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The Overcoming Christian Life
 John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 
The Christian life is an overcoming life. Even though we will definitely have problems and personal struggles in this life, we will be able to overcome because of Jesus. Because of Him, we have victory over the world, including sinful habits, bitterness, loneliness, guilt, fear, and discouragement.Dear reader, God wants you to live an overcoming life! Please read the followinglesson with faith, not in yourself, but in God.
Lesson 2 - Overcoming Trials andTemptation
1
 
Corinthians 10:13
 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Introduction
A mountain climber expects to encounter challenges on his way to thesummit. Falling rocks, sudden storms, wild animals, extreme temperatures, hiddencrevices under the snow—all these dangers and more are expected. In addition tothese outside challenges, the climber’s determination will be tested by tiredness andhunger. Despite these difficulties, he prepares himself to conquer every obstacle untilhe reaches the summit. In the same way, Christians expect trials and temptations inlife, but depend on God to help us overcome.
Our sinful state
When we become Christian, all our sin is erased by the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus. When Jesus died, He redeemed us, or bought us back, from the power andauthority of Satan. However, even though we were given new spiritual life throughChrist, we still live in this sinful world. Our sinful nature is still something we have tostruggle against. One day, God will bring a new heaven and new earth, and will replaceour old bodies with new glorious ones. At that time, God promises there will be no moresickness, death, or suffering of any kind. We will also not have to struggle with sin, because God will deal with sin completely on the Day of Judgment. But until that day, aslong as we live here on earth, we will have to overcome trials and temptations.(For reference: Hebrews 9:15, Romans 7:18-20, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, Revelation 21:1-4, John 16:33)
 
Definition of trials and temptations
In the New Testament, the same Greek word (
 peirazo
) is used for trial, test, andtemptation. The basic meaning of 
 peirazo
is to test something to determine its response,value, or character. When
 peirazo
is used to describe external hardships allowed by God,we use the word “test” or “trial,” but when
 peirazo
is used to describe inner struggleswith sin, we use the word “temptation.”God tested the Israelites in the desert to know what was in their hearts, and testedAbraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. God allows external hardships or difficult situations produce good qualities in us. When we face hardship, we learn to relyon God and to have faith in Him. God wants to strengthen our faith through tests andtrials.
 Deuteronomy 8:2-5
 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, tohumble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not youwould keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and feeding you withmanna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know thenin your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
(For reference: Genesis 22:1-12, Hebrews 12:10-11, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-7)God does not test us to make us fail, but He intends we will “pass the test” andgrow spiritually. James 1:13-15 makes it clear that God is not the source of evil desiresthat come from our own sinful nature—God does not tempt us to do evil.
 James 1:13-15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted byevil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, heis dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and  sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The verses above show temptation is not from God, but comes from our ownfleshly desires. Our fleshly desires always lead us into sin and destruction, but the Spiritof God which lives inside Christians always leads us into love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each time you are tempted,you have a choice: either you can choose to obey your flesh or you can choose to obeythe Spirit. One brother in our church describes the situation like this: There are twofighting dogs inside you; the one you feed will grow stronger. We can either feed our flesh or feed our spirit; if one grows strong, the other grows weak. So you could consider temptation a test (
 peirazo
), but one that determines whether we will follow our sinfulnature or the Holy Spirit.(For reference: Galatians 5:16-25, 6:8; 1 Peter 4:1-2)
 
In addition to coming from our sinful desires, the Bible also says temptationcomes from Satan. He is called “the tempter” in Matthew 4:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5.Satan uses sin to lure us away from God and eventually destroy us. In every case whenSatan tempts people, he offers something that looks good but is actually sin. For example,he offered Eve fruit that gave knowledge and was good to eat. If you read the story of how Satan tempted Jesus, you will see he always used some good reasons why Jesusshould sin.(For reference: Genesis 3:1-6, Matthew 4:1-11, 2 Corinthians 11:14)The Book of Job offers a great example of how tests and temptations are different.God allows a hardship to come as a test, with the intention that we will overcome and be blessed. But Satan tries to get us to sin against God.Satan was given permission to do all kinds of harm to Job to see if Job wouldcurse God. Job lost his children, his possessions, and was himself afflicted with painfulsores all over his body. Human reasoning would say God had abandoned Job, and surelyJob was tempted to blame God. In fact, that is what Job’s wife argued; she played rightinto the plans of Satan!
 Job 2:9-10
 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Even though Job did not know why God allowed these things to happen to him,he accepted that God was the one who would eventually save him. Job recognized histroubles as a test from God, and also recognized Satan’s scheme. He did not rely onhuman reasoning but held fast to his faith in a righteous God.
 Job 23:10-12
 But he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth morethan my daily bread.
How to overcome trials and temptation
1. Avoid temptation
Everyone faces temptation. Job was a righteous man, but he still faced trials andtemptations. Jesus is God, yet the Bible says He was tempted in every way just as we are(He did not sin, however). We need to realize that trials and temptations happen toeveryone, both righteous and unrighteous. Therefore, just like the mountain climber triesto take the safest route, we should also be careful and try to avoid falling into sin.(For reference: Hebrews 4:15, 1 Corinthians 10:13)
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Kollins Austria Lolong

Finding this document makes me fell w/ God endlesslly. Thanks Jesus Christ. God bless us.

reply05 / 15 / 2012
tsupasat

Scribd does a great job with SEO. This Bible study lesson ranks #1 on Google for "trials and temptations." Thanks, Scribd!

reply08 / 24 / 2011
tsupasat

Thank you for reading. For more lessons in the Overcoming Series, including on low self-esteem, resentment, loneliness, critical attitude, and more, go to http://www.scribd.com/collections/232.... God bless you.

reply03 / 30 / 2011
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