Be Prepared for Temptations

1Cor 10:12-14 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." 2Peter 3:17 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1Peter 5:8

Despite the fact that "No one who is born of God will continue to sin" 1John 3:9a, the saints are subject to the same kind of temptations which are common to all men. There are ways to escape temptations. Some may involved avoiding circumstances which lead to temptation in the first place. Or to learn to flee from temptation. Or to resist it as Jesus did in the wilderness. But in any case we can never excuse ourselves for sinning. For God does not allow tempations beyond what we can handle. "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey— whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Rom 6:16-18 And Jesus said, "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin."John 8:34, a behavior of which is not characteristic of the saints.

Therefore watch that you never say to yourself "I couldn't help myself", for in doing so you call into question God's faithfulness.

The Boston Christian Bible Study Resources