Once a man came to me for counseling and was very upset because of some great sins he had committed.  The more he talked, the more I began to realize that he hadn’t actually sinned, he had just been tempted to sin.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was tempted just like we are, but He was without sin.  You may ask, “how could he be tempted and not be in sin?”  Well, actually the answer is quite simple.

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

It’s not temptation that is a sin.  It’s the yielding to temptation that is the sin.

 

Now don’t take me wrong.  Even though temptation is not a sin, we cannot dwell on these temptations or they will quickly become sin, even if we don’t take action on them.

James 1:14 to 16 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire, or lust, has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  Do not be deceived.”

The Bible says that Jesus as a man was tempted by all the things that any other man has been tempted with; however, He did not give the temptation any place in His life.  He overcame the temptations and did not sin.  Jesus is our example.  He defeated Satan and gave Christians authority over the devil.  We can resist temptation the same way He did. 

Over the years, I’ve counseled many people who have yielded to temptation. They said they had no choice.  They said the pressures of the temptation were just too great.  They couldn’t help it.  They had to yield; they had no other option.

Once a man told me he just fell into adultery.  Give me a break!  With the secret phone calls and all the sneaking around and all the lying, he didn’t just fall into adultery.  He planned it all.  He claimed he fell into it when he got caught.  He had a choice and he chose poorly.

First Corinthians 10:13 says, “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.”

 

If you have been tempted by greed, lust, adultery, hatred, or any other evil thing, then today I have good news.  God’s Word has clearly given us a method to overcome temptation. 

In Luke chapter 4, Satan tempted Jesus three times.  All three times Jesus overcame the temptation using one weapon.  That weapon was the Word of God.  Each time Jesus spoke to Satan, the tempter, he quoted the Word.

 

Satan, with all his temptation, could not overpower the Word of God.