Monday, February 29, 2016
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness....Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
BE FAITHFUL TO OUR FAITHFUL GOD (1)
At the time Paul wrote, the Greek city of Corinth was a hotbed of corruption, vice, and immorality. For that reason God's believing children -- whose flesh is a ready and willing ally to the sinful world and Satan, its prince -- faced some powerful and fiery temptations. They needed to hear the apostle's words of encouragement: "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Such a warning has cogent meaning also for us who live in an equally decadent society today.
Many believers have echoed Peter's bold claim: "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble" (Matthew 26:33). Yet he denied that he even knew the Lord. Another disciple, Judas, betrayed his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. In the Old Testament David, called a "king after the Lord’s own heart," fell, committing the dual sins of adultery and murder.
A Christian is a sinner who lives in daily repentance and looks to Jesus for forgiveness and renewal. To the Romans Paul writes: "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (6:1-2) To that holy end let our daily prayer echo that of Martin Luther: "Lord, let Thy holy angel be with me that the wicked foe may have no power over me."
