Test or Temptation?

Have you ever contemplated the Scriptural difference between a test and a temptation? It’s a complicated pursuit when the original Greek word is the same for both: peirasmos. It’s a divinely complex issue, but we can understand enough to make some key distinctions while respecting the mystery of God.
 
Both Old and New Testaments are ambiguous in their vocabulary for both tests and temptations and hesitant to draw a sharp distinction between the two. For good reason! Within every test, there is a possibility that humans fail the test and turn it into a temptation. We see this with our first parents, Adam and Eve. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a part of God’s perfect creation. It was a test designed to strengthen their relationship with God (and one another) by submitting their desire before God. Desire is neutral and can lead us toward God or away from God.  
 
There are numerous passages in the Old Testament that describe God testing individuals or groups. God tested Abraham with the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22). God tested the nation of Israel by surrounding them with hostile foreign nations (Judges 3). God tested Job by allowing Satan to strip him of everything except his very life (Job 2). It’s difficult to square these up with the goodness of God yet the Bible will challenge us to do so.
 
The tension isn’t released in the New Testament, but we do receive greater insight into the purpose of both tests and temptations.
 
At the onset of Jesus’s ministry, He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1). That’s a tough verse to discern for multiple reasons, but for starters, how is it compatible with James 1:13? No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. If Jesus is God (which I emphatically believe), in what sense did Jesus experience: peirasmos? As a human being, Jesus experienced numerous tests. His life was marked by testing. The gospels make that clear. Yet, James is not off base in what he declares. Jesus did experience peirasmos but His desire never crossed the line into evil desire. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tested. Satan took it as an opportunity to tempt Jesus. But Jesus was never tempted in the way Satan aimed. Jesus’s desire never led to evil desire. Matthew 4:1 and James 1:13 are not contradictory but complementary.
 
Both the Old and New Testaments give accounts of various situations in which a test could also yield temptation. But we must draw a firm line between the source and purpose even as they merge into a specific event. James makes a clear distinction.
 
13No one undergoing a *trial* should say, “I am being *tempted* by God,” since God is not *tempted* by evil, and he himself doesn’t *tempt* anyone. 14But each person is *tempted* when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. James 1:13-15 *Each of these words are a variation of peirasmos in the original language.*
 
Does God initiate tests in the life of a Jesus follower? Yes! Tests come from God and their purpose is always to refine and strengthen our faith. Our maturity matters and it comes through the testing of our faith. Peter affirms this as well, 6You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7so that the proven character of your faith- more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire- may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7
 
We are not forced into obedience. At the point our faith is tested we have the free will to gratify our desire according to our own will. When we respond to desire in any way other than submitting it to Christ, it becomes a temptation and when that evil desire is conceived it gives birth to sin and death. God is completely disconnected from the evil desires that pull us away from God. We must be careful of passing the blame to Satan as well. James reminds us that most often temptation originates from the evil desires within.
 
Every day we face situations that can mold our desires into greater conformity to Christ or mold our desires in self-gratifying, indulgent ways. The former is always used by God to bring about His good and perfect will. Tests lead us to lay our desires at the feet of Jesus and in exchange we gain life. The latter is to take the bait of temptation which leads us to sin and death.
 
12Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12