Tempted with Evil

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15 ESV)

Although God is completely sovereign over all that he has made, and Jesus Christ is the head over every power and authority, and all angels, authorities and powers are in submission to him, God is NOT the author of evil. 

Before God created anything or anyone, he knew what the result would be, and he allowed for it, but it was for his purposes. He created the being who then became Satan (the devil), who was an angel in heaven, but who rebelled against God, along with a third of all the angels. And, God knew this rebellion would take place, but he created this angel anyway (said to the best of my understanding as to what the Scriptures teach on this subject). 

[Isaiah 14:12-14; Luke 10:18; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 9:1; Rev 12:3-9] 

And, even after this angel rebelled against God, and was thrown out of heaven, God allowed him to still exist, knowing full well that he would tempt humans, and they would sin against God, and that God would then curse them all, and that, as a result, all humans would be born into sin. And he created humans, knowing full well that they would disobey him, and that he would have to toss them out of the garden in which he had placed them.

So, God created us, knowing that all this would take place. But he had a plan in place, even from the very beginning, for how he was going to save us and to deliver us from our slavery to sin. For God always existed in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and from the very beginning of creation God the Father had planned that his Son, Jesus Christ, would be our sacrificial Lamb to die on a cross to deliver us from our sins (said to the best of my understanding as understood in the context of Genesis 3:15).

So, although God is not the author of evil, he allowed evil to exist, and he still allows it, and he uses the evil done against us for his purposes in our lives. For he never said we would have carefree lives full of eternal bliss and that we would never experience heartache, trials, persecutions, and abuse, etc. In fact, he said we would. But, he has a plan in place to use these situations in our lives for our good, if we will but yield our lives over to him, and follow his lead, and do what he says. And it’s to make us more like him.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

So, even though God did create a being who eventually rebelled against the Lord and became our arch enemy Satan (the devil), God is not the author of evil and he does not tempt us with evil to do evil, either. But he allows evil to oppose us and to come against us to push us more toward God, just as God the Father allowed Satan to tempt Jesus Christ for a period of forty days in the wilderness where Jesus had fasted during that period of time. But Jesus stood his ground against the devil’s temptations, and Jesus responded to Satan with the word of God. (Luke 4:1-13)

Now, whenever I read this passage of Scripture in James chapter one, I am a little conflicted in my mind with regard to some of the things stated. For one, it says that God cannot be tempted, and yet Jesus Christ, who is God, was tempted of Satan in the wilderness. But perhaps that is because Jesus Christ was also man, and so as man he could be tempted as we are tempted, but now that he no longer is man/God, but now he is just God the Son, he is not subject to temptation as we are who are human.

Secondly, this says that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. But Jesus Christ was tempted of Satan when he had no evil desire. So I believe that not all temptation stems from evil desire within a person, though much does, but we can be tempted to do something wrong just because Satan puts a suggestion in our minds to try to trip us up, but we are able to immediately resist him, as Jesus did, and to use the armor of God to resist him, as Jesus did, and thus gain victory over Satan.

But it is certainly true that desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. And by fully grown, I believe this is speaking of one who deliberately and habitually and even premeditatedly sins against the Lord, in practice, and so he is not someone who honors God as holy, and who submits to his will and purposes, and who is crucifying the flesh daily, by the Spirit, and who is walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands in holy living. So he has no eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811