A True Friend and Brother or Sister

“So let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1Corinthians 10:12)

Paul was warning the Corinthians about several things telling them what had happened when the Israelites had done such things by giving examples. These were God’s people which He’d delivered and done miraculous deeds. But He was not pleased with them and scattered them in the wilderness for forty years. They became idolators and fornicators and twenty-three died in one day. They tempted God and murmured and were destroyed by serpents and the destroyer. (1Corinthians 10: 1-10) Paul writes that these were meant as an example for us. In other words, let’s not think we’ll escape punishment just because we’re the children of God. We are not exempt from obedience and from being righteous. We are children of God, born of God with His pure and holy nature.

I am questioning Paul’s argument because of the Blood of the Lamb and the forgiveness of sins. How about that? All sins are forgiven, past, present and future. But there is the flesh. And the flesh is a strong compulsion, especially for the new Christian. And the Corinthians were baby Christians living in a society teeming in idolatry and sexual liberation. We can now see why Paul was warning them against their former lives which we all know when we come to Christ is a real struggle until we act in accordance with our new commitment to Christ as our Savior and our Lord. And this is what Paul was warning them about, continuing in their sinful past.

How many of us as new Christians would have benefitted from such a warning. I see many brethren who are living defeated Christian lives.  They needed a Paul in their lives to help them follow up on their commitment to Christ. But because they didn’t, they fell back on their former sin. They believe in Christ. They want to follow Christ completely, but the flesh is winning in their lives. Some sins are hard to overcome, and the baby Christian needs a Paul to encourage them to make them accountable to their commitment to the Lord.

Now our Scripture deals with those who are righteous, who are conquering the flesh and who evidently can be judgmental. All of us are in danger of falling into sin. It’s a continual struggle against the flesh. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.” (Galatians 5:17) Anyone of us can at a weak moment give in to the flesh. It takes continual communication with the Holy Spirit and consciousness of the spirit realm because it is a spiritual battle. Every second we have choices to make between the flesh and the spirit. Some struggles are greater than others. When we puff ourselves up, thinking we’ve got it, is when we fall. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) None of us are in a place to judge or think we cannot fall. And that is what Paul is saying.

When we see a fellow brother or sister fall there are some things we can do. First is pray for them. If I should fall and it’s evident to others, I would want them to pray for me, that my eyes would be open to the reality of my sin, for repentance and reliance on the Lord in my weakness. It’s very difficult to become someone that to another is accountable. Even if we sincerely want to help, it may be interpreted as meddling. Unless one is a person of authority like a pastor, teacher, parent it will be difficult to point out to another the error of their ways. So, I would be reluctant unless I received direct instructions from the Lord.

Another thing we can do is become a friend. We see the error, but they do not. Offer to study the Word of God together and hold each one accountable to the Word. And should the Bible Study be swayed to specific Scriptures that address their weakness? The answer to that is a big NO! The Word of God is light. “NUN: Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” (Psalms 119:105) And God’s light will illuminate into their life the Truth and holiness of God and reveal their sin to them. God’s Word is life and bring life to those areas that dying. “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) And John wrote, “It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63)

In short, just because we are the children of God doesn’t mean we can’t fall. There is a real struggle for all of us between the flesh and the spirit. It’s by God’s mercy that we don’t fall so there should be no pride in that we are victorious over sin. We can help our fellow Christians by praying and becoming a friend who will study the Word of God with them because it is the Word of God that will bring light and the life of God in their lives.