By Staff
Why can't we get past doing the stuff that hurts others, makes us feel guilty, and disrupts our lives? We blame the culture and the constant negative stimuli that resonate in us to the point of disgust.
If somehow we could get everybody else to stop exposing us to wrong stuff, we could live in peace and serenity. Fact is, put us on a desert island with no external stimuli and no other people, and we would still struggle with the same things. It is the human condition.
In the New Testament epistle of James, we read in chapter 1, verses 13-14, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed."
All of us come pre-packaged with fleshly desires. It is amazing how quickly and easily we fall into sin.
James continues in chapter 4, verses 1-2, "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members [body]? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask." Note that James is not talking to pagans; he is addressing the Hebrew Christians.
The human condition is fallen and corrupt. Temptation has it easy because we seem to be leaning its way.
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews exhorts us to live righteously in regard to the great crowd of those who have gone before us and now are our witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). He continues with, "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us."
We are easily snared by sin; easily! However, we are not helpless pawns without hope or the means to live in victory. It would be easy to give up and say those familiar words, "I can't help myself." God cares about us and has made every provision for our lives.
James, chapter 4, verses 1-4, tells us about all the lusts that fight within us (Christians), and verses 5 and 6 describe the battle. First of all, in verse 5, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously." The Holy Spirit who is the Helper works to convict us of sin, warn us of judgment, and to continually hold in our view the righteousness of Jesus Christ (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit indwells the Christian and works to make the Christian . . . Christian (i.e. Christ-like). But in verse 6 of James 4 is the rest of the story: "But He gives more grace"-grace provided to help us in times of temptation.
The grace mentioned in James 4:6 as "help" in this fight against temptation is elaborated on in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; 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." That is overwhelming, magnificent, marvelous grace!
We somehow believe that God would be most distant when we are struggling in temptation, but that's not true. God is willing to get His hands dirty, so to speak, to help us fight the most despicable battles. He watches, He sets the boundary of whatever comes against us, He fashions the escape route, and cheers us to make the choice to escape rather than be snared.
Temptation is … tempting, but we can never say, "I couldn't help it; it is not my fault." There needs to be some common sense on our part. We must not continually place ourselves in vulnerable situations, thinking that with God's help, we will escape unscathed. Repeated foolishness ends up in disaster.
God is on our side. The Holy Spirit yearns jealously for our holiness, and God pours grace into our lives at just the right time. We can resist temptation victoriously!