Bible Study Are Trial and Temptation the Same? Learn Their Difference From 3 Aspects

[James Brown]

Edited for link removal

 

[daninthelionsden]

There is NOTHING going on in ANY church that should've kept a spouse from another in a time of need.

 

[for_his_glory]

There is NOTHING going on in ANY church that should've kept a spouse from another in a time of need.

Not necessarily as all of us are disciples of Christ and He comes first before anything including family. Luke 14:25-35

 

[for_his_glory]

Trials and temptation can go hand in hand as many temptations from Satan can become our trials in life. Job is a great example of this as even though he was tempted by Satan and his trial was losing everything he had Job always gave God first place above everything.

 

[daninthelionsden]

Not necessarily as all of us are disciples of Christ and He comes first before anything including family. Luke 14:25-35

Church is not God. No church has the right to step in between a marriage. That church should've sent that woman home to be with a spouse in need. Marriage is the only human relationship deemed holy. Let no man separate what has been joined. Again, I say church does not = God.

 

[Boaz]

By Kelly, United States

It’s said in the Bible, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man” (JAMES 1:13). So, some brothers and sisters wonder the difference between temptations and trials. Below, I’d like to share a bit of my understanding of this issue.



First, distinguish from the source.
MATT 4:3 records, “And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” This verse clearly states that Satan is “the tempter.” As we all know, when the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness after baptism, He was tempted three times by Satan. Job lost his vast wealth and all his children because of Satan’s temptation. And so on. It can be seen that temptations come from Satan and that God never tempts people. Just as the Bible says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man” (JAMES 1:13).

As for trials, they come from God. Just as Jehovah God said, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried” (ZECH 13:9). God appropriates Satan’s tests to try people. For example, when Satan made accusations of Job before God, God permitted it to tempt Job. As a result, Job lost all his property and his children in an instant, and later he was covered in sores head-to-toe. God used these things to try Job in order that he could bear testimony for Him before Satan and the worldly people.

Second, distinguish from the substance and the effect.
The substance of Satan is evil and malicious, so its temptations are also evil and malicious. For instance, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, they listened to its enticements and ate the forbidden fruit. As a result, their spirits died, and they were driven out of the Garden of Eden by God and lived a cursed life of sweating and laboring. There is another example, concerning Job. When Satan first tempted him, his livestock, enough to cover a mountain, was carried off by the robbers, and his children were crushed to death by the collapsing house. When Satan’s second temptation befell Job, it raked his flesh, smiting him with sore boils from head to toe and causing him unbearable pain.

The substance of God is righteous and holy, so God’s trials are beautiful and good. God’s words say, “He is almighty, holy, and righteous. So likewise, His flesh is also supreme, almighty, holy, and righteous. Flesh such as that is only able to do that which is righteous and beneficial to mankind, that which is holy, glorious, and mighty, and is incapable of doing anything that violates the truth or morality and justice.” When God subjected Job to trials, although he lost all his livestock, sons and daughters, and he developed terrible boils all over his body, and suffered the censure of his friends and even the abandonment by his wife, these trials brought him great benefit: He felt God’s care for him, his faith and obedience toward God were perfected, and his knowledge of God was heightened. Most importantly, because Job stood firm and bore testimony for God before the worldly people and Satan, he thoroughly got rid of Satan’s accusations, becoming a free person who worshiped God. Just as Job said, “But He knows the way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (JOB 23:10).

Besides, after Job had undergone God’s trials, God blessed him, bestowing him with double the fortune and lifespan he had originally had, and ten beautiful children. And God appeared and spoke to him out of the whirlwind.

Third, distinguish from Satan’s motives and God’s intentions.
Temptations come from Satan. By means of them, Satan intends to harm and corrupt man, and wreck the relationship between us and God so that we will blame, leave and even betray God. But as for trials, they come from God. Through them, God wants us to learn to rely on Him to see His deeds during our experiences, thereby increasing our faith in Him; meanwhile God aims to purify the contamination within us and make us have more knowledge and obedience of Him.

Next, I’d like to share some experiences of a sister of our church with you. When she was doing church work, one day her son called and said that her husband needed to be hospitalized because of illness. Hearing this news, she wanted to go to the hospital to look after her husband. But she was tied up with some important work in the church. At that time, she thought of God’s words, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God.” God’s words allowed her to realize that this thing was a spiritual battle. That was Satan’s temptation befalling her and Satan wanted to disturb her from maintaining the work of the church. Meanwhile, God was testing her to see what she would choose at the crucial time, personal benefit or the benefit of the church. Feeling that God and Satan were watching her, she didn’t want to disappoint God. Thus, she determined to deal with the church work first and then go to care for her husband in the hospital. When she made this decision, to her surprise, her son rang up to say that her husband had gotten better. After experiencing such things several times, she gradually understood God’s will, and could see through Satan’s schemes and choose to obey God when encountering things at odds with her conceptions.

