Is It Possible To Live Without

Sinning?

No growing Christian in the world can be unconcerned about the

traumatic problem of temptation. There is no age level when

moral choices and struggles of the spirit do not confront us.

Temptation may attack at different points on different issues,

but it will always be with us as long as we are in the flesh.

When I was a boy back in North Carolina, we could always tell

when the fruit was ripe out in the orchards. A certain gang of

neighborhood boys would head in that direction, and everyone

would say, "It must be that time again." Now, devils are

smarter than teenage boys, and as long as the fruit of your life

is sour and immature, they may leave you strictly alone. But

when that fruit is ripe, all the demons may suddenly appear to

try to steal it away from you.

This means that the most spiritual people are the most likely to

face the most severe temptations. They have something that

Satan would like to spoil or destroy. Stragglers out on the

edge of the camp might come off with a whole skin, but the true

saints will be under constant harassment.

Does this mean that it is an honor to be especially tempted by

the devil? Perhaps so. In a way it is a compliment to have

thieves try to break into your house. It shows that you at

least have the reputation for having money. And when the demons

come around, it may indeed indicate that you are better off

spiritually than you have ever been before.

Now we are prepared to look at one of the most astounding texts

in the entire Bible. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye

fall into divers temptations." James 1:2. Apparently, the

Bible writers were also convinced that temptation can be a good

thing. Yet, the thought is in total conflict with all the

painful human experiences we have suffered in meeting

temptation. Most people consider it to be a necessary evil,

downright destructive in its influence.

We certainly need to understand that there are some redeeming

features about temptation. First of all, it proves that we have

moral insight. No one can be tempted unless there are

meaningful choices to be made. Issues of right and wrong must

be clearly distinguished. People who see everything in the

moral realm as a kind of dull gray cannot pass through any great

battles of the mind.

One must have a special consciousness of good and evil in order

to be tempted. Many modern religionists seem to have only

small, average consciences, which may account for the lack of

spiritual conflict. What a contrast to the great characters of

the past who seem to have had dramatic hand-to-hand combat with

the devil. Martin Luther's confrontation with Satan was so real

that he is reported to have thrown an inkwell at his tormentor.

You are to be congratulated, then, if you find yourself tempted.

It certainly implies that you are seeing the issues correctly.

But now comes the most crucial question: After we recognize the

true situation before us, how do we find the power to choose the

good over the evil? Paul sensed the urgency of this question

when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church. No one

could have been faced with more obvious choices than those few

Christian citizens of Corinth. The pagan world of the flesh

stood out in vivid contrast to the self-denying lifestyle of

their new-found faith. There was no question with them about

right and wrong, and Paul wrote: "There hath no temptation

taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who

will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but

will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may

be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.

This verse contains a wealth of inspired encouragement for

anyone who is struggling against a recognized evil. The apostle

warned against making an exception of ourselves. It is so easy

for us to feel that no one else has ever had to face the enemy

in the same way that we have to. Our burden appears heavier and

our battle seems more severe than any which others have

experienced. Paul said that this is simply not true, and we

must not allow ourselves to think it for a moment. This is old

stuff. No matter what we suffer, the very same temptation has

come upon a million others long before we were born.

How very much we like to consider our situation different from

all others! This provides a very clever rationalization just in

case we lose the battle and yield to the temptation. If our

case is so different, God cannot judge us as strictly as others

who have a much easier test. The businessman consoles himself

that cheating on taxes is not usually the right thing to do, but

he has suffered more shoplifting losses than anyone else. And

besides that, he has been more discriminated against by

government bureaucrats.

The philandering husband argues, "My problem is unique. My wife

is cold and unresponsive, and no one understands the pressures I

am under."

Mark it down: Almost every sin will be prefaced by these three

words--"I'm an exception." We must constantly remind ourselves

that this has been the psychology of Satan for six thousand

years. All he tried to do in the wilderness of temptation was

to convince Jesus that He was different. Every one of the three

approaches Satan used was based on the idea that as the Son of

God, He could do things that no one else could do--turn stones

into bread or jump off the pinnacle without being hurt.

The Purpose of Temptation

Now Paul hastens to assure us that "God is faithful, who will

not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." That is

reassuring and comforting! But why should He allow any

agonizing conflicts to engulf His people? Why not simply remove

all temptation? The answer is found in James 1:2-4. "My

brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect

and entire, wanting nothing."

A new, satisfying picture begins to emerge in these verses.

Temptation provides opportunity for spiritual conquest and

growth. It is not a disgrace to be tempted. If there are no

battles, there can be no victories through strong decision.

Neither can there be any nobility of character. Virtue is tried

innocence. Untried goodness may be no goodness at all. I could

possibly sequester myself in a solitary cave somewhere and not

commit an outward sin for a whole week simply because I would

have no contact with any other person. Would that week prove me

to be a virtuous individual? Not at all. Christianity is not

merely the absence of wrong behavior in the life; it has to do

with an aggressive practice of positive virtues as well. My

life in the cave might prove more than I would like it to prove.

I would be good, but good for nothing! The person who avoids

all temptation by avoiding contact with all people may do no

harm, but neither does he do any good. He is morally anemic.

Now we are brought to Paul's assertion that God will "make a way

to escape that ye may be able to bear it." Does this mean there

will always be an easy road out of every temptation experience?

No. It just means that in every moral trial God will provide us

alternative. There will always be two paths leading out of each

temptation--one, the

alluring path of evil; the other, an appealing path of good.

Paul is saying that we are

being drawn in two directions every time we are tempted. At the

same time we are tempted to anger, we are also being tempted to

self-control. When we are tempted to be dishonest, we are also

tempted to use integrity.

A little boy was standing in a store with his hand in the apple

barrel, caressing the attractive fruit. Finally, the

storekeeper

approached the lad and asked, "Sonny, are you trying to steal my

apples?" Quickly the boy answered, "No, sir. I'm trying not

to." We can easily understand what he meant by that honest

rejoinder. All of us have struggled with those two voices and

those two choices. We may not have it neatly analyzed and

defined, but we are really being tempted by goodness as much as

by evil.

He who represses the impulse to steal is expressing the virtue

of honesty. He who represses the desire to commit adultery is

simultaneously expressing the ideal of purity. The secret is to

apply this beautiful principle to our daily experience so that

we do not go through life regarding all temptation as a dreadful

enemy. In the long run, we may discover that the most

intriguing, appealing things are really the good things. D. L.

Moody named a certain beautiful hill near his boyhood home

Temptation Hill because he reasoned that someday, somebody would

be unable to resist the temptation to build a church on top of

it. Sure enough, somebody did yield to the temptation, and a

lovely chapel stands there to this day.

Now, let's look toward the end of these dual tracks which lead

out of each temptation experience. The temptation that makes

one character noble by non-consent will make

another character mean and ignoble by giving way to it. This

law of human nature decrees that we can never be the same after

facing temptation. We will either get the victory and be

stronger for the next one down the road, or we will yield and be

weaker for the next one we face. Our character is built up or

torn down depending on the choice we make.

Should We Seek Temptation?

Doesn't this provide a powerful argument to prove that

temptation can be a good thing? Indeed, it does. But it also

can be abused if we are not careful. Because victory can do so

much good for us, should we go searching for an opportunity to

engage the enemy? If temptation can be such a glorious

opportunity to develop character, why not pray "Lead us into

temptation" instead of "Lead us not into temptation"? Some

might reason that they need an injection of new strength and

begin looking for a nice, juicy temptation so that they can gain

a victory and build their character.

What is wrong with that reasoning? Is there a convincing answer

to it? Those of us who possess this freedom of choice should

pray that we will not misuse it by placing ourselves in the

clutch of circumstances that might test us beyond our strength.

Fire controlled in the stove is great, but it is not very good

out of control on the roof. It is better to shun the bait than

to struggle in the trap after it has sprung.

The fact is that we misjudge our own powers. We do not

understand our own strengths and weaknesses. For this reason,

no one is justified in deliberately seeking for a testing

situation. We have no promise of deliverance under those

circumstances. The Bible says, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver

the godly out of temptations." 2 Peter 2:9. Again, God

promises, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I

also will keep thee from the hour of temptation." Revelation

3:10. He is the only one who is qualified to arrange the

circumstances of our test. He will permit to develop around us

only that which He sees we are in need of and have the strength

to endure.

Every one of us has particularly vulnerable points of weakness

in character. It is also sadly true that there are special

moments of time in which we are most liable to be overcome by

the enemy. Satan is well acquainted with that very moment when

our resistance will be the lowest, and he also understands our

individual weakness. We can be sure of one thing--his strongest

attack against us will come in our weakest moment and at the

weakest point in our character.

What a solemn thought! With such an enemy we can never feel

secure in our own strength. We are only as strong as we are in

the weakest moment of our life. Our character is only as strong

as its weakest link. These facts forever preclude the

possibility that we can deliberately and safely expose ourselves

to tests in order to build character. God must measure the

temptations to our personal need and strength, and He must

constantly control the force of those circumstances which try

our faith and experience. In this kind of temptation we may

rejoice, as James admonishes us to do.

Sin Begins in the Mind

Another interesting fact about temptation is that it always

assails the mind first. Every sin has its origin in the

thoughts long before it appears as an act of the body. Jesus

said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil

thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,

covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,

blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21, 22. Almost every

category of evil is included in this long list of sins which

come forth from the heart. Paul described lust as "fulfilling

the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Ephesians 2:3. The

Greek text more accurately says "desires of the thoughts."

Right at this point we must make some careful distinctions. It

is very important to understand that desire, in itself, is not

wrong. God has actually placed certain powerful

appetites and propensities within our human nature. There is

nothing wrong with these drives as long as they are properly

controlled and directed. This includes ambition, tem-

per, sex, and every other basic disposition. Wrong comes in

only one way. When desire

oversteps the bounds and seeks gratification outside the will of

God, it turns into lust.

Every day we are confronted with pictures, books, words, etc.,

which are exciting and

appealing to the mind. It is through these emotional stimuli

that the mind is often presented with unholy desires. The

temptation to lust is present, but this is not sin. As long as

those desires are not gratified or fulfilled they are not wrong.

It is only when the mind responds to the desire by receiving it

and holding it that the temptation turns into sin.

James describes it this way. "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 1:14, 15. Here the act of sin is

compared to the process of conception and reproduction. Just as

a bee carries pollen from one open blossom to another to

fertilize the flower, so the heart of each individual is open to

the introduction of unholy thoughts and desires. If those seeds

are allowed to mingle with the carnal nature, they produce an

inevitable harvest of sin, and finally, death. Our only

protection is to set a guard before all the avenues of the soul

to test every entering thought. By the grace and strength of

Christ, every evil desire can be recognized and sifted out so

that it has no opportunity to linger in the mind as a catalyst

of lust and sin.

This touches an issue that often becomes exceedingly sensitive.

How easy it is to say that we can monitor the mind and weed out

the clamoring thoughts of sin. But can human beings, even in

concert with Christ, actually conquer the temptation to harbor

impure thoughts? The Bible says Yes. "For the weapons of our

warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling

down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high

thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and

bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of

Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.

How is such total victory possible? Is it accomplished through

prayer, faith, or personal effort? Basically, we must agree

that this kind of deliverance comes only through the enabling,

indwelling Spirit of God. There is not enough strength in the

flesh to overcome one evil desire. Nevertheless, the victory is

not obtained without our strong cooperation and action. God

does not work miracles to deliver those who do not use their own

God-given power to avoid evil.

Guard the Avenues of the Mind

Again, we are brought back to the question of inviting

temptation. How far should we go in protecting ourselves from

the vulnerability to sin? Jesus laid down a very clear

principle in the sermon on the mount. "And if thy right eye

offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is

profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and

not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy

right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast if from thee: for

it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,

and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matthew

5:29, 30.

