A Way to Escape
QUESTION
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
This verse seems to teach that God always provides a way of escape and a return to Him no matter our circumstance. Is that correct?
ANSWER
I believe this verse teaches that in every temptation, there is a way of escape open to God's people and that we have sufficient enablement from God to avail ourselves of that escape provided we choose to do so. However, I do not believe that it teaches that this way of escape remains perpetually open at all times as we approach some particular temptation. There are many exits on I-40 heading east but there's a point at which, if you don't take the final exit, you're crossing the Mississippi whether you like it or not.
FOLLOW UP QUESTION
Are you saying there’s a point in which you cannot return to God?
ANSWER
There is a difference between affirming "off ramps are provided to allow one to exit the highway and change direction" and affirming that "the entire highway is accompanied by a perpetual off ramp such that at any moment someone can change direction." I believe many insist that I Corinthians 10:13 teaches the latter, when I believe it teaches the former. There is such a thing as reaching the point of no return with respect to some instance of temptation. To my shame, I've encountered it in my own life at times. That is not to say that I never had any opportunity to avoid being overtaken by temptation, it simply affirms that I missed the last exit, and that's on me.
With respect to "a point in which you cannot return to God" - the depends on what one intends by "returning to God.” That meaning is by no means certain when this question is raised among evangelicals. If by "returning to God" one means restoring temporal matters to how they were before the offense, the Israelites refusal to enter the promised land and the 40 years of wandering that followed seem to establish the matter beyond any reasonable dispute, IMO. Those above a certain age were never given an opportunity to restore their relationship with God, and the blessings that accompanied it, to its prior temporal state during their natural lives. If we are speaking of "returning to God" with respect to the matters of one's eternal destiny (which is how many in Christendom might intend that phrase) then we are looking in the wrong direction. No one is ever eternally saved because they longed for and turned toward the Shepherd. Rather, they are eternally saved because the Shepherd sought and recovered one of His sheep.
ANOTHER FOLLOW UP QUESTION
As for the meaning of the “point of no return”, I'm referring to verses like Proverbs 29:1. My concern is that a child of God can fall away completely to a state he cannot return to God spiritually. He is stuck abiding in death, rather than life, is unable to repent to turn to God, can no longer hear Gods voice or bear the fruits of the Spirit.
ANSWER
Let's take a closer look at the text you reference:
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." (Proverbs 29:1)
This verse seems to mirror my Interstate Highway metaphor:
Reproof = off ramp
Several off ramps are provided
There comes a time when you've missed the last exit
A similar problem arises from the phrase "returning to God spiritually” since that could carry a variety of possible meanings. Rather than address that, I will affirm the following truths that ought to be most surely believed by all Christians:
God gives unto his sheep eternal life and they shall never perish (John 10:28).
Once regenerated, they never cease to have spiritual, yea eternal, life (John 10:28).
Though their spiritual life can never be lost, they can make shipwreck of faith and fall into a woeful and unprofitable state in their temporal lives (I Timothy 1:19-20, James 2:14-17) from which they may never fully recover (Numbers 14:20-38).
Interesting discussion of a sobering truth that all disciples do well to consider.
- Elder Daniel Samons