“Why God Allows Temptation” -- 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

There are all sorts of questions the Bible doesn’t answer directly.

For instance, why does God allow suffering? We know that suffering entered the world through Adam’s sin, but we don’t know why God allows it to happen to those who love Him. We know that God uses our trials and tribulations to help our faith to grow, but it really doesn’t answer completely the question about suffering.

Why does God allow temptation? The short answer is that God does not want our love for Him to be the result of His control completely. Imagine if you could make anyone in the world love you. Would we really be able to know that that person loves us for ourselves or because we are forcing that relationship? God knows whether our love for Him is genuine, but He wants us to know that our love for Him is real.

Another reason God allows us to be tempted goes back to the idea of a growing faith and learning to live out the holiness bestowed upon us by and through Jesus Christ. Paul’s testimony in today’s passage gives us an idea of how temptation is allowed in order for us to learn to trust all the more in Christ.

Background

This second letter to the Corinthians is written after a letter following 1 Corinthians. This other letter is referred to by Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:8-9. The purpose of this letter we know as 2 Corinthians is to tie up some loose ends and prepare the church in Corinth to complete the task of raising a relief offering for Israel and to prepare them for his visit to them.

The letter is filled with good advice and some admonitions to the church, because it is still a spiritually immature church. As part of this, Paul expresses his concern at false apostles and their influence at Corinth. Paul finds himself defending his calling and ministry to the church that was founded by his ministry. This defense is referenced throughout the letter, but it is found primarily in chapters 10-11.

Paul spends most of chapter 11 “boasting” about his apostleship. It’s not something he likes doing, writing at the end of the chapter, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying” (v. 30).

He then concludes his “defense” by writing of a glorious revelation he experienced, written about in 12:1-6, where he was caught up into paradise. He heard and saw things “that man is not permitted to tell” (v.4b). Apparently, this revelation was not a one-off thing. He refers to revelations in the plural. As a result of these revelations, Paul writes the passage we look at today.

As we look at this passage, we see one of the reasons God allows us to be tempted.

Central Truth: Temptation reminds us to find our strength in God.

By allowing us to be tempted, God:

1. Points us to our weakness (7)

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”

Paul is an interesting person. He is not afraid to speak about himself when it will point others to Jesus. We learn a lot about him from his letters, particularly to the Corinthians and also to the Philippians. In this verse alone, Paul tells us a number of things about himself without going into detail.

First, Paul lets us know that he has seen several revelations, and that these revelations were not ordinary ones. He has seen things that are too meaningful to share with others. Think about the Revelation, John’s vision on the island of Patmos. This was a vision that was meant to be shared with the Church, and the revelation we read is truly remarkable. We have no idea what Paul ever saw in these revelations, but it seems they were meant only for him.

Second, Paul lets us know that he has a problem with pride. We know from reading Philippians 3 that Paul considered himself to be blameless when it came to obedience to the Pharisaic law, and that must have been a great source of pride for him. Yet, as we know from Philippians 3, it was also a source of shame. He had wasted all those years seeking to earn God’s favor, only to find it by God’s grace on the road to Damascus.

Third, we know that God sent a thorn in Paul’s flesh, allowing a messenger from Satan to torment him. This thorn in the flesh was sent to keep Paul from becoming conceited.

Sadly, Paul never tells us what this “thorn in the flesh” is. Most Bible scholars believe it was a physical malady, anywhere from poor eyesight to ongoing bouts of malaria or some other long-term but non-fatal illness. There are some who suggest that he suffered a slight deformity, such as a hunch back. We can’t be sure what this “thorn” was, but we do know that Paul credits it to a messenger from Satan.

Since it was a messenger of Satan that tormented Paul, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the thorn was a constant temptation aimed at Paul’s weakness. It might be that Paul struggled daily with his false pride. Think about what Paul has done since the Damascus calling. He has shared the Gospel throughout the eastern Mediterranean world, starting churches throughout the region. Everywhere he has gone, he has found success. Yes, he has endured great hardship in almost all those places, but he has stood up to the persecution.

Would it not be unreasonable to suppose that the demon that tormented Paul constantly appealed to his sense of pride? Might he not have found himself thinking, “Look what I’ve done?” In Philippians 3, Paul tells us that he constantly considered his accomplishments as rubbish in seeking to walk closer with Christ. The word “consider” is in the tense that lets us know it is an on-going situation.

Whether the “thorn in the flesh” was a temptation or an illness, we do know from Paul’s words that the “thorn” was a result of Satan’s works, and he knows that the reason for the constant torment was to keep him humble.

One of the main reasons God allows you and me to be tempted—to allow messengers of Satan to be involved in our lives—is to keep us from believing we are better than we are. God allows Satan to attack us at our weaknesses expressly to show us where we are weak. When Satan tempts us and we fail time and again to refute the temptation, we are reminded that we are weak. On our own, we are unable to stand up to Satan and his torments. We have to turn to God to find that strength, and that’s the purpose of v. 8.

2. Points us to Him (8-9a)

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’”

Go back over the years, to a time when you were in your teens and 20’s. Didn’t you feel somewhat invincible? There were things you and I did back then without giving it a thought. We were strong, we were vigorous—it seemed the world was at our disposal and that almost anything was possible.

