Counter-intuitively, we cannot effectively fight sin by obsessing about the final act of taking sin. In some ways, this is a restatement of the second fundamental principle of spiritual warfare: we cannot fight temptation by managing behavior. This time, however, let’s go a little deeper.

In the previous article, I offered a scouting report of Satan’s tactics in temptation from the Scriptures. In this article, we will walk through five practical strategies for fighting temptation.

Satan’s Scouting Report (Brief Review)

To summarize the previous article, we identified a specific pattern of how Satan tempts us to sin:

• First, Satan leads us to see the object of temptation.
• Second, Satan encourages us to fixate on the goodness/beauty of that object.
• Third, Satan cultivates our desire/covetousness for that object.
• Fourth, Satan prods us to reach out and take the object.

This pattern appears in four major temptation stories in the Bible:

• The first sin of Eve in the Garden of Eden: “saw…good…desired [lit., “coveted”]…took” (Gen. 3:6)
• The fall of the sons of God with the daughters of men: “saw…attractive [lit., “good”]…took” (Gen. 6:2)
• The sin of Achan to steal from the spoils of Jericho, causing Israel’s defeat at Ai: “saw…beautiful [lit., “good”]…coveted…took” (Josh. 7:21)
• David’s sin with Bathsheba: “saw…beautiful [lit., “good”]…took” (2 Sam. 11:2–4)

Furthermore, there are at least six other passages where this pattern appears in summary form. In those passages, only the first and last words appear (saw —> took):

• Pharaoh’s abduction of Sarah: “saw…was taken” (Gen. 12:15)
• Esau’s marriage to a third (Ishmaelite) wife: “saw…took” (Gen. 28:6, 9)
• Leah’s giving her female servant Zilpah to Jacob: “saw…took” (Gen. 30:9)
• Shechem’s rape of Dinah: “saw…seized [lit., “took”]” (Gen. 34:2)
• Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite woman: “saw…took” (Gen. 38:2)
• Samson’s marriage to a Philistine: “saw…get [lit., “took”]” (Judg. 14:2)

This pattern appears at least ten times in Scripture for a reason: Satan is skillful, but predictable. The better we understand how he works, the better chance we will have to resist him.

Finally, we identified three fundamental principles about spiritual warfare:

1. Sin never happens spontaneously
2. We cannot fight temptation by managing behavior
3. We must find something better to see

In this article, we will expand on how to apply these principles through four practical strategies for fighting temptation.

Strategy #1: Stop Obsessing about the Taking of Sin

Counter-intuitively, we cannot effectively fight sin by obsessing about the final act of taking sin. In some ways, this is a restatement of the second fundamental principle of spiritual warfare: we cannot fight temptation by managing behavior. This time, however, let’s go a little deeper.

There are three reasons that we must stop obsessing over the final taking of some object of temptation.

Overestimating our Willpower

First, we overestimate the strength of our willpower. We falsely believe that we can beat our bodies into submission if only we can define our goal well enough.

This view catastrophically underestimates the power of indwelling sin. Even the Apostle Paul lamented that he could not do the good he wanted to do: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate….So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom. 7:15, 17). Who can understand our deceitful, desperately sick hearts (Jer. 17:9)?

Overestimating our Discernment

Second, we overestimate our ability to discern the difference between good and evil. Satan is masterful at leading us to evaluate what is good for us independently from God’s word. God is the only one who truly sees what is good.

Sometimes, then, we can justify sin by arguing that sin isn’t sin at all. Even with the strongest willpower, we cannot resist what we falsely discern to be good.

God is after our Hearts

Third, even if we are able to discern truth and to manage some aspects of our behavior, we miss the whole point. That is, God is not primarily interested in our actions, but in our hearts (cf. Matt. 5:21–48).

Consider Jesus’ interactions with the rich young ruler (Matt. 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30). Jesus asked the man whether he had kept the commandments not to murder, not to steal, not to bear false witness, and to honor his father and mother (commandments 5–9). When the wealthy man claimed to have kept these, Jesus did not contradict him.

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