A
Primer on Temptation, Part 4
Today's
Three-minute Bible Study
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Study and Apply
Title:
A Primer on Temptation, Part
4-------------------------------------
Date: 6/4/2002
Keyword:
"temptation"
Welcome
to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand
strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage:
Genesis 3:1-7*
1. Now the serpent was
more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord
God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has
God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the
garden'?"
2. And the woman said to the
serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we
may eat;
3. but from the fruit of the
tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has
said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you
die.'"
4. And the serpent said to the
woman, "You surely shall not die!
5. "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."
6. When the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to
the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one
wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave
also to her husband with her, and he ate.
7. Then the eyes of both of them
were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
loin coverings.
Questions
1. Genesis 3:6 lists
"reasons" for the woman to eat the forbidden fruit.
What was her rationale?
2. Did her reasons change the
command of God?
Practical
help
Temptation is tricky. It
bombards our physical senses so powerfully that it
feels counter-logical to resist. It
seems wrong to say "no" to something that feels
so right (to quote a song).
If we had asked Eve as she
brought the forbidden fruit to her mouth why
she was doing what she was doing, she might have said
something like, "It just feels right."
So, in what way did Eve fail in
the moment of her eating? Her eating was a failure of
faith. She refused to believe, in the moment of
temptation, that God’s command was better than
what her eyes saw.
In that moment when you are
tempted to surf the Web for dirty pictures (because
those pictures are "a delight to the eyes"?), one of
the most powerful weapons at your disposal is your
faith.
Will power is not so much the
key. Believing that what God says about smut
(sexual impurity, lust, etc.) is more important than
possessing an iron will. As Hebrews 11 says, if you
will take into the arena of temptation a firm
confidence that God is present (i.e., He exists)
and good (what He commands and forbids is for
your benefit), you will be able to stand strong in the
face of sexual temptation.
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2002 by eXXit
*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation
1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995. Used by permission."
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