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Overcoming Temptations · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we're doing a deep dive
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into some source material that sheds light on a few really
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vital concepts we run into in Scripture and, well, just in
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life trials, temptations, and tests.
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That's right, we've got some notes here, transcripts really
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digging into how these things are distinct, where temptations
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actually come from, and what the sources propose as a solid
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biblical approach to overcoming them.
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Yeah, and our aim here is really to unpack these definitions, try
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to grasp God's perspective and purpose in them, and maybe see
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how having a clearer understanding might change how
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we respond when we face these things ourselves.
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And the material we're looking at, it pulls from a good range
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of scripture. James One is central, but also
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first Peter 1, Philippians 3, Colossians 1, Ephesians 1 and 3.
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Plus some insights from folks like Thomas Chalmers and Charles
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Spurgeon. Good stuff.
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All right, let's get into it. Where do we start with defining
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these terms? The sources point to language
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first, right? They do.
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It's interesting. If you just read, say, James
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chapter one in many English Bibles, you'll see the words
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trials, temptations, and testing all appear pretty close
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together. Right, I've noticed that it can
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feel a little confusing. It can, but the sources
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highlight something key. When you look at the original
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Greek that lines behind our English translations, there are
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actually only two distinct Greek words being used there, not 3.
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Oh OK, so 2 Greek words are getting translated into those
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three different English words. Exactly.
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And understanding that distinction is, well, it's
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foundational for getting clarity on different kinds of
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experiences these words describe.
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OK, so let's tackle that first Greek word.
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What is it? The first one is Perasmos P/E
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IRASMOS, and this is the one that causes that overlap in
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translation. Perasmus got it.
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So this one word can end up as trials or temptations in
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English. That's right.
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It depends entirely on the context, the sentence it's in,
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the surrounding verses, the overall flow of thought in the
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passage. The sources talk about semantic
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range. Semantic range, like how one
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word can have a few different shades of meaning.
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Yeah, exactly. Think of an English word like
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run. You can run a race, run a
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company, run a fever, your nose can run.
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The core idea might be movement or function, but the specific
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meaning changes completely with context.
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OK, that makes sense. The source material had that
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Brian Regan joke about asking for the next exit too.
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Right. Is the very next one or the one
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after the next one? You need context.
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Karasmos is a bit like that. The core idea relates to
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pressure difficulty being tried or put to the proof.
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But the specific flavor of that pressure depends on how it's
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used. Precisely.
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So let's break it down. When translators render Prasmos
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as trials, what are we talking about there?
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What kind of pressure is that? When they choose trials, they're
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going for the broader meaning. The sources label this general
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pressure. Think of it as a wide umbrella
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term covering basically any kind of pressure filled situation you
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might encounter. Just.
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Yeah, could be external things. Maybe you just had a really
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tough day at work, or you're dealing with sickness or the
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grief that comes with losing someone, or even facing outright
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persecution for your faith. Those are all trials in this
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sense. OK, external circumstances, but
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you mentioned internal pressure. Yes, the sources are clear.
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It's not just outside stuff. Trials in this general sense can
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also include internal experiences.
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Things like having really strong, maybe disordered desires
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or lusts or deep longings that create internal conflict or
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pressure. So like wanting something really
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badly. It could be It might be
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something complex, like a deep seated desire for acceptance
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that puts pressure on your relationships.
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Or it could be something quite basic but still a pressure, like
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being extremely hungry or exhausted.
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It's any situation, internal or external, that puts you under
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significant strain. So when we see trials in the
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Bible stemming from this word perasmos, we should think broad
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category, general pressure, difficult situation.
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That's the idea, the sources suggest.
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Keep it broad. OK, now using that same Greek
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word perasmos, when does it get translated as temptations?
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What's the difference? The difference lies in the
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intent or the function of the pressure.
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When perasmos is translated as temptations, it's pointing to a
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specific kind of pressure, a negative enticement.
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Negative enticement, meaning it's trying to get you to do
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something wrong. Exactly.
