Could Paul's "thorn in his flesh to buffet him, a messenger of satan" be a persistent temptation toward some particular behaviour Paul wanted to be free of? If not, why not?
The point you are not concentrating on....
It really does not matter what the thorn in Pauls' flesh was.
Essentially, it was there to reveal something to Paul.
To reveal to Paul that Paul was nowhere as strong as he thought himself to be.
He had been a strong willed, staunch, legalist.
That factor had Paul walking in a delusion about himself that God needed to demolish.
And the thorn, without a doubt, was to show Paul how weak and helpless he really was where it was needed to please God.
Paul was drowning in his weakness.
Grace jumped in and rescued Paul.
It taught Paul to fully depend upon God's power for all his needs.
In other words...
If we could be stronger than the devil, the flesh, and our circumstances?
We would not need grace.
God was training Paul to walk in His power of grace for all his needs.
We need to realize the following... ..
Christianity was a revolutionary new way of living having been unknown to the OT Jews.
God had to begin teaching and training the teacher, as to have the teacher to be able to teach others about grace.
Note! God does not tell Paul that grace is
"unmerited favor."
"Unmerited favor" is a term that feels good to the emotions of those who want to settle for a simple answer.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:8-9
That tells us? Grace is God's power.
Power given to the believer, so that the believer can begin to function in a manner in God's power, in a way
that will merit favor with God!
When grace does its work in us? We become transformed into what merits God's favor!!!
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me
was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—
yet not I, but the grace (power) of God that was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10
Grace is God's enabling power for the Christian.
Divine supernatural power to become and be what He wants us to be!
"Unmerited favor?"
That's like a mother's love?
Fake news has always been our enemy.
Overcoming being wrongly informed by means of sound doctrine, is what makes us victorious in Christ.
We will then walk more and more in the Mind of Christ. Sound doctrine is the Mind of Christ!
grace and peace ..........