Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I have often pondered the above words in light of the words below.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
If God tempts no man then why would we ask God not to lead us into temptation? Surely such a thing is redundant. Well I think, upon reflection, that the answer is quite simple.
Evil is always birthed through temptation for it is through temptation that we are presented with choice. Do we choose to yield to temptation or do we choose to rule over temptation, we can go either way...
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
The issue in Mat 6:13 is not the temptation in and of itself, rather it is the ruling over of the temptation. If we contrast the two thoughts...
"Don't lead us where we are tempted" to "Deliver us from evil"
...I think what is being contemplated here is really the end result. We don't want to be led to the edge of a cliff and left in danger, rather we want to be delivered from the danger. We want to be delivered through that place of choice, that time of testing, whereby the evil has no power over us.
Hence the testing which is common to man is not an end in itself, instead the end is the deliverance through the testing, the end is the manifest victory we have, the end is the escape.
1Co 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.
John wrote...
1Jn 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Overcoming the wicked one is wrought through the word of God abiding in us, the implanted word, the seed which saves our soul.
Is the seed in you?
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Scott
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