Welcome to Ask the Church, our series where we seek to answer your questions about church worship, practice, or theology in around five minutes.
Today’s question is about temptation.
It was phrased this way:
“What’s your advice when we’re facing temptation?”
The Three Sources of Temptation
I want to start by noting that the Bible identifies three sources of temptation: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The world is pretty self-explanatory. The fallen, broken, sinful world around us offers temptation on every side—whether it’s the behavior of a neighbor that tempts us to anger, an advertisement that tempts us to lust, or a difficult situation at work that tempts us to dishonesty or greed.
The flesh offers temptation as well. In Scripture, flesh doesn’t mean the body—it refers to that part of our whole being (body, mind, and soul) that aims away from God: our old nature, our fallen self. It includes bodily appetites that tempt us, but also the mental tendencies and heart-longings that pull us from God.
By our own desires we are drawn away—by covetousness and anger, by malice and slander, by lust and by greed.
The third source of temptation is the devil—the enemy of God’s people, the accuser and tempter, the one who fell from grace and seeks to draw others after him.
So: the world, the flesh, and the devil—the three basic sources of temptation.
Two Biblical Responses: Resistance and Flight
When temptation comes from one of those sources, what should we do?
The Bible gives two basic answers: resist and flee.
We are called to resist temptation—to persevere against it, to fight it—and we are called to flee from it.
Resistance looks like answering every temptation with truth from Scripture, with an earnest resolve to do what is right, and with the unwillingness to give in. This is what we see in Jesus when He is tempted in the wilderness: every temptation is answered with Scripture and a refusal to follow that path (Matthew 4:1–11).
Peter echoes this when he says, “Resist the devil, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). But the truth is, most of us reach a point where our resistance wears thin. We’re not as strong as Jesus in the wilderness. We resist, but we feel ourselves starting to crumble.
That’s where flight comes in.
Paul tells Timothy, “Flee youthful passions” (2 Timothy 2:22), and in 1 Corinthians we’re told that “with the temptation [God] will also provide the way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Flight means changing the situation—getting out. Give a friend your computer password. Bring someone else in to handle your taxes. Change the environment.
It means making it impossible to follow through on the temptation because you’ve stepped away from the place where you were being tempted.
Resistance and flight. Answer temptation with Scripture, truth, and resolve—and when you feel yourself crumbling, get out of the situation.
The All-Encompassing Mode: Prayer
But all of this must be wrapped in prayer.
We should never encounter temptation without immediately turning to God in prayer.
Our first instinct should be: “God, fill me with Your strength. Give me the power to resist, to fight, to flee.”
Every battle with temptation should begin and end in prayer—because we need God’s help to stand firm.
The Setting: The Community of Believers
But here’s the thing: God usually answers those prayers not by suddenly zapping us with supernatural strength, but through the help of other believers.
That’s something we need to remember—temptation shouldn’t be faced alone.
Yes, there are moments when Christ gives us strength to stand firm by ourselves. But often we are not strong enough to face it alone. We need other Christians standing with us.
Hebrews, a letter written to believers tempted to walk away from the faith, calls them to persevere and resist: “Do not neglect to meet together... but encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25).
Peter tells us to “resist the devil,” remembering that “the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:9).
And to the Galatians, Paul writes, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
We need each other.
When we pray for strength, God often answers by giving us other Christians to stand beside us.
So when you’re facing temptation—bring someone else in. Ask for accountability. Let others help you “fence off” the temptation. Let them pray for you, hold your passwords, or guard your boundaries.
There Is No Shame in Being Tempted
Often we don’t tell other Christians about our temptations because we’re ashamed.
That’s foolish.
All of us are tempted.
There is no shame in being tempted.
Christ Himself was tempted (Matthew 4:1; Hebrews 4:15).
If there were shame in temptation, then Christ should have been ashamed. But temptation is not sin—it’s part of being human.
The shame comes from falling into temptation, not from being tempted.
So when we let shame keep us from confessing temptation to others, we’re being foolish. We need to speak openly about our temptations so that we can strengthen one another and pray for each other.
In Summary
Resist temptation when you can. Flee when you must.
Pray always.
And don’t face temptation alone—bring your brothers and sisters in Christ with you.
I hope this answer helps.
As always, if you have other questions, send them to steven@incarnationrichmond.org.
And now, go in the grace of our Lord.