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What is temptation in christianity
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Several topics in this class have reminded me of what it means to be a Christian and how to be a Christian. The two topics I will discuss in the Reflection paper are Temptation and Sins of Commission. Temptation often leads to sin which can include sins of commission.
Part One -Temptation
a. Theological Definition
Temptation is something experienced by a person with thoughts or desires which are contrary to how God desires man to act. When a person acts on these thoughts sin is committed. A person can be tempted by thoughts of money, lust and greed. If a person falls into temptation against God’s word they will be separated from God unless they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior. Temptation is not from God. God will help us fight temptation as he did Jesus.
b. Biblical Foundation
Temptation is found many times throughout the Bible. Eve was tempted to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge by the serpent. (Genesis 3: 1-7). Jesus Christ was tempted several times. Matthew 4:1-11 details the temptations of Jesus Christ by the Devil after 40 days of fasting. J...
The Seven Deadly Sins, is a classification of sins (sometimes referred to as vices), that were used to describe the sources of all sins. The Seven Deadly Sins is a Christian idea and was most widespread in the Catholic Church. These sins are thought to have possibly gotten their origins from two places in the Bible, Proverbs 6:16-19, and Galatians 5:19-21. The first idea for The Seven Deadly Sins was from the writings of the monk, Evagrius Ponticus, who lived in the fourth-century. The Seven Deadly Sins were edited and modeled into their modern form in A.D. 590 by Pope Gregory 1. These sins are as
In the story “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the author Jonathan Edwards uses
The Theme of Temptation in “Where Are You Going , Where Are you Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
Staying True A. Three temptations B. Three hunts III. Repentance A.
Ephesians 2:1-10 is basically saying not to over use God’s grace. The verses say that God’s grace is a gift and even though every time you sin God gives you grace, you should not over use it. God wants you to good for Him, after all that is what he created you for.
God has given man free will which resulted in the “fall” of Adam and Eve when they committed “original sin.” As human beings, we have inherited this “fallen” state and are thereby capable of committing sin. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul explains that even when we were spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins, “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ — we have been saved by grace through faith.” We are not spiritually separated from God even if we deserve to be.
One might ask, What exactly are sins and where did they come from? According to Oxford Dictionary, a sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. Sin is what started the fall of humanity that is still manifested in today’s time. Adam was the first of God’s human creation. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16–17). Sin entered the world when Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. “God gave to man the power of contrary choice. Man of his own will, by no external compulsion or determination, used that power in the commission of sin… ” (Reddit 10). The effects of Adam’s sin are profound and and they affect everyone. A few things that stand out in Reddit’s explanation of it is that “sin is lawless, universal and results in satanic bond”. Sin is lawless because its is breaking God’s divine law. “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1John 3:4). Sin is universal because, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” and the evil one who is Satan. An objection could be that
Temptation is a vast topic. The bible is filled with temptation from cover to cover, mostly about how God dealt with our problem of sin and giving us victory. God deals with temptation and we deal with it too. It is reality that everybody gets tempted from time to time by the devil. Jesus also was tempted but never sinned , temptations goal is to lure you away from God. There are a lot of ways the devil can tempt you, just make sure to stay focused and filled with the Spirit. And understand the goals of the devil to want to send temptation to us.
According to McMinn (2011), “confrontation should be a valid option for most Christian counselors under many circumstances” (p. 167). He goes on to say there are “four approaches to appropriately confronting sin: silence, pondering, questioning, and direct censure” (McMinn, 2011, p. 167). In confronting sin in a client’s life, counselors must proceed with caution. Each client is different, so it is important for counselors to choose an approach “with regard to the particular client, the situation, and the nature of the therapeutic relationship” (McMinn, 2011, p. 167). Counselors must discern when it is appropriate to confront sin in their client’s life. They will not automatically and quickly confront sin in the client’s life because it is all about timing. The counselor must build a trusting relationship with the client before addressing sin in their life. The sensitive counselor will “start smaller, with
Sins are mistakes made in moments of weakness; everybody has weakness, thus everybody commits sins. These mistakes gone uncorrected leave guilt and regret, but because the nature of guilt is a feeling of responsibility for an action, it reflects the good in someone because at a subconscious level, they long for some form of redemption. The length at which two characters in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, go to redeem themselves doesn’t necessarily show their “goodness”, but the level of guilt they experienced because of their sins. We find out that that the father, Baba, had an illegitimate son with his best friend’s wife, a Hazara woman, which in turn forced him to cover up his and Hassan’s relationship, not to mention his neglectful treatment of his legitimate son Amir due to their vast personal differences. Amir himself was cowardly when it came to defending his half-brother Hassan, his sins worsened when he sold Hassan out in order to bury his own guilt. While each character is good, Baba sacrificed more than Amir in order to redeem himself; though he was forced to cover up his relationship to Hassan, he did the best he could to give him and Amir a better life, and give back to his community.
Jesus did not even yield to temptation in his actions. Jesus died for us, his death was a substitute for our deaths, and his death was sufficient in doing so.
Because Christ was human he experienced all the trials and temptations that we experience. Christ, however was strong enough to resist all temptation and lived a life without sinning - that is without disobeying God."[Jesus Christ] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Christ was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.". (Philippians 2:8)
One type of person who falls for their temptations is someone who gives into something just to fulfill an immediate desire. The first example in Franklin's story, is himself. He explains how he falls for the idea of this great whistle, and he gives all he has for it, despite the actual cost of it. “I went directly to a shop where there they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle , that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one” (Franklin 46).
I truly believe that every single person in the world has a purpose in life. God created each and every one of us for a reason. Whether we know it or not our life is planned and we follow a path throughout our life. In this path, we have the option to make good decisions or bad decisions. In order to achieve salvation and enter a virtuous after life we had to do deeds that had a positive impact on other people. In order to do this though, one must have the self-discipline and devotion to God. There are many obstacles that can get in the way of achieving this goal and the main one is our desires. Desire is a strong feeling of something we want or wish to have. Our desire negatively impacts our life because it detaches our body both physically and emotionally from our mind which then influences us to make morally wrong decisions.
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.