Temptation a Sin?

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (NKJV): Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

In our walk through Psalm 119, we do need to take a break and look at some questions that may come up. This is one that does come up in several people’s minds. They may think they have sinned because they were tempted. However, there is One who was tempted and has been accredited as never to have sinned.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NKJV): Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

When we look at the account of Jesus ending His fast, we see that Satan came to tempt Him. He offered said that Jesus could feed Himself from the rocks. He said that Jesus could throw Himself and the angels would save Him from hurting Himself. He offered control of The World if He, Jesus, would only worship Satan. Notice that in each of the temptations, Satan, presented a portion of Scripture, taking a part, and twisted it to act like it would benefit Jesus. We should also notice that Jesus offered a response with Scripture, that was not twisted. We can conclude, based on just looking at Jesus experience, that temptation is not sin.

Why stop and look at this if we are going through Psalm 119? Well, if we take a look at some of what we had already looked at, we would see that the Psalmist has been encouraging us to be in line with The Word of God. We need to be sure to bury it in our hearts and allow it to change us. This is the best thing we can do to prevent ourselves from giving in to the temptations that come our way.

Temptation in of itself is not the sin but the acting upon it is. Even looking at what Paul writes in Romans 5, we learn that the temptation/trials, is what helps us to grow. Know The Word. Get to know Jesus. Allow change to happen and start trusting Him.

We will continue to be looking at Psalm 119 in sections. Although,  we need Jesus to bring us back into A Relationship with God The Father, this Psalm lays a foundation of how we should be walking in our Faith walks.