Obviously, Jesus was not talking about the literal eye or the

literal hand. One could violently decimate his body and still

be as wicked as ever. Christ was talking about the occupation

of the hand and what the eye focuses on. If we find ourselves

in a job or any physical situation which opens a door to

temptation, the counsel is to "cut it off." In other words, get

away from any vocation which involves an enticement that is

liable to lead into sin. The Master indicated that any radical

means should be used to avoid situations which might overwhelm

with soul-destroying sin. Even an employment position should be

abandoned rather than risk the spiritual loss of eternal life.

If we find ourselves looking at some scene which is likely to

introduce sinful thoughts or actions, Jesus commands us to shut

that view away from our sight by any possible means. The term

"pluck it out" conveys the idea of precipitous action if

necessary.

What a persuasive argument against the corrupt communication

media of today! The alluring appeal of television is probably

the most powerful incitement to sin in the twentieth century.

The words of Christ have a most explicit application to those

who have difficulty controlling the television set. Our Lord's

counsel to "pluck it out" would seem to translate into "throw it

out" if the eye continues to be offended by provocative pictures

on the tube. Much better, Jesus said, to lose the advantage of

the educational material than to lose the soul by looking at

degrading programs. If it can't be totally controlled, don't

take the chance! Pluck it out!

Would Jesus ask us to deny ourselves some good thing just

because a small amount of mind pollution might be involved?

Yes. It is much better to lead what the world calls a narrow-

minded existence--a one-eyed life--than to lead a so-called full

life and lose your soul. "If any man will come after me, let

him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

Luke 9:23. Saying No to desirable, fleshly things is a basic

requirement of a Christian's discipleship if those things

present temptations which are likely to lead into sin.

What I am really saying is that even with a spiritual mind, we

need to follow the great basic principles of victory over

temptation. There are places to be avoided if we want to have

total victory. There are devotional requirements if we would be

wholly in harmony with Christ. The avenues of the mind must be

guarded if we would defeat sin in its

inception.

What a tremendous difference it would make if all could clearly

understand the priority placed upon a pure mind. Satan has

created a deceptive, artificial world of the flesh which makes a

powerful appeal to the mind of every man, woman, and child.

Only by recognizing the snares and appropriating all the weapons

of Christ's warfare will we be successful in resisting

temptation.

No Confidence in the Flesh

Although some people seem able to resist anything except

temptation, others appear to be almost complacent about the

problem. Is it possible to have a misplaced confidence in the

flesh and its ability to cope with temptation? Paul wrote, "Let

him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1

Corinthians 10:12.

Have you noticed how some of the most unlikely individuals fall

prey to the most unlikely sins? It is often the case that a

person is overcome in the area where he feels the strongest.

How does it happen? Do we become careless on the point of our

supposed strength? It appears so. No inspired explanation is

given as to how Moses could succumb to impatience or anger. The

Bible presents him as the meekest man who ever lived. Such a

person might yield to many other temptations but surely not to

passion. Yet, that is exactly the sin that shut Moses out of

the promised land. He smote the rock in anger instead of

speaking to it as God commanded. Numbers 20.

Elijah's great strength was courage. He withstood single-

handedly all the entrenched forces of Baal on Mt. Carmel. With

incredible boldness he challenged anyone who deviated from a

path of full obedience to God. Yet, immediately after his

successful contest with the prophets of Baal, he fled like a

coward from the threats of Queen Jezebel. It was so out of

character for the fearless Tishbite! Did he drop his guard in

the area of his fabled strength?

Abraham was distinguished by his total trust in God. He is

called the father of the faithful. Yet he lied to the King of

Egypt out of fear that his wife would be taken from him. Do

these great Bible characters not demonstrate dramatically how

Satan attacks the place in our lives where there is a lack of

alertness? No one should think he is immune to Satan's attacks

because of some demonstrable virtues.

