{"id":90738,"date":"2021-03-11T21:10:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/temptation\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T23:09:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T03:09:11","slug":"temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Hebrews\n4:15: For we have not an high priest which cannot be\ntouched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like\nas we are, yet without sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The temptation of Jesus reflected the Bible&#8217;s concept of temptation &#8211; which is always basic, not complex. <strong>The word used, in both Testaments, relates more to testing a person&#8217;s character as dictated by spiritual orientation than actual physical desires.<\/strong> Our culture reads into the word an excess of lust, greed, and ambition that are derivatives, not the essence, of character. That&#8217;s why Jesus could have &#8220;been tempted in every way, just as we are&#8221; (Hebrews 4:15). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Historical Context: Although some include the Book of Hebrews among the Apostle\nPaul&#8217;s writings, the certain identity of the author remains an enigma. Missing\nis Paul&#8217;s customary salutation so common to his other works and, too, the\nsuggestion that the writer of this epistle relied upon knowledge and\ninformation provided by others who were actual eye-witnesses of Christ Jesus\n(2:3) makes Pauline authorship doubtful. Some attribute Luke as its writer;\nothers suggest Hebrews may have been written by Apollos, Barnabas, Silas,\nPhilip, or Aquila and Priscilla. Regardless of\nthe human hand that held the pen, the Holy Spirit of God is the divine author\nof all Scripture, therefore, Hebrews speaks with the same canonical authority\nas the other sixty-five books of the Bible.&nbsp;\nThe early church father Clement quoted from the Book of Hebrews in 95\nA.D., however, internal evidence such as the fact that Timothy was alive at the\ntime to the epistle was written and the absence of any evidence showing the end\nof the Old Testament sacrificial system that occurred with Jerusalem&#8217;s\ndestruction in 70 A.D. indicates the book was written around 65 A.D.&nbsp; The Book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrew\nto other Hebrews telling the Hebrews to stop acting like Hebrews. In truth,\nmany of the early Jewish believers were slipping back into the rites and\nrituals of Judaism in order to escape the mounting persecution. This letter,\nthen, is an exhortation for these persecuted believers to continue in the grace\nof Jesus Christ.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Grammatical Usage:\u00a0\u201cTempt\u201d in the Greek is \u201cpeirazo\u201d meaning, \u201cto try, to test in order to prove <strong><em>in a good sense<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Literal Application: \u201cFor\nwe do not have a high priest <strong>unable to\nsympathize<\/strong> with our weaknesses; on the contrary he has been tested in every\nway in which His nature is like ours, <strong>sin\napart<\/strong>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Contextual Interpretation: The keys to understanding the intent of the verse are the objects of the verb: 1) \u201cto prove in a good sense\u201d and 2) \u201csin apart.\u201d\u00a0 In context, the meaning of the verse is that while temptation did cause Christ physical suffering, suffering was the only result \u2013 and even that was simply a by-product of His humanity.\u00a0Jesus\u2019 suffering was NOT associated with the temptation to sin, but suffering associated with fatigue, hunger, thirst, discouragement, sadness, loneliness, disillusionment \u2013 all of these He experienced as emotions, just as we.\u00a0 What is different is that we have the capacity, because of sin, to surrender or yield to any one of these because our nature is depraved.\u00a0 <strong>Jesus\u2019 nature was not depraved, therefore he could never be induced to surrender to evil as we.<\/strong>\u00a0 James 1:13 specifically states that, \u201c\u2026for God can not be tempted with evil\u2026.\u201d\u00a0As noted above, Jesus\u2019 character was not flawed by original sin, therefore the temptation to physical enticements couldn\u2019t and didn\u2019t hold any enticement.\u00a0 In fact, had Jesus been tempted in the sense that He wanted to commit sin, even though He did not yield to the temptation and therefore not sin, He would still have been demonstrated to be as depraved as we in which case He would not have been qualified to be the sin-bearer of the world.<strong>Jesus was a real man, but he was NOT a fallen man.<\/strong>\u00a0 There was nothing to be gained from sin for Jesus as he wasn\u2019t a fallen creation.\u00a0 In turn, we are a \u201cnew creation\u201d in Jesus and empowered to look upon temptation in the same manner \u2013 there is nothing to be gained.\u00a0 Jesus committed no sin, but He does understand how we feel in our humanity.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Scriptural Comparison: Matthew\n4, Mark 1 and Luke 4 all record the temptation of Christ.&nbsp; All the\ntemptations we face can be summarized in the three Jesus confronted and\novercame: <strong>1)<\/strong> to put our temporal needs\nbefore our spiritual needs; <strong>2)<\/strong> to\nmisinterpret Scripture for personal purposes; and <strong>3)<\/strong> to compromise scriptural truth for an apparent gain.