Summary 1 Corinthians 10:1-11
The children of God in the Old Testament, during the time of
the exodus from Egypt, when God freed them from their slavery, ended up
wandering in the wilderness for some forty years due to the hardness of hearts
of the vast majority of them, and because of their disobedience (their unbelief).
If they had only trusted in and obeyed the Lord, the Promised
Land would have been theirs to possess, but most of them turned to idolatry,
worldliness, sexual immorality, grumbling against God, and setting their hearts
on evil, instead of on serving their Lord God and protector.
But these things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us to keep us from setting our hearts on evil
things as they did.
Thus, we are not to be idolaters, or those who engage in
worldly revelry. And we are not to be those who are committing sexual
immorality in its various forms, either, nor should we be grumbling against God
and putting Him to the test, thinking he will do nothing. For those who
practiced these things died in their sins, and they did not inherit eternal
life with God.
Now this isn’t just some historical information being given
to us here so that we are informed about Israel’s history. This is a warning to
the church, to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And the warning is clear.
If we do as they did, and we ignore our Lord’s commands, and we make sin our
practice, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6;
Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10]
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NIV
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
I believe this Scripture that is often quoted here in verse
13 takes on a different meaning than most give to it when we read it in its
context. This is not some light and fluffy encouragement here to those who are “struggling”
with (regularly giving in to) particular sinful addictions.
Verse 13 is in the context of warnings to us that if we
continue making sin our practice that the Promised Land we are convinced awaits
us will not be ours to possess, but we will most certainly die in our sins no
matter what we have confessed with our lips or think we have believed in our
hearts.
And it isn’t just a warning that when we die that we won’t
go to heaven, but it is a warning of divine judgment here on the earth. For,
not only did they wander in the wilderness for 40 years because of their
disobedience, which was their unbelief, but many of them died prematurely due
to their rebellion.
And the warning here is also one against pride of heart and
mind. Many people are convinced that because they prayed some prayer, or they
were baptized, or they joined a church, or they went through catechism, or they
professed faith in Jesus, that heaven is assured them no matter how they live
their lives on this earth.
So, verse 13 is not some nice little encouragement to us that
we can bypass and say, “Yeah, I know, but ‘yadda, yadda.’” What verse 13 is
saying, in this context, is that not one of us who professes faith in Jesus
Christ has any excuse at all for continuing to live in sin and to engage in
sinful practices.
Jesus Christ, in his death and resurrection, provided us
with the way for us to be free from our slavery to sin so that we can now
become slaves of his righteousness. But this is not optional! It is required
for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God. And yes, it is the work
of God, but we must cooperate with that work by yielding to the Spirit’s
control (Rom 6:1-23).
So many excuses Christians make for why they “struggle” with
(regularly give in to) habitual sin. I think I have probably heard them all.
But this silences the excuses. We are all without excuse if we choose to ignore
our Lord and to go our own way and to live in sin rather than in his
righteousness (See Rom 1:18-32).
Yet not one of us is immune to going back to sin. Every day
we must be putting the deeds of the flesh to death, by the Spirit. Every day we
must be dying to sin and the flesh and we must be walking by the Spirit in the
power of God’s Spirit living within us (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
So, as Christians, we should no longer be trapped in sin. We
should no longer be engaged in willful, deliberate, and often premeditated habitual
sin against our Lord. For, if we live (walk) in sin, making it our practice
(habit), we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God (Gal 5:16-21).
So, we should never tempt fate. We should not willfully put
ourselves in situations where we know we will be tempted to sin and where we
have a history of giving in to sin. We must set our minds on things above and
not on things of this earth. And we must guard our hearts and minds against anything
that would lead us into sin.
If we continually feed our minds with the garbage of this
world – with its philosophies, attitudes, thinking and behaving – then that is
what we are going to produce. So, we need to feed our minds and hearts with the
word of God and we must put that word of God into practice in our daily lives,
and daily by the Spirit be putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
And God is faithful. He will empower us to resist Satan, to
flee temptation, and to walk in holiness, godliness, and righteousness. But we
must yield our lives to his control, surrender to his will, obey his commands, and
not play with fire. We have to set our faces “like flint” (Is 50:7), because
the devil is a roaring lion seeking us to devour us (1 Pet 5:8-9).
Praise
Be Told!
An
Original Work / December 28, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for all our sin.
Our chastisement was upon Him.
By His stripes, we now are healed.
He has witnessed all our trials,
And the sins we choose to wear.
Yet, while we were dead in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins to bear.
He himself bore all of our sins
In His body on a cross,
So that we might die to our sin,
And live for His righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r of Jesus
And His blood shed for our sins,
We can be forgiven our sin,
And have life with God in heav’n.
He will lead us and He’ll guide us
In the way that we should go.
He will comfort and protect us,
Because Jesus, we do know.
Though He disciplines for our good,
He will heal us – Praise be told!
Do not fear, your Lord is with you.
Just have faith in Christ your Lord.
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