Brothers and sisters, if we grasp the above three aspects, we will be able to discern temptations and trials in general. This way, no matter what happens to us in life, we will know how to overcome Satan’s temptations and how to stand witness to satisfy God in His trials.

With all due respect, what happened to Job was NOT a temptation it WAS a trial or test. And the battle was not between God and Job but between God and Satan. Satan was saying that Job only worshiped and honored God because God blessed him. God gave Satan PERMISSION to try and bring Job to a place of cursing God. The testing was severe for Job and he suffered greatly but he did not curse God. In the process Job entered into a whole new depth of trusting and worshiping God, to the point he utterly accepted what was and said to God "Before I had heard of You but now I have seen You." I suppose you could say Job was being tempted to curse God but what he went through was a trial. He had no idea what was going on, it was his friends who falsely accused him.
When we go through trials we have to remember that we can't see behind the scenes. There may be a temptation going on, but you're absolutely right, the temptation isn't coming from God. He is however using it in a way that is working for our good. And He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bare. We need to learn to trust Him at that level.

 

[Boaz]

Not necessarily as all of us are disciples of Christ and He comes first before anything including family. Luke 14:25-35

There is NOTHING going on in ANY church that should've kept a spouse from another in a time of need.

I agree. I have often found churches laying heavy and confusing burdens on their congregants, equating church work/activities to loving God and being obedient. Overriding our ability to think and reason and follow our own instincts as in the case above. There is absolutely no logical reason why that woman should have even stopped to debate what she should do. In the end she thought the right thing to do was give a church activity first allegiance. Because of the false obedience the church had taught her. God gave us a mind and the ability to think and reason. We don't have to listen for His decision, His will, on every little thing. Sometimes we just know what is right.

 

[for_his_glory]

I agree. I have often found churches laying heavy and confusing burdens on their congregants, equating church work/activities to loving God and being obedient. Overriding our ability to think and reason and follow our own instincts as in the case above. There is absolutely no logical reason why that woman should have even stopped to debate what she should do. In the end she thought the right thing to do was give a church activity first allegiance. Because of the false obedience the church had taught her. God gave us a mind and the ability to think and reason. We don't have to listen for His decision, His will, on every little thing. Sometimes we just know what is right.

It really all depends on what the works are within the church that is being carried out.

I agree. I have often found churches laying heavy and confusing burdens on their congregants, equating church work/activities to loving God and being obedient. Overriding our ability to think and reason and follow our own instincts as in the case above. There is absolutely no logical reason why that woman should have even stopped to debate what she should do. In the end she thought the right thing to do was give a church activity first allegiance. Because of the false obedience the church had taught her. God gave us a mind and the ability to think and reason. We don't have to listen for His decision, His will, on every little thing. Sometimes we just know what is right.

This woman knew that whatever she was doing was more important as she put God first as in following His will. Now, by her son calling her she finds out that Satan was only trying to tempt her to leave that of whatever God wanted her to do as her husband was just fine and the son probably panicked.

Like this woman, we have to decide which is more important within picking up our cross to follow Jesus. Does family come first, or does God come first? This reminds me of the story about Lazarus in John Chapter 11 that Jesus did not go immediately, but waited two days instead instead of going to Lazarus four days earlier.

 

[Boaz]

It really all depends on what the works are within the church that is being carried out.


This woman knew that whatever she was doing was more important as she put God first as in following His will. Now, by her son calling her she finds out that Satan was only trying to tempt her to leave that of whatever God wanted her to do as her husband was just fine and the son probably panicked.

Like this woman, we have to decide which is more important within picking up our cross to follow Jesus. Does family come first, or does God come first? This reminds me of the story about Lazarus in John Chapter 11 that Jesus did not go immediately, but waited two days instead instead of going to Lazarus four days earlier.

