Remaining temptation is not a sign of God’s lack of care for us. Rather, we should see remaining temptation as God’s grace to us….Let temptations drive us to be watchful, to draw near, and to love grace more. 

The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you.
Deuteronomy 7:22

Once we come to Christ, there is an unconscious feeling that now temptations will become extinct. Christ has made me a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). I am no longer enslaved to sin (Rom 6:18). So temptations to sin will be no more, right? But in reality, when we come to Christ, while the temptations no longer take up residence in the heart, they seem to assault the soul in a new way. We hate sin now, but temptations to sin seem all too near. Why is this? Why does God still leave this temptation? I want to give three reasons that I think God allows temptation to remain.

So We Will Not Be Sleepy

If God were to remove all temptation at once, a new temptation would arise: We would be tempted to fall asleep. Jesus exhorts His sleeping disciples that they should, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41). Sleepy Christians are at risk of falling into sin. God allowing temptations to remain puts the Christian at the ready. Instead of sleepy, we become watchful. Sleepy Christians can be easily devoured. The threat of temptation helps us heed that warning to be, “sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).

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