It is good to be with you again today. Thanks for joining us as we learn from God’s Word together. One of the first stories in the Bible is Adam and Eve being tempted in the garden. We also know Satan tempted Jesus before he began his public ministry. From these stories, we know that temptation has been around for a long time, and we also learn it doesn’t matter who you are; Satan wants all of us to sin.
This lesson and next week’s lesson are about temptation. Today, we focus on understanding it; next week, we will look at overcoming it. Turn to James 1 and join J Mark as he gives us three principles to help us understand temptation.
Today’s study is from James 1:12-16. In this section, James teaches us the proper understanding of temptation. He doesn’t say, “If you’re tempted.” He accepts temptation as a reality by saying, “When you’re tempted.” This is consistent with the rest of the Scripture.
While the principles in our text are not new, we need to be reminded of them. We quickly forget some basic facts about our relationship with the Lord. Today’s study will remind you of things you may have heard before, but they’re not as fresh in your mind as they should be. And when things get “fuzzy” in our memory, we quickly get distracted and led astray from the truth.
I’ve titled our study “Understanding Temptation.”
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 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.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Our text provides three PRINCIPLES that will help us in “Understanding Temptation.”
The First PRINCIPLE is,
God’s Design
To understand the reason for our temptations, we must realize that God has a design for them. It was within His power to put us in a “sin-free” environment. He could have programmed us always to choose the right thing, but He didn’t. He made us in His image: free, moral creatures with the ability to choose.
Since God did not put us into a perfect environment, what did He mean to accomplish in us through our temptations? Verse 12 answers that question in two parts.
First, James says that those who endure temptation are blessed because it will improve them. God uses the temptations to purify our lives. The word approved refers to how precious metals are heated to remove impurities. To help bring our talk and walk into alignment, God allows us to be tempted to see what’s inside. I assure you (most of the time) we won’t like what is revealed. We may even deny with our mouths what we know is true in our hearts.
Even Jesus went through this process of temptation. Immediately after His baptism, the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. But unlike us, He never yielded. He set an example for us and gave us hope. His perfection was validated in temptation; it was theoretical and actual.
The second thing God accomplishes through our temptations is to reward all who genuinely love him. Salvation is free, but rewards are something you earn. Rewards will be based on how well we’ve cooperated with Him in the purification process. When you stand before God to receive your reward, He wants to pronounce your reward publicly. He wants everyone to know you have earned your reward by His design and obedience to Him.
The process of purification is painful. The refining fire sometimes gets so hot that we want to escape the crucible. But if we stay there and wait on the Lord, He will not only purge away the dross from our lives but also give us an eternal reward in heaven.
James anticipates the next question. “If God uses our temptations to purify our lives, is He the source of those temptations?” The answer is an emphatic NO! God is the personification of absolute holiness and purity and will never tempt anyone to do evil. We cannot blame God for the temptations we face in life. He only takes the inevitable and uses it to show us the impossibility of our victory apart from Him. To truly understand our temptations, we must believe His design uses temptations and our responses to accomplish His work in our hearts.
The Second PRINCIPLE is,
Man’s Desire
If God is not the source of our temptations, what, or who, is? As a teenager, a slogan appeared on t-shirts and bumper stickers: “The devil made me do it.” But if we’re honest, we know the source of our temptation is our desires. Notice, I didn’t say sinful desires because our God-given desires are not sinful in themselves. They only become sinful when we misuse or fulfill them in ways God forbids.
My biggest struggle in my walk with the Lord is not with the devil; it’s with me! It’s the struggle to keep my desires under the control of God’s Holy Spirit. You are not alone if you find that true in your life. We’ve got some distinguished company. Paul said in I Corinthians 9:27, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest by any means when I have preached to others, I should be a castaway.”
There is a natural desire for forbidden things in our flesh. Verse 14 tells us that our desires bait us. That’s what you do to a fish when you put a lure or bait on the end of your line. That’s what you do when you put bait on the mouse trap. Similarly, our desires entice us.
We look at it, think about it, smell it, taste it, and don’t stop until it’s too late. Verse 15 lays out the process. James uses the analogy of human birth. When lust is conceived, there is a moment when a seed is planted in the mind. If that seed is not immediately rooted out, gestation begins. If the gestation process is not interrupted, the planted seed will become fully formed and will birth sinful actions. And sin, when fully consummated, will bring forth death: spiritual death, exclusion from God’s favor and presence. But the consequences that accompany sin also lead to disease and premature physical death.
