Satan and Temptation

Have you ever been tempted? How did you respond? Temptation goes all the way back to Genesis 3, the fall of mankind--when Satan came to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Let's look at Genesis 3:1-6:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

There's is a few key points to draw from this scripture. First of all, "the serpent" = "Satan." In Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, the Bible refers to the ancient serpent (from Genesis 3) as Satan. Some people get hung up on a talking snake--which isn't the point, it is unambiguously Satan talking. Satan does exist, the Bible teaches this. If you believe that, then you have crossed a thresh-hold far beyond a talking snake. Notice what Satan does:

1) Satan questions and distorts the Word of God.
"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

And Eve answers with, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' ". This is a questionable quote from Genesis 2:16-17, "16 And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.' " What Eve said is more restrictive than what God said. To the extent you add to the Word of God, that much more do you weaken its power working in your life.

2) Satan denies the Word of God.
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

Satan flat out denies God's Word! However, look how he continues, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." This is partly true--their eyes were opened: Gen 3:7, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." Note that the lies that come from the Evil One, aka the Great Deceiver, often have some truth mixed in with it--and thus the lies seem more believable.

3) Satan replaces the Word of God.
As seen in 3:5, Satan's deception replaces the Word of God.

It is no longer the authority of God that Eve (and Adam) listened to, it was the lies of Satan! Everything must be tested by the Bible, cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21, "Test everything. Hold on to the good."

A Final Look at Temptation:
Three aspects of this temptation stand out--
good for food... pleasing to the eye... desirable for gaining wisdom

Compare 1 John 2:15-16:
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he had and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.

The 3 aspects mentioned here match exactly with the Genesis account. These aspects will come up time and again in your life. BE AWARE AND LEARN THEM NOW so that you can be alert at all times in order to not fall into temptation. Remember, the Word of God is useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training" (cf. 2 Tim 3:16). Why? "So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:17).

Fallen from Grace

What do you suppose it means to "fall from grace?" Have you heard that phrase before? In what context? Have you ever given that phrase a second thought or is it just some cliché perhaps you hear or even sometimes say? Here's a quesiton: Is it biblical?

It may or may not surprise you, but it IS biblical! It is in Galatians 5:4, "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" (NIV, emphasis added). But did it surprise you how "fallen away from grace" was used? Most people do not know, but this is the only time this phrase is mentioned in the whole Bible, and as used here, it refers to going back to the law! Attempting to gain God's favor by observing the law and receiving God's favor by grace are mutually exclusive.

Romans 7:6 says, "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter" (NASB). There are many other places in the Bible where it mentions phrases similar to these. In any case, it is clear that the Apostle Paul wants us to know what Jesus wants us to know: Jesus has sufficient, abundant, grace for all of us (cf. Rom 5:17) and to go back and try to rely on the law or otherwise choose to try and keep the law is wrong--we have been released from the law. The law was there to point the way to Christ. It is like going on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and when you finally get there, you continue to look at the map in the car instead of getting out to view it personally!

God's grace is enough. Attempting to use anything else to "get to God" will not work. If you use the law to merit a right standing with God, you have fallen away from grace, says the Word of God. And it is not that we should ignore the law and do what we please, it says to serve in the newness of the Spirit. Only when we keep in step with the Spirit could we really fulfill the law anyway, for Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. Keep the grace, God would want it that way.