God allows us to be tempted because it shows us what is within our hearts. It reveals our fallen nature to us in either how God’s grace has worked in us to overcome it or in how corrupt we really are outside of His grace. Both grace and corruption exist and work deep in our hearts. We often deceive ourselves into thinking our fallen nature has been abrogated by our regeneration and our good works. When we are in that state, we are setting ourselves up for a great fall. Also, when we try with our own abilities to be Christlike, corruption appears. On the other hand, when we examine ourselves deeply we often find God’s grace working within us to our amazement. 

41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 (LSB)

38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38 (LSB)

45 And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Luke 22:45-46 (LSB)

Temptation: Temptation is any thing, state, way or condition that, upon any account whatsoever, has a force or power to seduce, to draw the mind and heart of a man or woman from his or her obedience, which God requires of them, into any sin, in any degree of it whatsoever.

As Jesus agonized in Gethsemane in the hours prior to His trial, torture, and crucifixion, His disciples had a hard time staying awake. He went off by Himself to pray, but asked James, John and Peter to watch and pray. However, each time He came to them, He found them asleep. If we look closely at Mathew 26:41, Mark 14:38, and Luke 22:45-46, we will see the whole of our Lord’s caution to His disciples seems to have been, “Arise, watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.” Our Lord knew that danger was near. He knew that His disciples would be scattered from Him when He was arrested. However, His concern seems to be on these men that they would not enter into temptation. Notice also that it is the flesh that is weak and it is the watching and praying that keeps them lined up with the spirit that they be one in spirit with Him. If they would do that then they would not enter into temptation.

It seems that these men, who knew that Jesus would be betrayed because He had told them earlier in the evening, were more concerned with their comfort, their sleep, than for their Lord. It is as if they had forsaken all of their love toward Jesus in lieu of caring for themselves. They fell fast asleep. On the other hand Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that He would go to His death to die to pay the penalty for their sin. Of course, these men were not aware of that yet. They would soon, but before the crucifixion of our Lord, they did not understand. As we see in Gethsemane, however, their flesh controlled them. All men and women, no matter how noble, when left to themselves, will quickly appear to be far less than nothing. All of our strength is weakness, and all our wisdom folly.

35 Peter *said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
36 Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:35-41 (LSB)

Peter proclaimed to our Lord that He would never deny Him. However, when Jesus asked, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” He could very easily have added, “Are you he, Peter, who but now boasts of your resolution never to forsake me? Is it likely that you should hold out when you cannot watch with me one hour? Is this your dying for me, to be dead in security, when I am dying for you?” Of course, we know that Peter’s boast was flesh bound and not in any way based on being one in Spirit with our Lord. It was a careless promise. Let us not look too harshly at Peter, however, because this same treachery lives and works in our own hearts. It bears fruit that we see every day. We make great promises to our Lord to obey Him, but quickly find ourselves in a pit of sin.

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the working out of the good is not. Romans 7:18 (LSB)

What is our Saviour’s admonition to avoid this state of spiritual inconsistency? He said, “Arise, watch and pray!” What was the temptation(s) that our Lord was concerned about? One of the major ones would be the scandal of the cross. However, we must read our Lord’s words here as a warning to us as well. There are three things we must glean from this warning so we can also know how to not enter into temptation. The first is that our Lord is warning us about evil. This is real evil, for temptation has as its goal to bring evil to bear on us. The second is the means by which we succumb. That is, we enter into temptation. We don’t fall into it. We don’t accidentally encounter it. We enter into it. The third thing is that our Lord gives us the way of preventing it, to watch and pray.

The word tempt or temptation carries with it the idea of “testing” or “trying.” It may also mean to experiment or prove. God is said sometimes to tempt; and we are commanded as our duty to tempt, or try, or search ourselves, that we may know what is in us. We are then to pray to God that He would search us and try us as well. So in this sense temptation is not the evil form, but a way to know what is inside or the quality of something. However, outside of this context, temptation does denote evil as its special nature. It is considered either actively, as it leads to evil, or passively, as it has evil and suffering within it.

2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. James 1:2-3 (LSB)

The “trials” in v2 are “temptations” that, in this sense, denote affliction. We can count it all joy when we meet these “temptations,” but do not enter into them.

Temptation denotes in the tempter a design for the bringing about of the purpose of it, which is to lead the one tempted into evil. In that sense we know that God is not the one tempting. (James 1:13) However, God will take His hand away at times to allow our enemy to bring temptation to bear. In that sense, in God’s eyes, it is a trial.

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