temptation Archives • Knowing God and His Ways

How do rocket scientists get a one-million-pound rocket off the launch pad and into earth orbit?

They give that rocket engines with a greater thrust than its weight. “If a rocket weighs one million pounds on the pad, it must produce more than one million pounds of thrust to lift off. Most launch vehicles produce about 1.2 to 1.5 times their weight at liftoff.”¹

For example, the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 to go to the moon had a liftoff thrust of approximately 7.6 million pounds.²

Just as a rocket needs tremendous power to overcome the enormous pull of gravity, so the Christian needs supernatural grace from God to overcome the attractions of our fallen world.

Thankfully, God equips his people to overcome the world, just as Jesus overcame the world. Though we have seen in previous posts how the power of darkness rules the world, so that the world corrupts, defiles, tempts, and deceives those who follow it, nevertheless God has given us more than adequate power to overcome it.

Scripture says we overcome in these four ways:

We must hate our life in this world

Jesus said, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25 ESV).

Notice that verse does not say we are to hate our life; rather, it says we are to hate our life in this world. Instead of our delighting in the Satan-influenced, darkness-choreographed elements of our fallen world and licking up as much of its sinful pleasures as we think we can get away with, Jesus says the fallen world should disgust us.

We should yearn to get away from all the darkness and corruption. We should not welcome the darkness Hollywood dishes up. We will not eat garbage off its plates. Or from the plates of social media, publishers, podcasters, or godless politicians.

We must die to this world

There is spiritual power in choosing to take up your cross as Jesus did and die to the fallen world and all the pleasures it offers.

The apostle Paul sets an example for us, writing, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 ESV).

The NLT translation of this verse is helpful: “As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.”

Dying to this world is a choice enacted with words. Say out loud: “I am dead to this fallen world” and mean it. Say it as often as you need to. Say it whenever you are tempted. “I am dead to greed.” “I am dead to envy.” “I am dead to selfish ambition and the vain approval of men.” “I am dead to lust.” I am dead to idols, money, worldly power and success.

Moreover, say it in Jesus’ name and lay claim on the power of his death on the cross. For example, “I am dead to rebellion against God’s commands, in the name of Jesus and through my union with him in his death on the cross. Amen”

We must renew our mind

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Satan continually tries to conform people to his false ideas, and he is enormously successful. It takes a determined effort and work by us to overcome the fallen belief systems of the world. This is why we must read the Bible daily, hear Bible teaching weekly, and memorize Scripture regularly.

Your mind is where the war against the world is won or lost, and God’s Word is the ultimate weapon. If you are not renewing your mind in the Word, the world is directing your beliefs, values, and moral decisions in ruinous ways.

So, decide today to build new disciplines for regular immersion in God’s holy words. Set a place and time to read the Bible daily. Have a scheduled, weekly, unbreakable appointment to be in church to hear Bible teaching. Guard that commitment from competing attractions!

We must cling to Jesus and be his true disciples

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

He is the only one who can say that without reservation. He is the secret to overcoming the darkness of our world. The Son of God. The Holy One. Who offered himself to die and then overcame death. Who rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, transcending the world. He is your way out of this inferno of evil. He overcame the world, and through your committed faith in him and submission to his Lordship he will give you victory as well and bring you to his kingdom of light and truth, purity and joy, life and resurrection, righteousness and peace and love.

All that and more is coming! The day is coming when the angels will proclaim, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). Amen!

So, you can break free from the pull of the world! But you cannot expect to do it apart from the enormous spiritual thrust provided by God’s grace.

Hate your life in this fallen world.

Die to this world.

Renew your mind.

Cling to Jesus and be his true disciple.

And you will be free.

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Many professing Christians feel the quiet tension between what they know is right and what they continue to pursue. Whether it’s endless scrolling, the lure of financial gain, or entertainment that stirs sinful desires, these patterns reveal how easily the heart drifts toward the world. Jesus does not call for mild adjustments but decisive action—removing whatever leads us into sin and choosing the narrow path that leads to life. This post explores what that kind of radical obedience looks like in everyday decisions.

Suppose a 26-year-old named Natalie spends three hours a day on Facebook. She knows it hurts her emotionally, fueling jealousy and ingratitude in her heart, and prevents her from beneficial things like reading the Bible and getting together with other Christians in her church for ministry, but she cannot stop.

Suppose 38-year-old Jim comes home from his day job each evening and pours his energies into investing. He loves the thrill of seeing a stock jump in value. He invests in the risky world of leveraged stocks because he is not willing to wait patiently for steady, strong growth. Jim has set a goal of having $5 million by age 40, and it is all he thinks about when he has time. He believes in God but rarely attends church or reads the Bible, and trying to pray is hopeless because his thoughts turn relentlessly to money.

These are just two practical examples of how the warning against loving the world impacts the choices Christians make every day.

More examples: Should we watch movies and TV shows? If so, what kind and what rating? What steps must a Christian take to completely avoid pornography online? What leads you into coveting and greed? Or what is likely to trigger your heart to pursue the things of God, and what is likely to lure you to seek the fallen world and its pleasures?

When you know something is a worldly stumbling block for you, are you willing to forgo it?

Cut it off

Jesus spoke about this in dramatic fashion:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matthew 5:27–30 ESV).

In other words, if something “causes you to sin,” you should take whatever measures are necessary to remove it. You should ruthlessly rid your life of stumbling blocks—not just rid yourself of sin, but whatever regularly leads to sin.

If watching movies regularly leads you to lust, then you never watch movies again. If scrolling on Facebook leads you regularly into envy, then you close your Facebook account. Or if working in the field of commission sales leads you regularly to lying, then you change your career. If investing in the stock market regularly tempts you to love money, then you give away whatever you must to overcome the love of money and invest your savings in ways that do not require close management.

Two ways

This means making hard choices. This requires sacrifice during this brief life so someday you can have all the blessings of eternal life in paradise with God. Jesus said:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14).

According to Jesus this world presents us with two gates and two ways.

1. The wide gate

The wide gate has no restrictions, rules, or limitations. Anyone can get through this gate. Masses of people, millions and billions of men and women can enter through this gate. This way is popular. It captures most of the media attention. It is entertaining and exciting, fun and pleasurable. The wide gate sells music and movies. It succeeds. It brings acceptance.

As a result, Jesus said this is the easy way. No self-control is required. No sacrifice. There is no need to say no to temptation. No rejection from worldly friends and family.

2. The narrow gate

The narrow gate is like the turnstile entrance into the public train system or a sports stadium. It restricts you. You still enter through this gate, but you cannot do so any way you choose.

God has given commandments to mankind, so those who take the narrow gate keep those commandments. Those who take the narrow gate avoid both sin and temptation.

The narrow gate requires knowing God’s will, so those who go this way read the Bible and pray and involve themselves weekly in church so they understand that will. They diligently seek the Lord.

Jesus says this way is hard.

What way are you taking?

Jesus says the wide gate leads to destruction, and the narrow gate leads to life.

These two gates have everything to do with how you approach life in this fallen world. If you love the world, you are taking the wide gate, which will end in your destruction. If you love the things of God, you are taking the narrow gate, and you will live forever in paradise.