Temptation Part One

WE ALL SHARE THE SAME KINDS OF TEMPTATION

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure (1 Corinthians 10:12).

THERE IS NO ONE TEMPTED WHO DIDN'T WANT TO BE TEMPTED (UNKNOWN)

Too much credit for temptation goes to Satan. Indeed, he does have something to do with temptation, but as we see in James 1, we are tempted when our own desires lead us astray. Satan may add to or feed temptation, he may even introduce something new into our temptations; but he always works with one main ingredient - human desire.

JUSTIFYING WHAT IS WRONG

For Eve to eat what was forbidden, she needed to justify what she was doing. This is huge in understanding temptation. People don't usually run out and do wrong without some sort of excuse, justifying what is wrong. Eve found the excuses she needed.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6 ESV).

1. She saw it was good (not bad as she was told).
2. It looked good (businesses know that to sell a product, it is extremely important that the package looks good).
3. Eating from the illegal tree had a huge benefit - it would give Eve the knowledge of a world she knew nothing about - knowledge of and experience in the world of evil.

These were some of the attractions she saw that sold the product. The main justification however, was offered to her by the tempter who explained why God didn't want her to have something so good. God was covering up the truth that if Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they would become like gods, knowing good and evil. And that was in part true. When Adam and Eve did partake in evil, not only did they become wiser, knowing good and evil; but as God himself confessed, "They (literally ha-adam, meaning the man or adam, which was the word used for humankind or Adam or man) have become like us, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:22)."

So the tempter offered enough truth in the overall lie, to convince Eve that disobeying God was the right thing to do.

And now back to the point of this section. Temptation leads us into areas that are wrong, but areas that we desire. Justifications of different types are needed and used to get us to chomp into the bait.

In counselling, a wife tells me that her husband has been ignoring her (justification) and therefore falls into an affair with a nicer guy (desire). A 14 year old burns illegal music he desires onto his hard drive, because the record companies and the bands make so much money (justification).

Some common justifications:
1. God wants me happy.
2. They won't miss....
3. God didn't mean....
4. I deserve....
5. Everybody else is doing it....
6. Its the smart thing to do....

SOMETIMES YOU NEED A FRIEND TO SIN

There are some things you would never do unless a good friend pulled you into it. Take Adam, for example. He waited until Eve ate and then he ate after he saw that she didn't die. In the end, he also was able to blame her for his own sin. The story suggests that Adam would not have sinned if somebody else was not there to lead him into it. It was his excuse.

WHEN YOU ARE CAUGHT, BLAME OTHERS

Blaming others is a common way to escape self-condemnation or guilt for sinning against God or others. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve and God as well, "She gave it to me...that woman you gave me." In the end all but God were guilty.

The story of the Fall of Humanity is amazingly accurate for all of us. Notice how every time you are tempted those dynamics repeat themselves. You are attracted to something and then you start making excuses why that something would be good, or right, or the only choice you have.

DOUBT

Some of Jesus biggest temptations were in the area of doubt. When the tempter came to him, he prefaced everything with "If you are the Son of God...." Along with desire and justification is doubt. The types of questions that come with doubt are:
1. Did God really say...?
2. Does the Bible really mean...?
3. God didn't mean that....

CONCLUSION

Three major dynamics of temptation are desire, justifications and doubt. All three of these ingredients were in the main temptation stories of the Bible; in the temptation of Eve, Israel in the desert, and Jesus' temptation. They are also in the temptations that we face.