JesusReignsForever

I have read previously on someone thread that we are tempted by God. That is tottally wrong... Firstly God HATES sin why would he tempt us to do something he hates? When you are a child of God you are safe...and untouchable so to speak. No one can touch your or make you to sin unless it is something you want to do within yourself. Satan has to get permission from God before he can even touch us! Satan can only tempt us to try to make us look his way so that the next time it gets easier if we fall to whatever he is tempting us to.

• 6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
• 7And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
• 8And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

As you can see here Satan has to ask permission from God before he can mess with God's annointed.
Comments...

CSchultz

"And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil."

I often read that as "GOD!,.. protect me from my own selfish desires."

God does not tempt us to sin. God protects us from our own sin. Both with His law, and with the Gospel.

God's_Child

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
(Jas.1:13,14)

Unconventional

There's a meme that says, "Guns don't kill people...people kill people!" While the issue of gun control is an entirely different topic altogether, I'm reminded of that particular meme whenever someone says that either God or the Devil "made me do it."

God doesn't tempt people...people tempt themselves.

A verse that illustrates this point very well was quoted in part by God's_Child. The full reference I use to explain to others that God doesn't tempt His kids (and Satan doesn't tempt us as often as we might think) is James 1:13-18, which says:

James 1:13-18 (New International Version)
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

The first thing the author says is "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." The tense in which the author provides this statement is not a suggestion. It is a command, as though it were taken from the lips of God Himself.

The author goes on to say, "For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone..." This is an interesting verse that I myself (as well as so many others) skim over. There are two very important things that stand out to me on a second reading of this line:

• God cannot be tempted.
• God will not tempt anyone.

What evidence is there that God cannot be tempted? Some may say that because Jesus was tempted in the desert, God can indeed be tempted. This is sometimes a line of logic used by atheists in an attempt to disprove Christ's deity and/or the Bible's inerrancy.

It is true that Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted. In fact, in the NIV, Matthew 4:1 says it verbatim: "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil" (NIV). However, let's take a deeper look at James 1:13.

Where it gets really interesting in a germane nature to the topic at hand is in the word ἀπείραστος, pronounced ä-pā'-rä-stos. In English, we translate that as "cannot be tempted." It is defined as "not liable to sin." The question a philosopher might ask is, "If Jesus could not be tempted by sin, is it truly temptation?" Yes.

Think about a sin that you do not struggle with. Myself, I do not struggle with speeding on the roads. However, my car is capable of doing 130 miles per hour (209 km/h). Does that mean I want to go that fast? Not a snowbunny's chance in a campfire.

Does that mean that I'm never tempted to break the speed limit? Well, put me in a situation where I'm late for work for the third time in a row, and yes, I will be tempted (and will most likely fall) to that particular arsenic cupcake.

Jesus could be tempted to turn stones into bread, or jump off the temple, or even to bow down and worship the Accuser. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He told His Disciple (Peter, I believe) that He could call down an army of angels to fight for Him. If you speak a statement to someone, it means that the statement and the ideas it espouses has already crossed at least your subconscious. Jesus was tempted to call off "Operation Salvation." However, for our sake, He didn't (very nice of Him, eh?).

We can see by those examples that God, when presented with opportunities to sin, has sort of taken Captain Jack Sparrow's attitude when he sees opportunities to do the right thing: "I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

The second thing from that particular phrase is that God will not tempt anyone. By not saying that He will, it implies that He could. God could throw out arsenic cupcakes left and right, but God isn't a mean little kid with a magnifying glass over an anthill. God isn't looking for people to hate Him. Everything in God's nature says that He may not shelter us from the consequences of our own actions, but He's not going to lead a sheep herd off a diving board.

The next thing that the author goes on to say is "...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."

This is the meat of the subject at hand, and I thank God's_Child for bringing it up. We are tempted because we have evil desires. We have those desires thanks to our earthly ancestor, Adam. Adam was the first to sin by not stopping Eve from taking the fruit when he was with her in the garden, and thus we're all buggered (Romans 5:12 and following).

So, because of this gift given to us by Adam, we often find ourselves in situations where we've created a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy of sin to come. If a pornography addict doesn't look at pornography for six weeks but then walks into a strip club to "test himself," he hardly has room to blame God for what he himself did when he sins.

It's also interesting to note that if one plays with fire, one is bound to be burned. The phrase in this part of the passage is "dragged away," which in the Greek gives the meaning of a fish to bait. A fish is not an overly intelligent creature when compared to humans, maybe with the exception of dolphins. Fish are instinctive, and if they see food squirming around in the water, it doesn't matter what that shiny thing going through the middle of it is. So often we are lured away by a sign advertising a nude club, or our 3-year old's new Crayon masterpiece all over the freshly painted wall. Whatever our particular flavor of arsenic cupcake, we find ourselves tempted to eat it, despite the fact we know for certain how we're going to feel afterward.

