Temptation Is A Two-Way Street

Jesus said that to lust in our mind is the equivalent as having committed adultery in our heart (Matt. 5:28). This of course puts the onus on the part of the person doing the lusting. I completely agree that if a man or woman is tempted, what they do in reaction to that temptation is on them along with the consequences that follow as a result. They cannot blame anyone or anything but themselves. It is not the porn industries fault that a man watched their productions. It is not a half-naked woman’s fault that a man looked at her and suddenly had urges and filthy thoughts. It is certainly not a person’s fault that someone acted physically and attacked or assaulted them. That fault lies squarely on the person allowing their flesh to be controlled by its own impulses and not taking every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5).

The sin and the consequences of that sin is on the person sinning. However, there is another side to all of this. One, that quite frankly gets little if any attention. And, it’s a street that if walked down, could aide in preventing a great deal of these sins and the fall out of them.

Romans 14:13-23 speaks directly to this matter. It is the other side of the street so to speak. While it is not the fault of the half-naked woman that a man looking at her should act upon his impulses, there is an onus on her for having allowed herself to be the object of temptation. It is not the man’s fault for being tempted, it is only his fault for having acted upon the temptation. We cannot, we must not be the cause of temptation. We must consider carefully our actions, our words, our performance, our personality, our character and do everything possible to ensure that we are not a stumbling block for others that may succumb to temptation.

Temptation comes in many forms but never from God. Money can be tight and hard to come by and we need food for our family, so we may be tempted to steal it. We may have been super busy and forgotten to study for a test or work on an assignment/project that is do and we run out of time, so we may be tempted to cheat or cut corners. The cashier gives us to much change back and after we walk out of the store we realize it and may be tempted to just keep walking and keep it. Life seems unbearable and the pressure we have put ourselves under lead us to a state of depression and anxiety that cause us to be tempted to do something that we may not come back from. None of this comes from God. Temptation may come from Satan (1 Peter 5:8). It may and often does come from other people. And, it may come from our own weakness in the flesh and lack of spiritual maturity.

It is for these reasons the scriptures instruct us, with a certain level of insistence, to flee from temptations of every kind (2 Timothy 2:22-24; James 1:2-15; Romans 12:2; Col. 3:2; Matt.26:41). While others may be the trigger of our temptation the blame still lies with us, as temptation originates in us. So, in obedience to God we must discipline ourselves in order that we may be able to resist and ward off such things. This requires some level of self-reflection and awareness. However, we are not without comfort nor are we alone in this.

 1 Cor. 10:13; Matt. 4:1-11; Hebrews 4:15 all show us that we are not alone. Others have been tempted including Jesus, in every way that we have and stood firm through it or fell and were forgiven and set free from it. God allows it so that we may be strengthened. And, according to Ephesians 6 we have been given the tools to overcome such things as well. This should give us hope and security. But, it does something else, or should.

This truth should compel us to obedience. It is only when we are obedient in submission of our flesh to the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit that we can ever hope to stay off temptation and not be the cause of temptation ourselves.