Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Did Jesus teach us to pray "Lead us not into temptation"?


Did Jesus teach us to pray “lead us not into temptation” or is there a problem in the translation or a problem in the construction of the sentence?   We know from James 1:13 that God does not tempt us to sin.  If He did, He would be acting contrary to His holy nature, against His desire for us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and against all other commandments in Scripture that tell us to avoid sin and flee temptation.


Some people will say the phrase must be understood in the sense of "permitting."  Do not "allow" us, or "permit" us, to be tempted to sin.  This implies God has control to save us from temptation if we call upon Him.  I believe whole heartily God is in control of everything, but is it better to try and fix a scripture in the Bible in order for that scripture to makes sense to us or just admit it could be some kind of error and we do not know for sure.


It is possible that the Greek, which has three, rather than two, degrees of active/passive voice suffered from a misinterpretation of the Aramaic and that what Christ said actually meant "do not let us be led into temptation".

I like the petition offered by David in Psalm 141:4: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with the workers of iniquity."  Regardless of either petition we must remember God is our deliverer and we are to pray to Him as such.  It is never God's desire for us to be led into sin.  If we resist the devil, we are promised that he will flee from us.  James 4:7 states, "Submit your selves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  

God doesn't tempt us, but He allows us to be put into situations where our faith is tested and strengthened.  God always provides a way out of or around temptation.  It is also important to remember that we are unable to resist temptation without God's grace.  I believe it is not the temptation itself that leads us to sin, but the lack of resistance and trust in the Lord for deliverance from the temptation.  As Christians, we are in a constant fight with the desires born of our sinful natures - should I please myself or God?  We are in constant need of God's guidance so that our needs and desires are kept in proper balance. 

Do not throw out the entire Lord’s Prayer because of the confusion you may have with one line or simply because the English interpretation of the line may be an incorrect translation of what Christ actually said.  If you feel a need to then substitute, “Help me not be led into temptation". 

St. James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything," (James 1:3-5).  Perhaps we do not want to avoid temptation all together, but instead not give into temptation. 

Do not allow theological questions; despite the enormous debate and trouble they may cause becomes a barrier to your faith.  I try not to get hung up on such small questions.  I would rather not be tempted and I have no problem asking God not to tempt me or not to let me be tempted.  He knows that I am trying to pray in the way I was told Christ taught us to pray.  When you say the line "lead us not into temptation", God understands that you are praying not to sin and that you are worried that you might give in to temptation.  You don't have to have a Ph.D. in theology to be a good Christian. 

If you are praying with a sincere heart God knows what you mean.  He knows you are asking for help to resist temptation and that is what really matters.

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