Escape

 

Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind.

God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 [NASB])

If you have ever read a Bible, listened to one being read, or heard people quote Scriptures, you have probably heard this verse or something akin to it. Most often, people will use part of it. What they say is, “God will not allow you to be tempted more than you can handle.” There is much more to these two verses Paul wrote than God’s benevolence to a person. These two verses speak almost exclusively about God.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in south-central Greece. The body of Christ, the church, there was experiencing problems within it. (Note: All churches will experience difficulties, temptations, and sin at least once.) Paul wrote to these Christians about the factions and divisions in the church caused by people falling to temptation. He wrote to tell them each member of the church must stand strong in their faith in Jesus to be a unified body of Christ that serves the members and the neighbors outside the church. A Christian’s freedom through Jesus Christ does not mean they are free to sin. Potentially, that would cause a brother or sister in faith to stumble because of his or her example.

To what were the temptations did the Corinthian Christians fall? Lust and craving what they did not have and but wanted. They were discontent with God and seeking only Him. The Corinthian Christians allowed these things and activities they desired to be their gods. These Christians worshiped false gods. Paul said the Corinthian believers wanted to gratify their evil desires and live immorally. By doing this, they caused factions and division in church and caused other believers to falter in the growth of their faith.

Next, Paul reminded these believers about the Israelites, God’s chosen people, and how they had a covenant with God through Moses. Repeatedly, the Israelites broke their covenant with God and sinned against Him. Paul helped the people recall what happened to the Israelites when they sinned. This, hopefully, would cause reflection amongst the Corinthian Christians and influence them to become mature followers of Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthians because he cared for them. He did not want them to fall to temptation, but to stay in a growing faith-relationship with God.

With verses twelve and thirteen, Paul explained how Christians could avoid the snare of temptation, not be seduced to sin. In the New Living Translation of the Bible, Paul’s words in verse twelve say, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful (take action) not to fall.” Just when a Christian thinks he or she has conquered his or her temptations and cannot be tempted again, watch out because one is already in front of you. No one is outside the sphere of temptation. Paul’s word standing comes from the Greek word meaning being steadfast in mind and faith. It involves the mind, heart, and spirit. Indirectly, what Paul said involves action, too. Strong faith in and from God will keep Christians from acting out their desires that He does not approve. Paul meant, do not stop guarding yourself against Satan’s attacks. Put on the armor of God always. No person is strong every minute of his or her life. If that was the case, then Jesus would have had no reason to come to earth and die sinless of a sinner’s death. He died to take our place, so we would not have to die for the judgment of our sins. So, stand strong in your mind and faith and be careful not to fall. Consider the possibility of falling to temptation and being on guard, consider, and take heed (act) to avoid sinning. Living the life of a Christian in a fallen world is like being in a battle.

Paul continued with verse thirteen by telling the Corinthians how to avoid falling to temptation. He began by writing, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.” Remember, in verse twelve, Paul mentioned one must be steadfast in faith and mind and act, so he or she does not fall to temptations. Fight temptations with your whole being–heart, soul, mind, and strength (body). With verse thirteen, Paul reminded them no temptations any Christian faces are different from what other people experience. Each Corinthian Christian (and us) faced what the other did, wallowing in pity and being the lord of their lives, or allowing God to be the only God of their lives. None of us is beyond being tempted by Satan. All people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Jesus came for this reason. He paid the penalty for each person’s sins by dying a criminal’s death, though He had not sinned. Jesus did not leave believers defenseless against temptation. He gave His Holy Spirit upon their belief in Him. Other Christians have faced the same temptation the Corinthians Christians faced and emerged victorious; therefore, each believer can overcome temptations. The Corinthian Christians were not defenseless; no one is. Take heart by remembering the people who walked through and defeated this same temptation. Remember, the ones who went before us, like the Israelites, who fell to temptations, reaped their reward of disciplining and judgment from God.

