4 steps to resisting temptation – 4 keys to overcoming

“I CAN resist anything except temptation.” This famous quip well describes how some people view temptation—deep down they relish it. Yet others regard temptation as a persistent foe that they would dearly love to defeat. What do you think? When faced with temptation, should you yield or resist?

All temptation is different and they all can lead to problems; especially those concerning immorality. They often end in tragic problems. If an immoral temptation comes knocking, how should you react? The Bible answers: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3–4. How can you cultivate that strength of will? Consider four steps that can help.

Step 1: Guard Your Eyes

John the apostle says about “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” is not of the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:16). Feeding our eyes on sensual images will only fuel improper desires. Confirming the link between seeing and desiring, Jesus warned: “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28–29. To resist temptation, we must act decisively and not feast our eyes on provocative images.

Lessons from Bible: The following people failed because they did not guard their eyes:

Eve: The Bible says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” Genesis 3:6

Achan: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they [are] hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” Joshua 7:21

David: “And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.  And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?  And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her.” 2 Samuel 11:2–4

These above illustrations of Eve, Achan, King David, and many others in the Scriptures, show how “the lust of the eyes” is one of the ways to be tempted and to even fall. We need to guard our eyes.

Consider, too, the faithful man, Job, who said: “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Job 31:1. Why not make a similar resolve?

Try this: If you glimpse erotic imagery, quickly avert your eyes. Imitate the Bible writer who prayed: “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way.”  Psalm 119:37

Step 2: Guard Your Thoughts

Because we are all imperfect, at times we may struggle with wrong desires. The Bible states: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14–15. How can you avoid being caught in such a downward spiral?

When you have wrong thoughts, stop and pray.

“Even your thoughts must be brought into subjection to the will of God and your feelings under the control of reason and religion. Your imagination was not given you to be allowed to run riot and have its own way without any effort at restraint or discipline. If the thoughts are wrong the feelings will be wrong, and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 310 (emphasis mine)

Lessons from the Bible:  “And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her.” 2 Samuel 13:2. Amnon developed the thought in his heart.

In this case, Try this: When you are plagued with immoral thoughts, immediately stop and pray. Fight wrong thoughts by filling your mind with “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

Step 3: Guard Your Steps

When desire, temptation, and opportunity converge, trouble can easily follow (Proverbs 7:6–23). How can you avoid becoming a victim?

The Bible wisely counsels: “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Proverbs 22:3. So, guard your steps. Anticipate situations that could trigger problems, and avoid them (Proverbs 7:25).

Lessons from the Bible:

Eve: “Satan commenced his work with Eve, to cause her to disobey. She first erred in wandering from her husband, next in lingering around the forbidden tree, and next in listening to the voice of the tempter, and even daring to doubt what God had said.” –Early Writings, p. 147

Dinah: “There is ever great danger in idle association with people of the world. Dinah was curious to know the ways and customs of the surrounding people. This led to unguarded intimacy with them and ended in disgrace. Her danger came from seeking to be free from parental control and supervision, and from disregarding the admonition to remain separate from idolaters and their evil habits. ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ 1 Corinthians 15:33. The inhabitants of Canaan were to the family of Jacob what the present world is to the Christian. What is called ‘seeing life’ may prove in many cases, to be flirting with death.  Familiarity with sin blunts the sense and increases the danger of temptation.” –The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1 p.412–413

“Often when Satan has failed of exciting distrust, he succeeds in leading us to presumption. If he can cause us to place ourselves unnecessarily in the way of temptation, he knows that the victory is his. God will preserve all who walk in the path of obedience; but to depart from it is to venture on Satan’s ground. There we are sure to fall. The Saviour has bidden us, ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’ Mark 14:38. Meditation and prayer would keep us from rushing unbidden into the way of danger, and thus we should be saved from many a defeat.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 126

When this occurs to you, try this: Honestly evaluate your weaknesses, and plan ahead to avoid situations that could expose you to temptation (Matthew 6:13).

