If God gave us free will, why is it Satan can still tempt us?

Answer:

A good question. Free will means that God allows you to make choices in your life. God decided before making the world that He wanted people who followed Him because they want to do so, not because they had to. But what if you were never given a choice?

"You have your choice of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch or Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. Which would you like?" You would rightly claim that it wasn't a choice at all.

So when God put the man in the garden, He gave Adam a choice. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:16-17). Notice that God even told Adam what would happen if he broke God's law. Of course, you know the story of what happened in Genesis 3 when Satan tempted Eve. You could say that Satan took advantage of the fact that Eve had the right to choose to tempt her into making the wrong choice. If Eve didn't have a choice, then Satan would not have been able to tempt her.

Satan still does this today to us. He uses our natural, built-in desires against us to encourage us to make wrong choices. "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren" (James 1:13-16). God doesn't stop Satan from tempting us because doing so would eliminate our free choice.

But God does limit Satan. Satan can't do just anything he pleases. God makes sure that you have a fair chance to choose what is right. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (I Corinthians 10:13).