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The pressure filled situation is specifically designed, or at
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least it's functioning, to lure you, to entice you, to draw you
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away into sin. This is the negative side of
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Perasmos and the source is stressed.
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This is something you can't overcome, and indeed you should
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overcome. Where does this enticement come
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from? The sources mentioned three
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primary origins. It can come from the world.
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You know the anti God values and systems around us.
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It can come from Satan, who actively seeks to deceive and
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destroy or, and this is a major focus later, it can come from
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our own flesh, our own sinful nature and desires.
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OK, so perasmos is the root word for pressure.
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Context tells us if it's general difficulty, which we call
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trials, or if it's a specific pull towards sin, which we call
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temptations. That clears up the first Greek
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word. What's the second?
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One, the second Greek word also right there in James one is
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dokemian D OK IMION. Dokemian.
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OK. And this word is consistently
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translated as test or testing. There's less ambiguity with this
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one. And what's its core meaning?
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Its meaning is something like that by which something is tried
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and proved. It refers to the process or the
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means of demonstrating the genuineness or quality of
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something. Interestingly, the root of
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Dokemian shows up elsewhere in the New Testament, translated as
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proof or approved, like someone having approved character.
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Proof approved. That sounds quite different from
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the pressure idea in Perasmos. It does carry a different
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weight. While Perasmos Trials and
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Temptations involves difficulty, Dokemian has this built in sense
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of a positive outcome or purpose.
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When you see test or testing coming from Dokimian, the
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sources say you should think of it as a positive opportunity.
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A positive opportunity, even though tests can be hard.
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Yes. The idea is that the purpose
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behind it is positive. It's a situation allowed or bred
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about by God specifically to prove or refine something
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valuable, namely our faith. OK, so let's recap the three
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terms based on the two Greek words.
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We have perasmos translated as trials, meaning general
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pressure. We have perasmos, also
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translated as temptations, meaning a negative enticement to
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sin, and then we have dokemium translated as tests or testing,
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meaning a positive opportunity for proof or refinement.
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That's a good summary, and getting those distinctions clear
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is really helpful. Why is it so helpful?
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Well, because how you perceive the difficulty you're facing
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drastically effects how you'll respond to it.
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If you think God is tempting you to sin, which James one
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explicitly says he doesn't do, you'll misunderstand God's
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character and react wrongly. Right.
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Or if you just see a hard trial as meaningless suffering, you
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might miss God's hand in it. Exactly.
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Now the sources do add a note of caution here.
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Real life isn't always so neatly compartmentalized.
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You might face a situation that is both a trial general hardship
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and contains A temptation allure to sin in response to the
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hardship. Like losing your job could be a
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trial and then being tempted to bitterness or dishonesty could
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be the temptation within it. Perfect example.
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Or you might be going through something that is truly a test
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from God meant for refinement, but it feels intensely like a
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trial because it involves suffering and grief.
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These categories can overlap. That feels very real.
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It's not always simple to label things in the moment, but having
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the framework helps us think it through.
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It does. It gives us categories to
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understand God's different ways of working in our difficulties.
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OK, now that we have the definitions laid out, let's talk
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about the purpose behind these things.
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Let's start with Rod's perspective on tests.
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The do Kimian Why does God bring tests into our lives?
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The sources are very clear on this point.
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When God brings a do Kimian, a test, he always does it for good
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reasons. His intent is never malicious.
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He's not just, you know, playing games or trying to trip you up.
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His aims are always redemptive, always constructive.
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OK, So what are those specific good aims?
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The sources mention a few. Yes, several key aims come
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through. A primary one is to refine
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faith. This is a huge theme.
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Refine faith. How does that?
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Work. The sources use a powerful image
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metallurgy, putting precious metals like gold or silver into
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a Crucible or refiners pot. Why do you heat it up intensely?
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To burn off the impurities, the junk.
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Exactly. The heat isn't meant to destroy
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the gold, it's meant to separate the pure metal from the dross,
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the worthless stuff mixed in with it.
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God uses the heat of tests in a similar way.
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It burns away the impurities in our faith.
