Every human being knows the seducing power of temptation. Some temptations are more subtle in their approach and can be easily yielded to if their nature is not apparent. So how can we learn to overcome temptation?
St Paul in this chapter, 1 Corinthians 10, has already described how the Israelites, having been released from bondage in Egypt were faced with difficult circumstances. He reminds the Corinthians of some of the Israelites’ behaviour that led Yahweh to allow many of them to be overthrown in the wilderness. He instances their desire for evil [v.6], shown in their idolatry, their sexual immorality, and their putting Christ to the test. [vs.7-9]. Their grumbling brought their destruction. [v.10].
Corinth was a place where evil was rampant. In fact, there was a term at the time [“to corinthianize”], which meant doing evil. There would have been many temptations of various kinds to those who lived there. So St Paul wrote to encourage the believers to realise that temptation could be overcome. We look at what he wrote to them.
1Corinthians 10:13-14, “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. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” ESV.
We note four things in these verses.
1]. TEMPTATION IS UNIVERSAL, AFFECTING ALL PEOPLE. VERSE 13
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”
Every human ever born faces temptations. The reason we’re tempted is because of internal desires. Temptations in and of themselves are not evil. We know this because Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). The problem comes when we give in to our desires. But being tempted is not sin. It is only as we yield to temptation that we sin.
2]. GOD LIMITS THE POWER OF TEMPTATION. VERSE 13
“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability”
The question that arises is this, ”Does God tempt us.” The answer is decidedly No! As James wrote in his epistle, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” 1:13-14.
However God may allow humans to be tempted in His permissive will when it helps to fulfil His purposes. For example, when one faces temptation and overcomes it, it strengthens that person and makes them realise that temptations can indeed be overcome. God knows all about us. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. His promise to humans is that He is faithful and will not allow any temptation to come upon us that He knows is beyond our ability to deal with.
3]. GOD MAKES PROVISION FOR US TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION. VERSE 13
“but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
The Greek word for “way of escape” is [ekbasis]. It comes from [ek] meaning “out of” and [basis] meaning the foot, or the step taken, that is, to walk out. The “way” is not described here but God knows what is the best method of rescuing His servants when they are faced with temptation.
One example from early in my time as Leader of the Healing Ministry in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney. I received a letter in the mail from a young fellow who said that a few weeks before he was walking down George Street [where the Cathedral is situated] to go to the Sydney Harbour bridge to jump over to commit suicide. However, as he passed the Cathedral, he heard some singing and entered the Cathedral to see what was going on. It was the Wednesday night Healing Service. When the singing stopped, he listened to the sermon and was convinced that there was still hope for him in life. He returned home vowing never to think about suicide again. The way of escape for him was to hear the music and the singing and wanting to know why people were singing joyfully in the heart of the city.
I am amazed as I read about people contemplating suicide who picked up a Gideon’s Bible they had received years earlier and began to read it. Their lives were transformed by doing so. Yet they had never read it before. Their noticing it, picking it up to read it, became the way of escape from temptations to suicide. God has many ways of capturing the attention of the people He has created.
4]. HUMANS MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GOD’S PROVISION. VERSE 14
14 “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
God has done His part in providing all we need to live successful lives in this world. But we have to play our part in taking hold of those resources. Forgiveness for all our sins is available in Christ, but we have to receive Him to receive the forgiveness that is to be found in Him alone, as St Paul wrote, “ In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:7. God has given humans the opportunity to receive eternal life, but we have to receive it by receiving Christ into our lives. As St John wrote, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”1 John 5:11-12. Humans can choose to receive the grace of God or they can reject His love and His grace. But they are responsible for their choices.
The Corinthians were surrounded by idolatry and all the evil associated with it. But St Paul had shown them that there was no god but Yahweh and that worshiping other figures was idolatry. So his command to them was to “flee from idolatry.” They were to put some distance between themselves and any form of idolatry, both mentally and perhaps even geographically.
St Paul’s words apply to us today. We are to face temptation knowing we can overcome it by using the way of escape He has for us individually. And we need to flee from the temptation to place anything or anyone as being more important than Him. For as he had written in the same chapter, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Our focus must be on Him, on His grace and love and also upon His holiness. He gives us the grace to become different, to learn to overcome temptation, to become more holy is His sight if we surrender our lives to Him. That is the challenge that faces every human every day.
