We have all heard such trite sayings as, “The Devil made me do it.” Adam even blamed God when he said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:12. There was no denying that he had sinned, so he blamed the only other person there Eve, and then indirectly God, for God had given him the woman. Where did the temptation come from in the beginning?
To be human, means that there will be temptations. Even our Lord was tempted as soon as he was baptized and began to fulfill his ministry, but being tempted does not automatically mean that sin follows. Our Lord lived a sinless life, even though he had taken on a physical body with all its needs and desires. His greatest temptations were those brought to him directly by Satan; not through an agency such as the serpent, or even one of his followers later, as when he said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” It was Satan, Peter was being used. Having said that, let us look at the words of James, the physical brother of Jesus.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 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: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:12-15.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” It is a fact that temptations are going to come to every Christian, and Satan is not going to delay. In nature, there is great loss when the very young are decimated. They become the prey of others in the food chain. Thousands of tiny turtles are hatched on the beaches of the world, but many never survive the short trip even to the sea. Tiny fish are eaten before they can mature. Likewise many new born Christians never make it to spiritual maturity. They need spiritual nourishment from the Word, and the care of their concerned brothers and sisters in the Lord. That is why churches have Elders. They are the caretakers, not only of the very young in the faith, but even the very mature until the Lord calls all his children home to be with him.
It is not that Christians just survive, but they look forward to that “crown of life” that the Lord has promised to all those who love him. This is the eternal life that will be the result of being able to eat of the “tree of life” that will be available in heaven. Revelation 22:2, “on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded the fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Now Adam had said, “whom thou gavest.” This was an attempt to transfer his own guilt to someone else, even God who gave Eve, but James tells us, “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:” No, we cannot cast the blame at the feet of anyone else, not even the one used as the means of the temptation by Satan. Jesus spoke to Satan, not to Peter even though the actual words came from Peter who said that Jesus would not die for the sins of mankind.
The guilt for submitting to temptation is laid directly upon the individual as he has permitted his “lust” to lead him astray. It may be physical lust, lust for wealth, lust for power, or fame, or whatever, but it all traces back to a weakness. “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.”
So, that is where the blame lies. The wages of sin is death. Let us rejoice in our Lord who willingly gave himself to pay that price for us. It was he, our Savior who said through Peter on Pentecost to the sinners, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38. In another place he also said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
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