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Things like self-reliance, hidden sin, misplaced trust,
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leaving behind a faith that's more genuine, more pure, more
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valuable. So the test reveals and purifies
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what's real, the sources say. Genuine faith isn't ruined by a
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test. That's a key point they make.
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Genuine faith comes to the test, may be scarred, but ultimately
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purified and proven real. It's the counterfeit faith, the
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superficial stuff that gets burned away.
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That's a comforting thought, actually.
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What's another aim of God's test?
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And another major aim is to make us more Christ like.
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Conformity to the image of Christ is God's ultimate goal
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for us. How do tests help with that?
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Here the sources use the analogy of a sculptor.
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Imagine a sculptor starting with a rough block of marble.
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What does he do? He takes his tools and
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carefully, deliberately chips away everything that doesn't
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look like the final form he envisions, say the figure of a
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person. God acts like that sculptor
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through tests. The tests are like his chisel,
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chipping away at everything in us that doesn't reflect the
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character of Jesus. Our pride, our impatience, our
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fears, our self centeredness, our specific idols.
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It's part of that sanctifying work, shaping us more and more
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into His likeness. Refining faith, shaping
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character. Is there an element of
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demonstrating our faith too? Absolutely.
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The other purpose is to prove or exercise faith.
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Tests are opportunities God provides for us to actually put
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our faith into practice to demonstrate its reality.
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So it's not just for God's knowledge, but for the faith to
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be shown. Yes, the sources point to
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Abraham and Genesis 22 as the classic example.
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God tells them to offer Isaac. Why?
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The text says it was to test Abraham, to prove the
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genuineness of his faith. God already knew Abraham's
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heart, but the test provided the context for Abraham's obedience
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to be displayed, for Abraham's own assurance, for Isaac, for us
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reading it thousands of years later.
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Tests give faith a workout. They make it visible.
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So tests, document are really framed as positive initiatives
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from God aimed at purifying us, making us more like Jesus, and
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giving us a chance to live out our faith.
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That's helpful. Now what about trials, Perasmos
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as general pressure? How do they fit into God's plan?
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Are they also purposeful? Yes, even though trials arise
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from that same word, perasmos, they can also mean temptation.
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When understood as general pressure, the sources indicate
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they too fall under God's sovereign hand.
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They aren't random. OK.
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And the sources draw on First Peter chapter 1 for this
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perspective. They do.
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First, Peter 1 verses 3 through 7 is particularly insightful
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about trials. Peter's writing to believers who
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are suffering various kinds of trials.
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What does Peter tell them and us about these trials?
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He offers several key perspectives.
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First, he says, these trials last just a little while.
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Now that might sound strange if you're in a trial.
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This lasted years. Yeah, it doesn't always feel
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like a little while. No, it doesn't.
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But Peter setting it against the backdrop of eternity, against
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the inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and
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unfading, kept in heaven. For us, compared to eternity,
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even a lifetime of suffering is brief.
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That's a big perspective shift. What else?
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He also says these trials are in some sense necessary.
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They aren't pointless interruptions.
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They serve a purpose in God's plan.
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They aren't just fate or bad luck.
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They come under God's oversight and are part of the aim of God
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for believers. God has reasons for allowing
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them. OK, so necessary, purposeful,
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under God's aim. But Peter doesn't downplay the
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pain, does he? Not at all.
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He explicitly acknowledges that these trials cause grief and
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distress. He's realistic about the
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emotional and physical toll, and he mentions they come in various
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forms, echoing what we said earlier.
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Sickness, loss, financial strain, relational conflict,
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internal struggles, it's a wide range.
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And does Peter connect trials back to the idea of refining
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faith, like with tests? He does very directly.
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He uses that same Crucible imagery.
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He says the trials come so that the tested genuineness of your
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faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is
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tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and
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honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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So God uses trials, just like tests, as a furnace to reveal
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and purify true faith. OK, so trials cause grief.
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They come in many forms, but they're temporary in light of
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eternity, necessary under God's hands, and used to refine faith.
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Given all that, how should believers think about them?
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You mentioned James saying count it all joy.
