Daily Devotional For Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Good morning Southside! Happy Tax Day. Well, if you have not filed and/or paid your taxes, they are due today. Some people get tempted to cheat on their tax returns. This year some are giving into the temptation not to even file or pay due to their resentment against President Trump. They may have a political reason, but the IRS will still come after them and hit them later will all kinds of fees and penalties. Sin always has a payment. Disobedience always has a cost and temptation always has a trap to get you. Today, we are going to look at the topic of temptation. One of the misused and misunderstood Bible verses is 1 Corinthians 10:13:
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (NASB).
Many Christians claim this verse as a “promise” that God will never allow them to experience more difficulties than “they can handle.” But we need to read this one verse in the context of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, which deals with temptation and one’s ability to overcome it. Yes, the passage is promising us that God will give us the ability to overcome the temptation and to say “NO” to it. In fact, the Apostle Paul learned that sometimes God allows us to go through certain situations that will test us beyond what we think is our ability to withstand it.
Look at 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; (9) indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; (10) who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, (11) you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many” (NASB).
The misuse and misinterpretation of this Scripture is found in the phrase “way of escape.” This gives the impression that there is a way around it, or we can skip it, or we can go over it or somehow, it simply goes away. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason many Christians believe this is because they do not understand the context of 1 Corinthians 10:13.
The words “common to man” is the Greek New Testament word [ἀνθρώπινος, anthropinos] and it literally means “that which is characteristically belonging to mankind, that which is human.” It may sound strange, but the Apostle Paul said there is no such thing as superhuman or supernatural temptation. Why? Temptations are characteristically a human vulnerability. This is why Jesus taught us in The Lord’s Prayer to pray this in Matthew 6:13, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil . . .” (NASB). The word translated as “evil” in Matthew 6:13 is [πονηρός, ponderos] which literally means “evil one.”
Therefore, we can never experience a temptation that others have not experienced already. Oh, the situation may be different, but temptations at their core are not new. This is why we have an Advocate who understands — Jesus. Look at Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (NASB). This means that because Jesus was tempted as we are and never sinned, He is the best to show and help us when we experience temptation. That is the point of Hebrews 2:18, “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (NASB).
Now 1 Corinthians 10:13 affirms that “. . . God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will provide the way of escape . . .” This means no Christian can ever say he had no choice or was simply under so much pressure to give into the temptation, they could not resist. Years ago when I was younger, an entertainer named Flip Wilson, had a character he named, Geraldine. Geraldine had this often repeated line, “The devil made me do it.” The Bible says we can’t even say that. This means the devil cannot make us sin. The Apostle Paul’s point is that we have a bigger and more powerful resource at our disposal — God the Holy Spirit. So, why do we give into temptation and sin? We want to, we choose to, and we desire to do it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 is less about temptation and more about God’s faithfulness. If anyone understood temptation, it was Job. After God allowed the devil to continue and repeatedly assault him, Job’s wife continued to say to him in Job 2:9, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (NASB). Look how Job responded to both the devil’s temptation and his wife’s in Job 2:10, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (NASB). And later in Job, Job writes this in Job 5:19, “From six troubles He will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you” (NASB). Job has many more chapters before God puts a stop to the devil’s attacks. Everyone sins because they willingly choose to sin.
Now the phrase “the way” is the Greek New Testament word [κβασις, ekbasis] and the Greek structure means there is only one way — God’s way — through it. Whatever the temptation is, or even if it is a test from God, the only way to “escape it” – and that is through it. So what is the point? We do not escape temptation by avoiding it or getting out of it, but by going through it. We see this happened with Jesus when God’s Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11 to be tempted by the devil.
Greek New Testament scholars Robertson and Plummer suggest 1 Corinthians 10:12–13 provides two admonitions; the first one is to the self-confident who think they have no need to be watchful and the second one is to the despondent, who think it useless to struggle with temptation (Robertson and Plummer, First Corinthians, p. 208). Paul does not specify the nature of the temptation. There are two types of temptations: one comes from external trial or testing and the second comes from our own internal allurement to sin.
And we see from Jesus’ experience we see three ways God provides how to go through temptation (adapted from John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, pp. 229-230).
- First, Jesus prayed. That is what we should do. If we do not pray, then we will become “prey”. When Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane His last night alive, He went there to pray. Knowing how vulnerable His disciples were, He said this to them in Mark 14:37-38, “And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? (38) Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (NASB).
- Second, Jesus trusted God to help Him get through it. We see this in Jesus’ second temptation, where Jesus refused to jump on the top of the temple (Matthew 4:1-11). He trusted God’s way and God’s Word for people to learn He was the Messiah and Savior of the world. According to Lamentations 3:37-40, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? (38) Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? (39) Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer a complaint in view of his sins? (40) Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord” (NASB). What is the point? — No temptation or test can come to us unless God allows it. Not so that we fall and sin, but so that we push through it so that our character becomes more like the character of Jesus Christ.
- Third, Jesus put all His attention to get though His third temptation by reminding Himself to keep His attention on God. So, the path through any temptation is praying, trusting God and keeping our focus on the King of kings and the Lord of lords — Jesus Christ. No one who has ever lived has ever had to endure more than Jesus Christ did while He was here – His scourging, His crucifixion, His becoming sin for us, His death and feeling the effects of that on the cross in Matthew 27:46, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (NASB). This is the point of Hebrews 12:3-4, "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (4) You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin” (NASB).
New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes this:
“God is faithful. He will not always remove the temptation, because facing it and remaining strong can be a growing experience; however, God does promise to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. This means that there exists no temptation that a believer cannot resist. But the believer must resist and stand against it. Each temptation can be resisted because God made it possible to resist it. The secret to resisting temptation is to recognize the source of the temptation and then to recognize the source of strength in temptation. God promises to give His people the strength to resist” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, “1 & 2 Corinthians,” p. 142).
2 Timothy 2:22 reminds how to resist temptations: “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (NASB). Flee, means to run from it as if your life depended on it, which it does. This word translated as “flee” is the Greek New Testament word [φεύγω; feugō]. This is the word used of any animal running from any predator.
Reflection Assignment: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation and sin? When tempted, do you push through it with prayer, Scripture and the Holy Spirit or do you give in to it? When have you done what the Lord said and saw the blessings and benefits? Think of a specific situation and right now thank the Lord you did this and the blessings He gave you.
Scripture To Meditate On: James 1:13-14, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (14) But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I am so vulnerable to temptation. I do not want to sin against You because I want to bring You glory through my obedience. I realize that “the escape” is pushing through the temptation by utilizing prayer, trusting You and keeping my focus You, Jesus. When a temptation comes by the devil or a test by You, please remind me to push through the temptation as the means of my way of escape. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly