Topical Bible Study: Resisting Temptation

Having finished my first study of a parable I am now going to attempt my first topical study.  And I am not really able to find a method to base my study on so I am going to wing it just a bit!

Here is the method I have chosen:

• Figure out why it is important to study this topic
• Figure out some subtopics
• Gather as many Biblical references as I can find and categorize them by sub-topic and then mini-topics
• Do a brief min-study on each verse
• Summarize each sub-topic and mini topic.

Topical Study #1

Resisting Temptation

Why this topic?:

• Because I need to be better at this!
• I need a toolkit on how to resist the inevitable temptations that we all face!
• God wants us to resist temptation!  Eph 6:10-18   and  James 4:7-8

My Initial Questions:

• How do I overcome the temptation when it starts?
• How did Jesus resist temptation?
• How did other Biblical persons resist temptation?
• What tools does God give us to resist temptation?
• How do I best AVOID temptation? Is that possible?
• Why is it so hard to resist temptation on a consistent basis?
• How does Satan tempt us?

Other topics that are related:

• Resisting or fleeing from sin
• avoiding sin
• resisting Satan
• history of and or how Satan tempts us
• Jesus resisting temptation
• giving in to temptation! (looking at the opposite)
• lusts and desires??
• being a slave to sin
• being free from sin (or are these veering a little off into other directions??)

When gathering Biblical references on this topic I came to realize the following:

• Before we resist or avoid temptation we need to have  a deeper understanding of the possible causes and sources of temptation.
• Once we understand the causes of temptation we must strive to avoid temptation.
• We must fully understand that there will be times that we will not be able to avoid temptation and when that happens we must flee or resist temptation.
•  Jesus has given us the perfect example of how to resist temptation:  Mat 4:1-11

 I then broke it down into the following sub-topics and mini-topics.................

KNOWN SOURCES OF TEMPTATION

• Wrong Associations
• Satan and his deceptions
• Worldly enticements or worries
• Our own (covetous) desires

WAYS TO AVOID TEMPTATION

• Be on guard
• Avoid the wrong type of associations
• Be honest with ourselves about our own sinful weaknesses
• Find strength and help in numbers:

IF AVOIDANCE FAILS WHAT THEN?

• Flee from temptation
• We must resist temptation
• Ultimately we should rely on God as He will provide our rescue or escape from temptation
• We should emulate Jesus!

In our next post we will begin to look at the Biblical references to each topic, sub-topic and mini-topic.