Commentaries:
"Common to man" means that the trials that come upon Christians are the same as occur to all men. As we live life, we find that in most cases these trials are unavoidable. They just happen. If it happens in the world, we are part of what is going on in the world, and these things affect us unavoidably. God says that He will provide "the way of escape," implying that there is one right way out of each trial. There may be other optional ways, but Paul is stressing that there is "a way" and "the way." We want "the way," the one that God provides for us. The imagery is of an army trapped during a battle, but suddenly a mountain pass opens up before them to provide them a way out of their dilemma. This illustrates how Christians escape trials.
There is a reason for the Christian going through his trial. The trial God provides is good for him to experience. God wants to see what his reaction will be. Will he avail himself of "a way of escape" that he or the world might provide - or will he submit to "the way of escape" God makes available to him? Certainly, "the way of escape" will always involve the use of faith. God is testing the Christian's response to His declarations and His promises of faithfulness, and He wants to see if he will respond because God is faithful. Which way will he choose?
John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 1)
The high-achievers of this world have many of the same run-of-the-mill problems that everybody experiences. Going to the moon did not change the kind of person that Neil Armstrong would have been anywhere: withdrawn and enigmatic, a puzzling person who just wanted to be alone, as he was described.
It is the same with others. Their fame, the fortune, the academic and professional accomplishments have not proved to be an advantage to help them avoid the very kinds of things that trouble us, so all of their accomplishments, their fame, and their money are not the solutions. They have these things, yet they face the same kinds of problems. In most cases, they cannot meet them well. So, having more brains, money, ease, and fame has not insulated them from divorce, withdrawn and alienated children, emotional breakdowns, and health problems.
By "common," used here in verse 13, God means that the problems are nothing exceptional. They are not beyond the powers of endurance. The word translated "taken" or "overtaken" adds to our understanding of the kind of problem. It is written in the perfect tense and indicates a lasting condition—something one has to deal with every day, a chronic problem. It just does not go away.
"Escape" indicates a way out of a defile, a tight spot, as if surrounded. The word "temptation" is one of the more interesting ones in this whole series of verses because, interestingly, it indicates something designed and unavoidable. It suggests a trial that could become a temptation—something that has been designed and is unavoidable rather than being merely a difficult happenstance, such as a "time and chance" occurrence. It is a test such as a teacher would give. One cannot avoid tests when a student in school.
Overall, because God is faithful, it shows that we can successfully meet our difficulties in life, so there is a great deal of assurance here for those whom God has called. It leaves those He has not called out of this assurance. Life is difficult, but being a high-achiever in this world does not guarantee that one will escape difficulty.
The lessons of the Feast of Pentecost have a great deal to do with pointing us in the right direction to enable us to endure and overcome these lasting, chronic problems common to mankind.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Rejoice in What We Are (2011)
When we are tempted, God will help. He will provide a way out, not to avoid temptation, but to meet it successfully and to stand firm under it. This is testing as permitted and controlled by God to produce sterling character that is a reflection of His own.
God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and successfully conquer. He challenges us to meet the temptations that spring up before us on the road of life, beat them down, learn the lessons, and move on to receive the crown of life. He promises to be with us every step of the way. We can be
... confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ... (Philippians 1:6),
when He will give us our reward (Revelation 22:12).
Martin G. Collins
How Does Temptation Relate to Sin?
No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has its way out, so that it will be possible for you to bear it. (I Corinthians 10:13; J.B. Phillips' translation)
God always supplies. He is faithful. God will—at all times—do His part, but what about us? What is our part, small though it may be? We cannot control what the government may or may not do. We cannot control who stays and who goes in our church groups. Outside of ourselves, we actually control very little, so what is our responsibility here?
Later in his epistle, Paul instructs us: "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity" (I Corinthians 16:13-14; King James Version). Several generations ago, "quit you like men" was a frequently heard phrase in English-speaking countries. To modern ears, quit means "to stop" or "to give up," but it can also mean "to conduct oneself in a specified way."
