For several posts, we’re looking at temptation. Here’s our next topic: temptation challenges God’s wisdom. And we’re looking at how Satan tempted Eve, because he continues to do the very kind of things as then.
When Eve explains that eating or touching the fruit will bring death in verse 3, Satan blatantly lies in verses 4 and 5. “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'”
Satan challenges God’s wisdom and knowledge by telling Eve a lie: “you won’t die.” He also indicates God is actually withholding something good from them—knowing good and evil.
Satan challenges God’s wisdom by implying God doesn’t really want good for His creatures. Tweet that! As a result, Eve concentrates on satisfying her own needs, rather than depending upon God to provide what is truly best for them.
When you and I think God doesn’t want the best for us, we know we’re being tempted. For me, thoughts like, “Being angry feels good because now I can blame someone else” diverts my attention from my own responsibility.
For some people, these tempting thoughts might be, “it can’t hurt to just fantasize about that woman,” or “just this once won’t hurt anything…or anyone.”
As we mentioned in the first post, the way to resist temptation is to STAND (based on “stand your ground” —Ephesians 6:13):
S: See Satan’s schemes
T: Tell yourself the truth
A: Analyze your thinking
N: Name the advantages of resisting
D: Determine the godly response
In this third part of the temptation, we need to apply the “A” of STAND: Analyze your thinking. Second Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Any thought is a potential flaming missile of Satan. We must analyze whether our thought is in alignment with Scripture. Tweet that! If it is, accept it. If it’s not, reject it.
In our fourth installment we’ll see how temptation conceives sin because of focusing on deceptive “positives.”