The next thing the author says is, "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

In Alaska, Inuit tribes have a certain way of hunting coyotes. They will first kill a seal, and drain the blood from the animal into a bucket. They will dip a long knife in the seal's blood, set it out, and let it dry or freeze to the blade. After this is done for several times, they will set the handle in the snow, so that the blood-coated blade sticks straight up. A coyote will smell it, and take one lick. At that point, the treat is safe. However, the coyote works itself into such a frenzy that--the next morning--the Inuit hunter will find a coyote dead from the wounds in its mouth.

We are that coyote, working ourselves into such a frenzy over our own sin that we don't even feel the pain when it happens. Our desire conceives, grows into sin, and sin grows into death. The same thing can happen with the good things we do, except instead of leading to death, they lead to life. If we cultivate the desire to follow the Lord in our lives, it can grow into fruitful action, and that fruitful action grows into life-giving blessings. Psalm 1 tells us that a man who does the will of God is like a tree planted by streams of water, whose leave doesn't wither. Whatever we do will prosper.

The author of James also gives us what seems to be an often-missed part of this particular morsel: "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."

All he is saying here is that "God doesn't tempt anyone. Instead, He's the giver of good and perfect gifts, the one who governs Heaven and the stars. God doesn't change. The God that helped us Israelites through the Desert and all our troubles didn't suddenly change without warning. He's been telling us for thousands of years how it should be, and He's going to continue in that. We were created in His image, to do good, and to gain those life-giving blessings as an example to the world of what He does."

Sorry for the long post, but James is my favorite book overall, and I just love digging into the meat that can be packed into one simple phrase.

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The foundations that we used to uphold
Now regarded as the madness of old
Every alteration made to the standard of truth
Is a nail in the coffin we hold
We embody everything they despise
Because they see us through degenerate eyes
So when they cast you down as intolerant filth
Stand firm, never bow to the lies
Demon Hunter - "Relentless Intolerance"

violet

Banarenth

By definition, sin is disobedience to God. So, God CANNOT be disobedient to Himself, and cannot make us be disobedient to Him.

Who am I

From what I’ve learned, satan had to get permission from God in Job’s case because there was none like him in the earth. Job was “a perfect and an upright man�.

That’s pretty good. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to say that about myself. I sin. Can any of you even imagine being a perfect and upright man/woman? Upright maybe, but perfect? When I sin, it opens a door and allows satan the legal right to harass me and torment me. That door is shut when I repent of that sin. Even in my thoughts I sin. Sometimes I think so fast I sin and don’t know it. The door is open and satan sees it.

Satan is still alive and working in this world. He has been doing what he does for thousands of years. And guess what? He’s really good at what he does. He is here to kill, steal and destroy. Now if he could only touch the ones who weren’t saved, what would he gain? Nothing, those are the ones who are on their way to hell already if they don’t repent and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and savior. Satan knows he is beaten, but he is angry and he hates Christians and he will do anything he can to torment us.

Yes, when we sin, we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but when we are thinking of sinning, that is satan tempting us. It’s not unlike the two angels on the shoulder story. A good one and a bad one. Which one are you going to listen to? I know for me, it’s not always an easy choice.

God bless you all.

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Blessings to all

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jesse

When someone considers to care, does that someone really care but nevertheless does wrongfully anyhow, to dispitefully sin when told not to ?? How is that ?? Did it mean anything to persevere the right ?? If someone is asked "Would you like to be blameless?" That someone says "Yes." How is it that the individual has not found the reconcile with God but keeps considering sin in the soul ?? What are people so attached onto that they do not like sin, but yet call all whosoever roams a sinner including themselves ?? If you were to say, "I want to be sinless today!" Will you try to keep up with yourself for comforting esteem, that once you get the hang of only choosing good provokes for the within, it is not impossible for God to alleve all infirmities .. Rather, to want is to be able .. Does it mean anything to you to walk according to the spirit in perfect harmony ? I tell you this, what is meant to be is of God for us, we just need to take in account in full measure all the ways of God for what this life ever matters .. Are we too busy not paying attention that there is daily acknowledged sin among us ? Our practice in all, let it be prosperous, for such is in agreement with HIM .. We are not a wicked people, but it is better to excuse to do good, then to excuse to do bad, that when it is said all are sinners, such is excusing what we know we aught to not allow for our own selves ..

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What have you ?

Dusty

Matthew 4:1
[ The Temptation of Jesus ] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.


Mark 1:13
and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Luke 4:2
where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Galatians 6:1
[ Doing Good to All ] Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

Even Jesus was tempted but not from God.from satan himself. God is a good God and would not allow any more than what we can bear.

Like "who am I' said satan has to get permission from God and also that God will provide a way of escape for us. If we are Christians who are not grounded in our faith and in the Word and prayer ,those are the weaknesses that satan attacks because he knows exactly the right tactic to attack. He doesn't bother with the unsaved.... he just wants to pull us down in every way he can by disappointment, sickness, depression,financial problems however he can but and it is a big but, he can only go so far as greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. God's power is greater and satan is already defeated. We just have to call on the name of Jesus and that in itself is our source in every thing we do and say.

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Boanerges

It boils down to this- God does not tempt us but does allow us to be tempted, tested and tried- it is all a part of His plan for our growth- no testing no growing and maturing in faith-