No believer is immune from temptation, but students face an especially challenging culture. To successfully resist temptation, believers must commit to obedience and set strong boundaries, leaders say.
“Believers in Christ need to be prepared, equipped and protected as they live out the life God has called them to live and to be a part of His Kingdom-mission work,” said Ryan Gray, minister to college students and single adults at First Baptist Church Montgomery.
“Most of us have probably heard the cliché phrase, ‘In the world, but not of the world,’” he said. A better paraphrase might be, “Not of the world, but sent into the world.”
“This phrase captures our purpose and mission within the kingdom of God, but it also places our focus back on who we are in Christ — a new creation, a transformed person.”
That new creation has a new identity, said Matt Daniels, Baptist campus minister at the University of North Alabama.
“You have to know your identity in Christ,” Daniels said. “We are free from sin because of the cross. Knowing that should give us the confidence to flee temptation.
‘Identity in Christ’
“You have to know your identity in Christ,” Daniels said. “We are free from sin because of the cross. Knowing that should give us the confidence to flee temptation.
“We also need to know where temptation lies for us,” he added, since people often have the same triggers that cause them to sin. Knowing what those are is crucial.
“If we know that, we can flee. Scripture says to flee. We must run from it,” Daniels said. “I also believe that you must make the decision to stand firm with a clear mind before you experience a compromising circumstance.”
Setting healthy boundaries is a key step in fleeing temptation, Daniels said.
“Boundaries are to help us keep in step with the Spirit. It is crucial for us to remain in the Spirit in order to live out our identity in Him. If I know where temptation is, I have a clear thought process like in Philippians 4:8. I set boundaries and stay disciplined, then I can live in the freedom of Christ,” he said.
Fleeing from temptation and putting up boundaries that protect from sin are important because sin leads to death, Daniels noted.
“It’s the exact opposite of life in Christ, and 1 John 1 is very clear in that if we say we have fellowship with Him but live in darkness, we lie,” he said. “We cannot be all that God has created us to be if we are willingly partaking in sin. Sin separates us from God, and we are meant to abide in Him as Jesus tells us in John 15.”
Always on guard
Facing temptation directly relates to one’s Christian witness, Gray said.
“We have been called by God to make disciples, and as we seek to do this we must be watchful in how we live our lives so we will not let the culture’s values, motives, ungodly morals and ways of thinking infiltrate our lives,” he said. “We must remain rooted in who the Lord has called us to be and what He has called us to do.”
Believers also must be aware Satan is real and always looking for ways to tempt them to sin, Gray added.
“Satan seeks to steal, kill and destroy,” he said. “Satan knows our weaknesses, therefore he is going to put targets on the backs of believers in Christ.
“Satan wants to knock Christians off their feet and to push them toward sin, and he is extremely crafty in how he does this,” Gray said.
“As students ground themselves in who they are in Jesus, my prayer is that they practically put on the full armor of God so that they can withstand the evil schemes of Satan.”
Strong relationships with other believers can help individuals ward off temptations, Daniels said, and those relationships should begin in the Church. “Accountability is key for us to flee temptation,” he asserted. “We are many members but one Body. We need each other to stir up good works, as it says in Hebrews 10.”
The reason Daniels and Gray say they continue to lead students to flee temptation and set boundaries is simple: Every follower of Christ will struggle with sin, and as ministers to students, their desire to see young adults overcome the power of sin.
4 ‘musts’
Daniels noted four “musts” when it comes to overcoming the temptation to sin:
- We must know where temptation is.
- We must have a clear thought process.
- We must understand that boundaries are good.
- We must have the discipline to flee.
“I want students to understand that Satan cannot win the battle for our hearts when we surrender it to Jesus, but he can win our mind,” Daniels said. “Christ has already defeated sin. We must believe that and let that truth dictate our thought life. How we think influences how we live.”
Gray and Daniels spoke at the 2022 Pursue conference, held in February at First Baptist Church Opelika. Pursue is a ministry of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, the Cooperative Program, OneMissionStudents.org and BCMLink.org. For more information on the Pursue Conference visit pursueal.org.
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