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Right. And that's where it gets
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challenging but crucial. The sources suggest we can view
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trials as both good simultaneously.
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They are bad in the sense that they involve real suffering,
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real pain, real loss. We don't deny that or pretend it
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feels good. But they're also good in the
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sense that God in his sovereignty is using this
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difficult thing for our ultimate benefit, for our sanctification,
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for refining our faith. It's his perspective, seeing
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God's good purpose within the painful trial, that allows James
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to say count it all. Joy James 1.2.
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So it's not finding joy in the suffering itself, but finding
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joy in the knowledge that God is accomplishing something good
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through the suffering. Precisely.
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It's a joy rooted in God's character and his overarching
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plan, even when circumstances feel bleak.
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It's a perspective shift, a conscious choice to trust His
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hand. That makes more sense than just
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trying to feel happy when you're miserable.
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What about prayer during trials? The sources mentioned something
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about that. Yes, this is a really practical
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point. There's an encouragement to
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shift our prayer focus. Sometimes we naturally tend to
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pray primarily for escape from the trial.
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God Get Me Out of this situation.
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Which seems like a reasonable prayer.
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It is. It's not wrong to pray for
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deliverance, but the sources suggest we should also be
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praying earnestly for grace in the trial, asking God for
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strength, for patience, for wisdom, for deeper dependence on
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Him while we are still in the midst of the difficulty.
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So praying for dependence more than just deliverance.
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Often, yes. The question posed is, are your
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prayers dominated by pleas for escape, or they balance with
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prayers for God to sustain you, teach you, and draw you closer
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to himself within the trial? Many of us, the sources suggest,
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need more practice praying for that kind of dependence,
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trusting that God is working even if the circumstances don't
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immediately change. It sounds like surrendering to
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God's process, trusting he knows what he's doing, even if we
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don't understand the why. Exactly, and the source is
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actually caution against becoming overly obsessed with
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figuring out the specific why behind every single suffering.
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It can border on arrogance to think we can always know God's
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precise reason. Like the child always asking
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why, right? The analogy used is a child who
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keeps demanding explanations until they get one simple enough
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for their limited mind. Sometimes when we press God for
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the why of our suffering, his answer might simply be you don't
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need to know the specific mechanics right now, you just
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need to trust me. Trust my character, trust my
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love, trust my sovereignty. The main point isn't always
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figuring it out, but clinging to him in the midst of it, whether
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it feels more like a test or a trial.
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That's a solid way to look at trials and tests, seeing God's
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hand, trusting His purpose even in the pain, and focusing on
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dependence. Now let's shift gears to that
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third category, temptations, Perasmos as negative enticement.
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Where do these come from? OK, temptations.
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These are the pressure situations specifically designed
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to lure you into sin. Yeah.
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And as we said, the sources identify external sources like
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the world and Satan, but they put a really strong emphasis on
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the internal source, our own flesh, our own desires.
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This feels critical. It's not just outside forces
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attacking us. It's absolutely critical for
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understanding how to fight temptation effectively.
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The key verse the sources repeatedly point to is James
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1.14. But each person is tempted when
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he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
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By his own desire, so the hook has to connect with something
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already inside us. That's the idea.
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The external lure, the attractive thing, the appealing
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situation finds traction because it resonates with the desire
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already present within our hearts.
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And this explains why what temps one person might not tempt
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another at all. Yes, exactly because the
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enticement hooks into your own desire, your temptations are
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often very unique to you. The sources give that example.
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Maybe a guy is tempted to zone out.
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Watch watching football instead of engaging with his family
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after a hard day, because his dominant desire in that moment
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is escape or selfish relaxation. But his wife in the same
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situation might feel 0 temptation from the football
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game. Her dominant desire might be for
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connection or maybe for order. So she might be tempted instead
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by something else entirely, maybe people pleasing or maybe
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becoming critical if her desire for order isn't met.
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The same external situation but different internal desires lead
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to different temptations. So temptation isn't just the
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thing itself, it's the intersection of the external
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thing with our internal desires. Perfectly put.
