October 16, 2024
1 Corinthians 10
“So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” Did you know that we have the capabilities not to sin because of Christ and the Holy Spirit that abides in us; but we are sinners, 1John 1:8, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Let us not be prideful and think we are not sinners. The capability not to sin as a Christian may be there but will never be reached in this realm. We as Christians are Saints that sin, because all sin is manifested by our heart, what we take in or internalize from the world, by the temptations that we experience. How do we interpret and handle temptations? Does it make us feel guilty or do we brush it off and say, “I am only human”, or like the above statement, being prideful that we have the ability to overcome sin. Of course, we are human and as Christians the Holy Spirit abides in us, giving us strength to persevere through the temptation.
So how do we handle temptation? In English, the word “temptation” has a negative notation. In the Greek it has added meaning “to prove” or “to test”. This word would only be defined by the context of the paragraph. For example, Got tested Abraham when He was told to sacrifice his son Issac, Genesis 22:1-19. The test could have turned into a temptation that would have resulted in a sin had Abraham said, “Are you sure?” and disobeyed. Job is another example of being tested. Job 2:10, ‘“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?’ Throughout all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” When God tests us He tests us to bring out righteousness and He will not test us with evil.
Romans 6:12, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.” Our sin begins in our bodies, the heart more specifically. The devil and his minions do not cause you to sin. They may have some external cause but the Bible is clear, “He who is in you is more powerful than he who is in the world”, 1 John 4:4. You say I was tempted but scripture is clear too, God will not allow supernatural temptations to overcome us but only that that is common to man. Oh my, how can this be? Temptations are difficult. Why does the Bible say that temptations are only those that are common to man? How do I overcome them?
Let’s look at Revelation 3:14-22. The church at Laodicea was a church that was prestigious and overconfident, rich and in need of nothing, Rev 3:17. Jesus uses the illustration of them being neither hot or cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth, Rev 3:16. The hot or cold is neither good or bad but is referencing the aqueducts to move hot mineral water in from Hierapolis and cool fresh water in from Colossae. The water from both aqueducts had to travel many miles to reach Laodicea and the hot water cooled down and the cool fresh water became lukewarm. The mineral water had medicinal benefits for the body to bathe in and the fresh water was for consumption. The point: both, the hot mineral water and the cool fresh water, had its benefits but because they were far from the original source the benefits were reduced to vomiting out of His mouth. They were far from the source, so the benefits were reduced. Jesus is our source. In trials or temptations, the only way out of them all is by enduring them, going through them, James 1:2-4, and Jesus said He would never leave or forsake us but endure, Psalm 94:14.
Jesus said, “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13. In other words, help us not to internalize our circumstances to be drawn into sin. Help us to endure through our circumstances trusting in you as Abraham did, as Job did. Not to be overconfident that we cannot be tempted because we can. Pride comes before the fall, Proverbs 16:18. We are all human, and we will all sin even as a Christian. God is faithful and will provide a way out, you have the responsibility to take that way out. In your failure to take the way out, God can still use a broken vessel, 2 Timothy 2:21. Your sin cannot take you out of His hand, John 10:28.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, forgive us of our sin. You are our source for everything. You have been patient with us through our sin. Your temple, our bodies, are dirty on the inside from time to time. Holy Spirit, cleanse us. We pray that we wait upon you, to endure the challenges of life, not to internalize our circumstances, not to blame or complain but to endure. That our patience will be perfected in You, Lord Jesus. Day by day, moment by moment let us give to You, all of us so our sin becomes less and less.
Amen
