Overcoming

Sometimes the word perfection strikes people as being too harsh or unattainable. In the book, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, by A. T. Jones (Leaves of Autumn Books, Inc., Payson, Arizona [1978], 118), it says, “The service in the earthly sanctuary shows also that in order for the sanctuary to be cleansed, and the course of the gospel service there to be finished, it must first be finished in the people who have a part in the service. That is to say: In the sanctuary itself, transgression could not be finished, an end of sins and reconciliation for iniquity could not be made, and everlasting righteousness could not be brought in, until all this had been accomplished in each person who had a part in the service of the sanctuary.”

The sanctuary is the central part of the message that defines us as Seventh-day Adventists. It goes on to say, “Therefore the very first work in the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of the people. That which was preliminary and essential to the cleansing of the sanctuary itself, to the finishing of the transgression and bringing in everlasting righteousness there, was the finishing of transgression, and the making an end of sins, and making reconciliation for iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness in the heart and life of each one of the people themselves. When the stream that flowed into the sanctuary was thus stopped at its source, then, and then alone, could the sanctuary itself be cleansed from the sins and transgression which, from the people, by the intercession of the priests, had flowed into the sanctuary.” Ibid., 118, 119.

Perfection was required on the day of atonement. It was only when sin stopped flowing into the sanctuary that it could be cleansed; otherwise the blood of the sacrificial lambs would continually defile it. In the earthly sanctuary, Jesus has given us an example.

James 1:27 identifies what is needed to belong to the true church—true religion! “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble [in their affliction KJV], and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Notice that this is not just a social visit. It is for a specific purpose to help them in their need or affliction. God has a special care for the widows and orphans, and if you touch the orphan, you have touched the apple of God’s eye.

We are told to “keep unspotted from the world.” Paul says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14. We can understand peace, even though there is misunderstanding as to how to pursue it. Don’t let the trouble be on you, but let you be the peacemaker. So “pursue peace … and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.” These words sometimes strike fear or terror in people, but they are necessary, for God is holy and only holy people will be with Him in eternity.

In Jesus’ prayer to His Father, He said, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14–16.

What is the world spoken of here? We speak about Babylon and to come out of her and it is related, because Babylon is the world. However, Jesus here says, “You should [not] take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Verse 16.

“The world” gets to us through our senses. Satan gains entrance into our minds through the senses. He does not know what we are thinking, but he is a master at watching us our whole lives. We are to guard the avenues of the soul, which includes what we allow into our minds through our senses. We always talk about the temptations and how they need to be resisted. Joseph was tempted daily from the outside. The entire universe was watching what Joseph would do when confronted by Potiphar’s wife. Joseph’s intentions were pure, and when tempted he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9. Joseph’s integrity cost him many years in prison, but God’s hand was over him, preparing him to be a ruler in Egypt.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” James 1:13, 14. According to James, the temptation comes from within, and we are enticed through our own desires. Through the senses the desire is worked up and becomes enticed. When you give in and agree to the temptation, it is then sin. When a person realizes he is tempted, and in the strength of the Lord resists and repents of it, he beats the desire. All are tempted through the world but we all have free will to choose either to give in to the temptation or resist.

There are many Adventists who do not really believe that it is possible to live the Christian life and continually overcome, claiming that even Paul struggled every day. They quote Paul in Romans 7 where he says he wanted to do what was right, but he couldn’t do it, always catching himself doing what he shouldn’t be doing, and they identify with him. In Romans 8, Paul writes that he was successful in overcoming that vacillating life of in and out of sin. In verses 5 and 6 he tells us, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

He points out that it is not just being tempted or enticed, but there is a choice in what to think about and where to direct your mind. He says, “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.” This is making a deliberate choice on what to focus. It can be compared to driving. While your focus is on the road ahead you are unlikely to sway from your lane, but if you start focusing on something out to the side, you could be off the road in seconds. It is a natural law that you will go where you are looking.

The first half of Romans 8 deals with focusing the mind. This is the key, and it is your choice whether you set it on the Spirit or on the flesh. No one can do it for you.

Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34. He said, it is not what goes into the mouth but what comes out, that defiles a person. We know that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). Who you really are will eventually come out and be made public. You cannot hold it in. Some people are great actors. The word actor in Greek means hypocrite. It was a profession just as today in Hollywood we have actors in this world that profess. In Greece they would be called hypocrites. An actor cannot act continually without what is in the heart coming out sooner or later.

