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. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust (desires), and enticed – James 1:13-14.

Temptation comes not only to the unbeliever, but it comes to those that are professing to be Christians. The Bible wasn’t written for the unbeliever, but for the believer. Its instructions for the believer to live by, its God’s mission statement, its His rules and regulations for those who want to be heirs of the kingdom of God.

Enticement to sin does not come from God. God will never deliberately lead a person to commit sin because that would not only go against His nature, but it would be opposed to His purpose of molding His creation into His holy image. Yet God does sometimes place His people in adverse circumstances for the purpose of building godly character. Drawn away and enticed express the intensity with which desire lures an individual until he or she is tragically chosen because of its attractions. To conceive is to suggest the image of a person’s will bending toward and finally seizing evil.

Temptation is brought to us daily through television programs, radio broadcast, and our surroundings, but it doesn’t mean we have to yield to it. This is why every believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit to give them the power they need to resist temptation. We’re instructed to resist the devil and he will flee (Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you – James 4:7). In order to resist the devil, we must submit ourselves to God, submission consist of the whole man; spirit, soul and body. Meaning we will allow His Spirit to reign over our spirit, our mind, will and emotions. We will be submissive to His word, we will present our bodies as a living sacrifice.

We have been bought with a price, the price was the brutal beating of Jesus, then He was nailed on a cross. He didn’t die for us to continue in sin, that was the purpose of His death to reconcile us to the Father. God has empowered us to resist sin when we have His Holy Spirit living within us and allow Him to make us into the image of the Father and Son. The process isn’t pleasurable at times, but God is not concerned about our comfort as He is our holiness to Him. Prayer strengthens and keeps us connected to the Father, fasting makes our bodies submit to the will, purpose and plan of God. Temptation will continue to come as long as we’re in this body of flesh, so we have to make flesh come subject to the word of God, then can we resist the devil.