Kiddushin, Daf Lammed Tet, Part 6
רמי רב טובי בר רב קיסנא לרבא תנן כל העושה מצוה אחת מטיבין לו עשה אין לא עשה לא
ורמינהי ישב ולא עבר עבירה נותנים לו שכר כעושה מצוה
R. Tobi son of R. Kisna pointed out a contradiction to Rava: We learnt: He who performs one mitzvah is rewarded; hence, if he [actively] performs it yes, but if not, no.
But the following contradicts this: If he sits and does not commit a transgression he is rewarded as though he has fulfilled a mitzvah!
According to the mishnah, one needs to perform a mitzvah to receive a reward, but according to the baraita, all one has to do is not transgress in order to be rewarded.
אמר ליה התם כגון שבא דבר עבירה לידו וניצול הימנה
He said to him: There it means, that he had the possibility of transgressing, and he was saved from it.
Simply sitting and not transgressing will not bring one a reward. But if the temptation to transgress arises and one does not transgress, then he will be rewarded.
כי הא דרבי חנינא בר פפי תבעתיה ההיא מטרוניתא אמר מלתא ומלי נפשיה שיחנא וכיבא עבדה היא מילתא ואיתסי ערק טשא בההוא בי בני דכי הוו עיילין בתרין אפילו ביממא הוו מיתזקי למחר אמרו ליה רבנן מאן נטרך אמר להו שני נושאי קיסר שמרוני כל הלילה אמרו ליה שמא דבר ערוה בא לידך וניצלת הימנו דתנינא כל הבא דבר ערוה לידו וניצל הימנו עושין לו נס
As in the case of R. Hanina b. Pappi, whom a certain matron urged [to engage in relations]. He pronounced a certain [magical] formula, whereupon his body was covered with boils and scabs;
But she did something and he was healed.
He fled and hid in a bath-house in which [even] when two entered, even in daytime, they would suffer harm.
The next morning the Rabbis asked him, Who protected you?
He said to them, Two emperor bearers guarded me all night.
They said to him, Perhaps you were tempted with fornication and successfully resisted? For it was taught: Anyone who has the temptation to commit sexual sin and he is protected from it, they make for him a miracle.
The rabbi tries to resist sexual temptation by making himself disgusting, but this does not work for the woman magically heals him. He then escapes and spends the night in a bath-house haunted by demons where a miracle is performed for him and he is healed. In the end we learn that it was his resistance of temptation that protected him.
We should note here the interplay of human initiative and divine intervention. The rabbi is protected because he himself resists temptation. But his ability to resist causes him to be strong enough to be immune to the demons lurking in the bath-house.