Even more than recognizing we must be strong and have faith, in both of which falter, we must recognize God and not wallow in self-pity. Paul wrote about God in verse thirteen. He said, “God is faithful.” In the middle of these two verses, Paul reminded the Christians of the most important part of fighting temptations. God is unlike humans who fail in their promises. He always keeps his promises. He abides by them. God’s faithfulness is a fundamental part of His being. He cannot lie or fail. What God says He will do will be done. Everything He promised in the past still holds true. He promised He would be found if we sought Him with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13). God will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8 & Hebrews 13:5). Jesus said to His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house (John 14:2). The Bible is filled with God’s promises to His people and to those who earnestly seek Him. God is always faithful to His children. Faithfulness is inherently part of God. Each believer must hold on to that truth as they battle temptation. They do not fight alone or with failing strength. God gives faith to believe in Him, that He will lead him or her to victory over that temptation.

The third statement Paul wrote in verse thirteen is, “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.” (NLT) God is faithful and God is powerful. Omnipotence is part of who God is. Only He holds the universe in its correct alignment, so cataclysm does not occur and destroy all life. No person is more powerful than God. When fighting Satan’s forces as they strike out against you, a person needs superlative power, power beyond all imagining. The word power comes from the Greek word dunamis, from which the English word “dynamite gets its origin. Besides knowing this, we must recognize Paul did not tell the Corinthian Christians they will fight the temptations alone. God is with the person and will not allow it to be greater than the person can withstand. God knows that each temptation and trial grows a person stronger in their faith and trust in Him. He knows when it will be more than the person can stand up against because the person’s Christian growth has not grown that far. God also knows when a person needs to grow more and allows stretching through trials and temptations. In this verse, remember, God is and has the power (dunamis) to help a Christian get through temptations and to stop it completely, so His child is not overwhelmed. Note that God’s hand in all this. He is faithful. He has and gives His power. God controls how long a temptation/trial will last. Defeating temptation is all about being united with God in heart, mind, body, and soul.

The fourth and final part of verse thirteen states Paul told the Corinthians Christians, “When you are tempted, He (God) will show you a way out so that you can endure.” So, understand well, God won’t let a temptation go longer than you can stand with faith in Him and His power. He will show/give you a way out. He knows the map of the temptation and your desires and leads you, with His light, to green pastures (Psalm 23). Paul began this teaching and encouraging passage by telling the Christians to be careful and make sure they are standing strong against temptations. Look, see, and discern you face temptations and without God, you will not prevail. At the end of verse thirteen, Paul said, “When you are tempted, God will show you the way out and carry you away safely.”

Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians they will still face temptations like they did when they were not believers in Jesus. So, do not be surprised. Paul did not end with that fatalistic thought. He said God is faithful. He is faithful to His children and His promises. Paul continued by reminding the believers God is all-powerful. He can defeat the temptations Satan throws at them. God knows how far a Christian has grown spiritually and has the power to end the temptation at a specific point. The LORD is almighty and gives the strength His people need for the temptation/trial when they ask Him. Inherently, God is faithful, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and almighty. He knows what each person faces at any moment in time and desires to help him or her. Christians must do their part, too. Paul mentioned only two things Christians must do. He said believers must be steadfast in mind and spirit (vs. 12 a) and “be careful not to fall.” Christians must remember He is always with them, giving them His power and strength, and making a way for them to greener pastures (Psalm 23).

Being careful not to fall requires action. Believers in Jesus must act on the faith and trust they have in God. They act based on who God is, His promises, and what He has done and can do; He can do everything. The faith and actions of Christians are not baseless. Christians’ lack of faith can cause harm to themselves and their relationships with family, friends, God, and believers in the body of Christ. Paul addressed the Corinthians Christians because of their sins of living like non-Christians: visiting temple prostitutes, worshiping idols, cheating people out of money. In essence, they made their desires into their gods and did not follow the LORD God. Be aware when you sin, you cause disunity in the church, just as the Corinthian church experienced. You cause other believers to stumble. And you allow yourself to be led astray by Satan. When Christians live by God’s power against temptation, they gain more faith, grow more like Jesus, grow closer in relationship with God, grow stronger relationships with other people, strengthen the church to follow God more diligently, and bring God glory 1 Corinthians 10:31b).

