Characteristics of a true believer (Part 2)
Published by Olwin Gosal in 2025 · 26 October 2025
Characteristics of a true believer (Part 2)
Love the Word of God
Last week, I stated that a characteristic of a true believer is a love for the teaching of God's Word. This is the primary foundation of believers and the church. A healthy church is one that earnestly strives to provide the true teaching of God's Word. Believers with healthy faith are those who diligently study God's Word. Someone who claims to have faith but is not diligent in studying God's Word is actually physically alive but spiritually dead. Spiritual death indicates a lack of relationship with God.
Why is God's word so important in our lives that we should diligently study it? Let's read Matthew 4:1-11.
In verse 1 it says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus could not be controlled by the devil, therefore it says “led by the Spirit” not brought by the devil. Then why did the Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted? In the Old Testament, the first Adam when faced with temptation from the enemy he fell and resulted in the physical and spiritual death of all mankind. The last Adam (Jesus) when faced with Satan with all his temptations, He did not fall but triumphed over temptation. Whereas in verse 2 it says “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry.” When Jesus faced temptation He was in a weak and hungry physical condition. Jesus’ victory over temptation proves that even though Jesus faced great pressure, He remained obedient to God’s word.
In verse 3, it says, "The tempter came." Satan is called the tempter because his main goal was to try to bring down Jesus, to try to divert Jesus from the eternal purpose that had been planned. Jesus faced the ultimate enemy, the one who tempted Adam to fall, and who tempted Israel to forget God. But in this passage, it is clear that Jesus triumphed over Satan and was not tempted in the slightest by any of his offers.
My brothers and sisters, this section is a reminder that Satan is our greatest enemy. As believers, we must be aware that every day we are in a spiritual battle against the invisible yet very real forces of evil. In 1 Peter 5:8 it says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Therefore, we are reminded to always be alert. Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” As believers, we cannot relax; we must always remember that we have an enemy who always tempts us and our lives are only one step away from falling.
A conscious person will certainly strive to equip themselves to survive and triumph over the enemy. My brothers, Satan often launches his attacks, not by intimidating or frightening us, but by offering all sorts of tempting things that please our eyes and our flesh.
Today we want to learn together from the example of the Lord Jesus, when He faced temptation, what equipment did He use to win against the Devil?
The first temptation
The devil begins with “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Because in Matthew 3:17 “and a voice came from heaven, said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The devil tempted Jesus to show off and use His divine power as the Son of God to satisfy His needs. The first temptation to Jesus was related to the desires of the flesh, in this section related to food that the Lord Jesus desperately needed at that time, very similar to what Adam and Eve faced in Genesis 3:1-6 when they were tempted to eat the fruit that had been forbidden to eat.
However, the response of the Lord Jesus was beyond the Devil's expectations, verse 4, "Jesus answered, “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." In a very hungry stomach condition, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you, causing you hunger and then feeding you with manna, which you nor your ancestors had know, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Jesus fought the temptation of the Devil with the truth of God's word. He said that bread was not the main and most important need for Him. Jesus wanted to say that bread is not the source of life. This sentence seems to destroy the basic concept and struggle of humans. Because many people struggle to get food for their stomach needs only but they forget about God and His word. They are putting aside their relationship with God.
Jesus taught that the source of life and the most important human need is the word that comes from the mouth of God. Faithfully listening to and living out God's word is paramount. In this passage, Jesus does not mean that humans do not need to eat physical food—no! But Jesus wants to emphasize that humans must know which is most important, which is useful for eternity, and which is only temporary. Physical food is useful for the temporary body, while God's word is spiritual food for the spirit, connecting us with God and leading us to eternity with Him.
The devil knows human needs and weaknesses so well that he will attack or tempt us at those points. The devil constantly tempts humans to prioritize non-essentials, so that humans forget the most important things that must be owned and lived. From childhood, we are constantly instilled in us that you must be successful, highly educated, have a good job, and earn a lot of money. All about the temporary things. But we less instilled that God and His truth that must be paramount. As a modern-day parent, I pray for you to truly recognize our and our children's primary need: the Word of God. So we do not teach our children’s only about temporary needs.
Have we placed God's Word as the most important thing in our lives? Even more important than the things we need most?
The Second Temptation
In the second temptation, Satan appeared to be very spiritual, using God's Word to tempt Jesus. However, it turned out to be a misuse of God's Word. It was not meant to edify Jesus, but to make Jesus doubt God's promise of protection. It says, "Then the devil took him to the Holy City and had him on the highest point of the temple”. 'If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." The second temptation was related to pride or arrogance. Satan tempted Jesus to demonstrate that he was the powerful Son of God and could do spectacular things.
The devil misused God's word in Psalm 91:11-12, that is not the meaning of the verse, but it speaks of God's promise of protection, His promise is not to be tested but to be believed. The Lord Jesus resisted temptation and corrected it by using God's word Deuteronomy 6:16 "Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah." The devil aims to shake our faith in God's word, and make us doubt its truth. That is what he also did when he tempted Adam and Eve, as if using God's word when in fact it was manipulated to deceive. “… He (serpent) said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’”(Genesis 1:1). The devil tries to plant all evil in our minds, so that we doubt and disbelieve His word, even to think that God is evil and unfaithful.
My brothers, if someone does not truly love and study God's word well, we are easily deceived by Satan. He can plant something that seems like God's word but is actually packaged differently, with the aim of getting us to believe him. I believe that is also why the early church diligently and humbly learned from the apostles so that they would not be easily trapped by Satan's tricks. My brothers, Satan often tempts us humans with arrogance, so that we already think we know everything, feel capable of doing it ourselves, and think we don't need to be taught or guided anymore. God's word in Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall".
The Third Temptation
The most tempting temptation was prepared by Satan in the final scene. Satan tempted Jesus to engage in idolatry, which is evil in the eyes of God. Satan wanted to replace God's position as the center of worship for all creation. The saying that Satan "showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor". refers to the lust of the eyes. Sinful desires often originate in the eyes, where we see vain things. Therefore, we need to pray earnestly that God will keep our eyes pure and prevent us from being tempted to sin when we see vain things.
It goes on to say “all this I will give you,“ he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.” An attractive offer because you will gain wealth, splendor and become a ruler in the blink of an eye. The temptations associated with the splendor of the world so fascinate the heart that if you are not alert and careful then it will be very easy to fall. Matthew Hendry said "The devil deceives humans by showing the world and its splendor, but hides the sin, misery and death that tarnish the beauty of this glory from human eyes." It also hides the troubles and misery that accompany wealth and the thorns in it.
So, basically, Satan's temptations are wrapped in anything attractive, pleasant, or pleasing to the eye, but all of these things result in sin, death, and separation from God. And that is Satan's goal: to get humans to follow his desires and suffer with him in the horrific fires of hell.
Jesus was never in the least tempted by such an attractive offer, so in verse 10 Jesus said to him: “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." Jesus again answered with the words of God in Deuteronomy 6:13 "Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in his name." Our worship must only be directed to God, not to other created creatures. Nothing in this world must shift God's position as the center of worship in our hearts and lives.
Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves whether the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pleasures, and enjoyments of this world have displaced God from our hearts. These are all the work of Satan, who has deceived us, so we must fight against him with perseverance and a love for studying God's Word. Amen.