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Getting
the Victory
(Excerpted from part II of the article,
"Fighting to Win: Understanding and Defeating
Temptation," the Christian Voyager Compass,
Jan 2006)
No one who is born of God needs to be caught into
sin. Temptations will always be a part of this life,
but we can learn to spot these early on and so avoid
ever setting foot in the last three dangerous stages
of sin (see The
Five Stages of Sin). Indeed the time to
say no to temptation is in the very first
stage. We mustn’t wait until it can get a foot
in the door of our house to begin working its evil
spell. Nip this little flower in the bud before
it even gets a chance to bloom, let alone produce
fruit!
But how do we do that? How can we actually say,
“no,” to the snares of temptation and
sin which the devil so readily presents to us? Where
is the power to actually get rid of this intrusive
visitor? Let’s find out.
Our Will
First, let us realize that we cannot hope to live
victoriously over sin merely by our own willpower.
I say “merely” because, of course, our
will is certainly the fundamental necessity. We
must truly will to be free from sin’s
power or nothing else we do will prove to be of
any benefit. It is our own will that helps to keep
us away from compromising situations in the first
place. And it is our will that can steer us around
many a snare before we step into it. However, something
greater than our own strength is needed if we are
to gain the victory over temptation once it catches
our attention, especially when that temptation is
formidable. In order to succeed against this kind
of attack we must take up the spiritual armor and
weaponry given to us in Christ.
Supernatural Equipment
If we have truly been reborn in Christ Jesus then
we have received not only a new, godly nature but
a new ability to wage war in the spirit against
both sin and the devil. In the sixth chapter of
Ephesians, Paul teaches us that we must “…
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
(Eph 6:10) He exhorts us to employ the whole armor
of God that we “may be able to stand against
the wiles [evil schemes] of the devil. (Eph 6:11)
Remember it is the devil who will try to stir up
our carnal nature with temptation. Satan is very
much interested in our turning our back on God and
our face toward sin. Why? Because through sin he
can control, deceive, devastate, and even devour!
Peter clearly admonishes us to “Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour;” (1 Peter 5:8) Remember, he is writing
this warning to Christians.
Now then, this list of armor and weaponry Paul
describes in Ephesians 6:14-17:
14Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, and having on
the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance
and supplication for all saints;
We notice that the vast majority of items are there
to help shield us from attack; they are defensive
protection. All these are important in helping us
discern and avoid the danger of temptation. A life
built on God’s truth wherein there is no dishonesty
for our belt, a heart that delights in God’s
righteousness for our breastplate, a preparedness
to share the Good News of Christ Jesus for our shoes,
an unshakable faith in God and His Word for our
shield, being truly born again for a protective
helmet; all these are prerequisites to being able
to stand up against the devil. Without them we would
certainly remain vulnerable to the devil’s
advances. But the two last elements listed, the
“sword of the Spirit” and “all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit” are most definitely
offensive protection used not only to withstand
the devil’s advances, but, in fact, to beat
him back!
Fighting to Win
When it comes to battling temptation we find that
offensive force is necessary because if we only
use our defenses we may be so continually harassed
by the devil that we become completely exhausted.
There is a need for this harassment to stop and
not simply be forever endured. James instructs us
to “resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.” (James 4:7a) Now, did we get that right?
If we resist the devil he will flee from us?! Yes,
indeed! This is a fantastic promise. We do not have
to endure his enticements without reprieve. Rather,
we can push him back—away from us.
The Greek word underlying “resist” in
James is the same one Paul uses in Ephesians 6:13
where he says:
Wherefore take unto
you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand. (Emphasis mine)
Much to our surprise, the word, “withstand,”
here in the Greek does NOT mean to endure, or simply
to hold up under attack. It means to resist openly,
to fight actively against. This is a very offensive
approach. With this in mind, then, we see that the
Ephesians 6:13 passage means the following:
1) take up the whole armor (including weaponry)
of God;
2) fight against and oppose [the devil and his attack
referenced in verse 11];
3) and having done all that (effectively opposed
him); then finally
4) secure your spiritual ground.
*Note: The NIV version is
very inadequate here, inasmuch as it blurs this
whole process. Stick with KJV, NKJV or NASB to get
an accurate rendering.
