Enticing to sin is a part of Satan’s very nature – Matt.4:3. Calvin defines temptation as ‘everything that allures us.’ Verse 12 is a warning, and verse 13 reads more like a promise.
- No temptation is unique.
- 10:13a. The temptations of the rural Israelites are much the same as those of the urban Corinthians, and of us today.
- 10:6-10. Never say to yourself: ‘My situation is different.’ It is not.
- No temptation is beyond our strength.
- 10:13b; James 1:13-15. The Father sent His Son to die, but people crucified Him (Acts 2:23). The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex.9:12) but Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex.8:32).
- Gen.13:6-13. Spurgeon: ‘It is easier to kill the egg than the serpent.’ David sees his own fault in Ps.51:3. God is faithful (1:9; 1 Thess.5:23-24; 1 John 1:9). Luther: ‘We cannot stop the birds from flying over our heads, but we must take heed lest they build their nests in our hair.’
- No temptation is inescapable.
- 10:13c. See Gen.39:7-12. The Lord’s Prayer says: ‘Lead us not into temptation.’ Be decisive – Prov.4:14-15. Thomas Chalmers: ‘The best way of casting out an impure affection is to admit a pure one; and by the love of what is good to expel the love of what is evil.’
- Heb.2:18; 4:15; Prov.24:16. Thomas Watson: ‘when a soul is most assaulted, it shall be most assisted.’