At the moment there is a lot of discussion going on about the nature of temptation and desire. Is it right or wrong to feel something? Is the thought itself sin?
Christians have wrestled with such things since the birth of the church, and it can get you into a right mess – it did me.
I remember as a young Christian struggling with wrong thoughts, temptations and desires. I wrestled with why. After all, I had been born again and was a new creation in Christ, the old had gone and the new had come, and didn’t scripture say I had been delivered from the power of Satan and sin? So why did I get these thoughts, temptations and desires? I questioned my experience, had I been properly born again? Was I really a Christian? Was there something I was missing? Where was this life of victory?
It drove me back to scripture and I became convinced I was truly born again. But, there were things I had not understood.
Scripture teaches that all have sinned. That the consequences of the Fall affected every area and dimension of life – we weren’t just cut off from God.
Scripture teaches that Christ came to save, and save he does! We are both saved and being saved.
Scripture teaches that as a result of Christ’s saving work we are in the process of being transformed – what theologians call sanctification. Rather like the complete renovation of a building site. The site has changed hands, it’s under new ownership, but there’s work to be done.
Scripture teaches us that we have died to sin – not that sin has died (Romans 6). Its possibility still exists because we live in a fallen world, but our relationship to it has changed. It is no longer our master. We have the power of a new life and by God’s grace can reign in life. Hallelujah!
But what about these temptations? Temptation in and of itself is not sin. Its just temptation. The word for trials or temptations comes from the same Greek word (peirazo, to try, prove; peirasmos, a trial, proof). The problem is, words can develop over time to mean something the writer may not have intended in the first place, and these are a typical example. Over time, they have developed in such a way that in present-day usage they carry a sinister or dark overtone that was not there when first used. Originally, the meaning in Greek was neutral, with the sense of “putting to the test,” or the testing of character or quality. Temptation in the biblical sense includes both the possibility of righteous, holy responses and living, and the possibility of sin. This is entirely foreign to the way we think of it today—we would never say, “I was tempted to do something good.”
In this sense, temptation existed in the garden before the Fall. We were not created as robots. We were created free, with desires, as those who could think and feel and make decisions. It was part of life and growth. Likewise Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet he never sinned. Temptation in and of itself is not sin. When I saw this it was like something shifted. I saw temptation for what it was.
Scripture teaches, that as long as we live the possibility for temptation and sin will continue to exist. James speaks into this when he says, “Each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death” (James 1:14, 15). And remember, he is speaking to Christians. Paul also speaks to the fact that we can still have wrong desires, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.” (Romans 6:12).
Desire can be sinful. Because I desire something, doesn’t make it right – however good it may seem. Because of the Fall our desires have become skewed. Giving space to those desires leads to conception and giving birth to sin, which leads to death. This is not about losing your salvation but the impact it has on your life with God and it’s fruitfulness.
The first impulse may seem small and insignificant, it feels right, it’s not hurting anyone, etc. However, according to James, the end result is death. Sin has consequences, and the devil doesn’t want us to know it. We reap what we sow. Something dies within us. We are living, yet we are dead. We may be saved by God’s amazing grace, but grace is not an excuse to sin (Romans 6:1,2) and will not immunise us from its consequences.
This brings us to Paul, who spoke about the need to put to death the deeds of the body so that we might truly live (Romans 8:13). What the old translations referred to as ‘mortify’. Not something we talk a lot about these days. There are desires that lurk within all of us that if given the right situation have the potential to lead to sin which leads to something dying within us. James calls us to recognise that. Paul exhorts us to mortify them, to put them to death and by doing so we will live in the abundance of life. That means cutting off their life source, giving them no space to breathe, breed or grow.
As I close, it’s important to realise that my temptations and desires do not define me, it’s what I do with them that does. To paraphrase James, When you refuse God’s way and God’s wisdom, and instead choose to go down the escape route of wrong desire and temptation, which leads to sin, you forfeit the wholeness of life that could be yours in Christ and instead embrace death.
As Paul says to the church at Corinth referring back to Israel’s idolatry, sexual immorality and grumbling, “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you are able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:12,13 CSB).
For more please see my book, Practical Discipleship, a down to earth study on the down to earth book of James.
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