When we become a Spirit-filled Christian, will we have a
life with no problems?

Well, we know that is not true… Especially, some of our
church members are going through physical and emotional hardship now. Are these
sufferings related to our faith in Christ?

The Greek word, πειρασμός
(peirasmos), which can be
translated into ‘temptation,’ ‘testing,’ or ‘trial’ depending on
the context. It is very confusing because it is not clear how we should interpret it.
I am sure test, temptation, and trial
are closely related to each other in Greek.

This word is used in the Lord’s
Prayer also. In “Lead us
not into temptation.” Interestingly, NRSV Bible translates it as ‘trial’
instead of ‘temptation.’ If so,
how do we understand the clause?

Does it mean God tries to lead us and put us into
temptation so that we need to ask God not to lead us into temptation? No way.
Our Lord never leads us into temptation. Therefore, we pray God to protect us not to fall into temptation.

Matthew 26:41 clarifies the meaning of Lord’s prayer, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The Lord warned them to keep on praying so that they
will not fall into temptation.

If so, what kind of temptation should we not fall into? Our
Lord wants us to be aware of any kind of temptations, which lead us to commit
sin, because Jesus knew that even a mall sin might ruin our faith life. The
Bible says Satan shoots endless flares of temptation to the believers and tries
to put us into trials. That is why we should watch and pray not to fall into
temptation.

We cannot avoid temptations because they are in every
corner of our life. They could be anything from this world - things, wishes,
people, false doctrines, and any possible matters, which
attract the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of
life from the world. (1 John 2:16)

Unfortunately, the Bible does not seem to provide the
perfect way to defend ourselves from these temptations. However, I found the
best and only way from James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Yes. First we have to know and aware of the temptations. Then, we must resist
them by saying, “You devil, get away from me!”

I pray that all of our church members and readers can
resist the devil’s trick, and have a victorious life in Christ and glorify the
Lord. Praise
the Lord!                               

In Christ,

-Pastor David C.