by Benjamin Lloyd

Created on: May 22, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2009

First of all, let me say that God does not tempt anyone. He gives that power to the Devil. Even the Bible says, "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". James 1:13

The Devil is the tempter. He started in the Garden of Eden, as a serpent. He tempted both Adam and Eve to take of the fruit. Eve took of it first, but Adam did later. The Devil has been tempting man (and woman) ever since. Many people like to blame it on the woman, but they say the man that drives the getaway car is just as guilty as the one who robs the bank. Adam and Eve are equally responsible.

Now God will test a human being, but He will never tempt anyone. God will test a human by allowing the Devil to tempt that person.

For example, somebody drops a $100 bill unknowingly. You see it happen. There's the temptation to pick it up and keep it. Or do you give it back to the person, knowing it was the right thing to do? It was both a temptation and a test at the same time.

Why does the Devil tempt people? Simple. He wants us to lose sight of God. If we start falling into his traps, then he has us right where he wants us. The Devil feels that if he can get us to sin, then he can claim us as one of his own. But a true Christian has his sins washed away by the blood of Jesus.

Man always wants more and more. They want the bigger house, the fastest car, the most expensive technology items and so forth. Basically, what it boils down to is temptation stems from man's greed. I want. I want. I want. The Devil puts the temptation there, but he cannot force you to take it.

Temptation itself is not a sin. It's when you fall victim to that temptation it becomes a sin. When you do something wrong in the eyes of God, it is sin. Jesus Christ Himself was tempted, yet he remains sinless to this day. Even the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. Only Jesus did not fall for the Devil's tactics like everyone else does. He simply told the Devil what was written in the Bible and the Devil backed off.

The only thing God has to do with temptation is the fact that He let's the Devil tempt us to see who our true master is. Remember, the Devil gets his power from God. God created the Devil. Lucifer (the Devil) was originally an angel and he fell to earth after he tried to be like God.

God does the testing. The Devil does the tempting.

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