Who, ME? Tempted?
She sat wide-eyed across from the table, nervously stirring her coffee. You! Tempted? But, you’re a Pastor!
Have you ever wondered what the Bible says about #temptation? Are you somehow defective if you experience this? Are some people immune to this spiritual pothole? Well, keep reading.
A Lot Of People live with false guilt.
That’s right, some guilt is false. Not real. Based on bad information and poor understanding. This is serious since there certainly are things to feel guilty about. But I don’t want anyone struggling over the guilt that isn’t even real.
Let me drop a big idea right here:
Temptation is not a sin.
That’s right. Temptation is not a sin. Sin is sin.
Huh? Give me a moment and you’ll see my point.
In Matthew, chapter four, Jesus is tempted three times. And yet, at the end of chapter four, he is regarded as having successfully met each of the three temptations successfully.
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews states in reference to Jesus:
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
~Hebrews 4
And there are at least ten other places where this same idea is affirmed. I’ll leave it to you to google that yourselves.
Jesus was tempted. At least three times that we know of. Chances are, this was a regular occurrence. He was fully human, though able to not follow through on the temptation, which is where we get tripped up.
We, flawed, sinful, humans, experience the temptation to sin, and generally just plunge right on in. As though there was no distinction.
We reason, if there is even any reason applied at all, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” We confuse the idea of sin with the sin itself. And that confusion is what Satan capitalizes on to nudge us on into the real thing.
“But, Pastor, are you saying that I cannot sin if I just think about it?” No. You actually can sin in your thoughts. But there is a world of difference between a fleeting thought that we immediately dismiss and an ongoing meditation that we relish in quietly to ourselves.
In discussing this very thing, our dear brother, Dr. Martin Luther commented,
“You cannot keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can certainly keep it from building a nest in your beard”
~Dr. Martin Luther
That distinction, among others, might rescue many people from false guilt (mere temptation) to actual guilt over actual sin.
Speaking as a man, I can notice a woman with features I find attractive and just move on, or, upon noting said features, go on and create a scenario in my mind that is certainly sinful. The difference is subtle but very important. In many different ways, both men and women run up to this line and, sadly, since they confuse temptation for sin, just go ahead and plunge in headlong. It does not matter if it is lust, anger, jealousy, the desire to feel important by gossiping, or anything else that dishonors others and the God who made them.
Here’s the key takeaway:
Jesus faced many temptations without sinning. More importantly, he faced them for us.
He successfully faced temptations without sin. So that those who put their trust in him, who died and is risen, might receive his merits by means of God’s grace through faith.
Jesus stood in our place, faced and met temptation without sin. So that we might have a way into God’s life, justified, and made right with God.
So, what does this have to do with real life?
If Jesus has faced temptation without sin, for us, what difference does it make to us beyond salvation?
Well, first of all, it’s a clear assurance that our successes or failures have nothing to do with our standing with God. It’s not like we’re running an account and we have to keep the “oh no!” moments at a lower number than the, “I’m sorry! Please forgive me!” moments.
We’re not balancing accounts. We are maintaining a relationship with a real person. So, yes, it matters when we sin and yes, it is simply normal to want to make it right through confession and repentance. But it’s not a set of books to keep. We are right with God through Jesus and what he has already done for us.
But, how else does this help us?
Imagine if we committed ourselves to start noticing moments of temptation as opportunities to live more holy lives instead of just resigning ourselves to acting helpless and going ahead and sinning?
You see, what many people do is notice what is really temptation, and instead of taking that as a warning to turn away from the temptation they falsely identify it as sin itself and then just plunge headlong into the mess they might possibly have avoided.
Jesus faced temptation without sin first to make a way for us to be counted as righteous before God, but also to empower us to lay claim to ever-growing freedom from Sin. We will still sin, but we are far from helpless and certainly, we are not required to. Though many live as though they are quite helpless. That is a lie.
If a particular sin issue has become a deeply ingrained habit, then yes, you may need some help in disrupting that deeply rutted pathway to rebellion and sin. In fact, one reason we need our church community is just for such accountability. We need a safe space to confess to a few trusted people and hear forgiveness and then to receive the challenge to go and sin no more (John 8:10-11).
Come to worship this Sunday to hear more. This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a time of focused, spiritual reflection. An opportunity to do some spiritual Spring cleaning in our lives. Please reach out if there is some way I can come alongside you as you face life with its many temptations.
Pastor Mark
0 Comments