Where do you stand in your relationship with God? Are you fighting temptations in your own weak strength and power? Or are you calling on almighty God to fight with you, give you faith, and show the way out of that situation. From this, your relationship with Him will grow and be an example of His faithfulness to someone who watched you conquer that temptation. Do not stop praying for strength to combat temptations. They will confront you every day.

 Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 [NABS])

God is faithful, all-powerful (omnipotent), almighty, all-knowing (omniscient), and always-present (omnipresent). You face and endure nothing without His knowing, His light, His power, and His strength because He is always faithful to His promises to His children. Going through trials and temptations can be all about God or all about ourselves. You choose and that choice decides the outcome of the temptation. What you choose can and will affect other believers, your neighbors, and the church.

 

Ego and Glory

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 [NLT])

Many people look at these two verses and read, “God is faithful and won’t give you more than you can handle.” That is all they recall. I believe that is what Satan wants them to recall. But there is more to this passage. We must begin at the beginning of the chapter to understand fully what God wrote through Paul.

In the first eleven verses of this chapter, Paul reminded the Corinthians of the Israelites’ history. He reminded them how God had guided them by a cloud and how He had parted the sea so they could walk on dry ground to escape Pharaoh’s army. Paul recalled for them how the Israelites ate and drank the food and water God sent for them each day. Then he explained anew how these same people whom God rescued displeased God. The Israelites worshipped idols, complained about food and drink, celebrated with feasting and drinking and pagan revelry that included sexual immorality. God responded to these people with faithfulness and disciplined them and removed the ones who led others astray. He sent snakes to bite the sinners and the angel of death to remove them from among the Israelites.

The point Paul made with this recollection of the history of Israel is they put God to the test. He told the Corinthians they should not put Christ to the test. They should not test God’s patience and faithfulness to us just as those who died from snakebites did. What God did to the Israelites for discipline purposes were examples to the Corinthians and us so we would not challenge God with our rebellion. Paul said in verse eleven, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

Of what does this warn us? Paul explained this in the rest of the chapter, but he gives the how in verses twelve and thirteen. In verses fourteen through thirty, he said not to give offense to others who possibly are weaker in the faith or who are not Christians by your actions. Don’t create temptations for yourself by the freedom Christ gave you and so put your guard down when you eat things that you knew people offered as sacrifices to idols. And don’t anger God by your freedom by saying “all things are permissible.” (vs. 23) Paul warned the Corinthians and us of this. You notice in these three things, each action would affect a relationship - yours with others, yours with yourself, and yours with God.

With this understanding, Paul told them how to withstand temptation. Before we understand that, we need to understand human ego. Most people think they are strong enough to stand against temptation, but if that were so, all the addicts over the history of time and wouldn’t be addicts, whether addicts of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, porn, abuse, food, shopping, or whatever. Yet, if we truly look at human history and ourselves, we recognize, we are not strong enough to stand against all temptations. We are not Christ who stood strong against Satan’s temptations in the desert. Humans eventually collapse when faced with certain temptations in their lives. We each have weaknesses. Our egos tell us we are strong enough and can do this or that without failing, and sometimes we can. Most of the times, though, we cannot.

At this point is where Paul’s statement in verses twelve and thirteen come to play. He said, “If you think you are standing strong,” when often we are not standing strong. Paul knew humanity’s weaknesses because he recognized his own weaknesses. He had been a self-righteous Pharisee. “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” Paul knew at some point each person succumbs to temptation and warns them not to think too highly of themselves and their capabilities. Again, with verse thirteen, he reminded them that the failures of others we see around us, their weaknesses and falling to temptations, could be us, too. We are like every other person who walked the earth. We are weak and cannot stand up to every temptation.

Paul didn’t stop at that point and cause the Corinthians or us to despair. He reminded us about God and His characteristics. Paul continued, “God is faithful. He will not allow temptation to be more than you can stand.” Notice, God is the One who is all-knowing, always faithful, and all-powerful. Paul reminded the readers of this letter they are no stronger than any other person who’s lived, but God is stronger, is strongest, is faithful, and loves us. Because of God’s faithfulness, love, and knowledge of each of us, “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.” Don’t stop at that point, though. If you do, you will interpret this passage as many secular Christians and non-Christians do, with an off-the-cuff faith. It’s like the saying you hear from people, “God’s got my back.” It requires no faith in God is required to say that. That saying doesn’t give you the strength to walk through a situation. It’s just a saying, like when people say, “God won’t allow me to experience more than I can handle.” With those statements by people, no faith or covenant with God is required to say it. Paul reminds us instead that God’s wisdom, strength, faithfulness, and love, His covenant with us as His children, that sees us through the situation.

