A Word about How to Deal with Temptation

 

Today I want to share a word about how deal with temptation as I comment on James 1:12-25. Let’s begin by reading verses 12-17:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  

We have all heard it said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. In truth, however, there is a third: temptation.

We all will face temptation. We know that Jesus was tempted by Satan, and some of us will remember former President Jimmy Carter’s admission in his infamous Playboy magazine interview that he also, had faced temptation. Because we all will face temptation, we all need to know how to handle it if we are to reach our potential in Christ.

First, we need to understand the source of our temptation. Modern medicine provides for two basic methods for dealing with illness: we either treat the cause or we treat the symptoms. The most effective way is to treat the cause.

So how do you find the cause of an illness? You must find its origin, or the agent of the sickness. The term malaria came from the idea that people became sick because of “bad air.” It was only when Dr Walter Reed was able to confirm the theory of Cuban Dr. Carlos Finlay that mosquitos spread diseases like yellow fever that the true cause of malaria would be discovered.

So, what is the source of our temptation? It isn’t God for God only gives us good things. It also isn’t because, as the comedian Flip Wilson claimed, “The Devil made me do it.” No! It is our own evil that tempts us and because it is evil, we must resist it!

We also need to understand the development of temptation. Why people do evil has puzzled humanity for centuries. Many theories have been advanced during that time, but the best was probably articulated by Dr. David Matza in his book, “Delinquency and Drift.” His theory is that few, if any, people set out to be delinquents, but they just drift into deviance.

This is essentially what James says. An evil idea or impulse or emotion enters our lives. We consider it and ruminate on it. We may reject it at first, but longer we entertain the idea of it, the more it becomes a real possibility. 

Then we taste sin, and it is bittersweet. Sin is an acquired taste, but the more we taste is, the more we come to like it, even though the result of its aftertaste remains bitter. Then, like the potato chip commercial, we can’t eat just one, and we indulge ourselves.

Like the proverbial frog in the kettle that does not realize that the water is gradually getting hotter until it is too late to escape being boiled, we gradually talk ourselves into experiencing hell on earth through our sin. Sin is an example of the saying “give them an inch they’ll take a mile.” If we give sin an inch, it will take our entire lives.

Next, we need to understand the result of temptation. This result is a two-sided coin. There is the result if we yield to sin, and the result if we don’t yield to it.

The result if we yield to sin is not a good one. If fact, our sin produces death:

• Spiritual death
• Physical death
• Emotional death
• Social death

The result if we don’t yield to sin is many, many time better. If we don’t yield to sin we will have life:

• Spiritual life
• Physical life
• Emotional life
• Social life

How we deal with sin is truly “a life-or-death situation!”

Let’s continue in James 1 by reading verses 18-25:

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  

Finally, we need to understand how to withstand temptation. The best way to do this is to be proactive instead of being reactive. The saying that “the best defense is a good offense” definitely applies in withstanding temptation. James gave us three easy to understand steps to withstanding temptation.

The first essential step is to become a child of God through Jesus Christ. We must accept His as our Savior and Lord, and receive forgiveness for our sins as well as the filling of the Holy Spirit. Without being a child of God we have no access to the power of God, and without His power we cannot withstand temptation.

The second essential step is to study the Word of God. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path and it guides us in the ways of righteousness. Remember, when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, he replied each time with Scripture. The Word is the Sword of the Spirit, and it is our only real offensive weapon as we put on the Whole Armor of God.

The third essential step is to be about our Father’s business. We need to fill our lives with being laborers together with God, and if we do so, we will have no time for sinning. In verse 27, James even gives us some suggested ministries we can pursue, saying,

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

In conclusion, we might not be able to avoid death and taxes, but, if we follow the guidance of pastor James, we can avoid the corrosive impact of sin on our lives.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today! I'll be back soon with another word from the Bible can share together.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt