Question: Does God tempt me to do wrong just to test me? Is that how He decides whether I’m good enough to go to heaven?
Answer: The Bible tells us that God Himself never tempts us to disobey. We do a great job of deciding to disobey all by ourselves!
Let no man say, “I am tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and convinced by his own mind to do wrong. James 1:13-14
Although God does allow you to be tempted by Satan or those under his influence in the world, Satan can only be in one place in the world at a time! Satan, a fallen angel, is certainly not a god who can be all places at all times. You are tempted most times by your own thoughts, wishes, and selfish reasons for wanting things to work out to benefit you rather than others. So you can’t always blame it on the devil.
Even after you become a follower of Jesus, you still make mistakes and fall back into your old bad habits. Jesus has already sent His helper, the Holy Spirit, into you when you asked Jesus into your life to keep you on the right track. You were not accepted by Jesus because you suddenly became good enough but because Jesus forgave your sins – past, present, and future. The Bible says that Jesus came to Earth to make a way for you to go to heaven since you could not possibly be good enough to earn your way there.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
(John 3:16-18)
Have you thanked Jesus for going to the cross to be punished for your sins so that you will never have to answer to God for what you have done? Tell Him now!
