CHRISTIANITY 101: DEALING WITH TEMPTATION, PT2: MENTAL HABITS

 In the previous blog on temptation, I mentioned six main points: 1) Our “battle” is with spiritual forces of evil.  2) Our “battlefield” is the mind.  3) Temptation, which occurs in the mind, is not sin.  4) Temptation must be stopped in the mind before it leads to sin.  (Our thoughts do not define us; our responses define us.)  5) Our temptations are not unique and are not beyond dealing with.  6) Jesus has experienced our temptations and can help us through them.  I want to expand upon point #4 by taking a close look at Romans 12:2:

Do not permit yourself to be conformed to this present age, but be allow yourself to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God– what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. (Rom 12:2)

Technical, but important, notes:

·       The two verbs for “conform” and “transform” are imperatives (commands) in the middle/passive voice.  The significant point is that we are recipients of external forces that act upon us, but we have roles to play, both negative (not to be conformed) and positive (to be transformed).

·       “Age” here is often translated as “world,” but what is significant is a negative nuance.  The present “age” is under the dominion of sin and death as opposed to being of the Kingdom of God’s Spirit and life.

·       One verb, dokimazo, is here translated by two, “test and approve,” because the sense is that one assays something for what is genuine or not in order to choose the genuine.

·       “Mind” is a term I should have clarified in my last post.  In Greek, mind (nous related words) is more than a faculty of reason.  It includes apprehension and comprehension with volitional commitment.

Commentary

Living in this “age” puts us in the position of being conformed to that which is not of God’s will.  As mentioned in the last post, there is a dimension which is adversarial to God.  We are to resist being shaped in that negative direction.  The area of conflict is the “mind” where temptations arise in the form of our thoughts and desires.  In our culture, I sometimes hear people conclude that they are what they think: “God made me, this is what I desire, so this must be who I am.”  No, the “mind” is the testing/assaying ground in which thoughts and desires are to be assessed as of God or not.  We are to submit our minds to God so that they increasingly become transformed in the likeness of Jesus’ mind.  We are to create mental habits that tests our desires, discerns what is God’s pleasing and perfect will, and rejects what is not.  This involves mental discipline: “we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ” (2Cor 10:5b).  It also calls for spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, and fellowship that increase our sensitivity to God’s Presence.  It is not easy.  However, anything that aligns us with the will of God brings its own reward of peace.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” (Phi 4:8 NET)

Jesus, my thought life is not easy to control, but I want it brought under your reign.  I want to think and desire that which is pleasing to you.  Transform me.  Amen.

CHRISTIANITY 101: DEALING WITH TEMPTATION*

I have never experienced a church that explicitly taught believers how to deal with temptation, particularly as new Christians.  It involves spiritual “warfare” in a “battle” for the mind.
Six main points
1) Our “battle” is with spiritual forces of evil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. (Eph. 6:12)

(Too often spiritual dimensions in life are ignored or overblown.  A healthy starting point is this analogy: As an infection is to a cut, so is spiritual evil to our normal pathologies.  There is a real dimension that is adversarial to God.)

2) Our “battlefield” is the mind.  (The key point is in bold.)

For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments ⁵ and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3)

3) Temptation is not sin.  Jesus was tempted.  (The main noun and verb for “temptation” carries the idea that it tests a person and exposes their character in the Light of their response.)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matt. 4:1)

4) Temptation must be stopped in the mind before it leads to sin.  Our thoughts do not define us; our responses us.

But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. ¹⁵ Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14)

5) Our temptations are not unique and are not beyond dealing with.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

6) Jesus has experienced our temptations and can help us through them.

For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Summary and Application
Temptuous thoughts are normal, but they should be rejected as foreign to who we are as people of God.  Some people let such thoughts define them: “Since I feel X, I must be X.”  Others let temptations linger until they give birth to sin.  Temptations must be instantly identified as foreign to the Presence of God and one should call on God's help to reject them.
Although I often fail with various spiritual temptations, still I will be personal about a habit I seek to develop.  When I see a woman and begin to have a lustful thought, I attempt to stop it by saying a blessing for that woman and asking Jesus in His mercy to lead me to “escape” it and to cleanse my mind.  More personally (too personally?) I vividly recall an experience, on another issue, when one image after another was coming into my mind.  At first, it frightened me.  Then, I inwardly said, "Satan (= adversary), you can put any image in my mind you want, but I do not have to accept them.  Come Holy Spirit!"  My body literally shook and the images were gone.
Lord Jesus, you know how frail I am.  However, I want my mind, my thought-life, to be pleasing to you.  Lead me through every temptation and cleanse the thoughts of my heart.  Amen.
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*I posted on this topic more fully on July 10, 2024, "Temptation, the Mind, and Spiritual Warfare," but in a recent conversation I was encouraged to post on it again.  Shorter is sometimes better.