In the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer, the Lord teaches us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." What does this mean?

When discussing temptation, it is important to point out that biblically speaking, there are two kinds of temptation. There is temptation to sin and there is temptation as in a trial or test of some kind. Let's briefly examine both kinds.

First of all, there is temptation to sin. Throughout the Bible, people are known to request of God to be delivered from sin and its snare. Ps 141:4, for example, says, "Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity." Or again in Ps 119:37, the psalmist writes, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way."

In the New Testament, James writes in 1:13ff, "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. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

God Does Not Tempt

This passage in James provides us with an understanding of the process of temptation to sin. We see first of all that God does not tempt a person to sin. God does not place sinful distractions in our way to see how we respond. That goes against God's very own nature. Actually, if you think about it, tempting someone else to sin is a sin itself. Trying to make someone fall into sin is the work of the devil, not of God. God is not tempted to sin, nor does He tempt someone else to sin.

Rather, if a person sins, he has no one to blame but himself. It is the individual's own sinful lusts that produce sin. According to James, a person first has an evil thought or temptation. This is placed there either by the "world," our own sinful flesh, or the devil. The person then begins to dwell on that temptation until the temptation becomes desire. The imagery given by James is that of conception. He says that after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. Sin then grows, just like a baby grows until it reaches maturity and death. Sin leads to death.

It should be noted that being tempted to sin is not sin itself. A man may be tempted without entering into the temptation: entering into it implies giving way and embracing the sin. The Lord Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. He was tempted three times in the wilderness. But every time He resisted that sin. It is interesting to see how Jesus defeated temptation in the wilderness. When we read that passage in the Bible, Jesus always does battle with the Word of God. He said, "It is written..." when He was tempted. If the sinless Son of God uses the Word of God to fend off sin, shouldn't we? That is why it is very important to make Bible study and even memorization a vital part of our Christian walk. When we do this, we are arming ourselves for the battle against sin.

God Does Try Us

So temptation to sin is one type of temptation. But there is also temptation in the form of trials and tests. The word used in our text is a word that can be translated either way. One Greek dictionary defines the word as "not only a solicitation to evil but a trial of any kind, without reference to its moral quality."

We see this same word from our text in James 1, used in the Greek Old Testament, called the Septuagint, in Gen 22:1-2 when is says, "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham." This is the passage that tells how God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. The passage makes it clear that this was a test of Abraham's faith and obedience. Abraham believed and trusted in God. He knew that God had promised him that Isaac would be his heir. Abraham did not know how God was going to do this, especially if Isaac were dead. He speculated that God would raise him from the dead to receive the promises (Heb. 11:19). But nonetheless, Abraham did as God said. Just as he was about to plunge the knife into his son, God called to him and told him that he passed the test. Then God provided a substitute, a ram, and that was the offering instead. Abraham passed the test.

So we are to pray that we not be led into temptation, whether that be to sin or for trials. Now someone might ask, is it right that we ask God not to lead us into temptation? We know that God won't lead us to sin, but what if God desires to test us, the way he tested Abraham? I think one of the most important things I've learned about prayer is that God always answers prayer, but the answer is not always what I want.

A perfect example of this is the Garden of Gethsemane recorded in Matt 26:36ff. In that passage, the Lord Jesus is preparing for the greatest trial in history: the crucifixion. And the Lord prays, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Now, Jesus knows very well that the cup-the crucifixion-would not pass from Him. For that very reason He had come. Yet that is what He prays. He goes on and says, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." I believe that God wants us to come to Him, with all our doubts and fears, and lay them at His feet. We should pray that we are not led into temptation and know that, generally speaking, God answers this prayer the way it is stated. But at the same time, we know that it is the Father's will which must be done. God is not some celestial bellhop who caters to our every desire. He is the Sovereign One, the one who calls the shots and works all things in conformity to His will. But we will never be tested beyond what we can endure (1 Cor. 10:13). And we endure by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we pray our prayers and trust in God. He will do what is right and what is best and give us the grace we need.

The Evil One

The second part of this petition in the Lord's Prayer is that we be delivered from evil. In the Greek, the definite article is present which would make it literally deliver us from "the evil" or more likely, "the evil one." This is unmistakably the devil or Satan. We see Jesus refer to Satan as the "Evil One" in Matt. 13:19.

It is interesting to me that although many adults no longer believe in the Devil, many younger people do. At least they believe in the power of the Evil One. There is a startling rise in interest in the occult or witchcraft among many young people in our society today. Many popular books, TV shows, or movies glamorize people actively involved in witchcraft as good, moral, and fun people who happen to be witches or vampires, sort of as an alternative lifestyle or religious persuasion. And it is true, that there is a power called witchcraft. But what I would like for the young people in our country to understand is that if they are fighting for witchcraft, they are fighting a losing battle. The Bible makes clear that Satan is defeated, Christ is the victor, and the Scriptures say "greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world."

So we pray that God would deliver us from the Evil One, and He can do it because He is more powerful than the Evil One. The only power Satan has is deception, and those who follow his ways are deceived indeed.

In closing, the best summary of this whole concept is stated in Q127 of the Heidelberg Catechism. It says, "What is the sixth petition? And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. That is, since we are so weak in ourselves, that we cannot stand a moment; while our deadly enemies, the devil, the world and our own flesh, assail us without ceasing; be pleased to preserve and strengthen us by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may make firm stand against them, and not sink in this spiritual war, until we come off at last with complete victory." Amen.