A temptation is not always linked with Sin. Jesus was brought into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted, but it was not to make him sin. There are three passages to consider in this lesson on Testing/Temptation.
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The Lord repeatedly reminded His disciples that temptation is a very real and a very great danger. He did not see temptation as a minor interruption or—as we sometimes do—as something enjoyable. He saw it as a threat to spiritual well-being. He warned in LUK 8:13 of the tremendous danger of temptation and challenged his disciples to be constantly alert to the things by which they were tempted.
Because of the great danger, Jesus saw temptation as a cause for disciplined prayer. His position was that the first step in facing and overcoming temptation is to anticipate temptation by constant prayer. In praying for deliverance from temptation, we are acknowledging that in our flesh we are powerless to resist, but that God is able and willing to deliver us (MAT 6:13, MAT 26:41; 2PE 2:9).
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. (1CO 10:13)
The Greek here literally says that all our temptations are "of the human kind." Any temptation we have is a human type of temptation. There are temptations that are beyond the human kind, but we are not going to be faced with them. The Lord Jesus Christ not only faced every human kind of temptation, but He also faced the superhuman kind (HEB 4:15; MAT 4:1-11).
However difficult our particular temptations may seem, they are no more difficult than anyone else's. We all have a tendency to think that no one has ever been tempted as greatly as we have or that no one has ever sinned as terribly as we have. But that is simply not true. All our temptations are typically human temptations.
In any case, no matter how difficult our temptations, God is faithful. This faithful God, who is perfect, designed a perfect plan for imperfect people. In eternity past, He anticipated every problem that would ever be and designed the solutions before the problems existed. And He set a limit on every temptation that we would ever face.
At this point the sovereignty of God enters the equation. While we are here on this earth, we are tempted from many directions—from the world, the flesh, the devil. But God, who is sovereign, still controls human history. He is able to keep all our temptation within the limit He set in eternity past. And that limit is given here: He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able.
Our temptations will be limited to things that we can handle. As we grow and gain strength, our temptations will become stronger and more intense. But they will never be beyond our level of growth or our ability to discern. "Able" is dunamai, the Greek word for inherent power. Every believer has the inherent power necessary to overcome the temptations he faces. "Temptation" is peirasmos, a word that indicates solicitation to evil, something that can never come from God. He will test faith, but He will never solicit to evil.
In our temptations, He will provide a way of escape never away from—but always through—the problem. He provides the way of escape so that we will be able to endure, from hupophero, which means "to bear by being under, bear up; to bear patiently." Endurance is the key in temptation and trial.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (JAM 1:2-4)
Why does God allow us to be tempted at all? James tells us. The word that dominates these three verses is the word "consider." The Greek hegeomai has a number of meanings including "to consider; to lead the way; to go before." Originally a mathematical term, it means to add up the facts, to weigh and compare the information at hand.
James says that when we find ourselves in testing situations, we need to take into consideration all the facts about that testing and then let joy lead the way through that temptation. What are the facts we need to weigh—that God is faithful to limit testing to our spiritual and physical abilities; that while not all things are good, God works everything together for good for those who love Him; that temptation is a trial of our faith allowed with a view toward reward; that in times of adversity and opposition we have the opportunity to advance more rapidly in the faith. If under testing we will stop and add up the facts that we know about who God is and why this is happening to us, then joy will lead the way through.
Jesus had to add up the facts as He faced the cross. HEB 12:1-3 says He considered the purpose of the cross and the results of the cross and when He did, He was able to endure the humiliation and the pain and even the judgment of the Father for the joy that He saw before Him.
We have the opportunity to add up the facts in a variety of trials. "Various" is poikilos, a word that means "multicolored." Satan offers temptations in colors that we like. He studies and analyzes us and brings just the things that are beautiful to our particular area of weakness in the sin nature.
When we face these different temptations in their lovely hues, we have to keep something in mind: there is a reason for it all. God is limiting this temptation, and it does have a divine purpose. The secret of letting joy lead the way is knowing what is happening. "Knowing" is the perfect form of oida, and it means that we have complete information on which to act. Oida is used for mature, complete understanding. We know that the testing of our faith produces endurance.
