God and Temptation

Mike Johnson

A view held by some is that God tempts us to sin. Others feel that if God does not tempt us, He is at least to some degree responsible. Does God tempt people to sin? Is He responsible for our sins?

A critical passage to examine is James 1:13. This passage says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.“ 

In the earlier part of chapter one, James has spoken of various temptations (KJV) a person might face. (The NKJV translates the Greek word as “trials.”) It seems clear in the context; James is speaking of the trials or difficulties Christians face. However, in verse 13, he uses the word “temptation” in the sense of inducing to do evil.  God does not tempt people in the sense that He causes or tries to get them to sin. Temptation does not pertain to God, who is not tempted Himself, and He does not tempt us.

There is, however, a text (Gen. 22:1) which says God tempted Abraham? This text tells us about the time when God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. The word “tempt,” as we have seen, is used in different ways. Although God does not induce a person in the sense that He entices someone to do evil, God might give a person a trial or test in life intended for the person’s good. It seems this was the sense God tempted Abraham. There is not a contradiction between James 1:13 and Genesis 22:1.

Although Satan is the one who tempts people (Mt. 4:1-10, Jn. 13:2), we are still responsible for our sins. James 1:14-15 explains the process when it says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

Any temptation we face will never be above our ability to resist (I Cor. 10:13). When we sin, we cannot blame God as He does not induce us to do wrong (James 1:13), nor can we blame Satan or another person. We can only blame ourselves.