Day 10 - Private Temptation
The apostle John speaks of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16) as in the world because the people of the world love them, but it is evident that the real issue is one of the heart.
The is the heart loves these things.
John Owen, Temptation Resisted and Repulsed
What is Private Temptation?
Private temptation is the temptation of the individual. It is "private" because it is temptation focus on a specific individual (as opposed to a public temptation that is focused on a group or the world more generally). Private temptations are the temptations that each of us face in our own lives.
How Private Temptation Works
There are two key points that Owen makes about how private temptation works:
1) Private temptation unites with our own specific lusts to provide the foundation for sinful action.
2) By uniting with lust, the temptation seeks to control our whole soul to prevent our opposition to it.
1) Private temptation unites with our own specific lusts to provide the foundation for sinful action.
At the heart of the issue is our heart. When the lusts of our heart unite with temptation, we are in dire trouble. Thus, as Owen notes, "You will never conquer the temptation until the lust has been killed." We can't just merely resist the temptation, trying to ignore it or rebuff it. We must deal with the lust itself. We must destroy it. To put it clearly as Owen does, "...the lust must die, or the soul must die."
2) By uniting with lust, the temptation seeks to control our whole soul to prevent our opposition to it.
The temptation goes after the mind and the heart. It seeks to so overwhelm, so control the mind that even the most rational argument, the most clear reasoning will be ignored. And it infects the heart so that it brings our affections (our loves, our emotions) to long after the temptation.
Our Challenge
Owen puts our call and challenge well: "We should always remember Satan's purpose and sin's purpose in temptation: it is the dishonor of God, and the ruin of our souls." Do you have an appropriate fear of what temptation will lead your soul to? Do you understand that temptation is the pointer and path to the ruin and death of your soul? Pray 1) that God would have your mind see clearly and your heart to know truly that whatever temptation you are facing now leads to your destruction and 2) that God would work in your life so that you will willingly and aggressively kill the lust that unties to the temptation at hand.