A Way Out

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 10:13, Romans 7:21-24

THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OUT

The Apostle Paul was like a teacher, coach, and doctor to the early Christian churches. He would educate them, inspire them, and prescribe truth to treat any spiritual sickness in the body. When he couldn’t visit, he would write a letter. 1 Corinthians is one of the letters Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Due to its location and large population, Corinth was a melting pot for culture. Corinth became known as a place to go for sex. They even got their own Greek word—korinthiazomaitranslated as Corinthianize—which means to practice sex.

Doesn’t Corinth remind you of today’s temptation-filled society? As you read 1 Corinthians 10:13 and the rest of this Bible Plan, do you need to listen as a student who’s learning how to apply a new idea? Perhaps you’re in need of a coach to inspire you to press through and win a battle. Or maybe you’re unhealthy and in need of a doctor. Whichever is true for you, God’s words through Paul are clear and applicable today: there is always a way out.

Consider: Think about your last temptation. Was there a way out? What needs to change for you to take the way out next time?

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 10:12, Matthew 26:41

YOU ARE NEVER ABOVE TEMPTATION

Temptation is anything that promises satisfaction at the cost of obedience to God. Since God wants you to be around a long time for your family and to accomplish His good plans for you, that food, lifestyle, cigarette, etc. might be a temptation. Since God wants your mind to be a place of worship to Him, that video, song, show, conversation, subscription, etc. might be a temptation. Since God has big ideas for your resources, that purchase, monthly payment, cash loan, new car, bigger house, etc. might be a temptation. You get the idea.

Here are some ways to know if you may be facing temptation. If you think you can try it just once and stop whenever you want, you’re probably being tempted. If you hear a still, small voice in your spirit that says, “This might not be a good idea,” the opportunity might be a temptation. If the thing you’re thinking about doing is clearly spoken against in God’s Word, you’re being tempted. In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul gives us an important reminder that comes in handy for every decision: you are never above temptation.

Consider: Think about your daily decisions, both big and small. Are you considering the temptation factor?

Scriptures: Hebrews 4:15, James 4:17

IT’S NOT A SIN TO BE TEMPTED

Imagine this. During prayer, you feel challenged to live a healthier lifestyle, so you make a simple plan to only eat one dessert a week. You’re at work, and there is cake in the café, but you already had your treat yesterday. You walk past the café, look, and then keep walking.

New scenario. Porn shows up while you’re searching something else on the Internet. You see it, look away, and close the tab. Was it sin in in either situation? No. Were both a temptation? Yes. Would our enemy try to use both situations to bring back feelings of defeat? Yes. Would it be a sin to give in and go back for more? Absolutely.

Just reading this may have caused you to feel shame. Our enemy uses false guilt as a tactic to make temptation more powerful. But, there is really good news. Temptation went up against Jesus with everything it had, and it lost. This is big news for us sinners for three reasons. First, Jesus empathizes with our struggle because He’s been tempted in every way. Second, He’s already conquered our greatest temptations and knows the way out. Finally, if Jesus—Who is without sin—was tempted, then it’s not a sin to be tempted.

Consider: How often does false guilt trick you into giving in? How will you bring today’s realization into the moment of your next temptation?

Scriptures: James 1:13, Matthew 6:13, Psalms 37:4

GOD WILL NEVER TEMPT YOU

You and I wouldn’t likely claim God tempts us. However, most of us have at some point gotten ourselves into a bad situation and said, “God, how could You let this happen to me?” In these moments, when we face the result of our own actions, we have to make a decision about how we’ll see God. If we think He’s responsible for the outcome, then aren’t we saying He tempted us? James 1:13 teaches we shouldn’t say God tempts us. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus models for us a God Who does not lead us into temptation, but delivers us from evil. When we realize God is not our tempter, we can see Him for Who He is—our Savior.

Consider: Think about the last time you blamed God. Were you also able to see Him as your Savior? Is there anything you need to stop blaming God for?

