And What is a Temptation?

The Temptation of St. Anthony by Dali

This post is in response to a friend that asked me what temptations I was resisting.

Upon accepting Christ the Son of God as Lord and Savior all my past, present and future sins were washed away out of God's sight; all He sees in me now is His Son. He paid the debt I could never pay by His death on the cross, He took the death I deserve and conquered it by His resurrection. And thus I have been justified, I am acceptable in His sight by my faith in Him. Beyond that saving faith I cannot be any more or less saved. BUT, at the core of my being I have received God's Holy Spirit, His life. That life desires to burst forth from the core of my being, but I know I can be quite stubborn and I often do not allow Him full reign. He seeks to express Himself in all that I think, say and do. That life-long (often painful) process is known as sanctification, which is a bi-product of being saved and a direct result of a personal relationship with God.

This, by the way, was one of the major points of contention in the Reformation. You are not saved through doing good works and being a good person. You are saved by faith in Christ, and that genuine salvation produces good works. It's an inside-out process.

For me, a temptation is anything that is contrary to how God wants to express Himself in me. A temptation is not only something that I should not do. It can also be anything that I do not do that I should do according to His will for my life. And it can be just about anything. The only reason I fail to do God's will is because I do not always actively put faith in Him. I often do not acknowledge that God is GOD, and that He is good, and that His will is the best possible thing for my life, for the lives of others and for His eternal kingdom. He is the almighty God of heaven...if only I could lean on that notion always and completely.

I know this might not be the answer that my friend wanted, but any specifics I might give about what temptations I battle with is ultimately irrelevant compared to what I have said. The question you should ask yourself is "In what way am I currently resisting God?"

Living Faith

I have recently made great strides in resisting temptation and I'd like to relate to you exactly how, in my personal experience, it is done.

As a caveat, I must say that I did not feel that I needed to resist temptation to ''earn points'' with God or to become acceptable in His sight. That work was done by Christ on the cross, which applies to me because of my faith in Him. Instead, I felt a strong desire to resist temptation out of my love for God and His love for me. So, just as you might want to obey a loving parent, I wanted to grow closer to God by doing His will and getting rid of things that hindered our relationship and harmed me. As a different picture, I am like a sprouting sapling that wants to grow around opaque objects toward the light.

So, here is the Christian formula for resisting temptation as I have experienced it:

1.) Know that resistance is impossible without God.

2.) God, in any situation you're in, has given you sufficient grace to resist the current temptation.

3.) Have faith that God's grace is sufficient.

4.) Your faith in God is the open channel through which God fills you with the power to resist.

So, you are NEVER in a situation wherein you can't resist through faith in God. BUT to make that applicable, you must believe it. Your ability to resist temptation is in direct proportion to how often you actively and practically put faith in God. This is the living faith that every Chrisitian should cultivate. It is our struggle, but it is the good fight. It is our expression of love for God; it is our glorious approach toward the light.