D. Scott Meadows

12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10.12–13).

God saves and sanctifies His chosen people by the truth (Jn 8.32; 17.17; Eph 1.13; 2 Thess 2.10, 13; 1 Tim 2.4; etc.). He gives it; we receive it and live. Faith is trusting God. The evidence of true faith is obedience, a response that demonstrates we actually believe what we have heard (1 Pet 1.22). By His light we continue in the straight and narrow pathway that leads to glory (Psa 119.105; 2 Jn 4; 3 Jn 3–4).

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” 1 Corinthians 10.12–13 is truth for the prevention of apostasy. It starts with the word “wherefore,” variously translated as “therefore, so then, for all these reasons, accordingly, as a result,” etc. It means that what follows is strongly implied by what precedes, namely, ancient stories of spiritual and moral failures by many within the Israelite covenant community (vv. 1–10), written and preserved as examples to admonish us who live between Christ’s first and second coming (v. 11).

In Bunyan’s famous allegory, Christian had to pass by two lions to enter Palace Beautiful. The Porter gave him wise advice: “Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.” The two “lions” in this text that would devour us if they could are presumption (v. 12) and despair (v. 13). Some professing Christians think they are invincible and become spiritual mincemeat, discovering their own resources are not enough. Others consider their temptations too great to resist and succumb to them, abandoning their efforts to follow Christ. By squeezing between the two dangers of pride and hopelessness, we can persevere to the end.

You Are Liable to Fall (v. 12)

The first lesson for us from that sacred, redemptive history, is that having a name as God’s chosen people is no guarantee against apostasy—falling from God and perishing at last. This verse is 1) especially directed to some in the church, 2) exhorting them, 3) to save them from catastrophe.

The kind of person addressed is “him that thinketh he standeth,” not referring to mature Christians with a well-founded assurance of salvation, but the presumptuous, “cocksure,” self-confident church member, who does not daily appropriate divine grace by faith and prayer.

These especially are exhorted to “take heed” or “watch out” or “be careful.” Eternal security is only promised to those who give diligence persistently to make their calling and election sure (2 Pet 1.10–11).

The careless are those who tend to fall away completely and finally. “Lest he fall” warns against more than theoretical apostasy and perdition. The world is filled with people who used to be “Christians,” who failed to “watch and pray” (Matt 26.41) and then returned to their old sins like a dog to its own vomit and a pig to its wallowing in the mire (2 Pet 2.20–22).

You Need Not Fall (v. 13)

The second lesson is especially for those tending to despair while many powerful temptations and trials keep pummeling them. By the grace of God, you can survive spiritually to the end and be saved.

The Greek term translated “temptation” is semantically large enough to include the sense of “troubles,” but in this context it may primarily mean an enticement to grave sin and defection from the Lord. Sometimes this happens when one thinks that he has no choice but to sin or that his temptations are practically unique. These notions are spiritual delusions. Indulging much interpretation, an expanded paraphrase explains the sense: “For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear].” It is critically important to believe this when you are being assailed by the most potent urges to sin.

We know this is true because “God is faithful,” true to His many promises to preserve His elect through all the vicissitudes of this fallen world. Isaiah 43.2 is representative: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Providence is constantly governing all His creatures and all their actions (WSC #11). God causes absolutely everything to work together for the saving good of those who truly love Him (Rom 8.28). He lets the heat of temptation rise only so much for His children; His hand never leaves the cosmic thermostat of your life circumstances. Apostasy is not inevitable for you who are truly saved. God always provides “the way of escape” from yielding to the temptation. That escape may be “the ability to bear it,” or this ability may be the reason God provides the way of escape.

The truth is we all could presume or despair, and so we all need to take all of these things to heart. Don’t be careless, and never, ever give up! Multitudes keep between the lions and enter heaven safely; why not you? Ω