Resist Temptation
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will
also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
Temptation comes to us in many ways and in many forms. Throughout the scriptures there is example after example of people carried away by sexual temptation. People who were not willing to take the way of escape God had provided them. They only saw the short term selfish pleasure laid out in front of them. Temptation can seem overwhelming at times, but remember our Lord faced it time and again with victory. Temptation never takes the first no for an answer, it continues to press us. Because of its continuous pressure we feel that we can not resist it. That the temptation we are pressed by is somehow greater than anyone else’s. The scripture says that our temptation is no greater or less than what the rest of the world faces. If you want to know what is wrong in the world look into your own heart, because we all face the same temptations. It has to be that way, God does not grade on a curve.
Why can we not bear the temptations that come at us? Why do we not see the way of escape that God has provided? Because for many of us escape is not what we are looking for, we are looking to fall. We have fallen so many times in our lives; we only know failure. We have lived defeated lives for so long and all we see around us is other defeated lives that we do not know what living victorious lives is. Temptation to us seem insurmountable and for some of us it is, but there is one who has already overcome the tempter. That one is Jesus Christ. If you want to resist temptation and live victorious lives, leave everything at the cross. Leave all your lusts and sinful thoughts at the cross of His holiness. There is freedom at the cross. The freedom at the cross is death. “If we are dead to sin how can we continue to sin”, the Apostle Paul asks?[1]
Many of us do not stay dead to sin. It is like when we were kids and we would play shoot ‘em up games, there were always the kids who would get shot and not want to stay dead. Remember you would have to stay dead for sometime or until the next game, but there was always someone who could not wait. Well unfortunately, there are many people who refuse to stay dead to sin; they have feet that are quick to sin. The psalmist says that feet that are quick to run to sin are one of the things that God hates.[2] He hates it because it shows a lack a faith in Him. You do not give God the opportunity to remove the temptation. For some it is not the lack of faith that God can overcome the temptation, it is that they do not want Him to.
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7
The scripture tells us that the way we resist the devil is by submitting to God. The way the Lord resisted the tempter was through the Word of God. He did not try to use His common sense, He immediately submitted to God. If we want victory over not just the temptation of fornication, but any temptation we need to submit to God. We need to submit our thoughts, our desires, and our wills to His perfect plan for us. If we submit to God the devil will flee. The devil flees not because of us or our power, but because of God. All creatures are subject to God. In God is our victory. We live victoriously through His Son who died for our sinfulness. By submitting to the Father we will find the temptations lose their frequency and their power. The reason temptations appear so overpowering is because we have not resisted them, we have no knowledge or experience for overcoming them. God allows us temptation for His glory, through our submission to Him. We glorify the living God by submitting to His divine power to overcome, not by relying on our wisdom. Remember Eve when she was tempted by Satan in the garden, she tried to outsmart the serpent with her own wisdom. That did not work out to good for her or Adam. If she had submitted to God, God would have defeated the serpent again. Temptation overcomes us by counting on our pride; it tells us you do not need to call on God for this. You can rely on your own wisdom to defeat it. When have you ever through your own wisdom and power defeated temptation? Surrender to God and win.
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