We must accept responsibility for our choices. When we give an account before God of what we’ve done with the resources He’s entrusted to us, we won’t be able to blame anyone else for our wrong choices. We must admit that most failures result from our lack of self-control. Too often, we had no intention of limiting our desires and bringing them into subjection to God’s plan. Nor will we be able to blame God for giving us those desires.
Now, verse 14, “Wherefore my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” Ah, now we’ve hit the root, haven’t we? We often refuse to control our desires because we worship self! God has provided our victory in temptation, but we’re not interested. I must confess that I’ve found myself at that place too often. In my spirit, I want what God wants for me, and I’ll even verbalize that. But I also strongly desire to enjoy what I wish, to gratify myself. But Jesus said that none of us can serve two masters. And I know from experience that if I do not resist my selfish desires, they will eventually take me away from the Lord. That is a path I do not want to walk because it leads to destruction.
We cannot afford to ignore our desires’ subtle yet powerful forces. Only as we face our desires honestly and bring them under the control of God’s Holy Spirit can we truly understand this principle.
The Final PRINCIPLE is,
Satan’s Delight
Maybe you’re thinking, “Brother J. Mark, where do you see that principle?” Well, it’s right here at the end of verse fifteen and in verse sixteen. As mentioned in the previous point, sin changes our relationship with God. I did not say you lose your salvation as soon as you sin. However, I do not believe that once you’re saved, you can live a vile, sinful life and remain saved.
Whenever we sin, Satan is delighted. We show him by our lack of self-control that he can exploit our desires to bring us into bondage. He can arrange circumstances to exploit the weakness we’ve demonstrated.
He is also delighted because he can accuse us before the Father. “Hey, look at (put your name in there). Did you see what they did?” That’s what he did to Job; he accused him of selfishness. And to us, he says, “If you were really a follower of Jesus like you claim to be, you would never have done that. You’re a failure; you’re not good enough for God.” And we fall into the trap of self-condemnation instead of seeking repentance.
We must remember, too, that Satan will delight in the physical consequences of our sin. Satan hates our bodies because they are made in the image of God and because they are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Because of that, he will encourage us to engage in physically enjoyable yet harmful behavior. He wants to bring destruction and ruin to our physical bodies.
If we yield to the desires of our flesh and allow them to be gratified in ways God did not intend, we experience guilt. Guilt is a function of our spirit. The Holy Spirit is telling us we’ve violated His will. What is our response? Too often, we rationalize. “God, I know I shouldn’t have looked at pornography, but you know my wife isn’t well physically, and my needs aren’t being met.” Or “I know I shouldn’t have made that nasty remark about my brother, but you know I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.” Satan will encourage us to think that way. He is delighted when we make excuses and see ourselves as victims of our circumstances.
But James closes our text with a final warning, “Do not go astray, my beloved brothers.” Do not be deceived. Know how temptation works and how you can overcome it.
Now we know God’s design in allowing temptation. We understand how our desires, when uncontrolled, lead us into sin. And we know that Satan delights in seeing estrangement in our relationship with God. We have a better understanding of temptation. The question is, “Will our understanding of these principles make a difference in how we live?”
Thanks, J Mark, for these three principles to help us understand temptation. First, he said it is God’s design. J Mark and verse 13 made it very clear that God is not the source of our temptation. We must remember this. God may allow things in our lives, and of course, He knows it, but it does not originate from Him. God is good, always. Second was man’s desire. This is a big one: have you been controlling your desires? The fight against our desires is real and present. I encourage you not to quit. Quitting to fight in this battle is a sure way to lose. You can do it! God has given us all we need to be victorious as we fight our flesh. Lastly, J Mark explained Satan’s delight; it is so true, brothers and sisters: Satan does not care how we sin. He wants to trip us up however he can. We can learn a lot when we look at how he tempted Jesus; if he tempted Jesus, we, as followers of Jesus, should also expect to be tempted.
Thanks again for being with us today. If you have any questions or want to contact us, here is how to do so. Email is a great way to reach us. Our email is hope@heraldsofhope.org. You can also contact us on our website, heraldsofhope.org. We would love to hear from you. Please contact us however it is easiest for you.
As we discussed temptation, I was reminded of this precious promise in I Corinthians 10. This is His promise about the temptation you are facing. Be encouraged. “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.
