Temptation

What causes us to sin? Is it our environment? Does it have to do with our family of origin? Is it in our genes? Let’s consider these questions as we look at our passage today.

Who is Satan? Where did he come from? Did God create him? Why did he fall? These are important questions that believers need to answer in order to be battle ready. Yesterday, we noted that Satan was created as a powerful and beautiful angel before his desire to de-throne God. We considered Isaiah 14, where Satan desired to make himself “like the Most High.” Let’s set the context for today’s passage.

What if you were tempted in a way that you could not resist? What if the temptation was so strong that it pulled you into its grasp? What if you tried your hardest to resist Satan’s attacks, the pull of the world, and the desires of your flesh, but the combination of all three was too much for you to handle? Will God charge you with a sin that overpowered you? Paul answered that question for us in today’s passage.

Where does temptation come from? Does it come from our own desires that wage war within us? Does it come from the world, a culture that opposes God? Or does all temptation come from Satan? Do we blame our sin on ourselves, the anti-God culture, or Satan?

The trap of outward appearance, whether wearing too much or too little to draw attention, has been an issue since Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman (Job 31:1). In our passage today, the apostle Peter weighs in. Peter is not writing against hairstyles, jewelry, or fashionable clothes. Instead, he is writing against the temptation to spend more time primping the fleshly “outward” look than prepping the spiritual inward character.

Temptation is real, persuasive, and alluring; otherwise, it wouldn’t be called temptation. But you do not have to cross the line. If you choose to take that step, you do so because you want to, not because you have to.

Christians in every generation have the same temptation—the allure to retreat from the world. From business to education to recreation, there is a desire only to be involved with other believers. One problem ... that was not the intention of Jesus. 

A bribe is defined as “money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person.” A bribe is anything we give to persuade or induce a certain action. And money in exchange for prestige, power, and position to gain college admission or to change the outcome of a sports game (remember the Black Sox Scandal) is always tempting for some.

Sexual intimacy is a gift from God. He invented sex and ordained it to be enjoyed between a man and a woman committed to each other for life. God beautifully described this act as a man and woman becoming one—in body and soul. Sex was never meant to be a physical hook up. God intended it to be an experience of the whole person coming together in a loving and intimate union.