True Christians are to be apart from the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15–17. Jesus said that the world will pass away and all the lusts, but whoever does the will of God will abide forever. He said, “I always do the will of My Father.” He did not say, “Yes, I pray five times and I study so long.” No, He said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father.” John 5:30.

One of the worst-case scenarios at the end of time is found in Matthew 7. There is a group of people who go around converting people in the world with great success, but then the Lord will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Matthew 7:23. The reason for this is that they did not do the will of His Father. Jesus said that they might have done all the right things, but it was not from the heart, not from the will.

Jesus spoke of “all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” 1 John 2:16. These are the three things of which the world consists. The word lust means passion or passionately liking something. It is far more than just a like or a dislike. It involves selfishness. For example, I want everything for me. I want nice clothes and my belly full. The lust of the eyes would be greed. You have enough, but you want more, and you also want what the other person has. You see it and you want it. The pride of life is the self-identity that we have. It may not be really true, but I build myself up to think highly of who I am, considering myself better than others. It is who I am in my own estimation, disregarding who I am in Christ. Others might see me differently than I see myself. This is the pride of life.

These are the three things that include everything in this world and provide the motives for everything we do. It applies to each business transaction, how we present ourselves in the church and in our homes. Sadly, this includes selfishness, greed and our ego or pride.

In Galatians 5:19–23, Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit and the works of the flesh: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” We must be aware of the works of the flesh and fight against those kinds of fruits, for a tree is known by its fruits.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6. Here is the description of how Eve fell. Three things Satan promised Eve that were going to happen. Then, when she bit into it, it seemed like it had happened. The fruit tasted good. It was like black light. You can see things under black light that you have never seen before, but remember—it is black light, not light!

Isaiah 14:13 says, “For you [Satan] have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation.’ ” Above the stars, me! I’m going to be over all this. And then, “sit on the mount of the congregation” and look over my kingdom; I am going to have it all!

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Verse 14. In other words, Satan would have the adoration that belonged to Christ. He said, “I’m somebody; I’m not just a servant around here.”

God did not create sin. He wants each person to think freely and choose wisely. Which direction are you putting your thoughts, inward or outward? Satan turned his inward. He said, “I don’t have to do what God says; I can do what I want to do.” That is exactly what many children do. They get to be old enough and then say, “You’re not going to tell me what to do again.” That is the same thinking that started the sin problem. Satan was a free thinker, and he turned inward saying, “I am going to do.” As long as our mind is running in the same direction there is no difference. The problem begins with what is in our hearts.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:14, 15.

How can this be? Jesus did not have a wife. He did not have children that were born to Him. He didn’t suffer a broken arm, or get cancer or those kinds of things, so how could He be tempted in all points as we are?

When you examine carefully the temptations Jesus endured in the wilderness, they boil down to just three. He overcame sin on a very basic level. The problem we have is not dissecting our temptations to the basic level. We are often so concerned about our own little situation and do not recognize the root problem, preferring to just take a pill and make it go away.

Let’s examine the temptations that Jesus endured. “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.” Matthew 4:2. I remember years ago something that happened in Ireland. The English were fighting against the Irish and England had rounded up some Irish men and put them in jail. The Irish prisoners went on a hunger strike that lasted about 35 or 38 days. They refused to give in to the English, resulting in ten or twelve of them dying. Forty days is about the maximum anyone can last fasting.

Stones into Bread

After forty days, the first thing Jesus would think is, “I need something to eat.” It was at that point that Satan came as an angel of light suggesting that He turn the stones into bread. Didn’t He need to take care of Himself? After all, didn’t He have to live and save the world? Wasn’t that the reason for Him being there? He tried to put doubt in Jesus’ mind that His Father would take care of Him, so wouldn’t it be better to try and take care of Himself?

How often we readily fall for this same temptation and stop waiting on the Lord. We pray, and things keep happening. Then an idea may come and we take matters into our own hands, forgetting to wait on the Lord and do what we think is best. Jesus refused to accept the temptation from Satan.

Cast Thyself Down

“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give his angels charge over You,” and, “In their hands they shall bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.” ’ ” Matthew 4:5, 6.

Basically, the devil said, “You want people to believe You. You want people to know who You are. You didn’t change the stones into bread, ok. But, hey, the Bible says You can do this. It’s permissible to show them that you are the One.” The devil tempted Jesus to prove who He was to all. But Jesus replied, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Verse 7.

Fall Down and Worship Me

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” ’ ” Matthew 4:8–10. As soon as Jesus saw this presentation, He turned so that He was not drawn by the desires.

