Explore the Bible Series for April 13: When Tempted to Sin

Posted: 4/03/08

Explore the Bible Series for April 13

When Tempted to Sin

• Genesis 39:1-20

By Donald Raney

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

It is one of the truly universal characteristics of human life that everyone faces temptation. We all face them on a daily basis. Temptations come in a wide variety of forms and what might be a strong temptation for one person may not be a real issue for someone else who faces temptations in other areas.

Yet regardless of their form or intensity, all temptations have the same goal – to entice the individual to focus on satisfying his or her own personal desires rather than seeking God’s desires. One way many have chosen to deal with temptation is simply to redefine what acceptable behavior is. Since so many of temptations involve natural human desires, they excuse the behavior involved in yielding to the temptation as a part of life. Such an attitude has led many to question, “whatever happened to sin?”

This has increasingly been true within the larger society in the area of sexual activity. “Sin” and “temptation” have disappeared from the vocabulary of many who now speak of “natural desire.” Yet the Bible is clear that certain behaviors are “sin” and are outside of God’s design for our lives, but because of the presence of Satan and the reality of our selfish sinful human nature, we are constantly bombarded with temptations which seek to draw us away from that design. As we look at the life of Joseph, however, we gain insight into how we might respond to temptation in a way that will please God.

Be Spiritually Sensitive (Genesis 39:1-4)

One of the often overlooked aspects of Joseph’s life is the apparent absence of any reference to God. While God seems to have regularly appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there is not a single reference to God speaking or appearing to Joseph. In fact, God seems to withdraw from the story of this family after Genesis 36. Yet for the reader who has followed the story, it is clear that God continued to work behind the scenes in protecting and blessing Joseph.

At each step in the story Joseph finds success by using the gifts and abilities which God had given him. Even though he had been betrayed and sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph refused to focus on plotting revenge or self-pity. Joseph was continually sensitive to opportunities to use his gifts to help others and God blessed him as he did so. Temptations most often do not come in a single major frontal attack. They usually begin with small steps which seek to lead us into small compromises which in turn dull our spiritual sensitivity. Joseph teaches us that our best weapon against temptations is to maintain careful watch over our attitudes so that we avoid those small “excusable” compromises and remain spiritually sensitive.

Be Spiritually Oriented (Genesis 39:6-9)

Not only did Joseph remain spiritually sensitive to temptation, he also maintained a spiritual orientation. He understood that the most important things in life are not physical things. Many who had experienced the betrayal and slavery which Joseph had experienced may well feel that they deserve anything offered to them if later given the opportunity. Yet Joseph recognized his later good fortune as a blessing which did not give him license to violate God’s standard.

He knew how quickly a position of favor could be taken away. He knew that there were more important things than satisfying his selfish physical desires. One of the things which any temptation seeks to do is to lead the individual to feel that he or she “deserves” to object of the temptation. When we fail to maintain an orientation on the things of God, we become susceptible to temptations. This is what Paul had in mind when he said, “do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). In order to find success in standing against the temptations of the kingdom of this world, we must be spiritually oriented to the things of the kingdom of God.

Be Spiritually Determined (Genesis 39:10-15, 19-20)

Joseph could have been spiritually sensitive to the presence of temptation and spiritually oriented to the things of God and yet still have yielded at the moment of temptation had he not also been spiritually determined to consistently resist whatever temptation arose. It is unclear exactly how long Potiphar’s wife continued her advances, but it was certainly over an extended period of time. Yet Joseph had apparently set in his mind that there were certain things that he simply would not do, and he persisted in his resistance as long as the temptations continued.

Satan is an extremely patient enemy. He will continue to entice us to sin over days or weeks or more, knowing that if we ever yield once, it will be easier to tempt us next time. Often he will tempt us to the same sin in a variety of ways to catch us off guard. We may occasionally recognize temptation for what it truly is and tell ourselves to keep a proper focus, and yet ultimately yield because we lack the determination or have failed to set certain boundaries which are not open to compromise. If we want to consistently be successful in resisting temptation, then before the moment of temptation comes, we must set those boundaries and then be spiritually determined never to cross them.