It is also very interesting to note that no one really

anticipates the result of yielding to temptation, since it

usually approaches along the line of least resistance. Gehazi

saw the flashing colors of the Syrian garments--not the leprous

scars which would follow him to the grave. Achan saw the

coveted wedge of Babylonian gold--not the anger of a nation

which would rise up to stone him. Judas could not see past the

glittering silver coins to his fearful remorse and suicide.

Another great truth about temptation, which should bring courage

to all of us, is that many temptations will cease to trouble us

as we make good choice a habit. Just as our brain is programmed

to do wrong by constant yielding to compromise and defeat, so it

may be programmed for victory through strong decision and right

choices. Most of the terrible struggle will disappear from the

experience as our nature adjusts to a program of habitual

victory.

Someone wrote an article entitled "Don't Decide to Go to

Church," which stirred considerable controversy. But the basic

premise of the article was simply that we should not have to

debate over the decision to attend church. Just as we don't

struggle three times a day with the decision to eat food, so we

should not have to make some heavy decisions about going to

church each Sabbath morning. Repetition of a practice finally

turns it into an automatic response, and the temptation to stay

away from church no longer exists. So it can be with many other

forms of temptation as we use our wills to establish victorious

patterns of thought and action.

Are you sometimes tempted not to pray or read your Bible in the

morning? Probably every Christian has faced that temptation at

least once. Is it possible to take the strength out of that

particular temptation? Yes, it is. Thousands of people have

established such a pattern of daily devotion that they don't

even consider not taking the time to do it. The temptation no

longer really exists for them. They have followed the counsel

of Paul, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

Romans 12:21.

Thus far we have uncovered some of the psychological tricks that

Satan uses for trapping people into sin. We have also concluded

that sin originates in the mind, which means that some very

special attention must be given to protecting that vulnerable

target of the enemy's attack. We have suggested placing

specific guards before the avenues of the mind to shut out

suspicious thoughts and desires. We have strongly recommended

using the will to say No to the urges of the flesh. All of this

counsel is good, but it is also useless if one truth is not

recognized. Now we move into the very heart of the

temptation/sin problem.

The Power of a Positive No

The power to say No to temptation is only possible for those who

have received the mind of Christ through conversion. The carnal

mind has no choice whatsoever about sin. It is foredoomed to

failure and defeat. All the processes of choice, free will, and

decision are centered in the mysterious gray matter of the

brain. Here is where Satan made his first attack on Eve. In

order to make her sin,

Satan had to influence her to open her mind to someone besides

God. And the only way to reach her mind was through the

emotional avenue of the senses. Thus, the Bible says that she

"saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant

to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise."

Genesis 3:6.

Please notice that the serpent was only able to corrupt her mind

through the things she looked at and listened to. It was the

appealing beauty of the fruit, plus the hypnotizing sound of the

flattering voice, which finally led to Eve's downfall.

Mark it down: It is only by utilizing the paths which are under

our conscious control that Satan is able to defile the mind. In

other words, we must give our consent before an act of sin can

be committed. No one compelled Eve to leave her husband, walk

to the tree, listen to the serpent, or eat the fruit. Every

step was a volitional act in response to some sensory appeal.

God had placed within Eve a holy will and a perfect, sinless

mind. Through these sanctified powers a total separation from

sin was always possible for her. Yet she chose to disobey God.

Our case is not quite so clear-cut and simple. We do not

possess by nature the kind of pure and unpolluted mind that Eve

had. We have all inherited the weak and compromised bodies and

minds which disobedience produced in Adam and Eve. By yielding

to Satan and choosing to obey him instead of God, Eve instantly

lost her power to resist temptation. Her will became weakened,

and the law of sin began to operate in her body to produce

death. By that one deliberate act, she forever doomed herself

and her off-spring to a life of unremitting struggle and defeat.

