Stability and Reference for College Students – Temptation and Conscience
The dictionary says "temptation" is enticement or allurement, especially to evil. And conscience is defined as an inner sense or what is right or wrong, which impels a person toward right or a right action. These are actually consistent with the Bible, which says God gave us a conscience but He tempts no one. But when we violate our conscience and violate others, we often seek paralegals and legal counsel to determine "our rights" under the law.
The Causation of Temptation
Therefore, who causes temptation if God is not the instigator? The answer must be two-fold: You cause temptation through your wants and desires, but the Devil (a very real spiritual entity) can and often does play a role. However, you need God’s help to overcome temptation. And without God’s help, your wants and desires will eventually cause you to do wrong, which the Bible calls sin. I say “eventually” because we all have a free will, which means each person has the free will to say “no” to that enticement or allurement toward evil.
Dealing With Temptation
Based on the preceding description of the causation of temptation, you could conclude that you and everyone else are simply victims of circumstances – the combination of your wants and desires and the Devil will “eventually” cause you to sin. Therefore, doesn’t it make sense that everyone has need of God, if for no other reason than to resist what one author calls “the world, the flesh and the Devil”?
The world is significantly under the control of the Devil, also called Satan. Physically (environmentalists point this out daily), morally (just look around at the level of moral failures compared to just a few decades ago) and spiritually (less prayer, church attendance, Bible reading) the world is being destroyed; and mankind is severely tempted to just go along with it.
The flesh is reference to mankind’s wants and desires for material things and physical attraction to other humans, in a word “sex” and the lustful desires accompanying it. Obviously, this is intertwined with the world’s moral decay and consistent with that decay. And mankind is severely tempted to just go along with it.
The Devil is the catalyst and more. Unchecked, the Devil will exploit and destroy mankind as humans engage in satisfying their worldly wants and desires for the flesh. And once again, mankind is severely tempted to just go along with it.
So how do you deal with temptation? Well, by yourself you can try but ultimately you will fail. Never underestimate the power of the Devil or the influence of the world and the flesh on human behavior. Together these will destroy you; and the evidence is in the news daily. Just look at the increasing number of incidences of murder, robbery, divorce, violence, drug use and sexual activity outside of marriage and the destruction of the family. Daily, this is reported all over the newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the Internet and social media. And sadly, most of mankind just goes along with it. Obviously, you and I need help. And Jesus Christ, and no one else, is that help. Truly, we need God’s help to overcome the world, the flesh and the Devil.
Following Your Conscience
If the Lord gave you a conscience, and the Bible says that He did, then from the foregoing it should be abundantly clear that each of us must follow that “inner sense of what is right or wrong, which impels a person toward right or a right action.” Yet millions of people, even billions of people, do not even know God or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (See the second article in this series, “The Way, The Truth and The Life.”) He is the only way to overcome the world, the flesh and the Devil. Life can be new, vibrant, exciting and extremely rewarding and fulfilling when you know Christ and live for Him. And through Him you can, should and must exercise power over the world, the flesh and the Devil, and most importantly provide others with the opportunity to do the same.
As always, your thoughts, ideas, opinions and questions are most welcome. Thank you for reading!
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