I am amazed how easily at times my old sinful nature can grab ahold of me, at how impressionable and easily swayed it is by the temptations of our adversary. I think the following might be true, but I am not quite sure, I believe it bears consideration though by those who are hid in Christ. It also reveals the truth of Psalm 139:14.
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Our five senses capture everything within their range, almost everything at least, and stores those things in the memory retention center of our brain. We then use our cognitive, deductive reasoning skills to coalesce those inputs to function within this world, choosing what it is from those inputs as to what we will adhere ourselves to.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)
In our minds, and in many cases externally, we become what we want to be, either what we have chosen to be, or what we desire others to see us as. For the unrepentant therefore there is only one option, they are of the world, for that is the only input they can assimilate. But for us who have been born again, it is a different story, for we now have a second input source, the Holy Spirit.
I bring all this to your attention for this singular reason, and it has to do with the opening sentence in this short letter to you, along with 1st Corinthians 10:13.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
I do not believe that Satan or any who were cast out with him needs to follow any who are hid in Christ continuously, for I am beginning to think that not only up until the point where we were saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but even until the day we die, those temptations were and are assimilated into us by our old sinful nature, and in fact reside there until we are glorified.
For most of us who have been born again, there is no reason to, if you will, assign a devil to us to continuously assail us with these temptations that are common to all mankind, they are already within us. We have seen, heard, tasted, touched and smelled them, and they are stored within our minds, and we can access them anytime that we want to. If Romans 7:25 is indeed true, and it is, then what has been written here is truth.
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
We cannot forget completely all those sinful desires that we have been subjected to in this life, they are stored within our minds, and our flesh which is subject to the law of sin will not let them go. The temptations my friends are a part of us.
“And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8)
Some who diligently seek the face of God for His glory, who serve the Lord Jesus Christ with all their mind are noticed though, and then, if your Father in heaven desires it to be so, you will be assaulted beyond those common temptations. In what way will be completely up to Him, but our adversary will not be allowed to move any further upon you than what he has been allowed to.
When the common temptations no longer work upon you, when you have truly understood that to live is Christ, and to die is gain, when you set your face like a flint for His glory, you will be noticed by our adversary, and he will not only accuse you more, but will ask for permission to sift you as well.
When you get past the anger and frustrations of those times and seasons, rejoice my friends.
