Temptation and Sin
In this war against good and evil, we are constantly tempted to sin. Sin can be anything from knowing the good we ought to do and not doing it (James 4:17) to the way the world is described in Genesis 6:5-13: “every intent of their hearts was only evil continually.” Sin is “missing the mark,” not living up to God’s perfect standard in every area all of the time. Satan is the master of deception. Just as he deceived Adam and Eve in the garden by getting them to believe it would actually be good for them to disobey God, he tricks us into believing that sin will benefit us and make our lives better. He gets us to actually believe that God is a killjoy and that by following His plan for our lives, we will be missing out on everything the world has to offer.
Take a minute and reflect on the sins in your life—the times you have chosen to disobey God and instead pursue sinful desires. How did that work out for you? Take a look at the world. Is it working out well for us to live according to our flesh by not only pursuing but celebrating every evil desire?
The Lord warns us in Romans 1:18-32: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Therefore, God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.”
Verses for study:
Genesis 2:16-27: command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
Genesis 3:1-5: Satan’s temptation
Genesis 3:6: Adam and Eve’s fall
Genesis 6:5-13: “every intent of their hearts was only evil continually”; pre-flood
Judges 21:25: “everyone did what was right in their own eyes”
1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Hebrews 2:17-18: Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:14-16: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
James 1:12-15: Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.
James 4:1-8: What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Genesis 39:6-10: Joseph with Potiphar’s wife
Ecclesiastes 7:29: “Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
1 John 3:1-10: Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
2 Timothy 2:22: "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."
Proverbs 22:3: "The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it."
Proverbs 24:16: "For a righteous person falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity."
1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Article: The Story of Joseph by Bryan Carlson
Gen. 50:20: “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve the lives of many people.”
Genesis 37-50:
Gen. 37:1-17: Joseph’s dreams
Gen. 37:18-36: Joseph’s brothers sell him
Gen. 38: Judah and Tamar
Gen. 39:1-18: Joseph and Potiphar
Gen. 39:19-23: Joseph imprisoned
Gen. 40: Joseph interprets dreams
Gen. 41:1-37: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream
Gen. 41:38-57: Joseph appointed as second in command
Gen. 42-45: Joseph and his brothers
Gen. 46-47:19: the Israelites move to Egypt; settle in Goshen
Gen. 47:20-26: result of the famine
Gen. 47:27-48: the end of Jacob’s life; he blesses Joseph’s sons
Gen. 49: Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph’s sons
Gen. 50:1-14: Jacob and his brothers bury Jacob in Canaan
Gen. 50:15-21: the brothers feared for their safety now that their dad had died; Joseph comforted them
Gen. 50:22-26: Joseph died and was buried in Egypt
Old Testament:
Exodus 13:19
Joshua 24:32
Psalm 105:16-24
New Testament:
Acts 7:9-15
Hebrews 11:21-22
Joseph is one man in the Bible with nothing negative written about him. This does not mean that Joseph was perfect and never sinned. This does mean that he was a man of great character; a man who was above reproach in the way he lived his life.
Joseph had two dreams that he shared with his brothers in which they bowed down to him. This made his brothers very angry. Jacob sent Joseph to check up on his brothers, who were tending sheep. His brothers sold him into slavery to some Midianite merchants. They took his robe, slaughtered a goat, and took the bloody robe to their father, telling him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Meanwhile, the Midianites, sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials (Gen. 37).
Let’s think about this for a minute. He was only a teenager when he was sold into slavery. Genesis 37:2 refers to him being 17 years of age. He was betrayed by his brothers, taken away from his father, and planted into an entirely different culture. The Egyptians would have spoken a different language, dressed differently, had different customs and practices and worshipped different gods. Nothing about Egypt was familiar to him. How did he handle this? Think about yourself at 17 years old. How would you have handled this?
Joseph obviously kept a great attitude and trusted fully and completely in God.
Joseph ended up as a servant working in the home of one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the bodyguard. Since Joseph was such a righteous man, God blessed Potiphar’s house and all that he had because of Joseph. Potiphar put Joseph in control of his household and all that he owned. Potiphar did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate (Gen. 39:1-6).
Genesis 39:6 tells us that Joseph was handsome in form and appearance and Potiphar’s wife noticed him and asked him to come to bed with her. What an offer! Though she pursued him day after day he refused saying, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9) He refused to sleep with her or even be with her. One day when he was in the house alone, she grabbed him by the shirt and asked him again to come to bed with her. He refused and ran of the house leaving his shirt in her hand. Angry and frustrated, she falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her and had Joseph throne into prison. Joseph lost his shirt but kept his character!
He faces an enticing temptation but never gives in. He doesn’t flirt a little bit or spend time with her. He avoids her and flees from her.
The only way to successfully overcome sin is to flee. “If you do not run, you will fall.”
1 Cor. 6:18-20
James 4:7-8
Psalm 119:9-11
Immediate consequences of his choice:
Genesis 39:13-20: We find Joseph again in another unfair situation and in another environment that he doesn’t understand or relate to. He now finds himself in a dark, cold, damp, rat-infested dungeon with people who have stolen, cheated, and murdered. They did not have politically correct prisons in those days—it would not have been a comfortable place to be.
Here is how God rewarded Joseph:
Gen. 39:21 through Gen. 39:23: the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
The result of righteousness:
God blessed Joseph in prison and put him in charge of all that was done there (Gen. 39).
