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The first temptation of mankind was to doubt the God was good and that He was trustworthy. That’s why satan tempted Adam and Eve by saying they could become “like God.” Every Christian faces temptation, and one of the biggest is still satan’s same strategy: to try to get us to handle things on our own.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is to help us realize that we cannot rely on ourselves, but we must rely totally on His power.
David Wilkerson said, “This is an ongoing problem with many Christians. We look to the Holy Spirit as some kind of booster shot to empower or energize our human will. We expect Him to build up our supply of grit and determination, so we can stand up to temptation the next time it comes. We cry, ‘Make me strong, Lord! Give me an iron will, so I can withstand all sin.’ But God knows this would only make our flesh stronger, enabling it to boast.”
Overcoming temptation is not about willpower but Spirit-power. Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 12:9.
(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)
Being tempted to sin is not a sign that God has abandoned me or that I am living apart from Him. Jesus was perfect and yet we are told He was tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15). So we can easily determine that temptation is not a sin because Jesus was tempted (Luke 4:3-13). This story is told in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 4:1-10; Mark 1:13).
Look at what preceded this temptation: Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-12; Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-2). The Spirit was the One Who led Jesus into the wilderness specifically to face temptation.
Temptation comes the the Latin word meaning “to stretch.” Oswald Chambers noted, “Every temptation of satan is perfectly wise. The wisest, shrewdest, subtlest things are said by satan, and they are accepted by everybody as the acme of human philosophy; but when the Spirit of God is at work in a man, instantly the hollow mockery at the heart of what satan is trying to do, is seen. When we understand the inwardness of the temptation we see how satan’s strategy is turned into confusion by the Spirit of God.”
Temptation is not a sin, but a stretching. It is a call for us to give up our willpower and trust the Spirit’s power.
When Jesus came to earth, He gave up His rightful prerogatives as God. The stretching test here was this: Would He continue to rely on the Spirit’s power or would He try to reclaim the power He surrendered?
It’s the same question for us when we are tempted: Will we take matters into our own hands, or will we leave ourselves in the Spirit’s hands? In one paragraph, James tells us both the blessing of overcoming temptation and where temptations originate—
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:12-15)
The Spirit shows us the way to have the mind of Christ in overcoming temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Just before Jesus was tempted, we see the help that is promised to all of us through the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:15-16).
There are some things we will learn about ourselves in a time of temptation that we cannot learn in any other way. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit is about empowerment, but it is really the power to submit—full and unconditional surrender to the only One who can bring me safely through (Hebrews 4:15; 5:7-9; 2:17-18).
As we talked about last week, the Spirit of Truth gives us the mind of Christ (John 16:13, 15; 1 Corinthians 2:16).
We, just like Jesus, can be victorious over these temptations by doing what Jesus did. (1) He was fully submitted to His Heavenly Father, (2) He was sensitive to go where the Holy Spirit led Him, and (3) He uncovered the shrewd and subtle arguments of satan by using the Word of God.
Instead of saying, “I gave in to temptation,” we can say, “I gave in to the Holy Spirit, Who helped me defeat temptation!”
Check out all of the other messages in our series We Are: Pentecostal by clicking here.
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Craig T. Owens 