_4_The Scripture Doctrine of Temptation
There is a) a temptation to evil, and b) a temptation to good. The temptation to evil comes from the devil, from other men, and from our own depraved nature. Its object is the seduction into sin (tentatio seductionis). The temptation to good comes from God, and its purpose is the testing and strengthening of faith (tentatio probations). Examples of the tentatio seductionis are Christ’s temptation by the devil (Matt. 4:1 ff.) and the Christians’ temptations by “their evil flesh (James 1:14: “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust”). Examples of the tentatio probationis are God’s tempting of Abraham by the command to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18) and God’s permitting false prophets to come with signs and wonders to put the people to the test whether they will continue in the Word of God (Deut. 13:3: “The Lord, your God, proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul”). Also in the New Testament God permits heresies (
) to arise, not to bring about the apostasy of the Christians, but “that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19), and Paul tests (
) the love of the Christians whether it be sincere (2 Cor. 8:8).
When men criticize the tentatio probationis by saying that it makes God the causa peccati, they commit the crimen laesae maiestatis divinae. To ward off any such thoughts, God tells us plainly in Scripture that He will not suffer us “to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape” (1 Cor. 10:13). The Scriptural axiom is: Whoever succumbs to temptation falls by his own fault, namely, through self-confidence, i. e., defection from grace, as was the case with Peter (Matt. 26:33-36). All Christians are warned: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). But he who overcomes temptation owes the victory not to his own merit and own power, but solely to God’s grace.50