Satan Tempting Us and God Testing Us
For us Christians we often wonder what the difference between Satan tempting us and God testing us. So, what is the difference?
Temptation is a very powerful thing. Scripture says that mankind is in spiritual warfare and that enemies have power and skill to temp us. This is why the Bible warns us to flee temptation and not give Satan a foothold.
James 4; & says; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Ephesians 4: 27 states; “Neither give place to the devil.”
But often people do not stop to think about that and do not call on the Name of the Lord to keep them from temptation. Many people believe that when they come to know the Christ they will never encounter temptation, but when it comes they are unprepared and in conflict. Sometimes there is a yielding temptation that leads to discouragement and remorse. The devil tempts and God tests. The Bible says that God allows Satan to tempt us but God uses it as a test often to reveal how weak the flesh is. God does not want us to depend on our own strength to flee temptation; he wants us to depend totally and completely on Him.
Spiritual conflict is at work in the heart of every believer. It is true that the Christian possesses a new nature; but the old sin nature is still there and this is why it is vital to yield to the new nature which Christ dominates, and we can only do this by His power and by calling on His name.
Every believer should commit to memory this wonderful passage: “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.” 1 Corinthians 10: 13.
God’s judgement on the wilderness generation served as a cautionary tale for any Corinthian believer who thought he was strong enough to participate in pagan religious functions without compromise and to escape judgement at the ends of the world. Paul called the Corinthians to recognize their impending accountability before the Lord.