Had God not immediately introduced the plan of salvation in

Genesis 3:15, all the human race would have followed Eve's

course of willful sin and would have died without hope. The

promised seed of the woman

offered hope for degenerate men to reverse the effect of Adam's

and Eve's sin. Through Christ the death sentence could be

lifted and the mind of enmity could be replaced by the mind of

Christ. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ

Jesus." Philippians 2:5.

It would be useless to deal with the subject of temptation

without recognizing that the

ultimate answer to this problem is a spiritual yielding to

Christ. All the counsel in the world, and all the knowledge of

sin's devices will be less than useless if the mind is not

surrendered to Christ.

The Second Adam's Temptation

Consider for a moment how Jesus made that way of escape from

temptation for every one who will accept it. He came as the

world's second Adam, and faced the enemy exactly like the first

Adam had to meet him. And yet, of course, it was not exactly as

Adam and Eve were tested. Jesus did not meet the tempter in a

lovely garden surrounded by beauty. He struggled with Satan in

a wild, desolate wilderness. The first Adam had

access to every possible variety of luscious food, but Jesus was

emaciated and weak from forty days without food or drink.

The first Adam faced the tempter in the strength of a perfect

body, untainted by a single hereditary flaw. Jesus took humanity

upon Himself after 4,000 years of sin had weakened the human

race. He accepted all the hereditary disadvantages and

liabilities which sin had imposed upon the physical

descendants of the first Adam.

No one will ever fully understand the nature of that wilderness

contest. Satan had anticipated this confrontation for years,

and perhaps for centuries. In those three subtle temptations he

had combined all the psychological expertise that his mastermind

could provide. In effect, Satan appealed to the same basic

human emotions which had destroyed the first Adam--appetite,

presumption, and position. But, thank God, the deceiver could

not find one thing in Christ to respond to his enticements. The

second Adam utterly disarmed and defeated the devil in the very

areas which had been so effective against the first Adam.

We need to stretch our minds in an effort to comprehend this

truth. Why was the great Creator-God of the universe willing to

submit to the indignities of that agonizing experience? Had He

not already proven His power over the evil one by casting him

out of heaven? Why should He voluntarily place Himself at such

terrible disadvantage in the midst of

another conflict with Satan?

The answer is simple. The devil had stolen away the masterpiece

of God's creation. Mankind, whom God loved, had been kidnapped

by the enemy, albeit willingly, and was held in captivity. Two

things happened that day when Adam was conquered by Satan.

First, he and his descendants immediately fell under the

irrevocable sentence of death which God had pronounced upon

transgressors of His law. Second, his entire moral nature

became so traumatized and degraded by sin that it would never be

possible for Adam or his posterity to refrain from sinning

again, and again.

Do you see the problem? What could God do to release the

creatures He loved from the devastating consequence of their

sin? They were doomed to die and they had forfeited the power

to obey. Satan exulted. He reasoned that God Himself could not

get man back without changing His law or compromising His

justice. At last, Satan had found a way to prove the charges he

had pressed against God. In the presence of the holy

angels he had accused God of being unfair and requiring an

impossible obedience.

Now he gloated over God's dilemma, as these charges seemed to

have proven true. Man apparently could not obey. Now God would

either have to let man die in his sin, or change His law, or

accept transgressors in His kingdom--so Satan must have

reasoned.

God met the problem with such an incredible strategy that no

devil or man could have faintly anticipated it. Satan was

overwhelmed by its implications. Briefly, it involved God's

taking man's place and accepting the punishment of death for

him. Neither the law nor the sentence for breaking it was

changed.

In order to die for man's sin, though, God had to take upon

Himself a nature that was subject to death. Deity could not

die. Jesus accepted the unspeakable conditions of being born

into the lost, condemned family of Adam. In the incarnation,

God not only provided for His atoning death for sin but for a

dramatic rebuttal of Satan's charge that man could not live

without sinning. In order to make the demonstration absolutely

unanswerable on Satan's part, Jesus submitted Himself to the

same human limitations of every child of Adam. He was tempted

in all points as we are tempted, yet He completely overcame

every one of them by using the same divine power that is

accessible to each one of us. He was still God totally and

completely, but He was also totally man. In meeting these

temptations, He voluntarily restricted Himself to the same

spiritual resources available to man today. Thus, He shattered

Satan's lie that obedience for humanity is an impossibility.

