Would God Lead Us Into Temptation?

Why on earth should I pray, "Our Father . . . lead us not into temptation?" Does the Father in heaven ever lead anyone into temptation? And if so, why? Surely He would not want to tempt us to disobey Himself or turn our backs upon Him. And if not, why does the LORD Jesus teach us such a prayer. Is He misleading us and not really suggesting that our Father would want to lead us into temptation?

I'm confused.

Let's take another look at this petition.

Once the disciples came to Jesus, asking his opinion about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called a child to join them and then said, "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Then he went on to warn about temptations to sin—or to be more precise, stumbling blocks along the path.

"For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! - Mat 18:7 ESV

Necessary? Perhaps inevitable is a better translation, because of the ways of the world and the people that live in it. What else could we expect? The ordered world of men is opposed to the will and plan of God. It is filled with skandala, the Greek word for the movable trigger of a trap, a trap stick. It refers to anything set up along one's path of life that might cause you to stumble or be caught. It may be either that trap stick or a stone set in the way. Metaphorically it refers to any person or event or anything by which you are drawn into sin, unbelief or rejection of the LORD. Once the trap door drops you're caught and cannot get away.

This is why Paul warns, for instance, about those who love to cause dissension and divisions among members of the Body of Christ. They love to set up traps that are contrary to the teachings we learned from our fathers and teachers. They're not at all interested in building up your faith in Jesus, Paul says. All they're really interested in is themselves and what's in it for them. So they use smooth, apparently profound and wise talk, mixed with flattery. It sounds so very learned, so intelligent, so very interesting—so modern. In this manner they deceive the hearts of those untrained to sort out their deceptions, those Paul calls the naive (Romans 16:17-18).

So back to our prayer. Why does our Father in heaven bring us into such situations? Whatever for? I suppose that's really another way of saying, Why doesn't He simply pluck us up and take us completely out of the world to some place where there is no temptation to sin? But of course that's quite impossible, is it not? Fly to a deserted island in the Pacific and you'll still have your own sinful heart, to say nothing of the demons assigned to lead you away from your LORD. As long as we live in this present world we will have such struggles and stresses. Listen to Jesus.

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. - John 16:33 ESV

Temptations to sin are inevitable in this world. The fight will go on! There is no escaping it. We're in a war. So we pray for help to overcome the world. Teach us how to fight. Teach us the ways of the enemy. Arm us, train us, equip us for this war. And give us victory today!

More about the battle in my next post.

Praying For God's Kingdom To Come

As noted in yesterday's blog, Jesus came to depose the devil from his throne. The devil had successfully taken over control of the people of this world and become their god, even when they did not know they were worshipping him. Now a new king has appeared, the rightful ruler. And we are taught by the  true King! to pray, "Your kingdom come!"

The true LORD and God, Jesus the Messiah, has begun His reign. So we join the people of Jerusalem who welcomed Him into Jerusalem with their prayer: Hallelujah—LORD save us! Save us from our folly, from the powers of darkness, from the craziness of a world that worships those powers! Set us free to be children of God (Romans 8:20-21).

From an early 1900's Bible card illustration

Already that is happening. His Spirit is at work through His Word, calling us to faith and leading us to follow where He leads. So we are sent back into the world, not to be of the world, but to be in the world with the Good News. This is our calling, our vocation. Peter writes about it in this manner:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. - 1Pe 2:4-12 ESV

I'll not expound in detail upon what Peter says above. Only note that he emphasizes that we who acknowledge Jesus as the true King understand that we gave been called out of darkness into His marvelous light! We have received undeserved mercy in Christ. What follows is that we abandon the ways of the world, what Peter calls the passions of the flesh. These passions wage war against our very souls. So in deep humility we follow Christ the King wherever He sends us to live honorable lives. Our purpose in all of this is that the people of the world (who are not yet God's people), may see our good deeds and give God the glory on the great day when Christ returns in glory.

So teaches also the Apostle Paul,

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him." - Rom 15:8-11 ESV 

We who have been adopted into the people of God go then out into the world to live out our vocations, our varied callings—father, mother, business person, doctor, nurse, lawyer, soldier, and on and on—under the kingship of the true King. The "Gentiles" are watching our good deeds. Through this witness, we pray that the kingdom of God may come indeed, also among them. And so together we shall rejoice and praise the LORD forever and ever. 

A Dark Prince Enters The Story

In previous posts I discussed the back story of the mystery of marriage as recorded in Genesis 2:15-25. But that is not the entire back story. In the very next chapter someone dark and foreboding enters and everything starts to go wrong. Suddenly we see that the story is not being played out as originally planned by the Author of Life (Acts 3:15; John 1:4, 11:25-26). This someone was there when Adam and Eve were created. Now he steps into the story and twists it to his own purposes. We will not understand the back story without this part of it. Let's look at it.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and  pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves (Genesis 3:1-6). 

Without this part of the back story we cannot understand human history as it has unfolded from the Garden of Eden to the present. Unless we accept the reality of spiritual forces under the leadership of a dark prince dedicated to pulling us into  disobedience and rebellion all of our social sciences are pointless and useless. The Apostles of Christ emphasized this. Paul wrote,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:10-12).

With our laws about marriage, our legal definitions of the institution, our social services, our courts, our therapies and our drugs we do bring a certain order to human life. However, all of it is but temporary and transient. The Apostles remind us again and again that we are merely dealing with surface issues. A darkness has descended upon this world. Unseen, highly organized and very powerful spirits are at work behind the scenes in that spiritual darkness. And they are led by a prince with a ravenous appetite for power and glory (Revelation 12:9; Ephesians 2:2).

In further discussions of marriage we must always be conscious of this part of the story. This is and was the beginning of the great conflict. There is, however, hope for God's children. There is another Prince in this tale (Isaiah 9:2; John 1:1-14). In this Christmas/Epiphany season we celebrate His coming.