Step 4: Trust in God

“So long as we surrender the will to God and trust in His strength and wisdom, we shall be guided in safe paths to fulfill our appointed part in His great plan. But the one who depends upon his own wisdom and power is separating himself from God.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 209

Your strength is wholly in God—in your simple, entire trust in God. “If we make God our strength, we shall have clear perceptions of duty, and unselfish aspirations; our life will be actuated by a noble purpose, which will raise us above sordid motives.” –Gospel Workers, p. 114

“Jesus came to this earth, marred and seared by the curse, for the purpose of bringing moral power to men. He fought the battle in man’s behalf in the wilderness of temptation, and it was the same battle that everyone of us must fight till the close of time. Christ was not overcome in this conflict. He who worked miracles for others, worked none for Himself. He had clothed His divinity with humanity, and He had come to bring divine power to man. He met the enemy at every step with ‘It is written.’ He used the word of God to thwart the temptations of the evil one. This is where our safety lies. We should study the word of God, and be so filled with it, that we can meet the enemy of our souls with ‘It is written,’ as did our example. Then we could hope for the grace that God has promised, to enable us to be overcomers.” –The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1889

How can we overcome?

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called.” 1 Timothy 6:12

Will God ever fail or let down the expectations of His humble children?  NO!

“God knows the feebleness of the body and of the mind, and will require no more of him than He will give him strength to perform.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p 97

God has promised to help each one of His followers to gain the victory over every temptation.

By putting forth earnest efforts in resisting temptation, and following God’s will, our prayer becomes a prayer of living faith in the power and grace of God through Christ in us to overcome sin.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26

It is by resisting the Devil and his temptations, that forces Satan to flee from us as he fled from Christ. As we take this first step in overcoming, we are also cleansing our hands and purifying our hearts from sin.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:7–8

Not one of us will obtain the grace, mercy, and power from God necessary to overcome sin until we show Him that we are serious, and put forth earnest efforts to resist the temptation!

“By whom we have receive grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name.” Romans 1:5

“One that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.” 1 Corinthians 7:25

After we recognize the temptation, we must also recognize that we are weak. We then should pray to God for help in overcoming, yielding and submitting ourselves to God; to do His will and not our own. Then we are to put forth the efforts needed to resist the temptation.  It is only at this point that God recognizes our sincerity and sends us grace and power through Christ. This will work in us, combined with our feeble efforts, to aid us in advancing until we will have gained the victory.  Thus the four key steps in overcoming sin and temptations are:

  • Recognize the temptation and humbly admit that we are weak;
  • Pray to God for grace and strength to overcome;
  • Submit our will unto God;
  • Resist the temptation by putting forth efforts to do God’s will.

Recognize, Pray, Submit, Resist.  R.P.S.R.

A practical example of this process can be seen in the following example: A liar who has spoken dishonestly most of his life decides to accept Christ as His Saviour and has been cleansed from his old life to become a new creature in Christ.  He then decides that he will no longer tell lies, but will be honest in everything.  A situation occurs at his work in which he made a simple mistake, but instead of admitting it and seeking to correct it, he lets it go, hoping that no one would notice.  After a few weeks his boss notices the mistake and then asks him if he knows who made it?  The thought comes to him to just say no, and hope that his boss would then give up the search and correct the mistake himself. He decides not to directly answer this question by asking his boss a different question hoping that he will become involved in this different subject and completely forget about the mistake.  But the boss asks him again if he knew who made this mistake.  Seeing that he cannot escape giving his boss a direct answer he finally tells him that he does not know who did it.

In the above example, when was the sin committed? The sin was not committed until the lie came out of his mouth. The thought to lie was the temptation, and all the prior steps which led up to the lie coming out of his mouth, were an artfully designed trap to lead him to lie and commit sin by disobeying God’s will.  Of course, the best time for this man to resist the temptation to lie would have been at the very beginning before the question was even asked.  He should have gone to his boss and admitted the mistake immediately. At the first suggestion to do wrong, is the easiest time to overcome through God’s strength and grace; every other step towards the sin becomes more difficult to resist.  But even at the point where he could not escape giving a direct answer to his boss, he still could have overcome the temptation and not committed sin.

What he should have done at the very beginning was to recognize that he was being tempted to break God’s will; then pray to God for the grace and strength to resist; then submitted his will to God, and firmly resist the temptation; and then he would not have committed sin.  But we must all pray before we try to resist any temptation, because if we do not pray, then we are actually trying to resist it in our own strength!

Thus it is God through Christ who is working in us to do His will. And in being united with Christ and divinity, we can—with Him—gain the victory over all sin.

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12–13

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

“Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.  Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed (Christ) remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. . . . We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 3:6–9; 5:18

We do not have a passive Saviour, who gives us His strength and then leaves us to battle alone.  Christ has promised to battle with us against sin and temptation!  What a glorious privilege and honor granted to us that we might be united with our God!  We are not called to fight this battle alone, but Christ has promised to fight it with and through us!  And if we suffer by crucifying self in order to do God’s will, then we would be suffering with Christ!

