August 8, 2026
Saturday, August 8
So what is the answer to our backsliding nature? Earlier, I said the Exodus story is referred to many times in the Bible as a cautionary tale. Here are some examples:
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses reminds the people what happened to the generation of their parents and warns them not to become proud, as if they made it out of Egypt all on their own. Remember who saved you.
In Psalm 95, David cautions us not to let our hearts become hard, like the generation that died in the desert instead of entering the Promised Land.
Hebrews 3 retells the story again, then says this: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (v. 12).
But I believe the ultimate vaccine against the disease of backsliding is found in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
What does he mean, “the rock was Christ?” Remember, the people wanted to stone Moses to death. God then said, “Take your staff up to the rock, and I will stand before you.” That’s an unusual thing for God to say. Usually a person stands before their superior. A servant stands before his master. A subject stands before her King. God, in saying, “I will stand before you” is putting Himself in the inferior position. He tells Moses, “Strike the rock, and water will flow out.” In spite of the wickedness of these people, in spite of the fact they deserve to die, God saves their lives. He gives them water.
So when Paul says “the rock was Christ,” He’s telling us that God took the place of Moses in the desert. He was saying, “They want to hit you, Moses. But you hit me instead. They deserve death, but I am going to give them life anyway.” That’s the Gospel right there in the Old Testament. The Gospel says that when Christ, our Rock, was struck by death, the water of life poured out on us.
And that is the answer to backsliding. The Gospel is the only thing that saves us. When we remember the Gospel, we don’t romanticize or excuse our sins, because we remember our sins cost the Son of God His life. And we don’t feel entitled, because we know if we had gotten what we were entitled to, we’d be lost forever. When was the last time you really, truly came to the cross, bared your soul before God, and asked for His grace to change you?
Here’s an Irish version of one of my favorite hymns, which gives us the words to do just that: Come Thou Fount
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
