LESSON #2
How To Handle Temptation
James 1:13-16
James has a goal of producing spiritual maturity in the life of his readers. A spiritually mature person understands the purpose of trials (Review Lesson #1). Trials come from God to help us. In the next section, James turns his attention toward temptations. His point is that a mature Christian also knows how to handle temptation. Do you know the difference between a trial and a temptation? A trial is a difficulty that comes from God for the purpose of making us strong. A temptation is an evil that comes from Satan for the purpose of making us sin. For example, after Abraham left Ur, a famine came to the land in which he was traveling, Genesis 12:10. This was a trial from God. Would Abraham trust God? The thought of going to Egypt was a temptation from Satan. This decision led to lies (Genesis 12:11-13) and the disgrace of being asked to leave Egypt (Genesis 12:19-20).
We must learn to distinguish between trials and temptations. We must learn not to allow a trial from God to be turned into a temptation from Satan. In overcoming temptation there are two important facts to consider.
The Source Of Temptation, 1:13-14.
Temptation is universal. According to verse 14. "every man is tempted." Temptation is not a matter of "if" but of "when" (v. 13). It is not a sin to be tempted. It is natural. Satan knows how to tempt us. He knows our weaknesses and areas of vulnerability. You cannot keep from being tempted, but you can resist the temptation! You can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you don't have to let them build a nest in your hair! A mother heard her little boy getting in the cookie jar. "What are you doing in there?" she called from another room. "I'm fighting temptation!" came the answer. The problem is that we often place ourselves in the place of temptation.
Who is responsible for our temptation? Is God? Many blame God for their sin. When the homosexual says, "I can't help it if I am a homosexual; God made me this way" he is blaming God and failing to take any personal responsibility for the sin. When Adam said to God, "The woman that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12), he was not just blaming Eve for his sin. He was actually blaming God. "You are the one who gave her to me, so it's your fault that I sinned." But our text tells us that God is never the source of temptation, v. 13. Just as it is impossible for God to sin ("God cannot be tempted") so it is impossible for God to tempt us to sin ("never tempteth he any man"). Sin did not originate with God. To say that God is responsible for sin is to attack His very holiness. Hab 1:13 says "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity..." God is absolutely holy and is, in no way, responsible for either our temptation or our sin.
If God isn't the source, who then is responsible for temptation? Verse 14 has the answer. There are two primary sources of temptation. First, temptation comes from within. We are "drawn away of (our) own lust." The word "lust" means "a longing for that which is forbidden." Who is responsible for my temptation? I am! For I have a longing from within of that which is forbidden by God. Finally, temptation also comes from without. We are also "enticed." This is the word that you would use to describe baiting a hook to catch a fish or setting a trap to capture an animal. Satan appeals to and provides some opportunity for us to seek to satisfy our lust.
The first key to overcoming temptation is understanding the source of temptation. God is in no way responsible for our sin. Satan has enticed us in an area where we have a longing for that which God has forbidden.
The Course Of Temptation, 1:15-16.
We tend to view sin as a momentary act. God sees sin as a four-step process. What is the course of sin? First, there is desire - "when lust hath conceived." Sin begins on an emotional level. We want something apart from God's will and word. Then there is deception. Sin continues on an intellectual level. Our mind is deceived. We have already seen the words "drawn away" and "enticed" in verse 14. Verse 16 uses the word "err." This word means to be seduced or deceived. Satan is a liar and a deceiver. He does not tell us the truth about sin and its consequences. Just as he lied to Eve, he lies to us and deceives us into sin.
Desire, deception and then comes disobedience, "it bringeth forth sin." Sin may not be a very popular word right now, but it is a truth to be reckoned with. At this point, sin is on the level of our will or volition. We choose to disobey God. Finally, there is death, "sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death." There is more than one kind of death. There is physical death which comes from sin, see I John 5:16; James 5:20. There is also spiritual death that was the result of sin, see Genesis 2:17; Ephesians 2:1 Finally, there is eternal death in hell, see Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14.
The language of these words is vivid as it describes the process of sin like the process of birth. When lust conceives, it gives birth to (brings forth) sin, and sin gives birth to death. Lust is the mother of sin and the grandmother of death. This is Satan's LSD - Lust, Sin, Death. This is the course of temptation.
The point is then that resisting temptation begins by preventing lust and deception. We must guard our hearts and minds, 2 Cor 10:5-6 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience..." We must protect ourselves from being in the place where we are tempted. Jesus said, (Matthew 26:41-42) "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak." Resisting temptation is acknowledging the weakness of our flesh. It is being alert ("watching") to possibility of desire and deception. It is staying in constant communication with God ("pray").
"Do not err, my beloved brethren."