Week 2: Temptation


I am back from "Spring Break"! For those of you in the book club, here is your next reading guide. I am praying for you all to be safe during this time and rejoice that you are growing in sanctification.

Recommended Reading:
Chapters 9- 13 (28 pages)

Because this book is divided up into so many chapters, I am grouping chapters into like themes rather than creating reflective meditations on each chapter.
  1. Section 5: Public vs Private Temptations
    1. includes chapters 9-10
  2. Section 6: Why Fear Temptations?
    1. includes chapter 11
  3. Section 7: Detecting and Resisting Temptation
    1. includes chapters 12-13
Bible Study Questions
Section 5: Public vs Private Temptations
  1. Read Proverbs 30:7-9
  2. Why do you think the psalmist asked for those two specific things in his prayer? How do they relate to public and private temptations?
  3. What, in this prayer, is revealed to be the highest desire for the psalmist? What is yours?
Section 6: Why Fear Temptations?
  1. Read Proverbs 6:27-28
  2. How would you answer the questions posed in these two verses? In what ways this week have you toed the line with your temptations?
  3. Often we think of consequences as only affecting us personally, however that is not always the case. In what ways are the "burns" affecting others in our lives? Our church? Our relationship with the Lord?
Section 7: Detecting and Resisting Temptation
  1. Read Matthew 26:41
  2. What is implied by Jesus' command to the disciples to "Watch and pray"?
  3. What does this verse reveal about our "best" intentions? Is a willing spirit enough? If not, what else is necessary?
Personal Reflection Questions:
Section 5: Public vs Private Temptations
  1. Can you remember a time in your life when you fell into temptation, and were passive in escaping it under the pretense that God would deliver You in His timing? What was the outcome? What did you learn from it and how were you supposed to have grown?
  2. What unresolved lusts are still in your life? Is it laziness? Gluttony in food? Gluttony in Tv? Pornography- Soft or Hard? What steps will you take this week to remove those lusts in your life by the power of the Spirit?
Section 6: Why Fear Temptations?
  1. What is the difference between fearing temptations and ignoring temptations?
  2. Which of the three objections have you made in your own life? How has that affected your understanding of personal holiness and sanctification?

Section 7: Detecting and Resisting Temptation
  1. What benefits can you think of from applying the principles Owen mentions to identify if you have entered into temptation?
  2. Before reading this section of chapters, what methods were you employing to prevent and/or defeat temptation? How effective were they?
Prayer
Father God, the longer I live in this world and in this flesh, the more lusts and temptations I see in my own life. I would think that I would someday grow to a level of maturity that I would never fall into them. But the more I trust in myself and my own strength, the further I fall into them. Help me to see that I cannot do this on my own strength, but that I need to trust in strength that comes from You. I repent from the many times that I have failed to seek Your will and the many times when I have been pulled into the evil desires of my flesh. Make me to grow deeper in my hatred of them and cause me to abide in You for my protection from them. Please continue to use Your word, the teaching, and the fellowship to grow in me a greater love and devotion to You. Cause my heart to seek nothing but Your glory. And in times of weakness, grant me strength. In times of strength, grant me remembrance to be watchful and prayerful so that I may not fall to the evil one. May you be my one delight and my one desire. Amen.

Summary:
Section 5: Public vs Private Temptations
I'm not sure how many of us have every thought to classify our temptations in this way. Instead, many of us tend to think of our own temptations in terms of degrees. _______ is a strong temptation, whereas ____ and ______ are weak ones that I do not really need to worry about. When we think in terms of degrees, I think we lose what really is at stake, God's honor and His demand for our holiness before Him. But a subtle shift in our thinking to private vs. public temptations forces us to reflect on all temptations in our lives, their impacts, and the various ways in which we can combat them. On public temptations, the great danger that we face is rationalizing our behaviors. For example, if the temptation that we are facing is generally accepted by the world, we may fall into the trap of downplaying it or even reasoning within ourselves why it is not such a big deal or an evil. On private temptations, if we do not cut the root, the fruit will still be present. What Owen means is that if we do not deal with the lusts that are within us, the temptations will continue to enter into our lives and grow in potency. So the only way to kill a temptation, or prevent it from happening, is to address the false lust that is in our hearts. 

Section 6: Why Fear Temptations?
In this chapter, Owen discusses various objections that people may raise against fearing temptations. It is worrisome that they arguments are based on Scriptures, albeit a misinterpretation of the passages used as proof texts. This should be a sober reminder to us that we need to be very careful with how we handle the Word of God and how we apply it to our own lives. The sure calamity that awaits those who would like to make light of their temptations or even befriend them is that they cannot be certain of their salvation. Owen does not go to this conclusion, but he does make it clear (especially in the third point) that a true believer is not one who is running towards evil desires and desiring to have sin abound. At the core of these objections, is a gross misunderstanding of what the Scriptures are saying and what they require of us. In this chapter, he addresses three specific objections: 1) Shouldn't we count temptations as joy?, 2) If Jesus was tempted, shouldn't we be like him?, and 3) Why care or fear them since God will just make a way out?

Section 7: Detecting and Resisting Temptation
In a book about resisting and repulsing temptations, you would hope to find some Biblical instructions on how to actually resist and repulse temptations. Chapters 12 and 13 are the hinge chapters that move us from understanding temptations and its effects, towards how to actually resist and repulse it proactively. It begins with us first understanding how it is that we came into temptation in the first place. Equipped with that knowledge, we will be able to identify how temptation in the past has gained a foothold in our lives and put up bulwarks against it. But, approach is only useful in aiding us from falling into temptations that we have already fallen into in the past. The main method that he advises in order for us to not fall into future temptations however is found in Matthew 26:41, to be watchful and prayerful.
Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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