The Pathway of Temptation

          Exposing the enemy's primary method of attack:  MAIN HEALING LESSON 6

This teaching on escaping the snare of temptation is just one of the 24 lessons in our workbook for personal transformation, "Matters of the Heart."  All 24 lessons will be helpful to the person seeking restoration and freedom and have been posted on this web site. They are available as a complete set in our workbook which can be purchased as a download or ordered through the mail. The lessons are also available on CD and DVD as 24, 1/2 hour teachings. All scriptures are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.
 

Introduction

The heart of the issue of temptation is this: will we use our wills to agree with the enemy or with God about what is right to believe and to do? Naturally, we want to agree with God, but the enemy is a deceiver and he has had a lot of practice at making the wrong thing seem right and the right thing seem wrong.  If he simply came out in the open and said, “My ways are guaranteed to kill you” we would all turn away and run to God. Instead he twists the truth enough to make his perspective seem plausible and his paths seem desirable—all the while seeking to set his hook into our flesh. Note this about these seven steps: before sin ever becomes a struggle in our flesh, it has had to gain the agreement of our will. To sin or not to sin is essentially a truth encounter, not a will power contest! The pathway of temptation is open wide to those who spurn truth and reap the consequences.
 

Teaching summary

Based on Be In Health, teaching and materials; Pastor Henry Wright

How is it that we so often fall into sin?
Ever since the Fall sinning comes naturally to us. We don’t have to work at being sinners. We can fall into sin without any effort at all, because we already have a fallen nature ready to go in that direction. The pathway of temptation rolls downhill. But there is someone who trips us up. Satan and his kingdom seek to make us fall by presenting us with deceptive temptations.  

For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.   1 Thessalonians 3:5
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…   Revelation 12:9



How the sin process works

Learn to recognize and avoid these 7 deadly steps!

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is (1) tempted when he is (2) drawn away by (3) his own desires and (4) enticed. Then, when (5) desire has conceived, it (6) gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, (7) brings forth death. Do not be deceived... James 1:13-16

1) Temptation
Temptation is a work of the enemy. The tempting thought does not come from God or our flesh, but from Satan’s kingdom. Whose voice is it?  An idea or thought is presented to the mind or heart by an evil spirit.  At this point it is not sin, only a temptation to sin. Jesus was tempted in every way as we are (Hebrews 4:15). An evil spirit is testing to see if you will agree with it. If the thought is recognized and renounced right away, it ends there.  But if the thought is entertained and in some way accepted, then the problem begins. As Martin Luther once said, “It is no sin if the birds of temptation fly over your head, only if you let them build a nest in your hair!”

There is a difference between being in temptation, even strong temptation and still not sinning—temptation is not sin. Coming into agreement with temptation is sin. Doing what the tempting thought desires is sin.  But having tempting thoughts work upon our flesh, trying to draw out sinful desires—that is not sin. So do not take on condemnation for being tempted. That only makes it harder to fight back! Stay encouraged in the Lord—He sees your efforts to resist the snare. He knows your heart and does not condemn you (1 John 3:20). For more scriptures and a free download see The Tempting of God, Jesus, and Us.
 
2) Drawn away
The great issue of temptation is not what we are drawn into, but what we are drawn away from. Entertaining the evil thought draws us away from the peace and confidence that comes to us as we trust and obey the Lord.  The enemy ever seeks to separate us from our source of strength and new Life—for it is only in Christ that we are a threat to his kingdom. Hence he wants to separate us from heart peace and trust in the Lord and then make it seem that such a life of surrender is undesirable or impossible. Even one small step away from being fully surrendered to the Lord is a step in the enemy’s direction.

You know you have been “drawn away” by the pathway of temptation if someone asks you how you are doing and you hear yourself say, “I’m just hanging in there.” Hanging in there means, “I am still struggling and trying to be faithful, but it’s killing me!” On the other hand, if a person is fully surrendered, you usually don’t have to ask how they are doing—it shows like a light all over their face!

3) By his own desires
Wrong desires begin to awaken out of the fallen nature.  The old man comes back to life. The temptation has found a hook into a wrong desire (a lust) in us. Jesus said the enemy had nothing in Him. We should seek to be the same way.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.   John 14:30 

4) Enticed
Means to catch by using bait.  We have bought into some lie that the temptation represents. Find the lie and break off the hook! Otherwise, our will is “hooked” by agreeing with the wrong thought (the lie)—and negative emotions gain strength over us.  The evil spirit has to break our agreement with God by getting us to agree with its own false and distorted belief system.

5) Desire has conceived
Enticement generates a desire to yield our will. Once an agreement with sin is made (conceived), the actual sin (of thought, word or deed) is sure to follow. When we entertain the tempting thought by giving our heart to it, temptation becomes sin.

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.   Matthew 5:28 

6) Gives birth to sin
Now the sinful thing (no longer a temptation) is cherished in the heart, spoken forth or acted upon.  It is birthed as an expression of sin into the world.

7) Sin brings forth death
The sin, if it is un-repented, continues to kill and destroy that which the enemy attacks through it—especially our relationships of trust and love with God, self or others.

This whole process can take days, months, or fractions of a second

It can be stopped at any point but it is easiest to stop at the very beginning. Bondage indicates that we have given ourselves as slaves to sin, having already been enticed by temptation to the point of agreeing with the wrong thought/desire so many times that the temptation always leads to the sin.

For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.   Romans 6:19 

Temptation is the lie of the enemy knocking on the door of your mind, hoping to gain entry to your heart. Capture the thought when it first starts knocking and carry it as a captive to Christ before it carries your heart into captivity to the enemy. Learn to recognize which thoughts are trying to carry you captive and get to them first!

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.   2 Corinthians 10:4-6

The way that Jesus resisted temptation in His humanity, shows us the way we need to learn in order to effectively resist temptations. Jesus resisted temptations by resolutely holding fast to the truth of God’s Word—and carrying the enemy’s lies captive to the Word. 

Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.   Matthew 4:10-11

The purpose of temptation
God desires to move us from holy innocence to mature holiness by means of choice—maturing us through sanctification with our freedom of will preserved and enhanced. God allows evil spirits to tempt us is in order to test our hearts so that we can learn to discern good and evil and rely completely on Him. By trusting His Truth, by listening to His Spirit, we ascend the highway of holiness, rather than slide down the pathway of temptation. 

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.   Hebrews 5:14

For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.   Proverbs 24:16

Whenever we fail, we can still choose to repent,
return to God and learn to walk in His ways.
 

Interested in going deeper?

Don't just give these truths a "head bob"!
For further study and for help working these truths into your heart and life, see Pathway of Temptation part 2 (Head to Heart Guide 6) and "work out" with exercises, discussion questions, review of main points, digging deeper, more scriptures, model prayers, renunciations/affirmations and practical steps of life application.

Or better yet, let us minister to you in person
     --at one of our Savannah Seminars...