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:16–18

What a privilege to overcome and struggle with Christ and, in His infinite strength, gain the victory over all sin to the glory of God which shall be revealed in us!  If we just could comprehend this glorious truth, that through faith the all-powerful God is working with and in us so that we can overcome sin to the glory of Him who has called us out of darkness to His marvelous light, how could we ever fail and fall into sin again?

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37

“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:37

But what happens if we, who profess to serve and worship God alone, should choose to commit sin and disobey God?  The only way we could sin, would be for us to reject God and cast Him away from us so that self would be revealed instead. In allowing self instead of Christ to be revealed in us, we would be denying, piercing, and crucifying Christ afresh!

If we could just keep self out of the picture, allowing self and pride to be crucified and mortified, and allowing God to work through and in us—thereby revealing Him and His righteous character to all around us, we would then gain the victory over sin because of our union with Christ which strengthens us.

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:26–29

By retaining a living connection with Jesus, allowing Him to live in and through us, His righteousness becomes our righteousness by a living active faith.  Thus through His strength we cease to commit sin, and become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust.

Thus there is no room for glory to be given to any one of us, because all the power we used in order to obey God and His law came from God through Christ to us!

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

Brothers and sisters, we can only live the life of faith and obedience in and through Jesus Christ when we are dead to self.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:9

“For to me to live is Christ.” Philippians 1:21

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

In allowing self to be revealed in us, instead of Christ and His righteousness, we would be robbing God of the right to live His life through us, and thus we would be stealing away any glory which would have been given to Him!

Without prayer, there is no possible way that we could overcome self and temptation!  This the reason why Satan hates prayer so much, and is doing everything he can to keep us from praying—especially when we are tempted.  Prayer is the only channel we have to communicate directly to Christ in every time of need.  Prayer is therefore the breath of life to the Christian.

Brethren, as sinful and unworthy as we are, we have been given the distinct honour and privilege of talking directly with the King of the entire universe!  We can even urge our petitions before Him. There is no other royalty who will allow every subject in their kingdom to approach them at any hour with their petitions and requests.

It is out of love for unworthy people that our Saviour is willing to take all our fervent requests before the Father.  And the Father, out of love for Christ and humanity, is willing to

hear and answer our requests according to His will!

“For 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.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need.” Hebrews 4:15–16

What love is this, brethren?  And yet, many have come to look upon prayer as a drudgery, or an almost unnecessary item for salvation.  But prayer is vital for our spiritual life and for a victorious warfare against every temptation and sin.  But it must be the prayer of faith.  Without an active exercising of faith in using God’s strength to overcome, it is impossible to please God.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Hebrews 11:6

“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain of sin, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20

“And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4

This road of overcoming is not easy to travel.  It is a straight, rough, and narrow pathway.  However, yoked up with Christ, the hard rough road becomes plain, and any trials or suffering becomes bearable and the victory sweet.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. . . . Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3–7, 9 (emphasis mine)

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer  for His sake.” Philippians 1:29

Brethren, let us remember to pray to God for strength to overcome every time we find ourselves tempted, submitting ourselves to Him and then firmly resisting the devil. May we allow God to live in and through us. May we allow the righteousness of Christ to shine from us, that glory may be given to the Lord God of all.

Some may be praying and yet still finding themselves overcome by temptation.  If this is your experience now, the various practical ways on how to resist every temptation will help you: remember the promises which God provides for us in this battle against sin and be strong.

May we remember the above truths, especially the four keys to successfully overcome all sin and temptations—R.P.S.R. (Recognize, Pray, Submit, Resist).  And may we always remember to pray for strength to overcome, and then escape sin through our Saviour’s power and righteousness to the glory of God.

All the praying in the world cannot save one soul from sin if we choose not to resist temptation!  This then brings us to the fifth and  last part in this series of salvation: THE HUMAN WILL.

“Christ declared to the tempter, ‘Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 130. We may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us. Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by the apostle He says to us, ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.’ James 4:7–8.  We cannot save ourselves from the tempter’s power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but ‘the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ Proverbs 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.” The Desire of Ages, p. 130

Only overcomers will meet the Lord. May the Lord help us to resist temptations especially in these last and perilous times of the history of the earth! Amen.

Victor Shumbusho- DR Congo