Author
VBVMI StaffAccess all of our teaching materials through our smartphone apps conveniently and quickly.
Author
VBVMI StaffMatthew 4:1 tells us Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Does this mean that God (i.e., the Spirit) tempts believers?
In Matthew 4, Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit, but the Spirit of God never tempted Jesus. The enemy tempted Jesus to sin:
Notice that the enemy is called "the tempter" since he was the one tempting Jesus, not the Spirit of God. So the Spirit led Jesus to travel into the desert, but this is not the same thing as tempting Jesus to sin.
Furthermore, Scripture is explicit that God never tempts anyone to sin:
On the other hand, the Lord may allow us to experience temptation to grow us spiritually, as the Bible says clearly:
God allows us to be tempted but only to a limit. Allowing us to be tempted is NOT the same thing as being the cause of temptation. This is the distinction that the Bible makes.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org