But how do you know it was God's will that she stay and do the church work? Just asking. Because of the way it turned out? Seems to me that going to her husband in the hospital would be more in line with God's work than staying to do something in the church, which most likely could wait or be taken over by someone else. But all that doesn't really matter to what I was saying: some churches, and people, May be making a constant struggle out of decision making, trying to decide which way is God's will. We take care of the day to day, what ever comes our way, of course adhering to the revealed will of God that we are given in scripture. Personally when I'm up against a big decision, like going into business or taking an out of town job etc. And of course can't see the future, I pray that God would direct my footsteps in the way that He wants me to go, and that He would keep me from going the wrong way. I already know I'll get nowhere waiting for God to TELL me. It is too difficult to discern what are my own thoughts and what is God's voice. As it is for everyone. I don't think God speaks to us through our FEELINGS or an audible voice or a voice in our mind.
In my opinion------- comparing the Lazarus account and Jesus waiting four days, to the decision this woman made does not at all apply. We have to remember that Jesus was always doing the will of God. He came for that purpose. Everything He did was for a specific purpose, in this case to remove all doubt that Lazarus was dead and burried, so there was no doubt of His Deity when He called Him out of the tomb. This account has nothing to do with us. It is about who Jesus is.

 

[for_his_glory]

Church is not God. No church has the right to step in between a marriage. That church should've sent that woman home to be with a spouse in need. Marriage is the only human relationship deemed holy. Let no man separate what has been joined. Again, I say church does not = God.

You are missing the whole point about putting Christ first above all else no matter what. It's what Jesus said in Luke 14:26. Hate here only means family comes second, not that you have to literally hate them in order to follow Christ. Also the example Jesus gave in John Chapter 11 where he waited two days before going to Lazarus as what he was doing at the time was more important for the greater good.

Now, whatever this woman was doing as in the works of the Lord within the body of Christ, if she would have up and left it all behind it could have been devastating to that which God gave her to do as being something that had to have her full attention for that moment in God's timing. In this case Satan was trying to buffer/tempt her to leave by deceiving her to go and be with her husband.

 

[Boaz]

You are missing the whole point about putting Christ first above all else no matter what. It's what Jesus said in Luke 14:26. Hate here only means family comes second, not that you have to literally hate them in order to follow Christ. Also the example Jesus gave in John Chapter 11 where he waited two days before going to Lazarus as what he was doing at the time was more important for the greater good.

Now, whatever this woman was doing as in the works of the Lord within the body of Christ, if she would have up and left it all behind it could have been devastating to that which God gave her to do as being something that had to have her full attention for that moment in God's timing. In this case Satan was trying to buffer/tempt her to leave by deceiving her to go and be with her husband.

Whatever the woman was doing----? But you don't know what she was doing or that if she left it would be devastating. If you knew that, point well taken. But since you don't you can't make a blanket statement like that. She might have only been looking for napkins for the potluck the next day. Yo cannot assume that since she stayed it must have been God's will and that she was being tempted by Satan to abandon God's work. As the book of Job makes clear, we can't see what is going on in that other realm. Besides doesn't the Bible tell us that temptation starts in our minds, our imagination and bears fruit when we keep contemplating the temptation?
And just to be clear, sis, the Bible does not say that Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus because what He was doing was more important. The outcome shows us it was to declare Himself God.
Peace and lovd

 

[for_his_glory]

But how do you know it was God's will that she stay and do the church work? Just asking. Because of the way it turned out? Seems to me that going to her husband in the hospital would be more in line with God's work than staying to do something in the church, which most likely could wait or be taken over by someone else. But all that doesn't really matter to what I was saying: some churches, and people, May be making a constant struggle out of decision making, trying to decide which way is God's will. We take care of the day to day, what ever comes our way, of course adhering to the revealed will of God that we are given in scripture. Personally when I'm up against a big decision, like going into business or taking an out of town job etc. And of course can't see the future, I pray that God would direct my footsteps in the way that He wants me to go, and that He would keep me from going the wrong way. I already know I'll get nowhere waiting for God to TELL me. It is too difficult to discern what are my own thoughts and what is God's voice. As it is for everyone. I don't think God speaks to us through our FEELINGS or an audible voice or a voice in our mind.
In my opinion------- comparing the Lazarus account and Jesus waiting four days, to the decision this woman made does not at all apply. We have to remember that Jesus was always doing the will of God. He came for that purpose. Everything He did was for a specific purpose, in this case to remove all doubt that Lazarus was dead and burried, so there was no doubt of His Deity when He called Him out of the tomb. This account has nothing to do with us. It is about who Jesus is.

I can only go by what was in the OP about her thinking of God's words as she realized that this was a spiritual battle she was facing. God was testing her and you can read the rest of it.

God can speak to us through our feelings by His voice being either audible or a voice we hear in our mind as this has happened to me many times.

Jesus was doing the will of God just like all of us need to be doing as all things of God are for His purpose within His ministry He entrust us with here on earth.

