Bible Reading Challenge #24

1 Corinthians 10:13–15

13 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.
15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

Big Points

1) Every single one of us endures temptation.
Some of you feel as though you are the only one tempted by a certain sin—but that is false. Others of you don’t feel tempted each day, but that simply reveals there are sins in your life that you’ve allowed or condoned. All of us are tempted. You are not unique.

Temptation is not a sign of failure. Temptation is part of the human condition. Our Lord and Savior Jesus was tempted in every way (Hebrews 4) and yet was without sin.

2) God is faithful.
The power of God is greater than the schemes of the enemy. Temptations will come, but sin does not have to follow. God is with us. By His Holy Spirit, we have been given power to overcome. Through Scripture, prayer, and accountability, there is strength to resist.

I have seen God give me grace and self-control in my own life to overcome what I thought was impossible. You are not hopeless!

3) Temptation is not the same as suffering.
Temptation is the opportunity to reject God’s way and choose our own way. Suffering, on the other hand, is something inflicted on us that may or may not be within our control. Suffering is not a statement of failure to resist temptation—it is the sad reality of a broken world.

4) Flee temptation.
Like Joseph in Potiphar’s house, we must flee temptation. The longer we let it linger, the more likely we are to indulge. Fleeing may include leaving a location, breaking a relationship, limiting technology, or removing enticements.

Reflection Questions

• Do you believe that you can have victory over the temptations in your life?

• Do you recognize the temptations in your life?

• Do you look to God—or to your own strength—to overcome?

Bible Reading Challenge #23

1 Corinthians 10:1-12

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 

We either learn from history or repeat it.
That’s Paul’s point in this passage. It’s not enough to simply know about God or experience Him from time to time. As Eugene Peterson writes: “Just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of [the exodus generation] were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.”

So often we ask God to show Himself, to work a miracle, to “do this and we will believe or follow.” But Scripture is clear: seeing God work once doesn’t guarantee we will trust Him to work again. Faith is not a one-time event—it’s a daily journey of following Jesus. Faith needs to be refilled each day so we can face what lies ahead. Either we learn from the past or we risk repeating it.

And yet, how often do we sit back and judge those who failed in faith before us? We arrogantly assume we would have done better. But Paul warns: “Don’t be so naïve and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence” (Peterson).

Paul also gives us specific dangers to watch for:

• Idolatry – placing something or someone above God.

• Sexual Immorality – living against God’s commands for the sake of feelings or desires.

• Testing God – demanding that He serve us instead of us serving Him.

• Grumbling & Discontentment – sowing division and questioning God’s good plan.

Which of these are most tempting to you today?

Bible Reading Challenge #22

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,[b] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Do I care about preaching the gospel as much as Paul? That has been our guiding question over the past few days, and we have been looking at some of the things Paul has given up which shows his deep devotion to the sharing of the gospel.

On Monday, we saw Paul give up his right to earn money off preaching, and the correlative loss of life-comforts since he had to work with his hands to earn money. Yesterday, we saw Paul give up the Christian freedom to live life as he chooses in order to have a wider audience with which to share the gospel by meeting them where they are.

Today, Paul commits to strict disciplining of his body and its desires so that he does not become distracted or disqualified from the work of preaching the gospel. I am still a novice in Greek, but I think one commentator has it exactly right when he calls verse 27a a weak translation. Rather than “discipline my body and keep it under control”, I think it is more helpful for us to consider a more literal translation.

“I pummel my body and make it a slave”

Wow. That is pretty intense. Are you willing to do that if it makes you more effective at sharing the gospel with more people who desperately need it?

Are you willing to give up what your body desires? And that is not only giving up sinful things like gluttony, lust, pride. A lot of the things Paul is referring to are not even sinful things!

Paul’s metaphor of athletes is an excellent one, because they have to give up many things that are considered normal and even acceptable in moderation, they can’t even have them in moderation. The wine (in their time), maybe it’s best to think of sweets or delicious fatty foods in our time.

So my challenge for you today is to ask yourself, what would you have to remove to approach sharing the gospel the way an athlete approaches training?

What time would you have to find/make/sacrifice to consistently spend time with God and spend time sharing the gospel with others? Maybe this means giving up some TV time, some work time, some phone time, etc.

Do we care about preaching the gospel as much as Paul? I think the obvious answer is no, but can you imagine what the church would look like if we even tried to?

I don’t think we can even imagine what would change, so let’s try and see what God does.

Bible Reading Challenge #21

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Do I care about preaching the gospel as much as Paul did (and yes, we are all called to preach/share the gospel)?

That is our driving question for this second-half of 1 Corinthians 9. Yesterday we looked at Paul sacrificing monetarily/comforts of life to make a greater gospel impact. Today we have an even more sensitive challenge for us as Americans. Today, Paul gives up his freedom to share the gospel more effectively and with more people.

Rather than living exactly how he wants, Paul instead makes significant life changes to meet people where they are. He undergoes Jewish purification rituals he knows are pointless since Christ has made him clean. But it does give him more common ground with which to share the gospel with Jews. Paul then doesn’t live out the law when around the gentiles (I imagine this looks like not eating kosher, dressing as they do within reason, engaging in their cultural practices like athletic games, etc). This may not be natural or even comfortable to him being raised in the Jewish religious elite, but it gives him more ways to share the gospel with gentiles.

But how does this translate to us today? I think there are three key guiding questions to ask ourselves.

Does the way I live my life allow me to meet non-believers (in a way that does not bring unnecessary temptation to sin into my life)?

Here’s an even harder question. Do I take those opportunities to befriend and build relationships with non-believers?

Finally the hardest question. If I make space in my life to make sure I meet non-believers, and I befriend them, do I ever take the effort/risk to share the gospel with them?

How many of us can say yes to all three of those questions? I fear the answer is not many.

Unless we are willing to give up some of the freedom to live our lives as we choose, we will never be able to answer a confident yes to all three of these questions and we will never be effectively sharing the gospel God has called us to share!

Bible Reading Challenge #20

1 Corinthians 9:15-18

15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Paul has just finished writing about the Lord’s command that those who proclaim the gospel may take the right to live by the gospel (essentially, accept money for their gospel work as pastors/shepherds/evangelists like Peter, Barnabas, etc).

Then Paul starts this next section by reminding the Corinthians that he has forsaken his right to do this and tells them why. He tells them that he does it so he is not deprived of his ability to boast.

What!?!?! That doesn’t sound very Christian-like.

But Paul is not boasting in his ability, nor is he even boasting in the fact that he preaches the gospel (he says that is a necessity and woe be unto him if he fails to preach the gospel). Rather, he is boasting that because he works with his hands and slaves away in various jobs, he does not have to take money to support himself for his preaching and that frees him up in his ministry.

All of that is important context, but it is not the main question I want you to consider. I think the main question this passage should make us think about is simple.

Do I care about preaching the gospel as much as Paul did?

Would I be willing to do the more difficult, less popular task to give me a greater chance to make a gospel impact in those around me?

Would I be willing to give up the comfort and ease of parts of my life so that I can share the gospel with more people? I mean, if we are being honest, are we even sharing the gospel with anyone? We struggle to even share the gospel once a week/month/year, when Paul and so many others have gone before us and faithfully picked the harder path because it gives them a greater opportunity to make Christ known. That is challenging me today.