Overcoming Temptation, Part I
From James 1:13-18 and our own experience, we know that when life is difficult, it is a powerful temptation to want to give up. The audience to which James wrote included people who were driven from Rome by Nero after a fire broke out in the city destroying a significant portion of the city. Nero blamed the fire on Christians and encouraged persecution against them making them leave Rome and scatter to the outlying provinces and areas of the empire. It is a rather strong suggestion that Nero set the fire so that he could reengineer the areas more to his liking. These believers faced temptation to quit worship, to quit fellowship, and to quit gathering. So, James told us that everyone faces the temptation to quit by saying, “when you face temptation.”
James also said that all of us want to find a way to shift the blame for our sins to someone else. In the Garden of Eden, Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve, and Adam even blamed God! James told his audience that no one can ever truthfully say that God has tempted them into sinning. Like those who suggest that God was to blame for putting the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden in the first place and that Adam and Eve received a raw deal, we tend to want to find some way to shift the responsibility on to someone else’s shoulders for our sins. This will not do because God does not tempt anyone to sin. God does allow trials, which come from the same word in Greek, but the trials God gives allow us to succeed through Him and are meant to edify, sanctify, and strengthen. The temptation to give up does not come from Him.
So, how do we overcome this temptation? James tells us two ways to resist and overcome this temptation without blaming anyone else including God. First, we must know how temptation works its way into sin. Second, we are to remember God’s character and provision when faced with this temptation.
Following this passage, we see that first, temptation messes up our mind. This was how Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, “Did God really say?” Temptation takes advantage of a situation in which we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT) and uses this to bring us a temptation and immediately goes to work on our mind to try to get us to believe we need to do or have what it wants us to do or has.
Next, it entices our emotions. “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and entices by his own lust. Messing up our minds, it then moves on to use the latent lust that is already part of our nature and makes us want to give up and gives us some good reasons to turn our backs on God to pursue whatever it is He has told us to think, do, or say.
Having messed up our mind and having enticed our emotion, the temptation next moves to work into our will. It attempts to cause us to think we cannot not have the object of the temptation. This can work its way out in causing us to begin to think the temptation is a must and that we want it and, “Then when lust conceives, it gives birth to sin.” (verse 15a) It quickly moves to retrograde our resistance by causing us to ignore the warning signs and, “…when sin is accomplished,”. Lastly, the sin boldly births bad behavior that kills. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) So, we know the enemy and how he works. James gave us the second strategy by teaching us to remember God’s character and His provision. James tells us to remember that God is good. He only gives good gifts. When He allows a trial, He has a reason and will use it for our good. Even the act of giving is part of His character. All that we have has come from Him. The enemy wants to tell us that we need something else, but God has given us all we need for life and happiness. (Ephesians 1:3) If it not enough to remember God’s character, or if the enemy has fogged God’s character in our eyes by his lies, we can remember God’s provision. How could we think that God is not good when He sent His only begotten Son to live our righteousness, die in our place, be buried, and raise again on the third day for our victory over sin, hell, death, Satan, and the grave! So, if COVID has pulled you away from church, if someone has hurt your feelings and you don’t want to return, or you have had some other bad experience with Christians, don’t let that tempt you to give up on your faith because Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Recognize what the enemy is doing to you through temptation, repent, and return to God. He is there all along and will never disown you. He loves you that much. could say, “It is finished.”
Scripture compares earthly life to a vapor that appears for a little while and then it disappears. James 4: 14 says; “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
However, eternal life never ends. It’s foolish to spend your life on a vapor when you can reap everlasting benefits by following God’s will for your time here.