I will be transparent with you, I haven't written in along time due to school and other such priorities. But also, I have been traveling in (and still am) a spiritual valley of confusion and darkness and could therefore not produce words to express my condition. But through many avenues of grace including the Word (of course), persistent prayers, John Piper's sermons and articles, and continued discontentment with this world I have come to a truly immaculate conclusion. So, here it goes . . .
First of all, we all struggle greatly with our sinful nature, our Enemy, and the pervading aroma of worldly desires daily, actually momentarily. Therefore, we all as depraved, hopelessly lost sinners are familiar with this suffering. Well, one of my deepest thorns (2 Cor. 12:7) has re-emerged with much vigor these past few weeks and tormented my soul and mind most days. The other night as the temptations came I had read a Desiring God blog on "common temptations" earlier that day and this Scripture came to mind:
"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Providentially, I knew 3 things from this passage:
1) If I allow my pride in this moment to believe the "masquerading angel's" lies about sin's satisfaction or believe that I may take a stand against his lies with "philosophy or empty deceit, according to human tradition" (Col. 2:8) I will fall. Unless I take heed or in our modern english, pay attention or in Jesus-speak "watch and pray" (Matt. 26:41). But what do I take heed of? What should I pay attention to?
2) I should take heed that no temptation has overtaken me that is not common to man. Therefore, the enemy's lies and temptation have just been sapped of their supposed supernatural power! This is done through the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ's supremacy over our enemy and sin (Romans 8:2, 1 Cor. 15:56-57, 2 Cor. 5:21) and the blessed righteousness that he bestows upon our helpless souls! Since the temptation is common and my Savior is not common or man I am instilled with His divine and supernatural power through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8, John 16:7-11) This is why the next part is God is faithful for he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But how can this be? For I am a sinner, and I don't desire righteousness and will surely fall into temptation upon my own ability. In this consideration there is no temptation that isn't beyond your ability, BUT as we just examined, your ability as a believer is now fused (Gal. 2:20b) with the abilities of the all-powerful Holy Spirit. And this "ability" has been within you since the day of regeneration and "will never leave you or forsake you" (Heb. 13:5), always giving you the ability to resist the enemy and flee sin. (James 4:7, 1 Tim. 6:11, 2 Tim. 2:22) This ability may allow you to resist Satan in your mind but practically how does this work out?
3) The next portion of God's faithfulness in temptation is that he provides the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. This is the practical way to escape the temptation of sin is to accept God's escape from the situation. The question that comes to mind for me is how do I know what that looks like? Well, if you are dwelling on the Holy Spirit's power and Christ's supremacy over the situation, then I believe Jesus' command to the disciples in Gethsemane applies here as well, "WATCH and PRAY". For then through the Holy Spirit's guidance you will see the escape route, not always marked with a big red EXIT but always accessible and within reach. This is our God's promise to His children who undergo the trials of this world. For this faithfulness is ultimate and pursuing us (Luke 15) like the precious child that our Father loves dearly.
To end this part I will leave you with this idea. For if we believe Romans 8:28 which states "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Then we should begin to think about how whether in our temptation and trials we fail and fall to sin or escape by God's faithfulness that these things both "work together for [our] good". This seems a paradox in the theology of our sin and our good. But we will discuss in the next part of this blog how though this is difficult it is beautiful and true, and should once again make us fall at His feet in worship of His magnificent ways! I pray that this blog would awaken in you, as in me, a passion to fight the good fight and guard the good deposit entrusted to us by God Almighty!
Admiring His Faithfulness,
A common man
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