Blog No.570 posted on Friday 28 March 2025.
holbeck 
576. GALATIANS Chapter 1 Verse 4. Huge Salvation Truths In A Few Words.
It’s amazing how very often complex truths can be expressed simply in a few words. One great example of this is in St Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In one verse in particular, he concisely summarises the reason Jesus humbled Himself to come to earth. It is in chapter 1 verse 4, “who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”
We notice first of all that in the previous verse Jesus is described as, “the Lord Jesus Christ.” The term “Lord Jesus Christ” is used in 61 verses in the New Testament. It reminds us that Jesus was the Christos, the Anointed One, the Messiah whose coming into the world had been prophesied centuries before. But He was also recognised as the kurios, the Lord, a title used of God Himself. Some have asked when did Jesus become “The Lord?” Some shepherds were the first to be told that a new born baby was a Saviour, the Messiah and the Lord, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:11. It was a title the apostle Thomas declared when He met the risen Jesus, “Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!’” John 20:28. Certainly after His resurrection, the disciples had no qualms about recognising Jesus as the Lord, and as the eternal Son of God.
What did Paul write about Jesus in verse 4?
A]. “Who Gave Himself For Our Sins.”
He gave Himself, where “gave” is from didōmi, to give, deliver (up). In the most well-known verse in the Bible the apostle John wrote, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. “Gave” here is the same word didōmi. This verse answers some critics who suggest that God cannot be a God of love if He was willing to give His Son up to death. But Jesus gave Himself to die for the sins of humans. It’s as though in the eternal counsels of God that He and Jesus His Son agreed on the mode of salvation. Their plan was that Jesus would give Himself to die for the sins of the world.
B]. “For Our Sins.”
There are many words for “sin” in the New Testament and the one used here is hamartia. It means a falling short, missing the mark or doing the wrong thing. It is universal among humans as St Paul wrote in Romans using the verb form of the word, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23.
Perhaps there has always been the belief that sin must be punished. The Jews in New Testament times would have been familiar with this verse in Ezekiel, “The one who sins is the one who will die.” Exodus 18:20. Or as St Paul would later write, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.
Forgiveness for human sin could not be earned or deserved. It could only come from the grace of God to those who put their trust in Jesus. As St Paul wrote, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Eph 1:7.
C]. “To Deliver Us”
“Deliver” is from exaireō, meaning to tear out, to select; to release, deliver, pluck out, rescue. Jesus’ death on the cross delivered or rescued guilty sinners from spiritual death if they trusted in Him. They are rescued from the power of the present evil age while still living in it.
D]. “From The Present Evil Age.”
“Age” here is from aiōn meaning a significant period of time, the present nature of the world in its thinking and behaviour. It’s as though humans are trapped in the world’s system with its inability to produce godly living. But Jesus came to set the captives free, to become new creatures as St Paul wrote in 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The word for “new” here is kainos rather than neos. Neos means a brushed up version of the old or recent. However kainos means something radically new, a life with new and deeper dimensions.
The Holy Spirit indwells all believers in Christ and imparts the wisdom of God to those open to receive it. So they are able to know the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to become aware of false teaching and false behaviour. The Holy Spirit also imparts the life of Christ into every believer and sets them free from the limitations of their old unregenerate lives.
E]. “According To The Will Of Our God And Father.”
The death of Christ was not an unfortunate event. His death had been planned eternally and was in accord with the will of God. It meant too that believers could know a new dimension of living, by walking according to the dictates of the Spirit rather than walking according to the dictates of their lower nature, the flesh.
So in this one verse we have so much theological truth. And it all stems from the grace of God. His grace is seen in the death of Christ so that those who believe in Him receive both forgiveness of their sins and also the gift of eternal life. His grace continues throughout the believer’s experience in enabling them to become the person God wants them to be. They are to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Phil 2:13. His ongoing grace is seen in working out in their lives what He is inwardly working within them, giving them both the willingness and the ability to please Him. “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!”
Blog No. 576 posted on Tuesday 27 May 2025.