1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 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 remember clearly the day I heard 1 Corinthians 10:13. I was a junior in high school, and I had gone to my youth director for advice on how to handle some internal battles that I was feeling and facing. I desired to follow Christ with my life, yet a war was going on inside me. I knew that God was real and I had a relationship with Christ. I also knew that he had called me to a new way of life, which was to be holy in an unholy world. Even though I didn’t fully understand all that this meant, I knew that I must shed certain external unholy lifestyles as well as the internal mind wars. But I felt a sense of desperation. I felt that no one else could understand the war raging inside me. I felt very human hopelessness. I was in no way suicidal, but I felt like I was on the front line of the battlefield and there was no way to win.
Have you ever felt that way? I know you have. Do you how I know this? Because of 1 Corinthians 10:13!
My youth director, Eddie Wright, opened his Bible and said, “Billy, God speaks to us about this internal war of holiness versus unholiness—temptation and desires.” Then he read this passage to me, and made sure I knew where to find it in my Bible. He pointed out some very important things from this passage.
- The battle in the soul is very real. For the Christian, it is a battle of unholy lifestyles that erode the soul if left unchecked—that is the temptation to give in.
- The battle is the same battle that every other believer faces. You are NOT alone in this war that rages in your soul.
- But God is faithful! If you trust him, turn to him, walk with him, he will not let you deal with more than you can handle.
- He will provide a way out so that you can endure!
This verse might be one of the top 5 revolutionary and life-shaping verses that I learned in my teenage years. This is where we are going to land in our teaching this Sunday morning.
We are dealing with the unholy behaviors that can erode the Ekklesia, the Body of Christ. We are dealing with sexual immorality as well as the whole host of unholy lifestyles that can erode and corrode not only our individual lives, but the life of the whole Body of Christ—the Church, the Ekklesia.
To prepare for this Sunday, read…
I will see you Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