The phrase the King James Version translates as "quit you like men," James Moffatt renders as "play the man"; the Revised Standard Version, "be courageous"; and The Amplified Bible, "act like men." Phillips, however, separates verses 13-14 into a paragraph of their own, giving it a sub-heading that says, "A little sermon in a nutshell!" He translates the verse as follows: "Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, live like men, be strong! Let everything that you do be done in love."
Mike Ford
Courage and the Dog Soldier
There is no need for us to fail. Trials and tests will come—and they will be common tests. They will not be something so unusual that our situation will be absolutely unique. But God is faithful in that He promises to provide us a way out of it—not avoiding it, but through it.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Passover and I Corinthians 10
Demons can entice action and attitudes that will take us into sin, but God is holy. He never plays dirty; everything He does is fair. His actions are just, pure, right, and done in love. He does not tempt people to sin. If a person feels as if he is caught between conflicting pressures, impulses, and one of them is drawing him toward sin, it is certainly not from God. This is why John says what he does in I John 4:1-6. God's Spirit in us gives us the power to recognize truth, so we follow it.
A trial could come upon us not necessarily because of anything that we did or because something is wrong with us, but one could come upon us from this world or from Satan. God promises flat out He will never allow us to be tempted above what we are able to handle, and that He will always provide a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13). We are not without resources. We can recognize truth, and the trials that we fall into can and will be overcome with His help.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Three)
This passage appears in the midst of an epistle detailing the problems of a tumultuous congregation. Paul draws on the experiences of Israel in the wilderness as examples to us. He concludes by telling them, despite what manner of sin each individual was involved in, to turn their attention to overcoming idolatry. In others words, idolatry sat at the foundation and was ultimately the cause of whatever their sin happened to be.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The First Commandment
Even though what we suffer can, at times, weigh us down tremendously and threaten to overwhelm us, approaching it in faith provides a couple of answers.
"Temptation" should not be limited to simply an encouragement to break one of the Ten Commandments. While that is included, there are other temptations, such as those to let down in our walk with God or to jettison the faith, hope, and love we have been given. When pressure mounts, we are often tempted to compromise—not to do what we know to be right and good—to get some relief.
At times, the Greek word translated as "temptation" can imply "adversity," meaning suffering! Yet, as Paul explains, God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, especially if He is supplying the spiritual strength to bear it. Either He will make us stronger to bear up under the adversity, or He will make a way of escape. If we approach our adversity with faith, we can trust His intervention on our behalf.
Beyond faith in the moment, a long-range view will also help us keep suffering in the right perspective. Simply put, it will not last forever, and what God has in store for us in the resurrection is far superior to what we are experiencing now. The more real God and His promises are to us, the more meaning Paul's encouragement in II Corinthians 4:16-18 will hold:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (English Standard Version)
Yes, we are called to suffer—even seemingly unjustly at times—but all of these experiences serve a good and definitive purpose: our becoming glorified members of the God Family.
David C. Grabbe
A Look at Christian Suffering (Part Three)
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 1 Corinthians 10:13:
Genesis 8:1
Exodus 4:27
Exodus 14:13-14
Exodus 23:20-23
Exodus 23:20-23
Exodus 23:27-31
Exodus 23:27-31
Deuteronomy 28:48
Psalm 14:1
Psalm 14:1
Psalm 119:67
Ecclesiastes 7:5-14
Ecclesiastes 7:15-18
Ecclesiastes 7:25-27
Daniel 3:16-19
Daniel 11:32
Zechariah 3:1-4
Matthew 5:43-45
Matthew 24:15-22
Luke 9:62
John 1:12
1 Corinthians 10:10
1 Corinthians 10:13
1 Corinthians 10:13
Philippians 2:12-13
Hebrews 4:2
Hebrews 10:4
Hebrews 10:39
Revelation 2:10
Revelation 12:9
Revelation 18:4
