans but has fully equipped us to destroy the works of the devil. That is why Jesus came, that is the true message of the cross. It is finished. Satan and Sin shall no longer have dominion over us. Jesus did not come to take away the penalty for sin, although His mercy allows for forgiveness but ONLY IF WE REPENT and turn away from it.
I am deeply saddened by the depth of error that permeates our Christianity in these end times. Well meaning people that Love the Lord are deceived, they have heard the lies about Grace and the twisted teachings passed down from Seminary Schools and preached from many pulpits for many years. What are really lies have become known as the truth and what is really the truth has become known as the lie. This is what is at the heart of the Apostasy that is rampant in our churches.
James warns teachers to be sure of their message that we will be judged more severely if anyone is lead astray by false teaching. I take this admonition very seriously. Jesus told us it would be better for false teachers to have a millstone tied on their neck and be tossed into the ocean versus the punishment they will receive at Judgment. Ezekiel said the blood of the lost will be on the hands of the False Teachers. The truth has never changed, but we men have changed the message to conform to the changing world.
If anyone reading this thinks I am in error I would love to hear from you. I have a question I want you to answer. If I am wrong about the wages of continued sin being eternal damnation despite ones expressed belief in Christ what harm does this philosophy cause? Isn’t seeking to obey perfectly a righteous thing to pursue? On the contrary, what if your Easy Believism doctrine is wrong and that continued practice of sin really does matter? Won’t the souls go to hell in that case? You see any doctrine that does not condemn sin and call us to Holy Living is not only a false doctrine, it is a doctrine of death. It makes the Scriptures a book of lies and voids the very words of the Lord recorded in the Gospels. Hosea said God’s people WILL BE destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
May God Bless You Richly!!
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Krystal, The wages of sin is death is not speaking about physical death. As indeed Paul took these words from Ezekiel 18:20. The SOUL that sins shall die. Thank God for mercy and forgiveness as many will sin and continue to sin but they better not be practicing sin. If they sin without concious about it and pervert grace into a license to sin, they tell God they love their sin more than they love Him and they do not belong to Jesus. They are deceived.
I believe in the eternal security of the believer IF they continue walking with Jesus. He will not cast us out, nobody can pluck us out of His hand, but we can by our own free will choose to walk away. Falling from faith is clearly marked as something we can lose and fall from. See this post link
http://truthinscripture.com/2010/05/18/falling-away-from-faith/
THe good news is if we stay the course we are signed, sealed and delivered. We have a merciful Father so when we do sin He will forgive us when we confess it. But the Bible is also very clear that anyone really Born of God DOES NOT and CANNOT PRACTICE SIN. If we say we know Christ and practice sin, we are a liar and the truth is not in us. (1 John 3)
Nobody has already attained to salvation. even Paul said so in Phillipians. We must overcome and endure the very end. We must finish the race. Jesus said to remember Lot’s wife, she was saved yet turned her heart back into the world. It is a little choppy but I have a post called OSAS that took a hard look at eternal security. This is my view and I have seen it confirmed every place I look in the Scriptures, even in John 3 and Ephesians 2, we simpy must read the whole chapter and not take one verse and build a doctrine out of it.
http://truthinscripture.com/eternal-security-not/
May God guide you, me and all that seek Him into the truth.
Wonderful scriptural references Pete! And you explained yourself making some excellent statements and arguments, so I thank you for that.
The end part of your study left me with a question however. You stated that the “wages of continued sin [are] eternal damnation despite ones expressed belief in Christ.”
We are all born sinless, however the only one to have lived and died a sinless life was Jesus. The wages of sin is death, and since we all sin we all die eventually.
So my question is this: Can our salvation be lost? In other words, can one lose his or her salvation?
The bible says that believers will be known by their fruit (Matt. 7:20). On one hand you have a man who lived a sin-filled life, but found the Lord in his dying age, repented and was saved. On the other you have a man who knew the Lord in his younger days, however fell to various temptations, knew that they were wrong but believed in forgiveness. Those who know more, more is expected of them, and though their eternity is secured,