While in prison Joseph interpreted dreams for two different men—Pharaoh’s cup bearer and baker. Both of the dreams came true the way Joseph said they would (Gen. 40).
Two more years passed and Pharaoh had a dream, but he could find no one who could interpret the dream. The cupbearer remembered Joseph from prison and Pharaoh sent for him.
What type of person would even think they could interpret another’s dream? Humanly speaking, that is impossible. And to attempt to interpret a pharaoh’s dream—that was suicide—if he got it wrong or gave an interpretation that Pharaoh didn’t like, he would be killed. Pharaoh hurriedly brought Joseph before him and asked if he could interpret his dream. This was his response: “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Genesis 41:16).
What faith—how intimate and personal his relationship with God must have been. What makes Joseph think that God would speak to him? What if God didn’t speak and he made a fool out of himself? Do you have that kind of faith? Is your relationship with God such that you would have responded as Joseph did?
Joseph was able to interpret the dream fully. He told Pharaoh that seven years of abundance in Egypt would be followed by seven years of severe famine and that Egypt must store up enough grain during the seven good years to survive the seven bad years.
Gen. 41:39 through Gen. 41:40: Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
God once again blessed Joseph; Pharaoh put him in charge of all of Egypt. He was the most powerful man in the entire country right under Pharaoh. Joseph stored up so much grain during the seven good years that he stopped keeping records because it was too much to calculate. The famine hit and Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians and all the other countries of the world (Gen. 41).
When Jacob, Joseph’s father heard there was grain in Egypt he sent 10 of his sons to buy food. The story of Joseph and his brothers takes place in Gen. 42-46.
1 Cor. 13:4 through 1 Cor. 13:8a: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
Joseph sent for this father and had his father and all of his descendants—70, not counting the wives. They were given the finest pastureland in the country of Egypt. These were the first Israelites living in Egypt (Gen. 46-47).
How was Joseph able to live such a righteous life? He was in love with God served Him faithfully in the little and the big things. He had an audience of one—he realized that even when no one else is looking, God always is, and being obedient to Him was what mattered. For Joseph the fact that he was a faithful shepherd boy translated to a faithful servant, to a faithful prisoner, to a faithful vice pharaoh of the entire country of Egypt where God was able to use him to spread God’s love to an entire region.
God blessed Joseph and, as a result of his obedience, God used him to save his own family, the entire country of Egypt and the entire world at that time.
God’s plans for our lives are so much greater than we can see. We must look at the big picture rather than the pleasures of the moment. Satan wants us to fall. He makes is look like sin is the greatest thing in the world—like he is our best friend for allowing us to have so much fun. But when we are paying the consequences, he’s just laughing at our gullibility. We must choose to live for God rather than to give into sin. God will bless our faithfulness more than we can imagine. John 10:10!
Article: The Contrasting Story of David by Bryan Carlson
David was now about fifty years old, perhaps a few years older. He had been the King of Israel approximately twenty years. He had distinguished himself as a man of God called by God Himself “a man after my own heart.” He was a composer of psalms, a faithful shepherd, a valiant warrior on the battlefield, and a strong leader of his people. But he made a bad choice.
The story: 2 Samuel 11:1-5
Sin’s consequences
The consequences of David’s sin—before and after
Before Bathsheba:
He was the powerhouse in the world. God was with him and always gave him victory. God allowed his kingdom to expand from 6,000 to 60,000 square miles under his leadership.
He was blessed by God with a great family.
After Bathsheba: Consequences:
2 Samuel 11:6-17—had Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband killed; became a murderer
2 Samuel 12:10-12—the sword will never depart from your house.
2 Samuel 12:13-23—son Bathsheba bore, dies
2 Samuel 13: 1-22—Amnon, his son, rapes Tamar, his daughter.
2 Samuel 13:23-39—Absalom has Amnon murdered
2 Samuel 15:1-18—Absalom revolted and laid with David’s wives in broad daylight
2 Samuel 18:9-33—Absalom was killed; David mourns
David’s sin led to the destruction of his family and a painful, sorrowful second season of his life.
God’s forgiveness:
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God showed amazing grace to David. Under the law, when you committed adultery you were to be stoned. When you committed murder you were to be killed.
Grace means that God, in forgiving you, does not kill you. It does not mean that the consequences are removed. If you break your arm while sinning, and ask God for forgiveness, He will forgive you but you will still have a broken arm. Sin is pleasurable, but the pain of the consequences is worse.
We must look at the big picture rather that the pleasure of the moment. Satan wants us to fall. He makes it look like sin is the greatest thing in the world; like he is our best friend for allowing us to have so much fun. But when we are paying the consequences, he’s just laughing at our gullibility.
How about your life? Do you live in a way that you please God in every decision of your life? Do you just try to look good around people or do you realize that God desired holiness in every decision of your life? How do you handle sin? Do you give in when no one is watching? Or do you avoid and flee from tempting situations?
God’s plans for our lives are so much greater than we can see. We must choose to be faithful to God even in the little things. We must choose to live for God rather that giving into sin. We must realize that even when no one else is watching, God always is, and He will always bless us for our obedience. God will bless our faithfulness more than we can imagine. For Joseph, the fact that he was a faithful shepherd boy translated to a faithful servant, to a faithful prisoner, to a faithful vice pharaoh of the entire country of Egypt where God was able to use him to spread God’s love to an entire world.
Resources
“A Theology of Biblical Counseling, The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry” by Heath Lambert
