Open the Bible UK Daily

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling...

Jude 24

God is able to give you victory over the power of temptation. Do you believe this?

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

What temptation do you think Jesus is not able to deliver you from? This goes to the heart of whether we believe the gospel. Some of us simply do not believe that Christ can break the power of cancelled sin and set the prisoner free.

Think about a boxing title fight. There is always a great deal of “trash talk,” and nobody was better at this than Muhammad Ali, who said about himself, "I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Imagine his challenger saying, “He is much bigger and faster than me. He punches harder. And, besides, he’s the champ. I don’t really have a chance.”

This is how some of us talk when it comes to sin. It’s the language of unbelief. You need to make up your mind if you believe in the God who is able to keep you from falling. Many people believe that Jesus can forgive their sins, but they’re not convinced that He can give them victory over temptation.

We sometimes say, “You can talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk.” That’s true, but here is a new spin: “If you want to walk the walk, you have to talk the talk.” Don’t talk defeat before you even get in the ring. Sin shall no longer be your master. The Spirit of God lives in you. God has put you in a position to fight, so use the power He's given you. Fight!

Are you fighting your sin? Or are you trying to walk the walk without talking the talk?

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved.

Psalm 121:2-3

Life is a struggle. It is also an adventure. Like climbing a rock face, it is a dangerous business. But it is magnificently worth it. There will be moments of triumph as you conquer some dangerous part of the climb. But there’s always another challenge ahead.

The entire Christian life is spent on the rock face, and one day you’ll stand at the summit, but not until you’re with Jesus.

Some of us have been Christians for years. We’ve made some progress, but we’re still climbing. The most dangerous place for any climber is when you think it’s getting easier. It’s possible to climb the most difficult face and then get careless and slip.

If you’re a new Christian, you might think that someone you look up to (a Christian for many years) bounces out of bed every morning and spends hours in prayer, knows exactly what to do in every situation, and never struggles with unworthy thoughts. In short, he or she has it a lot easier than you! But actually, the struggle of the Christian life never gets any easier.

The Christian life is a struggle from the moment of your new birth to the moment of your entrance into the presence of Jesus. If you are a climber, it helps to have experience. But experience never takes the struggle out of the climb.

As we look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) together, we’re going to see that these are the ten greatest struggles of our lives. This shouldn’t be surprising. Nobody knows you better than God does. He made you and He knows everything about you, including your struggles.

Did you know that God is aware of your greatest struggles?

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Mark 9:42

These are among the strongest words ever spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are three observations from them.

1. Your influence matters.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones... to sin” (9:42). You are responsible not only for your own sins, but for the sins that you lead others into. If you cause someone younger or weaker to sin, it would be better to be tossed in the sea with a millstone around your neck. We need to know that so we will be restrained from sin ourselves and be able to endure when others sin against us.

2. God's justice is perfect.

Terrible things are done in this world, especially to children. Many of them will never be brought to justice here. But God will bring them to justice. God will bring justice to rulers who persecute people for their faith, teachers who undermine the faith of students, religious leaders whose hypocrisy undermines the faith of many, and ordinary people who lead a friend away from living faith.

3. There are degrees of punishment in hell.

“It would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (9:42). Why would that be better? The punishment experienced by a person in hell will be a direct reflection of their particular sins. If the person had been drowned in the sea before he caused a little one to sin, he would have one less sin to deal with in hell.

How could knowing that you are responsible for sins you lead others into, help to restrain you from sin? How could it help you endure when others sin against you?

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:1

It is important to remember that God the Father did not gain a Son when Jesus was born. God sent the Son, who was already at the Father’s side, into the world. The Son shared the Father’s glory, the Father’s life, and the Father’s love before He came into the world.

“[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). Jesus even said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). You might be like your father in many ways, but no one would say these kinds of things about the two of you.

In the ancient world names described character. This is very different from our normal understanding of a father and a son. For example, the apostles nicknamed Joseph “Barnabas,” which means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). Joseph was encouragement personified, encouragement in the flesh, so they called him "son of encouragement.”

When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mat. 5:9), He was saying that God is the great peacemaker, and that when you make peace you reflect His character. So, when Mark tells us Jesus is “the Son of God,” he is telling us that Jesus is everything that God is in the flesh.

The more you think about this, the more staggering it gets. The great mystery at the centre of all true Christian faith is this: Jesus is the Son of God. The disciples didn’t pretend to understand it. But they did believe it. They followed Jesus with a faith that seeks understanding, and that is how we must follow Him too.

Are you following Jesus with this kind of faith?

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ...

Mark 1:1

Jesus was a common name among the Jews until the beginning of the second century, but Christ is a title, telling us what this person named Jesus came into the world to do.

Today, we might speak about Dave “the plumber,” or Diane “the teacher.” Plumbing is what Dave does. Teaching is what Diane does. Similarly, Jesus is “the Christ.” This means He is “the Messiah,” or “the Deliverer.” Confronting what is wrong and putting it right is what Jesus does.

The Old Testament tells the story of the great human disaster—that our human sinfulness has fouled up God’s world, and it keeps happening. The idea that we have the ability to restore this world, and become what God calls us to be, has been disproved by thousands of years of human experience. But back in the garden of Eden, God promised that someone would come into the world, destroy the work of our enemy, and put things right (Gen. 3:15). And now, Mark is telling us that He has come, and His name is Jesus. He is “the Christ.”

If you hear someone say "Jesus Christ!" in a fit of anger, you might like to say to them: “Do you know what you just said? You just confessed that Jesus is God’s promised deliverer. Is that what you believe? What is it that you need Him to deliver you from?”

The centre point of Mark’s gospel comes when Jesus asks the disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter says, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29). “You are the promised One who has come to confront what is wrong and to put it right.”

Jesus is “the Christ.” Even His name is full of hope.

What would you say if Jesus were to ask you, “Who do you say that I am?”