Temptations and Trials Bring Salvation
The Lord tells us to pray His prayer daily. The prayer asks for the Father to come via Christ, the living commandments. This is the living bread that enters into our hearts, into the kingdom of God within, and brings deliverance from sin.
Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 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.
In this prayer, we ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from evil. This is asking for deliverance from all our carnal thoughts and lusts that define the world and bring forth the wages of sin. The prayer is asking for more power unto salvation, more of the commandments, more rain for our earth, so the righteousness of Christ may spring forth.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Christ is commanding us to pray this prayer daily. This prayer asks for more of the daily bread [the commandments] every day. This is the Gospel being shed abroad in our hearts. The same is known as the love of God, meaning our obedience [1Jo 5:3, Joh 14:15], now being made manifest by the work of His Spirit.
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
This is how our deliverance from evil is accomplished. The kingdom of God within us is being built up in righteousness as we pray daily, asking for the commandments to come forth to deliver us from evil by the power of the Gospel. Part of the prayer confesses our sin and asks for forgiveness in the same way we forgive all those who trespass against us. We ask for more of the Father’s Spirit, which He put into the Son, to come daily. We are asking for the truth we already know in our mind, our heaven, to manifest in our earth, which is our body and walk. Paul says to pray without ceasing, as this hastens the coming of the Lord to our inward parts with the power to save us.
Understanding what tempts us, how temptation works, and how to overcome our temptations, through God’s power, is essential. Let’s cover key topics related to common temptations we face.
Who is the Tempter?
Satan is the tempter. The carnal mind is the tempter, and this spirit lives in all flesh until the work of God is completed. The tempter comes to all of us and is used of God to work righteousness in us and prove our faith. The first test was in the Garden of Eden when Eve was deceived by the serpent when the commandments of God were questioned.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
All temptation is temptation to sin and break the Lord’s commandments. The devil tempted the Lord, and for this reason, this spirit was created by the Father of all spirits.
Mar 1:13 And Christ was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
The devil is the instrument of God’s creation and is used to work salvation in us by tempting us and causing us to err from the way.
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
The Lord sends Satan to try Job [YOU], accusing Job before God. Satan walks up and down on everyone’s earth, looking for weakness to tempt us to sin against the Lord.
Job 2:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan is sent to tempt us and thereby prove our faithfulness to the Lord’s Word. Peter warns us to remain vigilant because Satan is always around the corner, even if we are not aware. This is why we are to remain steadfast in the faith, always looking to the commandments, as opportune times often come in the carnal world in which we live.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Satan, also known as the devil and is the father of all that are carnally minded. This spirit is the carnal mind and easily provokes us so that an accusation can then be made. We battle the tempter daily in our own minds and our walk in the world, and dialogue with the people of Israel. We see this in all the interactions with the Pharisees, who were tempting Christ but who never sinned or acted on the temptation. How we answer is always with the commandments.
Luk 11:53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
Luk 11:54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him
Luk 20:23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? [We are Christ in the world]
The devil is a murderer [a hater in spirit] and is called the father of all lies. Those who walk by the flesh, having not the Spirit, cannot hear the words of truth as they are bound to the father of all lies, as Christ tells them.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
All the lusts of our flesh are lusts of the devil. The reason Christ comes to us is to destroy the works of the devil. All of our sin comes from the spirit of Satan that is in carnal flesh.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God [the living commandments] was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Satan is also known as the father of death because to be carnally minded, having that mindset IS DEATH [Romans 8:6].
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Only through the living commandments, the Gospel, which is Christ, are we set free from this bondage and saved in our appointed time. This spirit of Satan loves to accuse the brethren. Salvation begins when this spirit is cast out of our heaven, and we no longer walk by the spirit of the carnal mind. We are freed from that bondage, the grip that sin has on our lives. The power of the Gospel, the commands have come to us.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
God Tempts Nobody to Sin
Christ is not leading us into temptation to sin. Christ, the living commandments, the Gospel, now lives in our hearts, and this Word sits on the throne of the heart. The Spirit of Christ does not tempt anyone to sin, so we cannot blame the Lord.
Gal 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
We are tempted by our own lusts to do evil. James correctly states that the Lord, meaning the Holy Spirit living within us, tempts nobody to sin. We are tempted when we are led away from the commandments and do not look upon them. The lusts [the carnal thoughts in man] are the spirit of satan in our flesh and what tempts us to sin. Embracing the commandments is the only way out.
Jas 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:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren
John says the same but differently. When we stand in Christ, meaning the living commandments that are the Word, we cannot sin. Whatever is born of God cannot sin. Thus, the true litmus test for who is born of God can be determined by looking at the fruit of our walk. If we continue in sin, we are not walking in the Spirit, and remain children of the devil, being led by our lusts [our father the devil]. We need to pray for more bread and more rain.
Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Our instructions are always consistent, and there is no variability in how we walk or the consequences of straying. Paul agrees and attests.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit [the living commandments], and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit [the commands], ye are not under the law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The Lord, the living Word, does tempt us, but His temptation is for us to do good or obey Him, not to disobey. These are also known as trials of our faith, which is different than temptations to do evil brought by Satan. The Lord is proving to see if we are faithful to the commandments.
The biggest trial our faith is being asked to lay down the newborn life within us, after the commandments come by becoming a living sacrifice. This was the trial of faith given to Abraham in the shadow of the Old Testament.
Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Proving our faith and having us do good is what the Lord does. Satan proves our faith by tempting us to do evil. Both types are the trials of our faith that work together for the greater good of salvation.