All Lost Things Restored

With a life of perfect obedience behind Him, Jesus laid down His

life to meet the penalty of the broken law. His death and

resurrection gave Him the final authority by which to reverse

all the human havoc wrought by Satan's victory over Adam. Now

Jesus had in His hand everything man could possibly need to be

restored to God's Edenic plan of perfection and holiness.

Although it had cost Him an infinite price to obtain, He

offered all of it as a free gift to anyone who would receive it.

What did He have to offer? Deliverance from the death sentence

through His own assumption of the guilt and penalty, credit for

a perfect life of obedience through His imputed righteousness,

and victory in the flesh over every temptation Satan can devise.

Many who have joyfully received the first two gifts have been

fearful to accept the third. Why should we hesitate to be an

exhibit for God? By receiving His power of victory over

temptation, we provide a vindication of God's original purpose,

and we expose the blasphemous lies of Satan for what they really

are.

Right now Satan holds a tenuous position as a temporary ruler of

this world. He watches in desperation as Jesus and the Holy

Spirit break through the barriers of sin to release multitudes

of his captives. The power of the flesh is broken every time

self surrenders to Christ.

Temptation loses its power when He enters the life. By one

decision right now, victory is assured. The second Adam was to

deliver you from the old sinful nature of the first Adam. He

wants you to change families. There is no hope for us to

overcome temptation unless we get out of the defeated, dying

family of the first Adam.

Jesus offers each one of us the victory which He won over Satan

in the flesh. We might be suspicious of this gift had He not

overcome in the same human nature we possess. Now He wants to

enter your life and live out the same victory in you day after

day.

One of my favorite stories has to do with Augustine, whose youth

was marked by gross licentiousness and immorality. As a young

man he was swept by mighty currents of emotion for two women in

his life. Like a chip on the tide, Augustine would be drawn

toward his godly mother, Monica; and then, toward a dissolute

woman who seemed to hold him under an evil spell. In spite of

his mother's prayers for him, Augustine continued a course of

miserable compromise. Sometimes he would be attracted to the

righteous instruction of Monica, but then, the evil influence of

the other woman would draw him back. The battle was long and

terrible.

But then came that glorious day when in his garden Augustine was

converted through a mysterious voice directing him to Romans

13:13, 14. When he read this text, the scales fell off his

eyes, and he rushed to convey the good news to his mother. She

was delighted at the dramatic change in her son.

While walking down the streets of Carthage the next day after

his conversion, Augustine saw the woman who had been his

companion in sin. She was coming directly toward him and there

was no way to avoid the encounter. Without even acknowledging

her presence, Augustine brushed past her without a word. She

stopped, unbelieving, and then ran after him in a state of

outrage. Grabbing his arm she cried, "Augustine! Augustine! It

is I!" He stopped in his tracks, looked at her, and said, "Yes,

but it is not I." Then he walked on down the street and out of

her life forever.

Augustine told the truth that day because he was indeed a new

person. It is only in the strength of the second Adam that we

will be able to turn from temptation. Sin loses its appeal for

those who are in love with Christ and have made their decision

to serve Him instead of self.

Satan will have no problem overcoming the children of the first

Adam. He defeated the father and he can handle the children as

well. On the other hand, he will find no way to conquer those

who draw upon the strength of the second Adam.

This is the way of escape that is promised to those who will

receive it. Jesus simply passes on to His spiritual children the

total victory which He won over the devil while living here in

human flesh.

This is the heart of the matter. Under this power the Christian

uses his surrendered will to choose the lifestyle which avoids

the hidden snares of temptation. Both factors are very

important in winning the victory--having Christ in the heart and

avoiding presumptuous situations of temptation. May God lead us

in applying these spiritual principles to our own experience.

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