Why Would Jesus Say “Lead Us Not Into Temptation”?

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. Hello. Good afternoon.

Happy Good Friday. I'm super excited for Easter.

If this is your first time tuning in to Our little

podcast, my name is Pastor Logan Merrick and

I pastor the Christ Our Cornerstone Church in

O 'Neill, Nebraska. And on here, you either hear

sermons that I've preached on Sundays or I do

these, what I call mailbag questions where I

answer in these shorter podcasts, questions that

I get from people in our congregation. And today

I got one that was a really good one and I actually

have been asked this many times by students.

Because it it's one that typically skeptics love

to point to when they say that the scriptures

are. Contradictive, and so the question is this,

why would Jesus say in his prayer on teaching

us how to pray? Why would he say lead us not

into temptation? Like I said, this is a really

good question because. James 1 is very clear

that God doesn't tempt, right? And so when Jesus

says, lead us not into temptation, but then James

1 says very clearly, God does not tempt anyone.

What exactly is going on that feels like a contradiction?

Well, this is a perfect question to talk a little

bit about systematic theology, which I will talk

about in just a second. And so, First, I just

want to say, though, in case you were unclear

or that you're someone who's new to the scriptures

or a skeptic yourself and you're listening to

this, the scriptures don't contradict themselves.

And so we have to be able to kind of dissect

what what exactly is happening. And so. So instead

of assuming tension means error, we have to go

a little deeper. because that's what it is, is

attention. It's not an error. It's not a contradiction.

So James tells us that temptation actually comes

from within, from our own desires. We're drawn

away and enticed by what's already in us. God

isn't out there trying to trip you up. He's not

up there even waiting for you to sin. He knows

you're going to sin. He's not surprised when

you do, and he doesn't need to tempt you to do

it. because he knows you're going to do it. That's

not an excuse to sin. I'm just telling you so

you don't get mixed up. So, but if you go to

first Corinthians 10, 13, Paul says this about

no temptation is unique to you. And more importantly,

God is faithful. So he won't let you be tempted

beyond what you can bear. And he always provides

a way out. That's what Paul says. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10:13

chapter 10 verse 13. There's no sin that's unique

to you. There's no temptation that's unique to

you. All of us face all these different types

of temptations. Temptation is just a part of

the human life, period. But God will provide

a way out, he says. Now that's crucial for what,

when we're looking back at the initial question.

So we hold those together. God doesn't tempt.

Paul says that he provides a way out. So God

doesn't create temptation, but he absolutely

rules over it. So now we go back to Jesus' prayer.

When he says, lead us not into temptation, he's

not implying that God is the source of temptation.

He's teaching us to depend on God in the middle

of a real battle. So in other words, this is

the prayer of humility. God, don't leave me to

myself. Don't let me walk into something that

will overwhelm me. Carry me through it. Does

that make sense? Hopefully it does. And this

is where some theology helps. Okay. So scripture

often speaks of God actively doing what he sometimes

simply permits. So there are moments where God

gives people over, right? Like we see Romans

one talks about that, that he gives people over

to their desires, not by causing sin, but by

withdrawing his restraining grace. Because the

Holy Spirit, he is the one that restrains. He's

the restrainer of the antichrist spirit. He's

the restrainer of what could be a whole lot worse

of hell's onslaught onto earth. And so when God

says, God gives us over, it's not God going,

oh, here is some sin, go sin. It's him going,

oh, you're just gonna continue to find sin, so

I'm gonna withdraw my grace from it. And when

you have fully been enveloped, James 1 says,

right, that those sins give birth to, ultimately,

to death. And so when we pray, lead us not into

temptation, we're really praying, God, don't

withdraw your hand. Don't leave me exposed. Keep

me, guide me, carry me through. This isn't about

God setting traps. Like I said, he knows you're

gonna sin. But it's against his nature of who

he is to provide sin, to cause you to sin. There

is no evil in him. And so doctrinally that doesn't

work. It's about God being our protection. So

this prayer isn't about isn't contradictory at

all. It's deeply relational. It's Jesus again

saying, Lord, keep me from myself. Help me. Give

me strength. This is about knowing our own weaknesses

and trusting God's strength to lead us safely

through these things. And so when I talk about

systematic theology, Systematic theology is being

able to take all of scripture from Genesis to

Revelation and being able to look across the

scriptures, not just at one verse, but looking

across all of scripture and going, all right,

what is true and what is it saying? And so we

have to use systematic theology here to go, all

right, this seems weird. I know that God doesn't

tempt. So then what does the rest of the scripture

say and what is exactly Jesus trying to tell

me? And so I hope that helps. Always, I recommend

definitely getting a systematic theology book

and reading it. Yes, we read systematic theology

in seminary, but I think it's a good idea for

all believers to have a systematic theology book.

One that I recommend is Wayne Grudem's systematic

theology. There's also Dr. John Frame has a systematic

theology book. Sorry, I wasn't planning on reaching

to try to find a book. John Frame has a systematic

theology book as well. I find his to be a little

harder to read than Dr. Wayne Grudem, but both

of them are very thick. All right. They're like

700, 800, 900 pages. So but you can approach

them topically. So I would recommend that to

learn a little bit more about systematic theology.

But that being said, I hope that is very helpful.

I hope you have a good Friday and I'm excited

to see you at Easter this Sunday. If you live

in the O 'Neill or surrounding areas, we'd love

to have you. Have a great day. We'll see you

Sunday. Bye -bye.