If we resist the devil then, according to Paul’s
process outlined here, we should expect that he
will ultimately depart from us. This is also what
James promised. Yet can we demonstrate this pattern
from any real-life account in the Scriptures? Are
there any examples to be found of this temptation-defeating
process in which Satan himself is forced out? Yes,
there are.
Jesus, Our Model
We find this very paradigm of spiritual warfare
in Jesus’ own life. Matthew 4:1 records that
he was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil.” Verse two tells
us that he fasted from food for forty days, becoming
famished at the end of that time. We are not told
the reason for the fasting, but we know that both
Moses and Elijah did similarly when they were to
face the Lord directly (Exo 34:28; Deu 9:9; 1Kin
19:8). Scripture reveals that fasting was a means
by which to humble the flesh before God in order
to cause our prayer to be all the more in earnest
(2 Chr 7:14; Dan 9:3; Jon 3:5; et al). It follows
that Jesus would forego eating and drinking during
this forty days in order to strengthen His time
of spiritual communion through prayer with His Father.
Scripture reveals that He was accustomed to pouring
out His soul unhindered in prayer and supplications.
Mark 1:35 recounts:
And in the morning, rising
up a great while before day, he went out, and departed
into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Later in Hebrews 5:7 we see Him:
Who in the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death, and was heard in that he
feared;
Jesus knew both the necessity and the power of
prayer, and continually exhorted His disciples to
pray always without ever growing faint (Luk 18:1).
He reminded them, when they had failed in their
attempt at delivering a demon-possessed boy, that
to effectively fight against the demonic realm,
both prayer and fasting will be needed (Mat 17:21;
Mar 9:29). Thus, shown by the Spirit that He would
soon face the tempter in order to be tried by him,
He no doubt prepared Himself in this way to the
greatest measure possible. The divine weapon of
prayer was amply deployed.
Next, verses 3-10 of Matthew 4 reveal the ordeal
that begins as soon as the 40 days of fasting have
ended, introducing us to the second effective weapon:
Scripture. Jesus is presented with three temptations
by the devil, each customized to His unique situation.
Although He is addressed directly by these temptations,
Jesus does not entertain them nor is He seduced
by them. But notice that He does not merely endure
them until they finally go away, either. Rather,
He exemplifies Paul’s admonition and confronts
the devil with God’s Word as a fabulous offensive
weapon!
In every case He comes against the tempter’s
lures by quoting a Biblical injunction against the
enticement, introducing it with, “It is written.”
And in every case the tempter is rebuffed by the
proclamation, until at last Jesus commands him to
“Get thee hence, Satan” (that is, Get
out of here, Satan!). He then proceeds to speak
forth one last potent Bible passage,“…for
it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve” (Mat 4:10; This
was to break the snare wherein Satan offered Him
the whole world if He would only worship the devil.).
But what a powerful blow that quote was to Satan!
Look what happens in the next verse: “Then
the devil leaveth him and behold angels came and
ministered unto Him.” (Mat 4:11) Leaveth him.
Amazing! We can clearly see in this account that
the devil actually departed from Him! Not forever,
of course, but indeed for a season. (Luke 4:13b)
Jesus didn’t simply endure these temptations;
he directly fought against the one who caused them—and
prevailed! And the very weapon He used is the same
“sword of the Spirit” that Paul references
in Ephesians 6:17. By speaking forth God’s
written word, in the anointing of the Spirit, Jesus
confronted the mind-controlling forces of the devil
with the effectual power of God’s truth. This
was no idle talk, but earth-shaking reality! Each
time the devil presented Him with enticements, Jesus
countered him verbally with God’s commandments.
Did we ever guess that these could be so powerful?
So, having examined this encounter, we can see
how Jesus employed both the power of prayer and
the sword of God’s word in defeating the enemy.
Prayer is, of course, directed to God for His supernatural
help while the sword is directed squarely at the
enemy. These two weapons used in tandem are exceedingly
devastating to Satan’s assault. If we want
victory in the area of temptation we must learn
to use these two effectively. It follows then that
if we maintain a vital and continuous prayer life,
and if we are faithful to feed diligently upon God’s
word, we will be far more prepared to fight when
the attack comes.
*Note: Being our model, the
new Adam, Jesus relied not on His own divine virtue
during His earthly ministry, but rather entirely
upon the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. Recall
that it was the Spirit who led him up into the wilderness
to be tempted just after His baptism. (Mat 4:1)
A Personal Testimony
I remember one time in my own walk as a young Christian
when the devil came and provoked my flesh to be
tempted. Before I realized the power of God’s
word through the Spirit, I simply endured the onslaught.
