Why Does God Allow Us to Be Tempted?

Alongside questions about how an all-powerful, sovereign, good God could allow evil in the world, another one of the more common questions asked about Christianity—by Christians and non-Christians alike—is this: “Why does God allow Christians, or anyone, to be tempted to sin?”

This question is a good one, isn’t it? Think about it.

Theoretically, if God is all-powerful and the definition of all that is good and holy and right, and if he wants a relationship with his people, why would he even allow his people to be tempted to sin, let alone actually go and sin? Why would the Good Shepherd let his sheep wander toward the wolves?

Before we answer that question, let’s address a related question that may be a bit of an elephant in the room.

Does God Tempt People?

A full treatment of this question probably demands its own article, but let’s address this question briefly before getting into the reasons that God allows his people to be tempted.

Simply put, no, God does not tempt people. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

Scripture details a number of times when God led his people into difficult situations or to face difficult decisions (like with Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22), but detailed language studies reveal that the ways in which God led in these moments does not approach our understanding of “temptation to sin.” For a more detailed look at this question, pick up Knowing God by J. I. Packer, which addresses this question in good detail and with great wisdom.

Okay, now that we’ve briefly addressed that, let’s look at three reasons Scripture gives us for why God allows Satan to tempt people.

1. Facing temptation strengthens and refines faith.

One reason God allows people to be tempted is so that through testing and temptation a believer’s faith may be strengthened and refined. James 1:2-4 says:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Jesus himself was led by God into the wilderness and tempted there by Satan before beginning his official ministry (see Matthew 4). Like God the Father led Jesus by the Holy Spirit into a place where Satan could tempt him, God may allow us to encounter situations that allow us to be tempted by Satan. Why? James says so that this testing of our faith may “produce steadfastness.”

Think about it in a different way. The only way to strengthen muscles is to work them out. Working out isn’t comfortable—or at least it isn’t when it’s done well! Lifting weights and working out our muscles stretches them not quite to the point of breaking so that they may grow and make our body stronger.

In the same way, God may allow our faith to be tested and stretched, not to the point of breaking, so that our faith may grow stronger in the long run. To have a life totally devoid of any temptation to sin would atrophy our faith, making it weaker and lacking substance.

2. Facing temptation teaches dependence on God.

Another reason God may allow people to be tempted is to teach dependence on him, which is certainly one of the modes by which our faith will be strengthened (see the first point above). We see this idea clearly on display both in the temptation of Christ and in something Paul tells us later in 1 Corinthians.

In Matthew 4 when Jesus is tempted by Satan with turning stones into bread, Jesus responds in Matthew 4:4 by saying this:

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus is responding to Satan here by quoting a portion of Deuteronomy 8:3, and the point is clear: no matter the pangs of hunger we feel, we must find ultimate satisfaction in the provision of God. We must depend on God, not our own ability to provide for ourselves.

Likewise, our need to rely on God in temptation is made clear by Paul when he writes this in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

We will not be allowed to endure any temptation for which the God of the universe does not provide a solution. We will not be set up to fail, even as we are prone to fail because of our own brokenness and proclivity to sin.

3. Facing temptation exposes and purifies the heart.

When Christians face temptation they are often grappling with the reality that some part of life is being held up as a false god or an idol. When we are tempted to lie, we are tempted to choose our own good or comfort over obedience to God’s command not to lie (Exodus 20:16). When we are tempted to hurt someone who has hurt us, we are reckoning with the reality that we want to pursue our own justice instead of trusting the Lord to exact justice as he says he will do (Hebrews 10:30).

It is in this way that facing temptation can help expose the brokenness and sinfulness of our hearts and show us where we fall short of the standard to which God calls us. In 1 Peter 1:6-7, Peter writes:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The trials Peter describe could be trials revolving around persecution and suffering, but they could also be trials of temptation to sin. When our faith in God and our trust in His teaching are refined by the fires of temptations or other such trials, we may gain a clearer understanding of what matters to us, how our loves may be disordered, and how we might better live out our faith in a world broken and warped by sin.

In the end, the question, “Why does God allow us to be tempted?” can be answered in a handful of ways, all of which may help us better understand why God allows temptation, but none of which may help us as we grapple with temptation in the moment. God wants what is best for people, and sometimes that means letting people come face-to-face with the parts of their lives they have made gods instead of the one, true God to be faced with the decision, “Who will I worship today?”