Temptation or Test?

 A Sermonette by Gary Wannlund

We have all had a trial or temptation at one point or another in our lives. Have you ever considered where this temptation came from? In both the Old Testament and New Testament, the words for temptation, testing and trial are synonymous. 1 Cor 10:13 tells us that the temptations we experience are common to man and that God will not tempt (test) us more than we are able but will also provide us with a way to escape that test or temptation.

Temptation (testing) can be used for good and evil. Abraham was tested when he offered up Isaac as a sacrifice to God (Heb 11:17). This test turned out for good because as Abraham was tested he proved his faithfulness to God. God wanted him to succeed.

Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4).  Satan’s motive was to make Christ fail.  James declares that God tempts no one, but that one can be tempted by his own lust.

So we can see that God tests but Satan tempts.  Look at the book of Job. It shows that God tested Job by allowing him to be afflicted by Satan, in order that Job would be tempted to curse God. God was “bragging on Job” to Satan. Satan believed as soon as God’s blessings to Job disappeared then Job would turn away from God. In the end after Job’s trial was over God blessed him more than before his trial.  God wanted Job to succeed but Satan wanted Job to fail.

In the Lord’s Prayer we say “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. It is not good to be tempted by Satan versus being tested by God. If we resist Satan, he will flee (James 4:8).  On the other hand, 1 Peter 4:12; 5:1, tells us that we should not be surprised in suffering a fiery ordeal for our testing, that the sufferings of Christ we share, will enable us to share in the glory that is to be revealed, and that we shall receive the unfading crown or wreath of glory.

Christians are tempted more than the worldly person.  We must resist the wrong pulls of the flesh, whereas the unconverted person thinks nothing of living by his/her fleshly urges.  It is scandalous for a professing Christian to be caught in an adulterous sexual encounter.  Whereas a publisher of a “men’s magazine” in the same situation would raise no eyebrows because he is living his stated lifestyle.  Therefore the need to resist temptations for one person may not be a need for another.

Remember, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation (trial), and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9).  It is good for us to look at our own personal lives and evaluate, how much temptation do we resist and how much to we succumb to?  Let’s not judge our brother or sister’s resistance to temptation based on our own circumstances, but realize they may have to fight different battles from us.