Now I've looked at these different verses from James because through them we can summarize the different teachings that the Bible has about temptation. When we summarize them, we see that there are two basic kinds of temptation: temptations from God, which are good (and it's not even good to use that word; “testing” is a better word). And then there are temptations to sin, which are evil. This second kind of temptation, the temptation to sin, may be divided into temptations of the flesh, the world, and Satan. It is over these temptations that every believer must triumph. And therefore it's these we must talk about in this study. 

Have you ever noticed how many times he speaks of being "in the Lord Jesus Christ" in the first four verses of this chapter? Three times! And once he reminds the Philippians that "the Lord is at hand." The solution is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who will do in the lives of yielded Christians what they might judge impossible. You can learn to get along with other Christians only as you surrender yourself to Christ and seek His will, as His Holy Spirit enters your life and begins to make you into the man or woman that he would have you be. 

To be humble, you need to stop thinking about yourself all the time. That's what it means. You need to stop comparing yourself with your boss, the secretary who sits next to you, the other Sunday school teacher, or whoever it is who rubs you the wrong way. Instead, you need to think of what you can do to help that person, just as the Lord Jesus Christ did. 

Have you ever had trouble getting along with another Christian? Perhaps you found it difficult because the other person was unwilling to respond to you, or because of what you suspected was a failure in yourself. Many Christians have the same problem. In fact, even in the New Testament church at Philippi, two good friends of the Apostle Paul were having similar problems. And Paul gave them some good advice. I'm sure that his advice will be helpful to you, too. 

Comparisons such as this defeat any approach to the problem through rules and regulations. And any such comparison turns us back once more to the principles of Scripture. I'd like to suggest three great principles that will help any Christian in at least 99% of his difficulties. These principles are found throughout Scripture, but they are summarized in three important verses: Romans 6:14, 1 Corinthians 6:12 (also 10:23, which repeats it), and Philippians 4:8. These verses tell you that you are to live (as you have been saved) by grace, and that you are to pursue the highest things. Now let's look at these one at a time.