Paul completed his thoughts on this with, “When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” God is the One who makes a way. He won’t give you more than you can handle, and He will show you the way out so you can endure. The ability to withstand temptation is all about God. Paul made sure we understood that. He showed the frailties and weaknesses of humanity in verse twelve. We bring nothing to the table by which we can go through difficulties other than our faith in God, our covenant relationship with Him. God brings everything to the table for us to get through these times. He brings His knowledge, power, wisdom, love, and faithfulness that gets us through hard times. God is faithful to His covenant with His children. He will show us how to get through situations in our lives. What we bring to the table in these situations is our faith in Him and our obedience to His direction. We have no power and wisdom to get us through every trial.

God’s covenant with His children and their covenant with Him affects their relationship, and it affects their relationships with the people around them, and their relationship with themselves. Paul made sure the Corinthians and later readers understood this. When we stand strong because of God and give Him the glory, it strengthens our resolve and grows us to be more like Christ. It affects the people around us who see our trials and watch how we walk through them. When you testify and live a life of testimony to God, others grow, too. Our relationship with that person grows. This is the overarching learning point for the Corinthian Christians. Their lives should be a living testimony to the people watching them. This is what Paul meant when he said in verses thirty-one and thirty-two, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.” Live a life of testimony giving God the glory for everything you do and all that He does in your life and it will affect other believers, non-believers, and your own life.

Paul ended this chapter with, “I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.” (vs. 33b) Satan wants to make us think we are unable to do things or that we can face things without God’s help. Satan lies.

Be faithful to God. Be true to your covenant with Him. He is always faithful to you. He will not allow a temptation to be more than you can stand and will always show you a way out so you can endure.

Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

If you are not yet a child of Yahweh God, you can be by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Admit you are a sinner. Believe in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to Him. God loves you and wants to save you from your sins and death. He wants to have an eternal relationship with you.

Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9 [NLT])

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:9 [NLT])

Lord, so often I just push through a difficulty in my own strength and forget to ask You for Your wisdom and help. I think, “I’ve got this!” In that thinking, I have rebelled against You. Please forgive me for thinking better of myself than I am. Help me remember, You are the reason I live and am saved from sin and death. Not of my own strength, intellect, or reasoning have I survived, but only because of You. Help me to seek You and then to give You all the glory. Help me to remain totaled devoted to You. Use me to share about Your love and faithfulness to people around me. Amen.

Choosing to Face the Storms

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! (Matthew 26:41 [NLT])

Think about boating on Lake Erie or the Mediterranean Sea. The day begins with sun, calm seas, and a small breeze. You and a friend decide it’s  a beautiful day to take the sailboat out on the water. You raise the sails to get out of port. As you laze on deck with sails furled in the middle of the lake or sea, a wind arises that makes your boat rock furiously from starboard to port. Unfurling the sails will only cause you to catch too much wind and make your boat toss and turn at the storm’s mercy. A large ocean-going vessel comes to your starboard offering ropes to moor your boat to the ship’s sheltering side away from the wind. What should you do? Accept the offer or take your chances to ride out the storm?

Jesus knew about storms. He knew what caused humanity to stumble, when we face temptations and act upon them. These temptations when acted upon lead to sin. Each person alive has sinned. It’s part of the curse when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of which God told them not to eat. Jesus knew from where sin came. He addressed it immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.” The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. (Mark 1:10-13a [NLT])

Jesus understood humanity had great difficulty facing temptations. He faced temptations immediately after John baptized Him. Jesus faced temptations like any human does throughout His life. At any point in His three-year ministry, He could have said He wasn’t the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Christ, or the Messiah, then the Jewish religious leaders wouldn’t have challenged Him daily. Jesus could have said He was just a man whom God called to be a prophet. That’s what the people thought He must be.

