Hi Mike,

I have been wondering lately: if we are to not act above the faith that’s been given to us (which we will, it seems), then is resisting temptation doing this if we have not yet been given the power to rule our evil?
I’ve gotten into much complacency in regard to this.

Your brother in Christ,
N____

Hi N____,
Abiding in the faith we have been given is as much a work of the Lord as anything.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

If our faith is weak our walk will surely reflect that fact, and it will all be a matter of God proving us and demonstrating our position with Him in our walk. Like Joseph told his brothers, we need not beat ourselves up for what God has done in our lives.

Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years [ hath] the famine [ been] in the land: and yet [ there are] five years, in the which [ there shall] neither [ be] earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

The same can be said of what Judas, the Jews and the Romans did to our Lord.

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Our sins all, as depraved as they are, are nevertheless, “what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” God really is working all things after the counsel of His own will.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That being said, we will still be brought to bitter weeping over our sins, and we will be brought to repentance because we will some day see that every sin we commit is committed against our Lord.

Mat 26:75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [ and] be clear when thou judgest.

The knowledge of God’s sovereignty does nothing to change the fact that we will be brought to that repentance and to an acknowledgment and a “giving of an account” of the sins committed in the flesh.

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Ecc 11:9  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Peter makes it clear that this “judgment” is a fiery experience that begins at the house of God, here and now in this life.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

If we cannot understand how God works evil in Joseph’s brothers, Judas, the Jews, the Romans, and in you and I, and then judges us for the evil He worked, then we simply do not believe that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will. If that is the case then that is the measure of faith we have at this time.
Should we resist temptation? Yes, we certainly should resist temptation, and we should exhort one another to resist temptation, as though we ourselves are doing the work. When Christ said “Resist not evil,” He said that in the context of turning the other cheek to those who were doing evil to us, not us committing evil.

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [ thy] cloke also.
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

That is what Christ meant by “resist not evil.” When it comes to resisting, you and me committing evil, we are told the exact opposite. We are told to “Resist the Devil…”
But after doing so, regardless as to the outcome, we must also acknowledge that our will to resist or our lack of will to resist was all God working His own will in our lives.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

It is just like Joseph told his brothers: First he twice affirms that they did indeed sell him into Egypt, but then he tells them that it was not them, but God that sent him there.
Those with no faith will call that a contradiction, while those who are granted faith will see it as a complement to all the rest of scripture, which shows that God is indeed working all things, good and evil, to His own good purpose.
 
I hope this gives you a better perspective of where the Lord has you at this time, and I hope the Lord will use these words to provoke you to love and good works.

Tit 3:8  [ This is] a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Your brother in Christ,
Mike