"Produce" is katergazomai. Ergazomai means "to work," kata means "according to a norm and standard." The testing of our faith is working—according to a norm and standard—endurance in us. The word translated "endurance" here is not the same word used in 1Cor 10:13. In that passage the word is hupophero, "to bear patiently." Here the word is hupomeno, "to abide under, to persevere. " It carries the idea of refusing to flee or recede, of enduring bravely and calmly. Hupomeno is persistence, tenacity, the ability to endure, to last. The only thing that will produce this in us is the testing of our faith.
When James talks in the first part of the verse about "various trials," the word he uses for "trials" is from peirasmos, which is almost always translated "temptation" (as in 1Cor 10:13). The word he uses for "testing," dokimazo, means "to put to the test for the purpose of approval." Both words refer to the same situation. When we are in a tempting situation, the temptation is coming from the source of our old sin nature backed by Satan and the cosmic system. But the test is coming from the Lord. The temptation is to sin, but the test is to exercise faith.
Because it is the testing of our faith that produces endurance, God permits us to be tempted. So we should "let endurance have its perfect result." The "perfect" result is from teleios, which means "brought to its end, finished; full-grown, adult." James is not talking about sinless perfection; he is talking about spiritual maturity.
This is how it works: As believers, we start moving forward in the Christian way of life, functioning in the realm of faith. Faith will run into testing. When we pass a test, we take a step upward to stronger faith. That faith will meet with a stronger form of testing. When we pass the next test, we come to a stronger form of faith. And that form is going to have a stronger and more subtle form of testing, and on and on. That is the rest of the Christian way of life. It is the testing of faith.
How does God test the faith? With our knowledge of doctrine, of His Word. The test proves not what we have written down in our notebooks, not how great is our intellect or our academic prowess. The test proves what we really know and understand and believe of the Word of God.
God is a good teacher. He gives us exactly the information we need, He lets us know that we are accountable for that information, and then He tests us on that information. He gives us the information in the Word, and that is why Bible class is so important, because the class we skip may be the one where God is giving the information we are going to need for a big test that week.
It is not unfair for God to allow the test to come to us on information that was covered in the class we skipped. If we did not show up, we did not get the information, but that is not God's fault. It is just like cutting class in school. We cannot blame the teacher when we fail a test because we cut class. The teacher can say with all honesty, "I gave the information, and you chose not to be there, or you were there but you were thinking about other things while the class was being taught." God can say the same thing. God makes teaching available; we will be tested. Whether we pass or fail is based on our ability to use the information that was available to us.
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1PE 1:6-7)
Peter, like James, reminds us that we will face multicolored tests and trials in life. The purpose for the tests is—as in James 1—related to the dokimazo, the testing or proof of our faith. God wants us to know how strong our faith is, so He is going to allow us to be tested to the limit so we can find out how we will respond.
In the ancient world a goldsmith would put gold in a vat. Underneath was a fire and as the heat from the fire melted the gold, it became molten metal. With the heat, the impurities would come to the top. The goldsmith would skim off and throw away all the alloy and the impurities, and he would turn up the heat.
When we start out in the Christian life, we are given baby heat. Impurities rise to the top, and they are skimmed off and thrown to the side. As we advance, our faith increases, and the heat is turned up. The hotter it gets, the more impurities will rise to the top.
What does this process do? It keeps us from thinking that we have "arrived," that we are as good as we can possibly be. God makes sure that things get hotter and hotter in our lives, because if they did not, then our impurities, our flaws, would not rise to the top to be cast off. And we might start thinking we are perfect believers. God does not want anyone thinking he has attained perfection. Paul makes that clear in PHI 3:12-14.
When things get so hot in our lives that we snap under the pressure and ugly comes out of us, we should be encouraged. That Is exactly what was supposed to happen. The whole purpose of the pressure is to show us our flaws so we can deal with them.
When the goldsmith could look down into the molten metal and see his face reflected, he knew that he had the pure gold he was working to produce. In God's plan, the goal is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. What will it take to work that in our lives? Heat. A lot of fire. We will have to pass a lot of tests and get rid of a lot of flaws and impurities. They all have to come to the surface and be dealt with one at a time. The Lord's desire—His purpose in the tests—is to one day be able to look down into our lives and see the reflection of His own face. With every test we pass, the reflection grows clearer.
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This material was originally a highlighted topic in "The Basics." Additional topics can be found here.
This material was originally a highlighted topic in "The Basics." Additional topics can be found here.
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