David Bahn – Reflections

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I’m using the 49 Week Bible Challenge for these blog posts. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Exodus 17;32; Numbers 20; 25.

1 Corinthians 10:11-13

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

I can resist everything but temptation. This quote by Oscar Wilde seems humorous. But while his saying is humorous, for an unbeliever it is also sad and true. Those without Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Scriptures do not have the internal strength to resist temptation. The devil, the world and the sinful flesh will always win. That is true especially of the fundamental sin: to refuse to honor God, to hold onto their own arrogant pride. Wilde struggled with faith and eventually came to reflect deeply on Christ’s compassion, suffering, and forgiveness, calling Jesus “the most supreme of individualists.”

Those who do believe in Jesus – who have been brought to faith – must never hide behind Wilde’s ascertion. Paul is making that clear in this passage from 1 Corinthians 10. First he warns against pride – the foundational sin. He urges us to consider the history of Israel to learn from their example of faithlessness, and to be humble before God and man. Then he promises that whenever temptation comes our way we will be presented a way out. God will make a way for us to escape the pitfall that temptation is.

Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Those two not only go together, they reflect the lesson Jesus surely learned during his time after his baptism and in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan. Jesus knows what it is like to face temptation. He also knows deliverance. For not only did he rely on the Scripture to thwart Satan’s schemes, he was also ministered to by angels at the end of those 40 days.

It seems to me that the key to resisting temptation is twofold. First we must rely on God’s strength, the Holy Spirit’s power and the truth of Scripture if we are to resist temptation. Second – and perhaps just as important – we must flee from temptation. We must take advantage of the way of escape that God promises. Even that may be difficult because temptation can be so pleasant – it can seem so appealing to give in to anger, frustration, greed, lust, or bitterness. But when God provides a way out, we must take it!