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The sources explain that our temptations are linked to lusts
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that originate from your heart. Or flip it around the lusts in
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your heart, or what makes something tempting for you in
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the first place. Now, lusts here doesn't just
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mean sexual desire, right? The sources define it more
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broadly. Correct.
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Well, it certainly includes sexual desire.
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The sources define these lusts or desires much more broadly, as
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strong desires that you believe you cannot do it out, things you
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crave so intensely that they will either entice you to sin to
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get what you want. Like cheating to get ahead
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because you crave success. Yes, or they'll entice you to
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sin if you don't get what you want.
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Like lashing out in anger if you don't get the respect you crave.
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Exactly when these powerful desires are misplaced, when
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they're aimed at pleasing yourself instead of God.
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Finding security in things other than God.
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Valuing created things over the Creator.
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That's when you become vulnerable.
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That's when the lure works. And the source is called these
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misplaced desires, idols of the heart.
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Yes. Not physical statues usually,
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but anything that takes God's rightful place as the primary
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object of your heart's longing, trust, or source of
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satisfaction. They reveal what you really
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depend on for your sense of well-being apart from God.
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The sources listed quite a few potential idols.
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Things like desiring control, love or affirmation from others,
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being understood, avoiding hurt, wanting respect, being served,
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having preferences met. Right.
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Even things like wanting success, significance,
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fulfillment, security, or even being overly attached to either
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a rigid schedule or total spontaneity.
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Any of these good or neutral desires can become idols when
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they become ultimate things for us, when our happiness or sense
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of worth gets wrapped up in them instead of in God.
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That's a searching list. How can someone listening start
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to identify their own personal idols of the heart, the things
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driving their specific temptations?
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The sources give some really helpful diagnostic questions.
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They're designed to make you look inward.
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Questions like what do you want so badly that you find yourself
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willing to send to get it? Or what do you want so badly
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that you sin in frustration or anger or despair if you don't
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get it? OK, that's direct.
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Or what situations or types of people consistently bring out
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the worst of you? Your anger, Your fear?
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Your selfishness? And why do you think that is?
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What underlying desire is being threatened or unmet?
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That gets below the surface reaction.
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Another one, if you could snap your fingers and instantly
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change anything about your life or circumstances, what would you
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change and why those things? What does your immediate Fix it
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list reveal about what you think you need most?
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Interesting. What else?
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What do you tend to worry about or obsess over when you lie
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awake at night? Why do certain people's comments
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or actions bother you so intensely?
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What does success truly look like for you?
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What would it take for you to feel fundamentally OK?
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Wrestling with questions like those, it forces you to confront
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what's really driving you. It does.
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The sources argue that honestly engaging with these kinds of
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questions helps peel back the layers and expose those reeling
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desires, those idols that give temptation its specific power in
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your life. So the big take away here is
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that temptation isn't just an external attack, it's real
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leverage comes from connecting with these misplaced desires,
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these idols already inside our own hearts.
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That's right, and understanding this internal source is
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presented as absolutely essential if we want to figure
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out how to genuinely overcome temptation, not just manage it.
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Which brings us right to the next big question.
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How do we overcome it? How do we move beyond just
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resisting or managing the behavior to dealing with the
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root desire so the temptation loses its grip?
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Well, the sources argue that many of the common strategies
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people try often fall short of true deep overcoming things like
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relying solely on willpower or a sense of duty.
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I shouldn't do this or acting out of fear of getting caught or
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facing consequences. Or maybe trying to motivate
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yourself with guilt, or just trying to avoid tempting
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situations altogether. Right.
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Or even trying to become apathetic to just not care about
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the tempting thing anymore. The sources suggest these
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methods are often ineffective for true overcoming.
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Why ineffective? Surely they help.
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Sometimes you avoid the sin, maybe.
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They might help you limit the outward act of sin in a given
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moment, yes, but the sources argue they don't address the
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underlying desire that makes the thing tempting in the 1st place.
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They use the Beaker analogy to illustrate this.
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OK, refresh us on the beaker analogy.
