1 Corinthians 10:11–12

Context

Chapters 8–10 of 1 Corinthians, the letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, address whether it is permissible to eat food sacrificed to idols. The Corinthian church appears to have included some who acted without scruple on the basis of their knowledge that "an idol is nothing." In 10:1–10 Paul cites the example of Israel in the wilderness. Although the Israelites passed under the cloud and through the sea and ate spiritual food, they perished in the wilderness because of idolatry, sexual immorality, and grumbling. These accounts appear in Exodus 32 and Numbers 21 and 25, among other places. Verse 11 sums up these events, and verse 12 delivers the concluding warning. Verse 13, which immediately follows, speaks of the faithfulness of God, who enables believers to bear temptation, and verse 14 continues with the exhortation to "flee from idolatry."

Interpretation

• Typological reading: The word rendered "mirror" in the Korean Revised Version ("example" in the New Korean Revised Version; "ensamples" in the KJV) translates the Greek typikōs ("as an example," "as a type"). The passage is often cited in support of interpretation that reads Old Testament events as types for the church today.
• Meaning of "the ends of the world": Literally, the phrase means "the ends of the ages." Many interpreters read it less as a prediction of a distant future end than as an expression of the early church's eschatological conviction that the last age had already begun with the coming of Christ.
• Pastoral reading: "Him that thinketh he standeth" in verse 12 is understood to refer to Corinthian believers who, trusting in their knowledge and spiritual experiences, frequented places of idol worship. There is broad agreement across denominations in reading this warning as a caution against overconfidence in one's own faith.

Debates and Issues

The most widely discussed question in this passage is what "falling" means.

• The Calvinist (Reformed) tradition: Most Korean Presbyterian churches belong to this tradition. In keeping with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, it holds that true believers will never ultimately fall away from salvation. This tradition explains the warning as a means by which God preserves believers and maintains that it must be read together with the affirmation of God's faithfulness in verse 13.
• The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions: Methodist and Holiness churches are associated with this stream. These traditions often read the warning as indicating that believers can actually fall from grace.

In the Korean Church

The phrase "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" is widely quoted in sermons warning against pride and complacency. It is also frequently used in exhortations addressed to church leaders and to longtime believers.

Related Passages

• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Romans 15:4
• Hebrews 3:13
• Hebrews 10:26–31
• John 10:27–29