Now come back to the present. I remember a conversation with Robert Rachuig when he and I decided that if a coin falls on the floor, if it’s less than a quarter, it’s not worth the effort to bend over and get it. Things we used to do without a thought now sometimes takes careful planning to determine first of all whether we can do it or not, and then, if we decide we can, whether we want to go to the trouble to do so, and if so, how we think we’ll do it without hurting ourselves.

The point of this is to remind us that we thought we could do anything when we were young and strong, but now that we’re older and less limber, we need to rely on others to help us. Our strength that we depended on, that we took for granted, is now a weakness.

Paul asked Jesus three times to remove the “thorn” from his flesh. His exact words are “I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.” Whatever this thorn was, it was a great hindrance to the apostle, something that he knew was dragging him down and keeping him from being the kind of apostle he thought God wanted him to be.

Jesus’ response was to tell Paul “no.” Imagine that. Even Paul could be told no by God. There are plenty of times our prayers come back with a “no.” Sometimes, we accept it without much thought; other times, it troubles us greatly. Maybe, like Paul, we plead with the Lord repeatedly over the matter.

Notice, though, when Jesus told Paul “no,” He also told Paul why. The reason Jesus declined Paul’s request was to teach the apostle that God’s grace is sufficient to see us through the torment of Satan’s messengers. God’s grace would see Paul through his struggles, whether of temptation or of illness. This messenger from Satan would not leave Paul alone, but Jesus promised that His grace would see him through.

The reason Jesus’ grace would be sufficient is because Paul was learning to turn to Jesus on this matter. The result is that Paul was learning that, because he was too weak to overcome Satan in this matter, he had to turn to Jesus to see him through. “For My power is made perfect in your weakness.”

When you and I come to the realization that we are unable to stand up to Satan on our own, when we have tried our best and failed repeatedly, we finally come to the point of turning to Christ and trusting Him to fight our battle. When we rely on His grace to battle the messenger of Satan in our lives, we find the strength of Christ will carry us to victory.

That’s not to say that the messenger from Satan will leave us alone once we turn to Christ. That was Paul’s request, to have the messenger removed from him. Jesus’ response was not to remove the messenger of Satan, which He could have easily done. Instead, Jesus said, “Turn to me when the messenger attacks. I’ll handle it for you.”

As we learn to lean on Jesus to fight our battles, we gain strength and insight. That’s the point of the next verses.

3. Gives us proper perspective (9b-10)

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Some years back, I was watching a video about human resourcing and presenting ourselves in the best light. Part of the training in the video was a demonstration of what to do and what not to do in an interview. The video showed an attractive young woman interviewing for a job. In one of the interviews, she told the person what her strengths were, followed shortly after with what her weaknesses were. In the second interview, the same young woman began her pitch with telling her weaknesses, following shortly with her strengths. In both interviews, she stated the same strengths and the same weaknesses. The only difference in the interviews was the order in which they were presented.

Human resource people then rated the interviews. The majority of those ratings showed that the first interview the better of the two, indicating they were more likely to hire the first over the second.

The reason? By presenting her strengths first, the first interview left a positive impression on the listeners, while the second interview left a negative since she stated her weaknesses first.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we know we all have strengths and weaknesses. We all want to present a positive view, so when we brag, we brag about our strengths, the assets we bring to the job, the relationship or whatever we’re trying to present.

That’s why Paul’s words, “Therefore, I will boast all the more about my weaknesses,” is an interesting statement to make. Paul has spent most of the last few chapters speaking about his qualifications about being a true apostle. Throughout, he has expressed his reluctance to have to do so. Now, having completed the story about his struggles with the thorn in his flesh, Paul states that his reluctance to speak about himself stems from his preference to brag about his weaknesses. He explains why, though—“so that the power of Christ may rest on me.”

It’s not easy to admit our weaknesses, but Paul understands that these weaknesses pale in comparison to the strength of Christ. When we go to the Lord in prayer, we acknowledge our weaknesses to Him, seeking His strength to overcome our struggles, our “thorns in the flesh.”

By realizing our need for Christ in all matters of our walk with Him, we learn to rely on His strength and His guidance. We learn to handle the thorns of life by leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus.

Paul’s list of “delights” are interesting in that none of these things would be considered delightful on the surface. He delights in weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. The reason is he finds strength in Christ during these times.

That’s why Paul is able to sing hymns of praise in the midst of a dungeon, having been beaten for his faith. He can sing God’s praises after being left for dead at the end of stoning in Thessalonica. He can thank God for deliverance from shipwrecks, from crowds wanting to kill him. All these things Paul endures is because of his commitment to Christ.

Even though Christ told him “no” in the apostle’s request to remove the thorn, Paul gained so much more by learning to trust in Christ and rely on His strength to see him through the difficulties of life.

Conclusion

It comes as no surprise to anyone of you that I am weak in so many ways. There are times I battle with Satan and temptation to the point of despair. I understand Paul’s frustration and pleading with Christ to remove the messenger of Satan from him. And I say this knowing that I am not alone in this regard.

If you and I want to practice the self-control that leads to holiness, then we need to learn that we can only overcome temptation—the messengers of Satan—when we admit our inability to stand up to him alone. Victory comes only when we learn to let Jesus’ strength fight our battles. We put on the full armor of God and stand our ground, trusting the One who saved us to defeat the one who torments us.

Paul’s weakness and reliance on Christ is the reason Paul has learned to be content. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hunger, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12b-13).

Lean on Christ’s strength, and be content, be holy.