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Imagine a glass beaker represents your heart, the seat
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of your desires. The misplaced desires, the
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things that tempt you, are like the air filling that beaker.
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They take up space, exert pressure.
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OK, hard is the beaker, temptations are the air inside.
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Now, trying to overcome temptation using those methods,
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willpower, fear, avoidance, guilt, is like trying to create
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a vacuum in the beaker. Maybe you try to suck the air
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out or put a lid on it really tight.
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You might reduce the pressure temporarily.
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You might make it harder for the air to escape or move, but you
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haven't fundamentally changed what's inside the beaker.
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The air, the desire, is still there.
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Exactly. These methods might limit your
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indulgence, make it harder or more costly to give in, but they
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do not expel or eradicate the underlying desire itself.
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It's still lurking. So it's symptom management, not
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a cure. That's a good way to put it.
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The sources give examples. If you use accountability
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software primarily out of fear of being caught, you might stop
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the outward behavior, but the desire is still there, just
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locked in a battle with your fear.
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If you rely on guilt to stop yourself from comfort eating,
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you might eat less, but the underlying craving for comfort
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hasn't been addressed or satisfied elsewhere.
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It's just suppressed by guilt. It sounds exhausting, frankly.
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Always fighting the desire. It is, and the sources say the
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biblical aim isn't just lifelong resistance through gritted
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teeth. It's mortification, A biblical
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term that means putting sin, including the desires that fuel
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it, to death, making it lose its power, making it no longer
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compellingly tempting. OK, so if willpower, fear, guilt
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and avoidance aren't the ultimate answer for overcoming,
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what is? The sources point to Thomas
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Chalmers. Yes, drawing on biblical
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principles, they introduce this powerful concept associated with
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the Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers, the expulsive power of
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a new affection. This is presented as the truly
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effective biblical way to deal with temptation at its root.
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The explosive power of a new affection.
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What's the core idea? The premise is this.
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We are creatures of desire. God made us to long for things
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to seek satisfaction. Sin has corrupted and
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misdirected those desires away from God and towards created
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things or self gratification. Things that can never ultimately
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satisfy. Therefore, the most effective
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way to overcome a powerful misplaced desire isn't just to
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try and crush it or ignore it, but to cultivate an even
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stronger, competing desire for something far better, something
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that can truly satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts.
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So you replace the bad desire with a stronger good desire.
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How does the Beaker analogy work here?
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OK, back to the beaker. Your heart filled with air.
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Misplaced desires, temptations. Trying to suck the air out is
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hard work and never fully gets rid of it.
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What's the easiest, fastest way to get all the air out of a
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beaker? Pour liquid in.
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The liquid pushes the air out. Exactly.
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You fill the beaker with the liquid.
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As the liquid rises, it naturally, effortlessly
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displaces and expels the air. That liquid, in this analogy
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represents a new and greater affection, a love, a desire, a
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longing for something so compelling, so satisfying that
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it pushes out the lesser, misplaced desires.
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And what is this new and greater affection directed towards?
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According to the sources drawing from Scripture, this supreme
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displacing affection is to be directed towards knowing Christ,
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fellowshipping with Christ and finding your deepest joy,
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identity and satisfaction in Him.
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Wow, so the focus shifts completely.
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It's less about fighting the negative desire and more about
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cultivating a positive desire for Christ Himself.
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That's the heart of it. The expressive power comes from
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actively pursuing Christ. As your heart becomes more
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captivated by Him, by His glory, His love, His sufficiency, the
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things that used to tempt you start to lose their appeal.
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They get crowded out, displaced by the greater satisfaction
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found in relationship with Him. So as you grow and knowing and
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loving Christ, the old temptations just.
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Fade. They lose their power.
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They might still appear, but they seem less attractive, less
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necessary, less compelling, because you have something
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infinitely better that hold your heart's primary affection.
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How does this work practically? Say in the moment you feel
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tempted. Instead of just gritting your
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teeth and saying no, you evaluate the temptation in light
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of your greater affection for Christ.