In His humanity, Jesus overcame every temptation that we have to overcome. We need to bow down in the morning and surrender our lives to Him. Then in the evening bow again, asking forgiveness for where we have fallen short during the day. Jesus led a holy life. He was the second Adam who did not sin.

Paul contrasts the two natures: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Galatians 5:16, 17. Here we get the idea that when we walk in the Spirit, we are not part of the world. We live in the world, but are not part of it, with all the lust and passionate desires controlling our lives.

When He was arrested, Jesus’ disciples did not understand, because their hearts were still in this world. They told Him, “No, we’ll die for you. No problem!” And they may have died if there would have been a battle between Him and the high priest, his guards and Herod. Peter whipped out the sword, and he was going to fight. Peter rebuked Jesus because He humbled Himself ready to meet death and allowing them kill Him. Peter said, “No, you can’t do that.” Jesus said to him: “You favor things that be of men, not that be of God” (Matthew 16:23). Peter did not know his true motivation.

As Jesus preached to the people, they realized that He was getting serious, and they were not prepared to face the real issues that He was coming down to so they all left. Finally, when only the twelve were there, Jesus asked, “Are you also going to leave?” But they said, “Where would we go?”

Galatians 5:18–21 says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.” He was not finished with the list but ended that way because there would be too many to mention.

He continued, “Just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Jesus had none of these characteristics in Himself. The Bible says that, if possible, the very elect would be deceived (Matthew 24:24). But the very elect are not deceived because Satan’s temptations have no appeal to their senses.

We need to understand why we always want more money or bigger houses, etc. The reason is because of greed. We must admit and confess our wrong fruits and repent; otherwise we will never be overcomers. Some people walk with the Lord for a time and then say, “I’ve had enough of this self-sacrifice. I’ve had enough of this self-denial. Everybody else is doing those things that I am restricting and they are still here; it hasn’t hurt them.” They start living for self. Jesus was tempted on all points as we are, and He overcame and promises us the victory also in His strength.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23. Jesus was perfect. He went about healing and doing good for the thirty years that He lived on earth. When you think about this, don’t think of the three and a half years that He ministered, but think of the thirty years that He lived, when He was in the shop, when He worked, when He delivered the furniture and when He talked with the people. And when He got home His brothers would say things like: “You’re just no good. You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t know how to run this business.” Read the chapter in The Desire of Ages about Judas. Mrs. White definitely says that they thought Jesus was making a big mistake by not listening to Judas. Unbelievable! Why? Because Judas had a fine way about him, and he knew what to do. Because of his demeanor, all the rest of the disciples saw eye to eye with him, and when he doubted what Jesus did, that doubt influenced their minds. They never would have believed that Judas was the one who would betray Him.

But Judas was too smart. Because of his evil greed and his selfishness, he thought he could make a good deal. Judas thought, “This is enough now. I’ve been with Jesus three years and I have lost a lot of money because I was in business. Jesus doesn’t know how to handle money and even when the situation was right to make Him king He did not accept it.” Selfish people can be helpful people, but they help so they can help themselves. Judas thought he had made a good deal with the priests, so he thought that if Jesus was who He said He was, there would be no way that He would allow Himself to die; that would be silly. He was convinced, so decided to push the issue. Thinking himself pretty smart, he came up with a little plan. Jesus was captured, and he thought that if Jesus was not who He said He was, he would have the thirty pieces of silver.

Judas had no idea what He was all about, because Jesus gained the victory right from the beginning. He already dealt with the issue of dying, dying to self, not wanting anything of this world or its ensuing pride. Jesus said, “The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” John 14:30. Exactly nothing! Satan could not appeal to Him, so he was furious and threw the final vehemence at Him because there was nothing with which he could accuse him. That is why we need the mind of Jesus.

There will come a time when people in the world are no longer appealing to Christ for forgiveness in the sanctuary, for all sins will be forgiven. The blood will cease to flow in the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus will have no more work to do and will no longer need to intercede. He will take off His high priestly robe and put on His kingly robe and claim His people who He has cleansed from sin. Heaven will be free of sin. There will be no more temptation because the one who began sin will finally be done away with and there will be joy in heaven.

May God help us to see and understand this issue as we study how to overcome sin at its root, and let God put His seed in us every day.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

John Korponay and his wife, Robin, moved to Wichita from Washington state in July, 2012, after John had accepted a position at Steps to Life. John and Robin are life-long Adventists with much experience in self-supporting work. He may be contacted by email at: johnkorponay@stepstolife.org.