I do not
want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, or in other words, “you better
not shout, you better not pout, you better not cry, I’m telling you why…” What
do we do with Paul’s warning, or veiled threat, depending on which side of the
line you are standing? I suppose the first thing we have to ask ourselves is do
we believe what Paul is saying? That 23,000 fell in a day for getting up from
the table to play and others, putting Christ to the test, had good reason to
fear snakes, while still others should have kept their mouths shut and their
complaints to themselves. And more to the point that this is a Divine object
lesson to keep the Corinthians, and us I suppose, from making the same mistake
and suffering a similar fate? From the perspective of God’s grace these verses
carry less weight than the “still more excellent way” of the thirteenth chapter
of this same letter but they cannot and I might add, dare not, be dismissed so
easily. The reason being, as Paul will tell the Romans, is that God has
determined to be both just and the one who justifies. There will be a reckoning
and a pardon will be necessary for whether we think we are standing or not we
have all fallen into temptation and are without exception guilty. To think or
claim otherwise is to engage in theological immorality by testing the grace of
God without accepting the consequence of sin or acknowledging the cost to the Christ.
In spite of our weakness God is faithful and the strength to be tested is not found
in our will power but whether we endure our falling by trusting the way out God
will provide.
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