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.

Spiritual Armor—truth and righteouess

This is a continuation of my study of Ephesians 6:10-24 and preparations I'm making for a paper to be presented to a local pastoral conference the first part of next year. In earlier blogs we noted that the wrestling a believer endures is always personal, in fact a one on one contest requiring training. A wrestler/soldier struggles both with God and with the evil one, particularly the demon or demons in his or her life. Such demons are under the control and authority of the devil, the prince of this world. Having noted that, the apostle continues by detailing the whole armor of God that the believer is to take up (see also Romans 13:12-14). He describes it in terms that would apply to a Roman foot soldier's armament. We'll focus not upon the armor itself, but upon the metaphorical implications Paul makes as he reviews the soldier's armor.

Before we go there, a brief comment about spiritual warfare is in order. Writing to young pastor Timothy, Paul notes that his work will always involve battle. With this in mind he writes,

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.  (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

He writes, of course, to a man "enlisted" by Christ as a pastor, a public spokesman of the Word of God. Such a person will always find himself on the front lines of the fighting. This is why his focus must be on the real battle, the fight with the spiritual forces behind flesh and blood. The fact of spiritual warfare is, however, part of every Christian's life, regardless of his calling. So Paul provides instructions in Ephesians about the required armor. Let's look at his list:

• truth
• righteousness
• the gospel of peace
• faith
• salvation
• the word of God

We won't have time today to look in detail at every piece of this armor. For now let's focus upon truth and righteousness. What are they?  What is truth? What is righteousness?

Truth in the Greek language is a complex word (aletheia) from a verb that means to hide and the negative letter 'a'. So it means simply what is not hidden, but revealed. This is why our Lord Jesus calls Himself the Truth (John 14:6) and declares that to know Him in a personal manner is to become free (John 8:32). This is where it all starts. This is what holds the believer together. Just as a belt holds and supports the soldier's equipment, so Jesus Himself dwells within one's heart to confirm that the believer is a forgiven son or daughter of God. This truth has been clearly and decisively revealed by Jesus' cross and resurrection. God's love is for the entire fallen world. And the believer hears in his heart that Jesus loves me!

For his breastplate the believer wears righteousness. There are those yet even among Christians who believe they can live righteous lives before God and thus gain His forgiveness and blessing. Jesus encountered them among the pious scribes and Pharisees and warned that one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless his righteousness exceeds theirs (Matthew 5:20). Paul, himself once a Pharisee, knew this was hopeless. That's why he wrote about Christ as the One who came to show God's righteousness and forbearance toward sinners (Romans 3:21-26). In spite of our sin, we are declared righteous and holy in His sight—all for Christ's sake.

He who believes that and has a personal relationship with Jesus, seeks now to respond to Him who has accomplished such great things. He seeks to live a righteous life. He seeks to serve as a good soldier in Christ's kingdom. He constantly asks his Commander for orders and makes it his aim in life to carry them out—all because his Commander loves him and has rescued him from the powers of death and darkness and put him into the kingdom of heaven, life and light. This righteousness serves as the protection for the believer's heart and soul. He is righteous in God's eyes.

More on armor the next time.