Genesis 3:1-5: in context

The serpent, more subtle than any creature, approaches the woman with a question: did God really say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? She corrects him, but he presses further, contradicting God outright: you will not really die; God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. In a few sentences the tempter has moved from questioning God's word to denying it, and from denying it to impugning God's goodness.

The serpent's method is worth studying, because temptation still works this way. He begins by casting doubt on God's word: did God really say? He does not deny it outright at first; he simply raises the question, unsettles the certainty, gets the woman wondering whether God's command was real, or reasonable, or as clear as she thought. And then, once the word is in doubt, he attacks God's goodness: God is holding out on you, he suggests; the command is not for your good but to keep you down, to deny you something wonderful; God knows that this would make you like him, and he does not want that for you. So the two moves of temptation: first, is God's word really true and binding? and second, is God really good, or is he keeping something good from you? These are the same two doubts the tempter still plants in us. When we are tempted, we are led first to question whether God's word really means what it says, whether the command really applies, whether it is as serious as we thought; and second, to suspect that God's command is not for our good but a needless restriction, that God is withholding something that would make us happy. Believe those two doubts, that God's word is not really binding and that God is not really good, and the fruit looks irresistible. The defense is to hold fast to both truths the serpent attacks: that God's word is true and means what it says, and that God is good, so that his commands, even the ones that deny us something, are for our good and not to deprive us. The serpent's lie was that God could not be trusted, in his word or in his heart. The truth is that he can be trusted in both.

When I am tempted, do I let the serpent's two doubts take hold, that God's word does not really mean what it says, and that God is withholding good from me rather than seeking my good, or can I hold fast to the truth he attacks, that God's word is true and God is good, so that even his commands that deny me something are for my good?