Resist Temptation

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Rainier View Christian Church

Living Faith Message Series Small Group Lesson 2 of 14 for the week of April 26, 2015

Resist Temptation Discuss What is the hardest food for you to say no to?

Observe and Apply Read James 1:13-15 1. Besides God, who else do you blame for your troubles?

Tempted. God clearly “tested” people in the Bible and later Jewish literature (Genesis 22:1; Deuteronomy 8:2; 13:3; Judges 2:22), but He never tested them in the sense that is implied here: seeking for them to fail instead of persevere. Jewish texts distinguished between God’s motives in testing people (in love, seeking their good) and Satan’s motives in testing them (to make them fall). On most Jewish texts, Satan fills the role of tempter. Although James does not deny Satan’s indirect role (James 4:7), he emphasizes here the human element in succumbing to temptation. He personifies “desire” or “lust” as enticing a person, then illegitimately conceiving the child “sin,” which in turn brings forth “death”; Jewish teachers occasionally applied the rhetorical technique of personification to the “evil impulse” all people had. Keener, C. S., The IVP Bible Background Commentary-New Testament, p. 691

2. List the progression James builds in James 1:14-15. What is the end result?

3. Why do we tend to minimize sin instead of recognizing its negative impact in our present and for our future?

4. Sin always promises pleasure. How can we do better at recognizing the false promise that temptation offers?

5. Temptation is tailored to our “own desire,” what steps do you need to take to keep from being dragged away and enticed by sin?

In Sunday’s message it was pointed out that righteousness is not being exempt from temptation. Righteousness is facing temptation as a daily reality and with God’s help, overcoming it. Why is it so critical to not equate temptation with sin?

Read James 1:16-18 6. How does this picture of God and the fruit of His gifts differ from the picture of sin and its fruits from the previous verses?

7. What do these verses tell you about God’s character?

8. How did God choose to give us birth (James 1:18)? How can we make God’s truth a bigger part of our lives?

9. Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13. What do these verses add to your understanding of resisting temptation?

Pray Father God, You are the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Help us to see that each trial is a loving gift that provides the opportunity to seek from You the gift of grace and wisdom needed to endure and overcome my trials. Temptation is a constant in our lives, but through Christ, sin is losing its luster. James 1:13-18 is a call to flee the enticement of sin, as well as a call to celebrate the new life we have in Christ. Thank You, Jesus!