User blog:Jrandms/Temptation

If you study the Bible carefully you will see that each kind of temptation you experience has a specific response designed by God to defeat it.

Flesh: flee
The correct response for temptations of the flesh is to flee. You cannot win if you linger over things that appeal to it. That’s why Paul said in Rom 13:14 to make no “provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Instead of making provision (opportunity) for the flesh, Paul says to bring your physical desires under control by mortifying (put to death) your earthly members (Col 3:5-7) and the deeds they perform (Rom 8:13).

Use the references below to fill in the blanks with things you should flee. Who is an example this exact principle? ______________[v] (Gen 39:7-12)

Use the references to fill in the blanks with things you should crucify.

·      (Gal 5:24) _________ with the __________________________[vi]

·      (6:14) the __________ unto me, and ___[vii] unto the world

2Cor 4:10-12 gives the desired result. You bear in your body the “dying [crucifixion] of the Lord Jesus, that the lifealso of Jesus might be made manifest in your body. For we which live are alway[s] delivered unto death [mortification] for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

Devil: (stand) fast
When Paul detailed the Christian’s spiritual warfare in Eph 6:10-20 he made it clear you can't defeat the deviland his forces (vss. 10-12) on your own since he is more powerful and mighty than you (2Pet 2:11). (Tomorrow you will study the spiritual forces you wrestle with.) That’s why he said in vss. 11 and 13 to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to _________[viii] (vss. 11, 13-14) against the wiles of the devil.

The Greek word for “wiles” (methodeias, e.g. methods) is used only here and in 4:14 (“lie in wait”) in the N.T. To “lie in wait” was a ‘method’ used for:

·      kidnapping (Jdg 21:20-23): 2Tim 2:26 shows how the devil does this spiritually, “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” Heb 2:15 records the snare, “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

·      premeditated murder (Deut 19:11, Acts 23:21)

·      military conquest (Joshua 8:4, 9:32)

But the common thread in these ‘methods’ is deception (Eph 4:14). The devil is a ‘wily coyote’ who uses every trick in the book to deceive mankind as shown by his first ‘attack’ in the Bible (Gen 3:1), “Now the serpent was more ___________[ix] ''than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?''”

Finally, your ability to stand against the devil depends on your faith (2Cor 1:24). Then and only then can you resistthe devil, causing HIM to flee (Jms 4:7).

World: overcome
The third source of temptation is the world. 1Jn 5:4-5 says Christians (whoever is born of God) are able to ____________[x] the world because of their faith (just like you saw in the previous section). But this is not worldly faith (‘faith in faith,’ the power of positive thinking, etc.). Rather, it is godly faith which believes Jesus is the Son of God. 1Jn 4:4 reminds you that your faith must be in God because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. [i] fornication

[ii] love of money

[iii] idolatry

[iv] youthful lusts

[v] Joseph

[vi] flesh with the affections and lusts

[vii] the world unto me, and I unto the world

[viii] stand

[ix] subtil

[x] overcome