So, again and again it would come—day after
day, month after month—until I was nearly certain
it would wear me out entirely. Then one day as I
was bombarded again with this temptation I began
reading the first Epistle of John in chapter one.
When I came to the end of verse 7, “and the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from
all sin,” something struck a chord in my spirit.
So I read it again, only this time out loud. AND
THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM
ALL SIN.
It was as if a bomb burst around me. Suddenly the
temptation weakened as though the forces of the
enemy had stepped back. (In fact, they had!) What
a powerful weapon I had discovered. Praying for
God’s help, I said it again, and again, each
time with more faith and confidence. I needn’t
tell you that it was not long before the last of
these forces left and did not return! Praise the
Lord! My first sword fight with the enemy of my
soul—and I had won! Paul is indeed right about
the process of victory; James is certainly right
about driving off the devil; and Jesus’ wilderness
episode really is our model for fighting to win!
Needed Preparation
Temptation, then, should be a losing prospect for
the enemy against all God’s people. And it
can be consistently if we prepare ourselves as we
ought. As for wielding the sword of God’s Word
in the Spirit, the more Scripture we come to know
and rightly understand, the better accuracy we shall
develop. For using it without rightly interpreting
it will only have us beating the air. We can start
by learning and memorizing one or two Scriptures,
like the one in 1 John and find that they are powerful
against many attacks. But let us not stop there.
Remember that Jesus employed a variety of Scriptures
against the devil, as the Spirit showed Him. So
the key here is to understand and remember as much
of the Bible as possible.
*Note: Keep in mind that
using the Sword of the Spirit as part of our supernatural
equipment for battle is NOT the same as applying
“positive confession,” which is taught
today in many Christian settings. While the two
ideas may seem similar in their workings, their
foundations and purposes are quite different. Positive
confession is a “Principle Teaching” idea
which states that we can have whatever we desire
simply by speaking it into existence; that the things
we think, believe and proclaim, whether good or
bad, will come to pass. This is not a true tenet
of Biblical faith, but is more related to the “positive
thinking” paradigm of New Age religion. It
should be avoided as it will lead to deception and
bondage. Taking up the sword of the Spirit, on the
other hand, is when, led by the Spirit, we speak
the truth of God’s word into the face of the
devil’s onslaught in order to dispel his attack
against us.
As for prayer and supplication, let us learn to
come confidently to Him when we need His help. As
it says in Hebrews,
15For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need. (Heb 4:15-16)
Often Christians wrongly assume that they must
clean themselves up spiritually before calling on
God for help but how wrong they are! According to
this passage, God has purposely opened up the way
for us to call on Him precisely because we need
His help to overcome evil; we cannot possibly do
it on our own. We are consoled that Jesus is a merciful
high priest, who is touched with “the feeling
of our infirmities,” and who knows what it
is to encounter temptations. Thus, dealing with
temptation is the whole context of the passage.
So, the “time of need” wherein we can
“find grace to help” is exactly that:
in our temptations. Once we see this we should never
be afraid to cry out to God for His help in temptation,
no matter how deeply we may find ourselves enmeshed.
We desperately need His supernatural empowerment
in fighting off our foe. And we should be thrilled
to know that we always have it!
Conclusion
So then, Dear Saints, we have explored both the
workings of and the strategy against that most formidable
foe: temptation. Although there are many elements
involved in our spiritual health and growth, beating
temptation is unquestionably an essential one. Victory
in this area will allow us to press on into the
process of being conformed into Christ’s image
and into the joy of bearing abundant fruit in our
lives. Truthfully, if we do not learn to battle
temptation successfully, we will never be able to
secure our rightful spiritual ground, the ground
that Christ died to gain us. Many Christians find
themselves in this defeated place sometimes for
years on end. But this should not—and need
not—be. Armed with our new understanding of
how temptation actually works, we now see through
its wicked deception. And taking up our supernatural
weaponry in Christ, we are now enabled not simply
to endure such temptation, but to vanquish it! We
have learned how we can be victors: fighting to
win, beating back the devil, and indeed—as
John would admonish us—keeping ourselves free
from sin.
*Copyright
© 2006 by Diana Rosdail. All rights reserved.
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