This life is a journey into eternity. During the journey of this life, those who seek eternal life and immortality must engage themselves in a spiritual battle to insure the safety of their souls. The spiritual battle involves encountering temptations to sin and achieving victory over such temptations.
We all have freedom of choice. We can choose to do good or to do evil. When we do good, we move ourselves closer to our ultimate salvation. (Rom. 2:7; 6:16,22) It is true that eternal life is a gift (Rom. 6:23), but we still must become servants of righteousness in order to obtain eternal life. (Rom. 6:22) When we do evil, we sin. Temptation precedes sin. Our regular and daily response to temptation determines the fate of our souls.
St. Mark the Ascetic said:
What repayment for all these blessings can you possibly make to Him who has called your soul to eternal life? It is only right, then, that you should live no longer for yourself, but for Christ, who died for your sake and rose again. In your struggle to acquire every virtue and to fulfil every commandment, always seek "the good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2), endeavouring with all your strength to pursue it. (Letter to Nicolas the Solitary, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 153)
The spiritual tradition of the Church teaches that there are six stages of temptation: provocation, momentary disturbance of the intellect, coupling, assent, prepossession, and passion.
Provocation occurs when one receives the initial suggestion to sin. This is the first stage of temptation. This suggestion to sin may come from people or from demons. In The Shepherd, an angel tells St. Hermas that everyone has two angels assigned to him or her. One angel encourages one to do good and the other one encourages one to sin. (The Shepherd, Commandment VI) One can avoid the other stages of temptation by rejecting sin immediately after one receives the initial suggestion to sin.
If one is continually assaulted with the suggestion to sin, one should start making the sign of the Cross. This is a physical act of prayer that the demons strongly dislike. One can also start praying the Jesus prayer. This is a very simple, short prayer based on the publican's prayer in St. Luke's Gospel. (St. Luke 18:13) It is: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The continual repetition of this prayer and the sign of the Cross will drive the demons away.
If the temptation is coming from people, then one must know how to respond to those who want to lure one into sin. The Jesus prayer, the sign of the Cross, and calling on the assistance of the Mother of God and the Saints might be necessary depending on how one is being tempted by others to sin. Openly confessing one's allegiance to Christ may also be necessary and might discourage others from trying to get one to sin. Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in Heaven." (St. Matt. 10:32,33) In such a situation one is confronted with two choices: to openly confess one's allegiance to Christ or to deny Christ and participate in the sins others seek to involve one in. One choice is a step towards eternal life and the other is a step towards eternal damnation. (St. John 5:29) If one fears God, one will, of course, make the right choice.
In the Bible, there are several admonitions to abstain from the company of people who want to drag one into sin. (Prov. 1:10-19; II Cor. 6:14-18) We must associate with all kinds of people in this world, but it is not necessary that we adopt the interests and lifestyles of everyone. If someone wants you to go to a place where sinful activity is going on, all you have to say is no. If they ask why, you can start talking about your relationship with God and your quest for eternal life in His Kingdom.
The next stage of temptation is momentary disturbance of the intellect. At this stage, one has a thought to sin. The concept of sin is in one's mind. If one continues to dwell on this idea of committing sin, then one advances to the next stage of temptation, coupling. If one replaces the thought of sin with holy thoughts, then one avoids advancing to the next stage of temptation.
Prayer, fasting, and other ascetical labors are necessary to combat temptations when they have advanced beyond the first stage.
Coupling is the third stage of temptation. When one reaches this stage of temptation, one has already committed sin in one's heart. Coupling involves playing with the idea of committing sin, thinking about doing it and even thinking about how one will do it and possibly even avoid being caught doing it.
The fourth stage of temptation is assent. At this stage, one makes a mental decision to commit a sin.
The fifth stage is prepossession. One arrives at this stage when one has repeatedly committed a particular sin over and over again in the past. The sin becomes a habit.
One must exercise much effort to resist such sins when one has reached the fifth stage of temptation. Fasting, prayer, reading the Bible and other holy books, practicing the remembrance of death, and other ascetical practices are necessary to defeat a prepossession.
If one does not fight vigorously against a prepossession, then one will advance to the sixth stage of temptation, passion. At this stage, a particular sin dominates one's life to such an extent that one not only commits a sin by habit, but is overly preoccupied with the practice of that sin.
It is very difficult to defeat a passion. One must fast, pray, and try to continually weaken the tendency to commit such sins that have become passions. It takes a lot of help from God and a lot of asceticism in order to gain the victory in such cases.
Steve
Bibliography
The Philokalia, volumes 1-4, compiled by St. Nikodemus of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated from the Greek and edited by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, published by Faber and Faber, Ltd., London, copyright 1979 by The Eling Trust
Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
