6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.
Dig Deeper
As the high school basketball team I coached prepared for the Conference Championship Game, I was worried that they were overconfident. In order to combat that I gave them a history lesson. I told them tales about teams in the past, in our conference, that had gone into games with the same attitude that they were demonstrating, and had suffered defeat. As I told the stories, I picked out certain details from each case that corresponded with where they were at, to drive the point home even more. The point of all this was for them to learn the lesson from the things of the past in order to avoid similar mistakes.
Paul says that he is engaging in this current discussion for that precise reason. He saw some clear parallels between the actions and hearts of the Israelites of the past and the Corinthians in the present. Of course Paul saw the accounts of the Israelites in the Old Testament as true to history stories. He didn’t think they were mere moral tales. Yet, in those accounts, he saw echoes that were resonating in the Church in Corinth. He wanted them to study what the Israelites did and what happened to them so they could avoid the same terrible fate.
In making his overall point about eating certain kinds of foods, and how the Church should be responding to this situation, Paul finally begins to return back to the familiar territory of idolatry. He will continue on this topic throughout the rest of the chapter, but it is clear here that Paul sees any sin as idolatry at its core. Everything else that Paul discusses here is based on his mention of idolatry. Paul has dealt with issue of individual rights involved with the topic of eating meat sacrificed to pagan idols, and he has, with some qualifications, agreed that they have the right to do that, at least in principle. One of his very serious concerns, that he will now address, is that in their pride of thinking they can overcome anything, they will find themselves slowly pulled back into paganism themselves.
What is especially important for us to grasp is that Paul’s issue was not that of nitpicking over a violation of a few rules. The true issue was their desires. The Israelites had let their hearts and minds wander so that what did not have to be a temptation become the very source of their downfall. The Corinthians had better heed this example and pay attention. It was, as Paul quotes from Exodus 32:6, the Israelites who indulged in pagan revelry; a polite way of talking about sexual immorality and orgies associated with pagan worship. Making a practice of exercising their freedom, and so, being around the practices of the pagan temples was dangerous. It would be like someone arguing that they have the right to go on the internet, while someone else remains worried about it because all of the pornography available. There is surely freedom for the Christian to go on the internet, especially if they don’t feel tempted by pornography, but Paul would say, make no mistake, many have gone there and fallen. If you want to exercise your freedom (within the limitations he has already described) then fine, but the pornography is off limits. This is Paul’s point: eat the meat if you want to, but don’t be deceived about what goes on all around, and remember that idolatry in all of its many forms are strictly off limits for the Christian. There was and is no level of Christian maturity that we can get to where we get an ‘anything goes’ license of freedom.
Paul describes a progression the Israelites went through, one that is pretty common when it comes to idolatry. First, they set their hearts on something other than God; second, they relaxed their standards on sexual morality; third, they began to test the power and benefits of God versus the pagan lifestyle (and thus, pagan gods); and finally, they began to openly grumble against God. (Don’t forget that Paul had charged them with grumbling against him, and apparently feels that in grumbling against his leadership, they were grumbling against God, in a sense.) None of these situations worked out well for the Israelites so why abuse their freedom of being in Christ to turn around and slip right back into the slavery from which they had just escaped.
The situation for them was particularly vital because they (as we still do) lived at the crossroads of the age when sin is still dangerous and can reign in one’s life, and the time when the ‘age to come’ is available to those in Christ. At any moment, despite the power of their conversion and their status in Christ, great heroes in the faith can fall. Freedom abused can be the very thing to cause one’s downfall This should cause them to be on their guard. This may have seemed rather daunting, so Paul finishes his thought with an encouragement. Although they are always vulnerable to slipping back into idolatry, they will not face anything that they can’t stand up to. Whenever they are tempted, they must remember that God is faithful and will always provide a way of avoiding the temptation. The real question for them was would they make use of that way out when they needed it? We must also ask ourselves, will we?
Devotional Thought
Are there any areas in your life, where you have become so confident in your freedom from sin, that you are actually playing with fire? One minute we have our heart set a freedom and the next thing we know, it has subtly shifted to having our heart set on evil things. The frightening thing is, this often happens without us being very aware of it. Take some time today to take stock as to your true motivations for doing what you do. Are you truly motivated by enjoying your freedom in Christ or has your heart become set on sin?
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