 

[Boaz]

By Kelly, United States

It’s said in the Bible, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man” (JAMES 1:13). So, some brothers and sisters wonder the difference between temptations and trials. Below, I’d like to share a bit of my understanding of this issue.



First, distinguish from the source.
MATT 4:3 records, “And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” This verse clearly states that Satan is “the tempter.” As we all know, when the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness after baptism, He was tempted three times by Satan. Job lost his vast wealth and all his children because of Satan’s temptation. And so on. It can be seen that temptations come from Satan and that God never tempts people. Just as the Bible says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man” (JAMES 1:13).

As for trials, they come from God. Just as Jehovah God said, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried” (ZECH 13:9). God appropriates Satan’s tests to try people. For example, when Satan made accusations of Job before God, God permitted it to tempt Job. As a result, Job lost all his property and his children in an instant, and later he was covered in sores head-to-toe. God used these things to try Job in order that he could bear testimony for Him before Satan and the worldly people.

Second, distinguish from the substance and the effect.
The substance of Satan is evil and malicious, so its temptations are also evil and malicious. For instance, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, they listened to its enticements and ate the forbidden fruit. As a result, their spirits died, and they were driven out of the Garden of Eden by God and lived a cursed life of sweating and laboring. There is another example, concerning Job. When Satan first tempted him, his livestock, enough to cover a mountain, was carried off by the robbers, and his children were crushed to death by the collapsing house. When Satan’s second temptation befell Job, it raked his flesh, smiting him with sore boils from head to toe and causing him unbearable pain.

The substance of God is righteous and holy, so God’s trials are beautiful and good. God’s words say, “He is almighty, holy, and righteous. So likewise, His flesh is also supreme, almighty, holy, and righteous. Flesh such as that is only able to do that which is righteous and beneficial to mankind, that which is holy, glorious, and mighty, and is incapable of doing anything that violates the truth or morality and justice.” When God subjected Job to trials, although he lost all his livestock, sons and daughters, and he developed terrible boils all over his body, and suffered the censure of his friends and even the abandonment by his wife, these trials brought him great benefit: He felt God’s care for him, his faith and obedience toward God were perfected, and his knowledge of God was heightened. Most importantly, because Job stood firm and bore testimony for God before the worldly people and Satan, he thoroughly got rid of Satan’s accusations, becoming a free person who worshiped God. Just as Job said, “But He knows the way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (JOB 23:10).

Besides, after Job had undergone God’s trials, God blessed him, bestowing him with double the fortune and lifespan he had originally had, and ten beautiful children. And God appeared and spoke to him out of the whirlwind.

Third, distinguish from Satan’s motives and God’s intentions.
Temptations come from Satan. By means of them, Satan intends to harm and corrupt man, and wreck the relationship between us and God so that we will blame, leave and even betray God. But as for trials, they come from God. Through them, God wants us to learn to rely on Him to see His deeds during our experiences, thereby increasing our faith in Him; meanwhile God aims to purify the contamination within us and make us have more knowledge and obedience of Him.

Next, I’d like to share some experiences of a sister of our church with you. When she was doing church work, one day her son called and said that her husband needed to be hospitalized because of illness. Hearing this news, she wanted to go to the hospital to look after her husband. But she was tied up with some important work in the church. At that time, she thought of God’s words, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God.” God’s words allowed her to realize that this thing was a spiritual battle. That was Satan’s temptation befalling her and Satan wanted to disturb her from maintaining the work of the church. Meanwhile, God was testing her to see what she would choose at the crucial time, personal benefit or the benefit of the church. Feeling that God and Satan were watching her, she didn’t want to disappoint God. Thus, she determined to deal with the church work first and then go to care for her husband in the hospital. When she made this decision, to her surprise, her son rang up to say that her husband had gotten better. After experiencing such things several times, she gradually understood God’s will, and could see through Satan’s schemes and choose to obey God when encountering things at odds with her conceptions.

Brothers and sisters, if we grasp the above three aspects, we will be able to discern temptations and trials in general. This way, no matter what happens to us in life, we will know how to overcome Satan’s temptations and how to stand witness to satisfy God in His trials.

The quote above in bold type? I that from the Bible and if so what is the reference (book.chapter, verse) and what translation? Thanks.

 

[Boaz]

I can only go by what was in the OP about her thinking of God's words as she realized that this was a spiritual battle she was facing. God was testing her and you can read the rest of it.

God can speak to us through our feelings by His voice being either audible or a voice we hear in our mind as this has happened to me many times.