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You compare the fleeting pleasure or apparent benefit the
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sin offers with the surpassing worth and joy of knowing and
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pleasing Christ. And the sin seems less appealing
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in comparison. Hopefully yes, you essentially
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say to yourself, giving into this would fight against my
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deepest desire, which is to know Christ, to walk with him, to
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find my joy in Him. This fleeting thing isn't worth
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sacrificing my fellowship with Him.
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You dismiss it not just because sin has bad consequences, but
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because it contradicts your primary love.
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It's choosing rubbish over treasure.
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The sources used some difficult illustrations for this right,
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like the parable of the treasure.
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Yes, Matthew 13.44 A man finds a treasure hidden in a field.
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What does he do? Jesus says in his joy.
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He goes and sells everything he owns to buy that field.
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His previous possessions, which he presumably valued, suddenly
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seemed worthless compared to the treasure.
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His overwhelming desire for the treasure expelled his affection
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for everything else. So Christ is the treasure, and
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if we truly see Him as such, we'll joyfully let go of lesser
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things that hinder us. That's the idea.
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The sources suggest that if we find ourselves unwilling to sell
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everything, unwilling to let go of idols or desires that lead to
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temptation, it might reveal that we have a low view of the
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treasure. We don't yet grasp how supremely
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valuable Christ is. Then Paul's testimony in
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Philippians Three fits right in here too.
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Absolutely Philippians 3 verses 7 and 8.
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Paul lists all his credentials, everything he used to base his
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identity and words on. Then he says he counts it all as
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loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
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Lord. He considers it all rubbish,
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that strong word scubalon meaning dung or refuse compared
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to gaining Christ. Knowing Christ was so valuable
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it made everything else look like garbage.
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Exactly. The intense light of Christ's
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worth bleeds the color out of everything else he used to
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desire. That's the expulsive power.
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So temptations might still knock at the door, the rubbish might
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still be visible, but if our hearts are truly captivated by
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Christ, the ultimate treasure, the temptation loses its power
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to entice. That's the goal.
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When Christ is genuinely your true joy, their number one
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pursuit. You evaluate temptations
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differently. You see them for what they are,
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vastly inferior to what you already possess in Him.
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The sources use that image. You're dining at a fine
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restaurant, fellowship with Christ, and you see someone
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eating cheap pizza outside the temptation.
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Sometimes, because of lingering misplaced desires, the pizza
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might still look momentarily appealing until you remember the
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feast you have before you. And it's crucial that desiring
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Christ is the end goal, not just a means to get rid of
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temptation. Vitally important You don't
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pursue Christ so that you can have an easier life free from
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temptation. You pursue Christ because He
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Himself is the ultimate treasure, the supreme good, the
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only One who can satisfy your soul freedom from temptations.
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Grip is a wonderful by product of finding your satisfaction in
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Him, but He is the goal. OK, that reorients everything.
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Victory comes not through suppression, but through
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displacement by a greater love. So the big practical question
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is, how do we actually cultivate this new and greater affection
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for Christ? Great question.
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The sources offer several concrete steps.
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First, they emphasize the need to consciously recall the
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preeminence of Christ. Preeminence, his supreme
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importance and rank. Yes, actively meditating on who
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Christ is according to scripture.
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Colossians 1.15 and 18 is a powerhouse passage for this.
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It declares Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first
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born over all creation. Through him all things were
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made, and for Him all things were made.
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He holds everything together. He's the head of the church.
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He is supreme, so that in everything he might be
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preeminent. So regularly reminding ourselves
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of His supreme place in the universe and that we were made
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for Him. Exactly understanding that our
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very existence finds its purpose in knowing and worshipping this
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preeminent Christ helps put our own desires and temptations into
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their proper, much smaller perspective.
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Blessings or secondary, He is primary.
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OK, so focus our minds on Christ's supremacy.
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What else? 2nd, and this is huge, pray for
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it. The sources stress that growing
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this affection isn't primarily about human effort or just
30:21
trying harder to love God more. It's a work of the Holy Spirit.
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If you recognize that your desire for Christ is weak, that
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other desires grip your heart more strongly, the first
30:30
response is to ask God to change your heart to increase your love
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for Him. Like asking God to give you the
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desire he commands you to have. Precisely.
