Day 6 - Our Great Duty: To Avoid Temptation
It is the great duty of all believers to use all diligence in the ways Christ has appointed, so as not to fall into temptation.
John Owen, Temptation Resisted and Repulsed
Our Duty to Avoid Temptation
As followers of Christ we are called not merely to avoid sin but also to avoid temptation. As Owen notes, "It is the great duty of all believers to use all diligence in the ways Christ has appointed, so as not to fall into temptation." Scripture does speak to God to God being able to rescue the godly from trials or temptations (2 Pet 2:9) and not to be tempted beyond our ability (1 Cor 10:13), but we are also called to avoid temptation before we ever enter into it.
Four Reasons We Should Avoid Temptation
1) Christ calls us to pray that we do not enter into temptation. (Matt 6:13)
2) Christ promises freedom and deliverance from temptation as a great reward for obedience. (Rev 3:10)
3) Falling into temptation has serious consequences that we must avoid
4) Christians are inherently weak and not able to withstand temptation on our own.
Owen writes, "Christ's purpose for us is to seek his help in our daily prayers that we may be powerfully delivered from that evil which attends every entry into temptation."
2) Christ promises freedom and deliverance from temptation as a great reward for obedience. (Rev 3:10)
Owen: "Note that Christ did not say that he would keep them through temptation, but from it!"
3) Falling into temptation has serious consequences that we must avoid
- For the whose profess Christ but are not actually followers of Christ, temptation will lead them to abandon the the faith. (Luke 8:13) Examples of this in Scripture are Judas (Matt 27:3-5) and Demas. (2 Tim 4:10)
- For those who are true followers of Christ, even the greatest among us have been unable to resist temptation. Consider Adam, Abraham, David, Noah, Lot, Hezekiah, Peter, and the Galatians. We must understand just how vulnerable and incapable we are to resist temptation by ourselves. As Owen notes, "We, like [Adam], have the temptation and the cunning of the devil to deal with, but we also have a cursed world and a corrupt heart to increase the power of temptation."
Owen writes, "What makes this even worse is that it is a weakness from deception, which is the worst kind of weakness. If a castle is very strong and well fortified, and yet there is a traitor on the inside who is ready to betray it at the first opportunity, that castle is not secure from the enemy. We have traitors in our heart that are ready to take part and unite against us at every temptation."
Our Challenge
We must be constant in our diligence to avoid temptation. We must not flirt with it or taunt it as if we can play with temptation and not be overtaken by it. Our call before we even face temptation is to avoid it. We must diligently pray that God would not lead us into temptation, that He would guide our paths to righteousness and not to destruction. And we must diligently act to avoid the paths that would lead us to temptation.