How to Overcome Temptation, Part 3

1 Corinthians 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."

In our last lesson, we began looking at the first thing we must do in order to overcome temptation. We must count on our death in Christ. Because we are dead in Christ, we are dead to sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh. None of these have a hold on us like they did before, and we do not have to obey any of these influences ever again.

The second thing we must do in order to overcome temptation is to Count on Christ's Life in Us.

Temptation comes to us, not only from Satan, but also from within us. James 1:14 says, "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." We have within us something which is always trying to pull us down into sin. The Bible calls it "the law of sin which is in our members [our body]."

What is a "law"? According to Merriam-Webster, in science, a “law” is “a generalized statement of natural processes; specifically one of the chief generalizations of science variously conceived as imposed upon nature by the Creator.” In other words, a law is something that happens over and over. For instance, when we speak of "the law of gravity," we mean that there is a force that always causes an object to fall to the ground when it is released. No matter where you go, this happens; so we call it "the law of gravity."

We have within us a sin principle which is always trying to pull us down into sin. This is why the Bible calls it "the law of sin." Can we overcome the law of sin by our own efforts? No, we cannot. God must deliver us from sin's power.