Jesus faced the temptation to back down from the challenges presented by the people and the challenges presented by Satan. He willingly walked the path set before Him. Why? So, sin would be defeated and Jesus would have victory over death-eternal death, which is separation from God. Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that as sinless man, He could give power over temptation and sin to every person who believes in Him as their Savior and Lord. In the desert, Jesus was hungry. It would have been wonderful to enjoy a full stomach and so turn the stone into bread. But He didn’t do it. It would have been a relief if the angels of God’s kingdom carried Him from the heights while Satan tempted by Him. But He didn’t ask for their help.

Jesus faced the temptations to sin as a man and as the Son of God so He could give strength to people and enable them to overcome temptations without sinning. Our temptations do not differ from anyone else’s temptations. The foremost thought we have is to put our own selves first instead of seeking God and His will.  Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” [NLT] When you face  temptations, God is there ready to help you overcome them. In overcoming temptations, you must battle them, not ignore them. These battles strengthen you if you rely on the strength of God to get through the temptation and not to sin. If you rely on your own strength, you do not grow, but become prideful, another sin. This is key to overcoming power. We must rely on God to overcome by going through the struggle against temptation. Only God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Only He knows how to get through and become stronger.

Jesus chose to go through temptations instead of avoiding them. Avoiding them would not have made Him the conqueror. Facing temptations and overcoming them makes conquerors of people who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ choice to face temptation, stand up to it, and overcome it, gives His followers His power to do the same thing. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31b-39.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one-for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened to death? (As Scriptures say, “For Your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NLT]

Jesus, because of His and the Father’s great love for us, came to earth to live as a man, to face temptation just as a man, and to overcome temptation because He is God. He died and rose to life again to provide us, each believer in Him as Lord and Savior, the ability not to sin and not to face eternal death. Jesus did not turn away from temptation but chose to go through it to prove He is the Son of God. By this, He gives us power to overcome and grow through our times of temptation. No wonder Jesus challenged His inner circle of Peter, James, and John when He repeatedly found them asleep as He was praying for strength to face, battle, and overcome His biggest challenge, the challenge to save our souls and make a way for us to be righteous and be in a relationship with God. With these words, these three disciples heard Jesus’ challenge, and He recognized their weakness. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 [NLT]) These three men wanted to be faithful disciples of Jesus, but they were unable to face the temptation to sleep instead of keeping watch-praying.

We can overcome temptations and weaknesses and become stronger because of it. Jesus said that strength comes from God through prayer. Acknowledge your weakness. Ask God for His strength to walk with you through the temptation and to grow you as you walk with Him through it. Then pray with thanksgiving, praising God for the strength He gave you and the growth He caused because you walked with Him instead of falling asleep or walking in your own strength at the time of trial.

Consider the sail boat tossed furiously by the sudden storm. Consider yourself in that storm-tossed boat when a large steady ocean-going vessel offers you mooring ropes by which to secure your boat to the calmer side of that ship. Jesus is like that large ship. He provides His strength for you to hold on to while facing your temptations, your storms. With His strength and guidance, you can get through the storm and to your destination with less injury than if you faced the storm by yourself. You will be able to face another day and be wiser because of it. After having gone through that storm with Jesus, you will be able to help someone else face their temptations. Those temptations have made you more than a conqueror. You have become a stronger Christian in your prayer, thought, and physical life.

We are more than conquerors.

How?

Through Christ Jesus, who loves us.

Only with Jesus will we get through a temptation, conquer it, and become more than we were before the temptation. We are more than conquerors because of Jesus.

Lord, I have faced temptations. I have failed at times, too. I hate going through hard times. You, Lord, chose to face temptations because of Your love for me. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to do that, but You did it anyway. You loved me before You even knew me. Lord, I am undeserving of Your love. Make me more like You. Forgive me of my sins and wanting to live life my way. Help me not to shrug away battles and temptations because I am afraid, but to seek You by prayer and walk with You through them. Help me grow to be more like You, for You, Lord, are almighty. You are all-knowing. You chose to come to the world to die for my and other people’s sins because You love us. Thank you, Lord. Make me more like You. Mold me into Your image for Your purposes and glory. Amen.