65 Ministries

Society often uses the phrase, “the devil made me do it.” What is often meant by this phrase is that their poor actions are not a result of their giving into temptation, but something that the devil himself personally made them do and they had no agency in the action. Now, it is important to note that the apostle Peter does say, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8b, ESV). But this does not mean that the devil directly makes us do evil nor does it mean that every temptation we face is a direct attack from him! The apostle John seems to sum up most of our temptations in 1 John 2. While warning his reader to “not love the world or the things in the world” (2:15a), he says that the world contains “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life” (2:16b). Oftentimes, probably most of the time, what tempts us stems from what we want, what looks good to us, and things that puffs us up. The devil can use these as methods to get people off course but even then, the devil is not directly making you do evil.

There is an example in the synoptic gospels of a nameless man that is deemed the “rich, young ruler.” This man “ran up and knelt before” (Mark 10:17) Jesus and wanted to inherit eternal life. Seems to be a good goal. After a bit of dialogue, the following exchange takes place in Mark 10:21-22. “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” This man was pulled away by the prospect of eternal life because of his earthly possessions. If this is not the desire of the eyes and pride of life, I am not sure what is. He is tempted by the possessions he has and wants to keep them. 

When looking at the first story of temptation in human history, you see the devil trying to get Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and he uses the pride of life to try and get her to disobey God. “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5b) the serpent shrewdly declares. Then, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). Both the man and the woman experience all three of the aspects of temptations listed by John absent the devil. The fruit was food which brings nourishment, desire of the flesh, the fruit looked good, desire of the eyes, and it would make them wise, the pride of life. The devil led them to ponder the tree, that’s no question, but their further temptation is the tipping point for them making the decision that they did. 

Then in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, we have detailed accounts of Jesus’ fasting and temptations in the wilderness. In these temptations, the devil was the one who directly tempt Jesus, but He did not give in. Jesus made the choice to not give into these temptations, using Scripture to fight against these temptations, maybe there is a lesson there for us!

These three examples show that even if the devil is involved in temptation, we are not forced to partake in evil and wickedness. Barring direct possession, which seems to have ended after the times of the Apostles, or an unfortunate mental or physical abnormality we fully are in control of our actions. When faced with this reality, we can either bury ourselves with guilt of our past mistakes or we can turn to Christ, who bled and died on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Then, rising three days later, we have been given hope of eternal life and our future resurrection. Then, through Christ, we can overcome temptation and grow closer to God.