“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
A Battle for Your Soul
God’s greatest desire is to spend eternity with you in Heaven. Satan’s primary purpose is to make sure that doesn’t happen. And that means your life is a spiritual battlefield. Your heart, your home, your day-to-day experiences — they’re all a part of this battle for your soul.
It all goes back to the book of Revelation (12:7-17), when Satan launched an unsuccessful rebellion against God. After being soundly defeated by God’s army, Satan was cast out of Heaven and down to Earth, where he began to take his fight to God’s people. Satan knew he’d never be strong enough to harm God directly or force people to rebel against God against their will, so he changed strategies and began tempting Christians to willingly walk away from the faith.
That is Satan’s primary way of harming God.
James is well aware of all this, which is why he warns us to be on guard against temptation. Here’s what he says in James 1:13-15:
“13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (NIV)
Sin is serious business, and James wants us to take the threat of sin seriously in our lives. He describes how sin starts with evil desires that are within us. Satan capitalizes on those desires and convinces us that we’ll never be able to satisfy those desires by following Christ. That seed of doubt becomes the seed of temptation that he plants in our hearts.
God’s Truth Vs. Satan’s Lies
“Every temptation, directly or indirectly, is the temptation to doubt and distrust God.” -John MacArthur
The Bible teaches us that God satisfies our desires with good things (Psalm 103:5; 145:16), but Satan’s goal is to get us to doubt that. If Satan can convince you that God isn’t enough or that God won’t be there for you, he’s got you in a prime position to give in to his temptations.
At that point, Satan swoops in to offer a shortcut to the things that we desire.
The obvious problem is that Satan can’t deliver on his promises. He is, after all, the father of lies (John 8:44). Even if he is able to make us happy in the moment, it comes at a great cost to our souls. Desire turn into sin, and sin — when it is given room to breathe and grow — eventually leads to death.
Satan Knows How to Bait the Hook
Bruce Wilkinson wrote a great book called Overcoming Temptation. He talks about how Satan is like a fisherman who baits a hook. The hook only works because it’s attached to a bait that the fish thinks is irresistible. And make no mistake: Satan knows the perfect bait for every follower of Jesus.
Satan plays dirty. He makes it personal. He knows the deepest longings of your heart and how to craft a temptation for you around your desires.
And Satan is an expert at disguising this bait as something totally innocent so that he can sneak a temptation in before we even realize we’re under attack. J.C. Ryle says it this way:
“We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colors, saying, “I am your deadly enemy, and I want to ruin you forever in hell.” Oh no! Sin comes to us like Judas, with a kiss; like Joab, with outstretched hand and flattering words. The forbidden fruit seemed good and desirable to Eve; yet it cast her out of Eden. Walking idly on his palace roof seemed harmless enough to David; yet it ended in adultery and murder. Sin rarely seems [like] sin at first beginnings. Let us then watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation.” -J.C. Ryle
We need to be vigilant about Satan’s temptations, because once we’re hooked, it’s incredibly difficult to break free. Especially when we try to fight him on our own.
Temptation is Coming, but God is Faithful.
The good news is that we’re not alone, and God has already promised to help us overcome every single temptation we’ll ever experience in this life. That’s right! God has promised to give you exactly what you need to be victorious over the Devil no matter what kind of temptations he throws your way.
Here’s what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:11-14:
“11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry." (NIV)
Everyone will face temptation as a follower of Jesus. That’s a given.
No one will be tempted beyond their ability to endure. That’s a promise.
You have the armor and weapons you need for this spiritual fight. That’s in the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-17)!
The only catch is that you have to acknowledge the threat, be ready to fight, and you have to be willing to follow God’s lead when he reveals the battle plan (or exist strategy).
If you’re stuck on the 7th floor of a burning building, God promises he will open the fire escape for you. But you have to acknowledge that the fire is dangerous and you have to be willing to run to the exit. That’s why Paul tells the church to flee from idolatry.
Too many Christians think the fire isn’t hot enough to warrant evacuation, or that their kitchen faucet is all they need to beat back the flames, or that in all honesty fires are kind of cool and it would be fun to see one up close. Maybe they’re even bringing marshmallows.
On other words, too many Christians deny how serious sin is and consequently fail to take advantage of the exit strategy God is providing. God is faithful, but those Christians are failing to capitalize on it. They are taking Satan’s bait and will eventually suffer the consequences.
Application
James doesn’t want to see that happen to any of us. He’s reminding us in James 1 how harmful sin is so we’ll take it more seriously in our lives. We have the full armor of God at our disposal, we have the promise of God that victory is possible over every temptation we face, and we have our brother and sisters in Christ who can encourage us and fight alongside us.
With these amazing things in your corner, you too can be victorious over temptation!