Scriptures: James 1:14-15, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, John 10:10

STARTING TO STOP

If God doesn’t tempt us, then where does temptation come from, where is it going, and how do we stop it? Temptation obeys Newton’s first law. An object in motion tends to remain in motion unless acted on by an external force. As James 1:14-15 illustrates, once we give into our own evil desires (temptation), we tend to remain in motion toward sin and death until acted on by an external force. Often, when we’re overcome by temptation, we think the answer is simply to take ownership of our shortcomings and try harder next time. The next time comes around, and we fail again. So how do we stop?

Stopping starts with realizing we’re not our own. We were bought with a price. Two ideas could not be more contrary to the modern world, nor more necessary to overcoming sin and temptation. When Jesus bought us at a price, He became the ultimate external stopping force to the motion of sin and death. If temptation is the desire to look beyond God for happiness, then isn’t fighting temptation looking to God for our rescue? This doesn’t mean we get out of the hard work of conquering sin. It means God is the foreman of that work. And, He’s a good one to work for. He wants you to have life—and life to the full.

Consider: If you decided today that your body belongs to Christ, what would you want to you stop doing? What do you need from God in order to accomplish this?

Scriptures: Genesis 3:6-8, James 4:7, 2 Timothy 2:22

HOW DO WE RESIST THE ENEMY?

We were first created to walk with God in the cool of the day so God could enjoy us and we could enjoy Him. Sin is anything we put before God to get enjoyment. Where God + X = enjoyment, X is sin. But, in effort to remove X from the equation it’s easy to get so focused on not sinning that we forget what we’re here for: to enjoy God and be enjoyed by Him. James 4:7 puts it in perspective. We have to submit to God before we can resist the enemy. When we do, the enemy will flee, and we can get back to walking with God in the cool of the day.

But how do we submit to God? What does that mean? The Greek word used here, hypotassō, elicits a concept of realizing we are here because of God, and therefore we are here for Him. Submission is deciding to be under and for His will, enjoyment, love, correction, and trust. When we realize this us-for-Him way in each area of our lives, the enemy has no choice but to run.

Consider: Do you know God enjoys you? In which areas is it hardest for you to submit to Him?

Scriptures: Proverbs 4:14-15, Hebrews 2:18

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

Sometimes the best way out of temptation is not stepping foot near it in the first place. We’re not called to manage temptation; we should eliminate it when we can. When we can’t eliminate temptation, then we have to resist it. Proverbs 4:14-15 makes it plain and simple. The NLT version of verse 15 starts like this, Don’t even think about it.

Sometimes obedience to God comes in the form of decisions to outright eliminate opportunities for temptation. If you struggle with alcohol, you don’t need to keep it in your house just to be a good host. If you struggle with lust, get rid of any privacy you might have on digital devices. You get the idea.

Consider: What doors to temptation are you keeping cracked that you need to slam shut?

Scriptures: Genesis 3:1-4, Psalms 73:23-28, John 3:31-36

NO MORE HOPELESS ATTEMPTS

You know the story of the first time we looked beyond God for satisfaction. God gave Adam and Eve a perfect life, then the snake promised Eve more knowledge if she’d wander outside God’s will. Ironically, we’ve been on a dissatisfying pursuit of knowledge ever since. We can access the world’s smartest thinkers with a web search. Yet despite the information revolution, we still long for answers to life’s hardest questions. Questions like, “Where can I find meaningful life?” Temptation is the desire to answer this question outside of God’s will. Sin is the actual attempt to find the answer outside of God’s will. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis talks about that attempt.

And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

On the contrary, full and eternal life is the daily commitment to believe that God and His Son, Jesus, are the only real answer.

Consider: How are you trying to answer this question: “Where can I find meaningful life?” Have you fully committed to believe and live like God and His Son, Jesus, are the answer?

Scriptures: Galatians 5:16-17, Romans 7:15, Ephesians 4:20-24

WHAT YOU FEED GROWS; WHAT YOU STARVE DIES

Sin and your spirit’s health are mutually exclusive. When we feed one, we starve the other. The Apostle Paul most famously talks about this internal battle in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. Why did Paul, and why do we, do things we don’t want to do? Because there is a war between our flesh, whose desire is to be satisfied, and our spirit, whose desire is to satisfy God. This is actually great news for those of us who are looking for a way out of temptation. This means your very actions to feed your spirit are weapons against sin and death.

Apply: Spend time each day listening for the Holy Spirit this week. Write down everything you sense the Holy Spirit telling you to do.

