The Way Out

One of the most misused verses in all of scripture is 1 Corinthians 10:13. When someone is grieving, or mourning, or says they can't take the pain in their life anymore, it is a given that some good church folk will show up to say, "but the Lord says He won't put more pain on you than you can handle." I hate to bust up a good platitude (and ruin a Kirk Franklin song), but that's not what it says. What it actually says is this, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (NLT)

For a long time I thought we just perpetuated this false interpretation because it gave us something to say in awkward moments in which we think Christians should have to give advice (which we don't, BTW). But I've been thinking, maybe we didn't change it because we wanted soothing words, maybe we changed it because we don't like the harsh truth. The truth is, the Word says there is no temptation we cannot withstand, that He will always show us a way to avoid it if we listen.

While I find this idea incredibly encouraging, there is a sect of religious leaders who do NOT want you to know what the verse actually means. Why? Because it burst their "I'm a broken sinner and there is nothing I can do about it. Grace covers me, which is good, because I can't help but give in to temptations." That. Is. A. Lie. God will always give you a way out before you sin, to say you have been brought to a temptation you can't resist is to deny scripture.

I have been made the target of mockery and ire for my stance on the doctrines of holiness and sanctification. Ephesians 5 tells us that He died to make us holy. That settles it. Holiness is not a pharisaical idea, it is a truth that Christ died for, which in my book, puts it on par with Salvation through the cross. Yet it is a lost teaching.

Why have we stopped teaching this?

As I've thought about it this is the best conclusion I have: it's a hard sell. When trying to "sell" young people on doctrine, the inevitable question becomes, "what's in it for me?"A good "seller-type" preacher can convince you to sign on for salvation. " 'Free' forgiveness for my sins and a ticket to heaven without any promise of discipleship or obedience or true devotion? Sign me up!" Baptism in the Holy Spirit isn't that difficult either, if you know how to word things. "I can get power and authority and feel all tingly? Awesome!" But how do you make sanctification sound like the "buyer" is better off? When you tell the truth, that sanctification involves WORK everyday, CROSS CARRYING everyday, DEATH everyday, who would want that? So we stopped  talking about it and have subscribed, instead, to the easy concept that I can be saved and even Spirit-filled but keep sinning because "it's human nature to sin and I can't help it."

I have some awful, liberating news: You CAN'T contend with your human nature. That is why Jesus himself instructs us in John 3 that we must be "born again". This new creature is not broken. He is not sinful. He is not enslaved to the laws of human nature. If this were not so, then Jesus died in vain. There is hope for you. God Himself will show you a way out of temptation, but it is up to you to acknowledge that while He shows you the way, You have to (and can) climb out yourself!