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If
From: "Grace Plus Nothing," by Jeff Harkin © 1990
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the temptation of
Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. Satan tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread, to
cast himself off the pinnacle of the temple, and to bow down and worship Satan in exchange
for the world. Three temptations, right?
Yes and no. There is a very real sense in which Jesus was tempted five
times in the wilderness, not just three. This is because in two of the temptations Satan
stuck in a double whammy:
If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. .
. .If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down. (Matt. 4:3,6)
Two times. That’s it- probably the most sinister and subtle part
of the whole excruciating trial. If Satan could get Jesus to doubt who he was, to accept
the "if", Jesus would be beaten.
Just before the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus had been baptized.
When he came up out of the water of baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove
and the Father spoke from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased" (Matt. 3:16-17)
God said, "This is my beloved Son." Satan said, "If
you are the Son of God . . ." Twice!
Satan does the same to you. The Lord reckons you righteous. He grants
you right standing before him by grace. You are a son or a daughter of God. Satan knows,
however, that if he can get you to doubt who you are in Christ, then he can pressure you
either into legalism or into some other sin.
A second subtle weapon was inherent in these "ifs." If you
are the Son of God, Satan said, prove it: Turn these stones into bread, or do something
spectacular. In other words, prove to Satan that you are spiritual. Really weird! Jesus
didn’t buy it, but Christians fall for this trick all the time without knowing it.
They get tricked into trying to prove they are spiritual rather than just standing in
justification by faith. They fear the big "if" and respond accordingly.
Martin Luther had a powerful definition of hope, but I think his
definition applies better to faith, so I have appropriated it and changed it into my
definition of saving faith: Faith is living, daring confidence in the grace of God, so
sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times.
Standing in grace makes you less vulnerable to temptation, not more,
because Satan can’t hit you with the "if." You’ll need to stake your
life on the grace of God daily in order to avoid trying to defend yourself to the accuser.
So stand! Put on the whole armor of God, which is finalized and
completed by the "helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17).
You put on your helmet of salvation through living, daring confidence in the grace of God. |