Scriptures: Romans 8:12-13, Isaiah 53:4-5, Romans 4:25, John 3:30

NO OBLIGATION

Earlier in this Bible Plan, we talked about how sin and temptation got their start when mankind first looked beyond God for satisfaction. At that point, we became obligated to pay back the cost of sin, which is death. Then God decided we were worth His only Son, Jesus. So, Jesus took on our debt of sin through separation from His Father, torture, and death. He made us a way out. The best news is that Jesus not only took on our obligations, but He also overcame them and came back to life three days later. His resurrection leaves no argument against His power over sin.

Thanks to Jesus, we are no longer obligated to anger, apathy, overeating, alcoholism, porn, or money. However, we may not be experiencing that reality in our lives. First, we must admit that our struggle is real and too great to overcome alone. Then, we must believe in the power of what Jesus has already done and what the Spirit is prepared to do in our lives. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Fill in the blank: Spend time each day listening for the Holy Spirit this week. Write down everything you sense the Holy Spirit telling you to do.

Scriptures: Matthew 26:36-43, Galatians 5:24-25

FEED YOUR SPIRIT WITH PRAYER

People may fall into temptation, but no one trips into righteousness. If we want our spirit to be stronger than our flesh, we have to feed it with prayer. Prayer reminds us we are not in control, and it keeps us close to the One Who is. Think about it. If you want your spirit to be stronger, it makes a lot of sense to let it spend time talking with its Maker.

In Matthew 26, Jesus asked His disciples to pray to avoid temptation. Then—on the night before He was killed for our sins—He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and modeled what it means to pray when we’re weak. Three times He asked God if there was another way, and three times He prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will.” If the Son of God needed to pray to fight the desires of the flesh, then how much more do we?

Pray: God, I admit my weakness and inability to overcome ___________. Will You strengthen me and guide me in Your ways?

Scriptures: Psalms 119:9-11, Psalms 119:104-105, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

FEED YOUR SPIRIT WITH HIS WORD

If you’re still reading this, you know God’s Word makes your spirit stronger! You have experienced those moments when Scripture comes back to your mind and keeps you out of trouble or gets you through a battle. You have hidden His Word in your heart, and it has been a light to your path. The Son of God used the same tactic when He was tempted by the devil himself in the desert. Congratulations! You know one of the best ways out of temptation and sin that holds us. Keep up the good work!

Apply: Add a new Scripture to your memory this week. Tell someone about the power of Scripture in your life.

Scriptures: Psalms 139:11-12, 1 John 1:7-9, James 5:16, Proverbs 28:13

FEED YOUR SPIRIT WITH PEOPLE

Imagine the weakest of all lights. Now put it in the darkest room you can think of. What happens? Darkness gives up, and your dim light glows on what was unseen. Now, imagine the One Whose very existence inspired the idea of light. Add Him to your room. What happens? The darkest night becomes bright as day. This is what God can do with the darkest part of our hearts and minds. However, when we only confess our darkest parts to God, we can slowly cover God’s brightness with shame, pain, and our own selfish desires.

Imagine your room is dark again. Now open up a few doors to nearby rooms. What happens? God’s light in others helps us rediscover and keep the healing light of God. You don’t have to tell everyone about your darkest moments, but we ought to tell someone who carries God’s light in them. When we confess to God, He forgives. When we confess to others, they help us hold open the door to God’s bright healing light.

Consider: How are you doing at inviting God and people into your dark rooms? Who is someone you could confess to today?

Scriptures: 1 John 2:1-2, Galatians 6:8-9, 2 Corinthians 10:17

FULL LIFE

God didn’t send Jesus to think about doing something about the power of sin and death. He sent His only Son to destroy the power of sin and death. So, we’re not called to manage sin; we’re called to eliminate it by the power of Christ in us. God decided we were worth Jesus’ life, so let’s really live! Let’s pray, let’s know His Word, and let’s leak God’s light into the world. We live in a fallen world, but we’re not our own. We belong to a risen Christ. We fall short, but we confess to God for forgiveness and to people for healing. There is always a way out, and He has already made it.

Apply: Share this Bible Plan with someone who needs a way out, and go live a full life in Christ.