Who needs help in temptation?

“For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18.

We can ask: Who needs help in temptation?

It must be those who have come to believe that it is possible to overcome in temptation. If the intention is not to overcome the temptation, then what do they need help with? Those who do not believe in victory in the moment of temptation have no need for help in temptation.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:12-15.

There we have it. It is completely possible for a person to endure in temptation, when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. The cross prevents the desire and the mind from mixing, and desire does not give birth to sin. The crown of life awaits those who overcome the lusts of the flesh. They are crowned with life, crowned with true joy. By faith, the flesh with its lusts and desires can be crucified. (Galatians 5: 24.) That is exactly what those who truly belong to Christ experience.

Help in temptation!

We read that God is not tempted by evil. But about Jesus it says that He was tempted. (Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:15.) In other words, Jesus was a human being with a nature like ours, despite the fact that He was the Son of God. This means that He could also be drawn away and enticed by the lusts that lived in His earthly body, but that He always overcame, and was left completely pure and undefiled by sin.

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”  Hebrews 2:17.

Many people say that they turned to Jesus and gave their hearts to Him because they felt they needed Him.

But what did they need Him for? They wanted to get rid of the guilt that weighed them down. That is a good thing, but how are they to avoid new guilt if they do not come to victory over sin?

You need Jesus as your atoning sacrifice, but do you need Him as a merciful High Priest? Do you need someone who has Himself been subjected to weakness, having been tempted? (Hebrews 5:2.) Do you need His help in temptation?

Do you need Him as a forerunner and an example so that you can follow Him in His footsteps, who committed no sin? (1 Peter 2:21-22.)

“For in that He Himself has suffered,” we read. Which suffering is that? “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”  1 Peter 4:1-2.

Faith in, and the mind that it is possible to choose to suffer instead of sinning, as Christ did in the days of His flesh – when He had the same flesh as I have – becomes a powerful weapon in the fight against sin.

Jesus rose from the dead and broke the chains of death. By this resurrection power, we as believers are born again to a living hope: grace and help in the temptation to triumph over all the evil that dwells in our flesh. (1 Peter 1:3-6.) This is the way to a happy life.