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And the sources point to Paul's prayers in Ephesians as models
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for this kind of praying. What specifically did Paul pray
30:45
for in Ephesians? Look at Ephesians one starting
30:48
on verse 16. Paul prays constantly that God
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would give the believers a spirit of wisdom and revelation
30:53
in the knowledge of Him. He prays that the eyes of their
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hearts would be enlightened. Enlightened to know what?
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To know the hope they have in Christ, the riches of God's
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inheritance in them, and the incredible power of God
31:03
available to them. These aren't prayers for stuff.
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They're prayers for spiritual sight.
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For God to supernaturally open their hearts to see and grasp
31:11
how wonderful, glorious, and desirable God is in Christ.
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He's praying for their affections to be stirred by a
31:17
true sight of God. Yes, and he does it again in
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Ephesians 3, verses 14 to 19. He prays they'd be strengthened
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inwardly by the Spirit so that Christ would dwell in their
31:27
hearts through faith, And the result that they would have
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power to comprehend the dimensions of Christ's love, its
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breadth, length, height and depth.
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A love that surpasses mere intellectual knowledge.
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Again, it's a prayer for a deeper heart level apprehension
31:42
of Christ's reality and love which naturally fuels affection.
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So we should be praying prayers like these for ourselves, asking
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God to open our eyes to His worth and love.
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Absolutely. It's asking God to do what only
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He can do, reveal himself in his glory and make himself desirable
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to our souls. Which leads to the third
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practical step, summed up in a phrase from Spurgeon.
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Cry out more light, Lord. More light Lord explain that.
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It captures the essence of those Ephesians prayers.
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It's the heart's plea for God to shine more of His light into our
32:13
darkness, to show us more clearly how much greater, more
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beautiful, more satisfying He is than whatever sin is currently
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tempting us. It's asking God, show me your
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glory. Show me why you are better.
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It's an act of dependence on God to reveal Himself.
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Yes, and this ties into the final point the sources make
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about posture getting on your toes instead of on your heels.
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What does that mean? Being on your heels is being
32:38
defensive, reactive. It's primarily focused on not
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sending, resisting temptation, holding ground.
32:43
It's necessary but insufficient. Being on your toes is being
32:46
proactive, offensive, actively pursuing Christ.
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It's running hard after him, seeking to know Him more,
32:52
delighting in Him, crying out for more light.
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The focus is on cultivating the positive affection for Christ,
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knowing that this is the most effective way to displace the
33:00
negative desires. So the core message is that
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overcoming temptation isn't mainly about suppression through
33:05
willpower, but about displacement through a growing,
33:09
satisfying desire for God himself, found in knowing
33:12
Christ. The new affection expels the
33:16
old. That's the heart of the
33:17
expulsive power of a new affection as the source
33:20
presented rooted deeply in Scripture.
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All right, so in this deep dive, we've looked at sources helping
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us distinguish trials, general pressure, temptations,
33:29
enticement to sin, and tests God's positive refining.
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Work we've seen, trials and tests are under God's sovereign
33:36
purpose for our good, while temptation often finds its hook
33:39
in our own misplaced desires, our heart idols.
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And we've really dug into this biblical strategy for overcoming
33:45
temptation, not just resisting, but cultivating that new,
33:48
greater affection for Christ, the true treasure, which expels
33:51
the desire for lesser sinful things.
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So as you think about all this, maybe consider your own heart.
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What are those deep desires that make certain things particularly
34:00
tempting for you? What are you longing for so
34:02
strongly? And then how does that longing
34:05
stack up when you honestly compare it to the surpassing
34:08
worth of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord?
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What does that comparison tell you about what you truly
34:13
treasure? And perhaps what's 1 practical
34:15
step you could take this week? Maybe it's praying those prayers
34:18
from Ephesians one and three for yourself, actively asking God
34:21
more light. Lord, enlighten the eyes of my
34:24
heart to know you more, to love you more, to desire you more
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than anything else, cultivating that expulsive power.