Jesus was doing the will of God just like all of us need to be doing as all things of God are for His purpose within His ministry He entrust us with here on earth.

Well certainly I can't speak for her either. It just seems to me that at times we give the devil way too much credit. He is an inferior power. Personally I don't give him the time of day or waste thoughts on him. I am a covenant child of God. I submit to God therefore, according to His word, the devil flees from me. God is my refuge and strength. I agree with you that Jesus is always doing the will of God and we should too. We just disagree on how we know what that is and once again, that's ok.
In the Bible, all things written have a definite meaning and purpose and then there may be many ways of applying it to our life. Forgive me that sometimes I stress the actual meaning and purpose, or point it out, because mostly it seems, all I see is it being applied, meaning secondary or missed.

 

[for_his_glory]

Whatever the woman was doing----? But you don't know what she was doing or that if she left it would be devastating. If you knew that, point well taken. But since you don't you can't make a blanket statement like that. She might have only been looking for napkins for the potluck the next day. Yo cannot assume that since she stayed it must have been God's will and that she was being tempted by Satan to abandon God's work. As the book of Job makes clear, we can't see what is going on in that other realm. Besides doesn't the Bible tell us that temptation starts in our minds, our imagination and bears fruit when we keep contemplating the temptation?
And just to be clear, sis, the Bible does not say that Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus because what He was doing was more important. The outcome shows us it was to declare Himself God.
Peace and lovd

I said it could have been devastating to whatever the works she was given to do by God as we don't know what that could have been.

John 11: 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. 7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Jesus wanted to go to Lazarus when He heard of him being sick, but he was beyond Jordan being in God's will as He taught many there that became believers, John 10:39-42, which was more important than being with Lazarus at that time. This is what He was teaching His disciples (us) that God's will comes before man's will in the choices we make.

Jesus wasn't worried about Lazarus as He already knew He would bring him back to life, which was also a testimony of who He was in the miracles He brought forth.

 

[Boaz]

I said it could have been devastating to whatever the works she was given to do by God as we don't know what that could have been.

John 11: 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. 7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Jesus wanted to go to Lazarus when He heard of him being sick, but he was beyond Jordan being in God's will as He taught many there that became believers, John 10:39-42, which was more important than being with Lazarus at that time. This is what He was teaching His disciples (us) that God's will comes before man's will in the choices we make.

Jesus wasn't worried about Lazarus as He already knew He would bring him back to life, which was also a testimony of who He was in the miracles He brought forth.

I was WRONG about that part!!! I can scarcely believe it! LOL.

 

[for_his_glory]

I was WRONG about that part!!! I can scarcely believe it! LOL.

Ya, sometimes you have to read the end of a chapter to understand the beginning of a next, but not always. I didn't see that either why Jesus waited two days and the thought, which IMO can be the Holy Spirit giving you a thought, was to read the end of John 10.

 

[daninthelionsden]

We have to assume the church she attended was Godly in order for her to be justified in denying her husband in his time of need. We also have to assume the work she was doing was Godly and vital. Having been raised in an unGodly church and having belonged to a religious cult (The Way International) together with working as a de-programmer, I can tell you any organization that tries to get you to choose them over family is exhibiting cult-like behavior. It is just as likely this church was testing her to see how much control they had over her as any test by God.

 

[for_his_glory]

We have to assume the church she attended was Godly in order for her to be justified in denying her husband in his time of need. We also have to assume the work she was doing was Godly and vital. Having been raised in an unGodly church and having belonged to a religious cult (The Way International) together with working as a de-programmer, I can tell you any organization that tries to get you to choose them over family is exhibiting cult-like behavior. It is just as likely this church was testing her to see how much control they had over her as any test by God.

We can see that what James Brown shared with us is nothing that would come from an occult religion and that this woman was not involved with an occultist church as he said this woman from our church, meaning the Church he is associated with.

What has been written is her experience of being tempted by Satan and her listening to the words of God in what she should do. She chose God over family and that is what we all had better be doing.

 

[Boaz]

We can see that what James Brown shared with us is nothing that would come from an occult religion and that this woman was not involved with an occultist church as he said this woman from our church, meaning the Church he is associated with.

What has been written is her experience of being tempted by Satan and her listening to the words of God in what she should do. She chose God over family and that is what we all had better be doing.

FHG
Can you tell me where I can find the quote James Brown typed in bold print. I am not finding it at all familiar so am guessing it is from a translation I have not read. You have shown yourself to be extremely well versed in the Bible. Where to find what so figured you are the one to ask.