11. How are we saved out of temptation? Ephesians 2:8. Jude 1:24-25.
COMPILER’S NOTE: Here is the process of overcoming by grace, through faith.
· You see the personal love of God for you and how He has led you thus far.
· In return you respond to that love with love. This forms a barrier that holds you back from yielding to the temptation. (Maybe there is someone you love in this world and you just could not in any way bring sorrow or disgrace to them. Think of Jesus in the same way. Make it real in your mind and heart.)
· You might feel the pull of the temptation, but all of you will say: I just could not do it, and bring hurt to Jesus, and so you make a choice for the right.
· Your ‘will’ makes the choice, but it does not have enough strength to hold out against Satan’s pressure.
· But you have read in the Bible that God does have the strength. Ephesians 3:19, 20.
· So you reach out to a promise that God will help you, and ask for that to be given into your life. Philippians 4:13.
· You hold on to that promise of strength and power, (i.e. the grace of God), to help you. This is faith in action, motivated both by love and a desire to fulfil your God-given purpose.
And the result? A life that remains pure and guiltless, like Jesus. At that moment the temptation is overcome.
12. What is God’s purpose for us? Genesis 1:27; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Revelation 21:7.
NOTE: ‘There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan’s sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ’s humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character. And how this is accomplished, Christ has shown us. By what means did He overcome in the conflict with Satan? By the word of God. Only by the word could He resist temptation. “It is written,” He said. And unto us are given “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4. Every promise in God’s word is ours. “By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” are we to live. When assailed by temptation, look not to circumstances or to the weakness of self, but to the power of the word. All its strength is yours. “Thy word,” says the psalmist, “have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Psalm 119:11; 17:4.’ Desire of Ages, page 123.
LESSON INSIGHT: Every time we fall into temptation, we are turning away from our purpose for being here. We are to be sons and daughters of God, to reflect now, as He did, the glory and character of our Father. We are to be a light where we are, so that others will be attracted to God and His love, and come to Him. As we testify of His goodness and live His life, we are fulfilling our purpose. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Jesus also said, Ye are the light of the world. If only we could pull back the curtain and see the work of our High Priest in the Sanctuary. What more can He do to show us that it is essential that we be overcomers as He overcame. It is not an arbitrary command, but to be a gospel demonstration of what heaven has done to transform sinners into holy beings. It begins with recognising and overcoming the temptation to sin, before it becomes a sin.