When we look at that first battle (Gen 3:1-19), we see the different guises of temptation which Satan tends to use. He uses loaded questions to introduce doubt and uncertainty into our minds. He impugns God’s character, making us believe that God is not always good, faithful, honourable and holy. He offers us something which initially looks good, appealing to both the senses and to our reason: ‘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.’ (Gen 3:6)
The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked good and pleasing to the eye (and wasn’t necessarily an apple, despite the pictures!) Temptation often comes to us dressed in pleasing clothes, and we are people who are easily moved by our senses: what looks good, feels good, tastes nice, smells nice, sounds good must be good, we reason. You’ve only to look at the packaging and advertising of food to see where this has led us. The truth is that ‘temptation and evil almost always appear disguised as good and beautiful.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Tell It Slant’, P 191) That’s why it’s so appealing; it doesn’t look dangerous or evil. We have to remember that temptation doesn’t always come in the form of a serpent; the devil also masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14) Not all of our enemies look like enemies. If they did, we probably would find it easier to defeat them. The snake may seem like a classic pantomime baddy as we re-read this story, but so often, we do not recognise the sources of the lies which lead us astray as easily in real life.
The appeal to reason (what could possibly be bad about wisdom, after all?!) also shows us how easy is for us to rationalise our capitulation to temptation. Beware rationalisation and explanations which water down God’s Word and lead us down blind alleys!
Temptation comes to us at different levels, appealing to the senses and to the mind, but in every case, we have a choice between doing something that will lead to life or something that will lead us away from life, between something which is beneficial and something which is harmful, between something good and something better, even.
Temptation isn’t sin and we will all be tempted at some point in our lives. Martin Luther said, ‘Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.’ The point he was making is that we have no choice necessarily in what temptations come our way, but we do have a choice about how we respond to them. This is where TETIC comes in! – ‘we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ (2 Cor 10:5)
However temptation is dressed, we need to put on the full armour of God so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes. James offers us great advice for tackling this battle within: ‘Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.’ (James 4:7-8) As we do this, God lifts us up and helps us. Martin Luther ended a letter to a student battling depression and temptation with these thoughts (paraphrased):
- Rejoice because temptation testifies of God’s mercy to you.
- Do not dwell on the deadly thoughts of the Devil.
- Laugh your adversary to scorn.
- Be around other believers.
- Proclaim the good news of Jesus for you and your salvation.[1]
[1] Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, trans. and ed., Theodore G. Tappert, 1960, (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003), 85ff.