Christ may try or test us, He will never tempt us. What is the distinction between a test that He orchestrated and a temptation He did not initiate?
Pastor Tim Chaddick, author of The Truth About Lies, discusses the difference between a temptation from the devil and a test from God.
A test is a challenging situation that prompts us to discern how God would have us respond.
“A test really has to do with a situation itself. Temptation has more to do with the luring effect internally.”
At the moment of testing, temptation is initiated by the devil and attempts to lure us away from truth and into sin.
“That’s why I think temptation is very revealing and temptation, though it is authored by the devil to destroy us, is allowed by God to instruct us.”
God allows us to be tempted and tested but is never the author of temptation. He allows us to live in a world wrought with temptation so He can shape us and mold us evermore into the image of His Son.
“When it comes to temptation, He’s not responsible for our desire to want to make a bad decision, but He allows us to live in this world where there are all kinds of choices and He wants to train us as children to make the right choices.”
Another hidden benefit of facing temptation is that it causes us to look within and question the motives and desires that are hidden in our hearts. When we are faced with temptation and thoughts that we know are sinful, we are forced to reckon with our sinful nature and it drives us back to God.
God uses all things for His glory and our benefit, including temptation.
“He clearly allows us to live in this world so that we might learn to choose truth, and that’s why the way out of temptation is also the way up! Because when we choose the truth, we become stronger.”
Key Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 10:13-14; Romans 13:11-14
I never have never heard, or at least absorbed the difference between testing and temptation before.
Thank you for clarifying