You may be saying, “an escape route from what.” While almost every city that is plagued with natural disasters like hurricanes, fires, or landslides, has an escape route, this is not the kind of escape route I’m talking about. Those escape routes are always clearly marked and promoted if there is an impending disaster. They are open to all, but the escape routes are the same for everyone. This escape route comes to us in God’s word, and it’s found in I Corinthians 10:13. It is an escape route from yielding to temptation.
I Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
This verse gives us a promise that will allow us to overcome temptation. Everyone will deal with temptation. Those without Christ will either yield, or they will fight it alone. We who are Christians have help. We will be provided an escape route. It is not wrong to be tempted, but it is wrong to give in to temptation. We know that it is not a sin to be tempted because Jesus himself was tempted. It is, for this reason, he understands what it is like to be tempted and he can sympathize with us. We need to remember, while we suffer, he suffered infinitely more. His temptations from Satan were presented in an alluring form. They appealed directly to the flesh. He had not eaten in forty days and Satan tempted him by turning stones into bread. He tempted him with things, and with power. These three areas are the same way Satan tempts us. John in I John 2:16 sums all temptations into three categories, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Heb 2:18 “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”
Luke 4:2-3 “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days, he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”
I John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, 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.”
Why are we so susceptible to temptation? First, as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, we all have a sinful nature. That sinful nature never leaves us until we die. We spend all our lives after becoming Christians denying our sinful nature and yielding to the spiritual. In James 1:14 the writer reminds us that we all sin because of our own selfish desires. We are enticed and when we yield and allow ourselves to think about that enticement, we are allowing ourselves to come one step closer to yielding to the temptation. It is our own doing when we give in to sin.
James 1:14 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Satan also can come against us even when we are in perfect harmony with God. That is what he did to Jesus when he tempted Him. However, too many times we blame Satan when we get ourselves into situations where we will be tempted. When I was growing up there was a phrase made popular by a comic named Flip Wilson. His famous phrase was “the devil made me do it.” While people laughed many used that as an excuse to sluff off personal responsibility. The devil may tempt us, but he cannot make us sin. When we watch things on TV that are showing people doing sinful things, or have friends we are involved with that make poor choices, then we will be more susceptible to yielding to the temptations around us. This is what James is talking about when he states in James 1:14 that we are tempted when we are pulled away by our own lust.
God has given us every advantage necessary to avoid sinning. He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within us, to guide us into what is right. He has a means of escape when Satan temps us. He has given us His word to teach us about what is right and wrong so that we can avoid allowing ourselves to be in situations where we will be tempted. If we will follow scripture and listen to the Holy Spirit, we can escape without sinning.
