Deliverance Ministries Household of Faith
Victory Over Temptation
Posted by: Apostle Jacob Ballard III on Mon, Jan 17, 2011
You Can Overcome Temptation
Victory Over Temptation
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:13
I. How Is Temptation Presented in the New Testament?
A. The word in Greek is a putting to proof (by experiment [of good], experience [of evil], solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication adversity: - temptation, try “to tempt,” is used with the following meanings.
1. To try, to prove in a good sense (John 6:6; 2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 11:17) or a bad sense (Matt. 16:1; 22:18, 35; 1 Cor. 10:9).
2. To tempt by soliciting to sin (Matt. 4:1; 1 Thess. 3:5; James 1:13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:, 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
a) In this sense we have Satan called “the tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5). Satan tries to prove one has been evil.
(1) Satan has a particular interest in discrediting believers.
(2) He tries to entangle us in sin, and thereby prove us to be sinful. His temptation, if not resisted, causes us to do that which we know is contrary to God’s will.
b) Satan’s temptation is always for the purpose of causing us to fail.
(1) He wants to confuse believers and cause them to stumble; if we mistakenly believe that salvation leads to sinlessness, this will prove to us that we are not what we believe God made us to be.
(2) Satan further intends that any failures on our part will lead us to think that God is powerless to meet our needs. He desires us to forget that any failure comes from our refusal to meet God’s conditions, and not from any limitation on God’s part.
3. Temptation is said to be initiated by God in several Scriptures. This is temptation in the sense of testing, perfecting and developing you. This is not the same as what the devil do, “make no mistake about it.
a) God uses testing to prove what He made us to be and to give us the satisfaction of victory. When God tempts us, it is for the purpose of proving us in order to promote us.
b) This use of temptation is equivalent to testing a child–it is not for the purpose of failing him, but for the purpose of preparing him to receive more advanced knowledge.
B. Why did the Lord teach us to pray that God would not lead us into temptation?
1. The word for “lead” is a putting to proof (by experiment [of good], experience [of evil], solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication adversity: - temptation, try.meaning “bring us into.” In other words we should pray, “Do not lead us into a path which will allow us to be tempted by the devil.”
2. It is an acknowledgment of our weakness in handling Satan. Jesus knows that we are better off resisting the devil so that he will flee from us (James 4:7). When it comes to Satan we must humbly confess we cannot handle him on our own.
C. But how can we account for the statements in James 1:12-15?
1. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation” (James 1:12).
a) “Blessed” is a prolonged form of the poetical makar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension fortunate, well off : blessed, happy.which means “indwelt by God, and because of it, fully satisfied.” A person “blessed” in this sense will not be overcome by any testing which God permits or directs. Such testing for them leads to demonstrating that they are approved before God.
b) This is “testing in the positive sense.” The second part of the verse makes it clear: “For when he [the blessed person] is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.”
2. God does not tempt us to cause us to sin. Only Satan or our lustful desires do that. Hence the statement:
a) “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” (James 1:13)
b) God does not tempt (test) us to give us an opportunity to sin, but to give us an opportunity to show ourselves approved. Our human nature causes us to misunderstand God’s purposes in the circumstances He permits us to go through.
II. What Is the Temptation “Common to Man” (1 Cor. 10:13)?
A. James acknowledged that temptation to sin springs from within our human nature (James 1:14).
B. Paul acknowledges that temptation which may result in sin may also be due to temptations surrounding us. That is the temptation “common to man” and “human, pertaining to man.” As long as we are human beings living in an unredeemed creation (Rom. 8:19-23), we shall experience human temptations.
C. Such temptations pursue us.
1. We should not pursue them.
2. We must not flirt with temptation.
3. The verb “hath taken,” in Greek, is the active voice “to take, to reach us and take hold of us.” This means that temptation is in pursuit of the saint who is on the move for God.
D. Such temptation pertaining to our humanity is never beyond our strength to bear and overcome. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength.
E. God is faithful, “dependable.” He will give us the strength to overcome. We cannot do it on our own.
F. Such temptations are not caused by God directly, but they are part and parcel of our temptable yet unredeemed bodies and the unredeemed creation. They are the result of Adam’s sin, and yet God promises victory as we experience the temptations of our fallen humanity.
G. He promises “a way of escape.” The Greek word which occurs only here in 1 Corinthians 10:13and Hebrews 13:7. It is derived from the preposition “out of” and “to go, proceed.” It refers to what is to come out of a certain situation. It actually does not mean a way of escape, if by that we are to understand it as merely getting out of the situation, but rather it means that something is going to come out of it, that God in His faithful dependability is going to enrich our experience by any situation that tempts us. God never permits anything in our lives without a purposeful end (Rom. 8:28). By desiring and looking for that which of God that is in the Kingdom Matt.6:23
H. Knowing this makes every temptation involved in our humanity bearable as the last phrase states: “that ye may be able to bear it.” I Cor. 10:13.
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