Trials and Temptations are Teaching Us:
The temptations that test our faith are how we are taught the fear of the Lord, and our heavenly Father chastens and scourges us [Heb 12:6] when we disobey the commandments. The chastening is needed to learn how to do righteousness and be holy in all of our behavior. It is the giving of the commandments to one another and Israel that we need to hear so that we sin not.
Exo 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
One cannot enter the promised land until we are tried and proven, falling down seven times and are fed the true manna from heaven, the living commandments. The Scriptures must be fulfilled as we live by every Word. All our successes and our failures have already been written. All things are indeed ours to fulfill on the journey.
Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
We tarry with the Body prepared for us until the power of the living commandments comes. It will come; we need to wait for it. Waiting and long-suffering with one another is teaching us patience. But believe the Lord and His promise to bring us the indwelling power unto salvation.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
We rejoice in this gift, but know the road gets harder as the day of the great tribulation has come. The more we pass the many temptations, the more Jesus Christ is revealed in us until His work is finished and we are saved from our sins.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Those with the Spirit of God in them are in a war against the tempter and his many lying spirits that come to tempt us into sinning [straying from the commandments]. We can do all things through Christ, by standing in the power of the commandments. This is how every battle [temptation] is won and eventually total victory in the war as the salvation of our souls comes.
Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. [The commandments are the power]
Our Disobedience Tempts the Lord:
We tempt Christ when we disobey the Lord. He is a jealous God. All the lessons of Israel dying in the wilderness and being struck with many plagues are there for our admonition to remind us to walk in obedience, to walk in the faith of the commandments. When we tempt the Lord by disobeying, He sends more of the things we don’t need to turn our hearts back to the commandments. He sends more serpents, even more temptations to put us in bondage, so our hearts are turned back to the commandments.
1Co 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1Co 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Our disobedience tempts the Lord to chasten and scourge us so we may learn how to obey His commandments. Here is the message in the shadow of the Old Testament.
Deu 6:14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deu 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deu 6:17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
Our willful disobedience, knowing to do right and still not doing it, brings the most severe punishment to turn us back to Him. Having received the Gospel, the ante is raised for our disobedience.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
We quickly learn not to tempt our Lord when judgment has fallen on us.
Resisting Temptations and Getting the Victory
When we are tempted, we follow the example of Christ, who resisted the temptations of the devil, always by answering with the commandments.
1 – Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
2 – Luk 4:8 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.
3 – Luk 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
When we resist the devil by answering the temptation with the commandments, the devil flees after a little while. We win the battle but have not yet won the war, so we fight on.
Luk 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
James gives a second witness to the path to victory. We submit to the commandments, resist the devil, and he flees from us.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
When we look to the living commandments that dwell in our hearts, which are testified in the Scriptures, we overcome our sin. Jesus Christ, the Living Word, is the high priest sitting on His throne in our heart. It is to Him, the very image of the Father, who is the Holy Commandments, that we are finding both the mercy and the grace that save.
Heb 4:14 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.
Heb 4:15 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.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Mercy is the opening of spiritual eyes to see the commandment and the instructions unto godliness. The grace is the chastening by our Lord to learn to obey them. When we follow the Spirit, the angel living within us, we are kept in the way of life. We are to take heed and follow the commandments. If we do that, our inward adversary, the devil, is no match for the power of the Holy Spirit working mightily within us. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. The devil is cut off from our promised land.
Exo 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
The way of overcoming is always the same; it is spoken of in many different words, symbols, and parables. It is the mystery of the Gospel, now being revealed. When we are tempted by our lusts, which are the lust of the devil, those thoughts, the fiery serpents come out and bite and devour us. The plague of serpents is stayed by our lifting up the commandments, the living Christ, and looking to them. When we do this, we overcome and enter into eternal life.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him [the Gospel] should not perish, but have eternal life.
Disciples of Jesus Christ are given the power through the Gospel. With the indwelling Spirit of commandments, we are given power over all of Satan’s army of liars through these commandments. We rejoice knowing we are the beloved of God, a blessing and honor given to precious few.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power [the Gospel] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
The end of the devil in our life happens in the lake of fire, which is also the second death. This death of death is the last enemy to be destroyed.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
When the tempter, the devil, is no more, death is swallowed up in the victory that is Jesus Christ, the living and abiding Word of God.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
These many trials of our faith and the resulting scourging when we miss the mark are more precious than gold because they create the rare gold of Ophir within the temple of God, which temple we are. As our obedience is proven, the temple walls are lined with this gold from which the shadow of the true temple [Solomon’s temple – 1Ch 29:4] was built. This is the true riches of God, not the knowledge. We earn this gold only by these heavy trials of our faith that include being tempted by the devil to sin. Without this gold, we remain poor, naked, and blind.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Final Exhortation:
We learn to be content with our pay, the wages, the commandments the Lord gives us. The pursuit of tongues and more prophecies ends as we grow into this understanding of the Gospel. Godliness with contentment is great gain, and the pursuit of more spiritual riches becomes a temptation and snare, versus just doing the commandments.
1Ti 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
The time of our salvation is now. We are to watch, look to the commandments, and pray the Lord’s prayer daily. We only have the earnest deposit of the power now and still abide in weak flesh.
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Once we have received the power of the Gospel, we always have a way of escape. Our escape is to access the living commandments that is the throne of mercy and grace. That is where we go to escape the temptation.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer 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.
We shall overcome and hasten that day as we earnestly look to the Lord and the power He is bringing to save us from our sin.
