Pastor Tony Jeffrey
Dr. Jim Denison, CEO of the Denison Forum, tackles this question we all deal with in his book, Biblical Insight To Tough Questions.
King David had an affair with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. She became pregnant. To cover up his sin, he had Uriah killed and took his widow as his own wife. In this one event, the king broke nine of the Ten Commandments-adultery, stealing her for himself, murdering her husband, lying about his sin, dishonoring his parents, making an idol of Bathsheba, and shaming God and His name.
Why did someone God called “a man after my heart” do this? Why do we sin? How do we defeat temptation? What do we do when we don’t?
We must expect to be tempted. If our Lord faced temptation (Luke 4:13) so will we. The devil is very real and he hates you. You are his enemy. He tempts and deceives every one of us. Jesus warned us that the devil is a “murderer from the beginning” and “a liar and father of lies” (John:44). He is a “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8). He tempts and deceives every one of us.
Mark It Down: Sin always takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay. Always.
Take your temptations to God. God will allow no temptation into our lives that He will not give us the strength to defeat. Conversely, Satan will not waste his time with temptations he knows we can defeat in our own strength. So, every time you are tempted, know that you cannot win this battle without God’s help. Develop the reflex of giving temptation immediately to your Father and ask Him for His power. Leave it in His hands.
Confess your failure immediately. What if you fought temptation in your own strength and lost. We’ve all been there. Here’s what we do: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). Take your sin to your Father now. Admit your wrong, repent of your failure, and ask His forgiveness. Claim His promise to forgive your sins, to wipe the slate clean and remember your failures no more.
Does God’s promise mean that we can simply sin and confess, then sin and confess more? Not without consequence. Obedience refused can never be regained. The reward for faithfulness is lost forever, and the pain of our sin still hurts. Nonetheless, we can be forgiven by the One whose Son died to pay our debt. “God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And we are still His children even when we don’t act like it.
Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Our Father in heaven offers both.