1 Cor 10:12
So, if you think you are standing firm,
be careful that you don't fall! NIV
One of the
biggest problems in the church at Corinth was the lack of understanding how to
properly apply God’s grace. All throughout the book of First Corinthians, Paul
had to correct them for abusing their freedom in Christ. When they tried to
convince him that they had “knowledge,” about spiritual matters, he replied, “We know that we all possess knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something
does not yet know as he ought to know.” (1 Cor 8:1-2)
What he
meant by that is that knowledge, if not tempered by love, can lead to improper
application of scripture. In turn, that can harm people rather than help. Paul
will give many examples of this in this letter, including the above warning.
Just before
this warning, he explains that during the exodus, even though all the Hebrews
had access to God’s supernatural provision and all could see His miraculous
powers employed on their behalf, their disobedience had brought judgment upon
them. Paul informs the Corinthians that they should be paying attention to that
example. 1 Cor 10:6 Now these things
occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they
did.
What he is conveying
to them, is that the children of Abraham had taken God’s grace for granted and
that they, the believers in Corinth, were doing the same thing. It seems that
the Corinthians felt that they could continue in certain sins and that God
would not hold them accountable. Furthermore, they often did not consider
others in their “liberty” in Christ,” and caused others to stumble. There was a
prideful attitude present.
So Paul
warns them to not make the same mistakes that the Hebrew children did. Instead
of taking advantage of God’s grace, they should be looking for ways to stay out
of sin. He states t that it is possible to avoid sinning because God provides a
way of escape from temptation! (v.13)
The
application for us today is pretty obvious. We can often think that we are
standing firm in our relationship to the Lord because God’s grace covers all
our sin. That is true, but if we are willing to take that grace lightly and sin
with impunity, it calls into question whether we truly have committed our life
to Him or not. When we have surrendered our heart to Jesus, our desire is to do
what is pleasing to Him.
When we are
tempted to sin, we should be looking for
and then using that way of escape, rather than thinking we can participate
in it and then rely on God’s forgiveness. We should not think our standing is Christ
is so firm, that we cannot ever fall. All of us will continue to face the
opportunity to sin and thus an opening to give in to its lure. It is a daily
choice we must make.
I pray that
each day we live, we would choose to put on the full armor of God (Eph 6), so
that we may stand against the enemy and our own flesh. I pray that we would
choose obedience to God and His word by the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5). I
pray that we would always remember Paul’s exhortation to be careful about sin
and not arrogant. And when we are victorious over temptation, lets be careful
to give glory to whom it belongs, Jesus Christ, our faithful Lord and Savior!
God bless
you
Coach
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