GOD’S PROMISE CONCERNING THE BELIEVER’S TEMPTATION

1 Cor. 10:13

Morning Mediation 4/3/17

Verse 13 says, “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.”

There are four things I want to examine in this verse. First,

THE COMMONALITY OF TEMPTATION

Paul says, “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.” This was a real help to me when I discovered this truth. I thought I was the only one that had my particular problems. I thought something was wrong with me. Well, I was right. But where I was wrong was that my problems were not unique. Others were having those same problems. I’m not saying that I am glad others have these problems. I am saying that I’m happy to know that it is consistent with the Christian life to have the problems and it is not a sign that there is a flaw in my salvation.

The word “temptation” translates “peirasmos” and means, “an experiment, a trial, a proving.” Kittel says that it was used in secular Greek for medical experiments. Let’s observe the following:

1.God does not tempt any man. James 1:13 says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”

2.God does allow temptation as in the case of Job. See Job chapters 1 and 2.

3.The temptation that God allows is for the purpose of proving the quality of His work in the believer. God does not allow temptation in the believer to prove to Himself that what He has done will stand the test. He allows temptation or testing to prove to others that His work is a perfect work and will prove to be true when tested. Again this is exactly what happened with Job.

Paul says, There hath no temptation taken you but such as in common to man.” The verb is “hath taken” with the negative “no.” The verb is a perfect active indicative. The perfect tense is completed action in the past and stands as complete in the present. Paul is speaking of any temptation that they have had in the past through which they have passed with the result that it stands now as a historical fact in their lives. He is telling them that any failure in the past is due to the lack of trust in the faithfulness of God and any success in bearing up under the temptation was due to God’s enabling power. He says that there is “no” temptation which looks at all temptations with qualification. That takes care of trying to qualify certain kinds of trials and say that they are too much to bear.

The words “such as is common to man.” translate one word in the Greek. It is “anthropinos” and means, “human species, applied to things belonging to men.” The use of this word is to draw attention to the fact that what Christians go through in the way of testing is true of mankind in general. When mankind in general is tested, the test proves there is a character flaw that renders them helpless. This character flaw is called spiritual death and is identified in theological terms as total depravity. They fail the test and will every time. You can read about it in Romans 1:18-3:20. When Christians are tested and pass the test, it proves that God’s saving work is adequate to make them stand in the time of testing. Next let’s notice,

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO THE TEMPTED CHRISTIAN

After saying, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as in common to man,” he added, “but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” The word “but” is a conjunction that turns the temptation from failure to success. The word “faithful” translates “pistos” and means, “ trusty, faithful.” It is used “of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties.” God can be counted on to keep His promises always. What is His promise in this case? The words “who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able” tell us. The words “will not suffer” translate “eao” and means with the negative, “will not allow, will not permit, or will not let.” It is a future active indicative verb and means that God is promising in advance that any trial through which a Christian may pass at any time in the future, that He will be there in His faithfulness to undertake and strengthen us to pass the test.

The words “to be tempted” are a translation of the same word that is defined above. It is in this case an aorist passive infinitive. The aorist tense means at any event or point of time. Temptations do not usually run continually. They come to us as events. Even Job endured the trial to become prosperous again. Weeping may come for a night but Joy comes in the morning! The passive voice speaks of what the trial does to the one being tried. The indication with the use of the passive voice is that the trial did not come from within the believer but from without. The words “above that ye are able” translate “dunamai” and mean, “to be able, have power whether by virtue of one's own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favorable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom.” Here the power comes from His presence within. 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Overcoming power comes from His presence within. If one fails it is not a power failure because every Christian has His presence within (Rom. 8:9). It is a FAITH FAILURE. When we fail, it is because we do not trust. God is faithful to those who trust. Next Jesus speaks of,

A WAY OF ESCAPE

Our text says, “but will with the temptation also make a way to escape.” This is saying that God will always provide a way out. The word escape suggests a trap. Satan is constantly setting traps for God’s people. God is constantly giving His children a way to avoid the trap. There is a way out. When we get caught, it is not because there wasn’t a way out. Sometimes it is because we didn’t look for it. Sometimes it seems we are caught and there is no way out. The Children of Israel at the Red Sea illustrate this. They had no way to go with Pharaoh and his army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. Is this too big a problem for the Lord? Not at all. He solved the problem for Israel, opened the Red Sea so they could walk through on dry ground, and gave liberal theologians a problem. I saw a historical documentary of Israel leaving Egypt not long ago on TV. They had Israel walking across a sand bar that was just under the surface of the water. One either believes the Bible as it is or he has to spend much time and effort explaining it away. If I didn’t believe the Bible I would get out of the ministry. These parasites live off of Christianity and deny the very Bible on which Christianity is built. I have nothing but contempt for those hypocrites.

God will provide a way of escape. Then finally our text speaks of,

THE ABILITY TO BEAR IT

Then the text adds, “that ye may be able to bear it.” The words “be able” translate “dunamai” and mean in this case, “to be able with reference to the attitude that makes one able.” When you have a promise like this and enter a trial, you know ahead of time that you are going to make it. Therefore you have a positive mental attitude that comes from faith in this great promise. The words “to bear it” translate “hupophero” and mean, “to bear by being under, bear up (a thing placed on one's shoulders).” So this tells us that the weight that trial put on us is not removed. God just enables us to bear up under the load.

Kenneth Wuest said, “God in His wisdom plans the test, and limits the temptation. God in His love sends the test, and permits the temptation. God in His grace meets the test and overcomes the temptation.”

Trials are common to all members of the human race. Becoming a Christian does not mean that we will not have trials. But the Christian has a definite advantage. God is faithful and has made a promise that we can trust in. He provides a way of escape. Not an escape from the temptation itself, but from the FALL the tempter has planned for us. The tempter discovers that we are able to bear the trial and come out victorious. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ, Bro. White