3524 - Lead Us Not into Temptation by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 1, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 30.

3524 — Lead Us Not into Temptation

By Editor

James 1:13: "Neither tempteth He any man." Matt. 6:13 says, "Lead us not into temptation." How do you harmonize these texts? Is the word "lead" the right translation?

God is said to do or not to do what He suffers, or permits, to be done or not to be done. "Lead" or "bring" is a proper translation. We have heard uninstructed converts talk of going where temptation is thickest; they were ready to meet the devil anywhere. The prayer taught by Jesus is designed to teach us a sense of our own weakness in the plea that God will keep us from the power of evil. It is pleading His promises with a sense of our need. See 1 Cor. 10:12, 13.