THE BELIEVER AND TEMPTATION TO SIN

If we assume that being born again removes any propensity to sin, then any temptation that is experienced will naturally create suspicions about the truth of our condition before God. Temptation to sin is not sin. Eve was tempted by Satan before she had any nature to sin. She was tempted to ignore God and follow the counsel of another. She chose to ignore God, and therein she sinned, the evidence being her act of disobedience. 

Jesus was tempted, and yet His temptation was without sin (Heb. 4:15). Like the first Adam, Jesus was challenged to ignore His Father and to choose that which would have been surrender to another counselor. His relationship with His Father was unique from the first Adam, and yet the temptation was similar enough for Jesus to be called the second Adam. Jesus withstood the temptation which the first Adam failed. Jesus remained submissive to His Father and continued to enjoy oneness with Him that He had enjoyed in eternity. He was without sin in every way that expression can be considered. Tempted, and yet no desire to transgress the will of His Father and thus no action that betrayed such sinful desire.

James teaches us the progression of sin begins with desire and lust controlling, conceiving and then bringing forth (1:14,15). If you feel tempted to make a decision, speak a word or respond with an attitude that you know does not match the revealed will of God, you have not sinned. That you could sin is a real possibility. At the point of desire you must consider God’s glory and not allow lust to control, take root, and bring forth. You must refuse the temptation to follow the counsel of a competing Master. All counsel against God’s Word is counsel of the ungodly.

What should you conclude if lust in you conceives and brings forth sin? You should conclude that you need to confess that sin to the One who said He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). You should not be drug down by the possibility that you are not truly saved if your belief that you have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ, leads you to confess and forsake the sin.

If you have no desire to resist temptation and are indifferent to following the will of God, then you should fear the consequences of your sinful condition. Your assurance of salvation should be shaken. You should not presume you have an advocate pleading your case before God. 

Avoid two extremes: presumption that you are born of God if you can continue in your sin with no spirit of repentance over your sin; and distrust of God’s promise to forgive you when you turn from your sin and trust the blood and righteousness of His only Son Who pleads for you.

How Does Your Testimony Compare?

EXAMINING YOUR FAITH

Have you ever listened to someone else give their testimony of conversion  to Christ and wondered, in light of all they experienced, whether your conversion is real? It is no light matter. If you have never truly been born again you cannot see and will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And so you examine yourself, comparing your own experience with the impressive testimony of whoever, and it seems you come up short. Or, perhaps you are on the other side of the evaluation and feel pretty good about yourself because your experience exceeds the one you have just heard. In fact, you find yourself questioning the genuineness of, whoever.

There is good reason to examine yourself to see if you are truly in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). You know it is possible to be deceived. You know it is possible to imagine yourself to be something you are not. A true believer is sensitive to this possibility. A lost person really has no interest in examination. So, if you are interested in examining your profession of faith, you have reason to be hopeful.

But in your examination you must not compare yourself with others. This is dangerous. Wouldn’t it be disastrous to get to the end, stand before the judgment of Christ and be shocked that someone you thought you far exceeded in genuine Christianity was welcomed, and you were rejected? It could also happen that one whose verbal testimony you thought far exceeded yours, and stirred up doubt about yourself, is turned away and  you are welcomed.

You must judge yourself by God’s standard. Do you honestly recognize that God owes you nothing but death and condemnation (Rom. 6:23)? Have you submitted yourself to God’s righteousness in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:3,4)? Have you surrendered your own efforts to attain God’s favor while at the same time turning away from all that would separate you from Him (Rom. 5:20-6:2)? Are you coming to God through the only One who is able to present you faultless (Jude 24; Heb. 7:25)?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to all the above, then you ought to also be seeing other indicators in your life that the Spirit of Christ is in you (Rom. 8:9). How about: a hunger for His Word (Acts 2:41; 1 Peter 2:1-3), a longing to do His will (1 John 2:15-17; Gal. 2:20), an increasing distaste for sinful pleasures (Rom. 12:1,2), a love for other believers (1 John 4:7,11), fruits of the Spirit increasing (Gal. 5:22,23), and increasing dependence upon Christ (John 15:5; Philip. 4:13)?

Is the faith of the Son of God at work in you?