&nbsp; Critical observations include:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>The temptations\nof Jesus also prove that Satan had no choice but to attempt Christ&#8217;s\nsubversion. The Devil knew Jesus was the original, and he the created being.\nNeither combatant mistook the creature for the original AUTHORITY in the\nuniverse. <strong>The fact that Satan tempted Jesus,\nnot vice versa, proves who was in charge and who wanted to be.<\/strong> [When faced with temptation, we need to consciously affirm\nthat God is in charge and therefore able to keep us from yielding to\ntemptation]. Jesus held in trust from God all the spiritual truth the\nDevil wanted and intended to take by deceit or force, but no question existed\nbut that Jesus, not Satan, possessed it.\n<ul>\n<li>Each came as the\nrepresentative of his cause: Satan the enemy and Jesus the champion of\nhumanity. <strong>Satan intended to keep humanity\nchained to its ego by binding Jesus to his.<\/strong> Jesus intended to destroy the\nDevil&#8217;s power over human ego by submitting His to God&#8217;s will, however much it\ncost or however long it took.&nbsp; [We are in the midst of a power struggle between\nprincipalities and powers \u2013 Ephesians 6:12 \u2013 but Jesus broke Satan\u2019s strangle\nhold of sin which appeals to our ego.&nbsp;\nNote Col. 2:15].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The personal,\nface-to-face confrontation was essential since Jesus determined to put Satan on\nthe way to ultimate destruction. Allowing him to go personally unbeaten, while\nworking to ameliorate the disasters he caused, would let Satan create greater\nevil than an exhausted virtue could ever solve. <strong>To ultimately destroy the Devil&#8217;s work, Jesus first defeated him-which\nmeans Jesus offered Satan no sympathy whatever, and made no effort whatever to\nconvert him \u2013 no accommodation, no rationalization.&nbsp; <\/strong>[Recognize the\ndanger of temptation and do not entertain it.]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The temptation of\nJesus proved that God gave Satan every possible advantage in the conflict. <strong><em>First<\/em><\/strong>,\nthe environment of lonely desolation, where Jesus had to personally resolve a\nsingle question: would He fulfill His role as God&#8217;s Son according to God&#8217;s\nwill? God had fulsomely acknowledged Christ as His Son when He emerged from His\nbaptism, then ordered the testing of His Son&#8217;s commitment. [As we have already studied, our faith and commitment faces\ntesting.]&nbsp; <strong><em>Second<\/em><\/strong>, God allowed Satan\nthe offensive during those 960 hours. To earn the right later to crush the\nDevil with God&#8217;s truth, Jesus exposed Himself to every possible Satanic attack\n&#8211; relentlessly, by day and by night forty straight days and nights.&nbsp; [Our temptation is\nby no means the same, therefore God is able to understand what level we are\nfacing as well as provide victory in the midst.] &nbsp;<strong><em>Third<\/em><\/strong>, God reduced Jesus to physical\nand mental exhaustion, and most open to Satan&#8217;s blandishments. The exhaustion\ngave the Devil his most propitious opportunity. If Satan didn&#8217;t convert it, he\nnever would another, for this conflict determined whether Jesus or Satan won\nthe WAR between them. [Jesus won, we will too.]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The temptations\nof Jesus were all answered by the Master&#8217;s appeal to Scripture. The reason is\nobvious: <strong>Satan has no answer to God&#8217;s\nWord<\/strong>. He would have loved to debate philosophy with Jesus or why God could\nsay He loved Jesus, but still let Him suffer, or why God could claim to be\nsovereign and let good people suffer-all the arguments skeptics employ to\njustify their refusal to obey God. But Jesus declined. <strong><em>The Master gives us the perfect\nresponse to any temptation: shield life with God&#8217;s Word and shoot it like a cannon\nat the tempter!<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Conclusion: <strong>The writer of Hebrews gives ample encouragement to\nbelievers, but there are five solemn warnings we must heed:<\/strong> <strong>1)<\/strong> There is the danger of neglect\n(Hebrews 2:1-4) [sin of self will \u2013 Ez. 28:17], <strong>2)<\/strong>\nthe danger of unbelief (Hebrews 3:7-4,13) sin of disobedience \u2013 Rom.\n1:21],\n<strong>3)<\/strong> the danger of spiritual\nimmaturity (Hebrews 5:11-6,20) [sin of despising God\u2019s Word \u2013 2 Chron.\n36:16]\n, <strong>4)<\/strong> the danger of failing to endure\n(Hebrews 10:26-39) sin of compromise \u2013 Judg. 2:1-3], and <strong>5)<\/strong> the inherent danger of refusing God (Hebrews 12:25-29) [sin\nof rebellion \u2013 Num. 16].&nbsp; All of these are tied to capitulation in one\nform or another, otherwise known as \u201csin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hebrews 4:15: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. The temptation of Jesus reflected the Bible&#8217;s concept of temptation &#8211; which is always basic, not complex. The word used, in both Testaments, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,534],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Temptation - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Temptation - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hebrews 4:15: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. The temptation of Jesus reflected the Bible&#8217;s concept of temptation &#8211; which is always basic, not complex. 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