First Corinthians 16:13 states, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” You can break this verse down into three main parts. The first thing that we need to do according to the verse is be alert. Some people may wonder why the bible says be alert but as Christians we will have to be ready for anything that Satan may throw our way. Throughout the bible we can see that Satan is often waiting for a slip up or for someone that has temporarily let down their guard. First Peter 5:8 explains to us why we can not ever let our guard down by saying “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” You can also look at this part in a differ manner.
The bible tells us to be on guard, be alert. You do not know when that time will come. When he says that time, he is speaking of the time that Jesus Christ will make his return to the earth. God has told us that no one knows the hour of even the day of coming except for God. We as Christians can not do things knowing that we will be able to ask for forgiveness later, we have to live for today. We must live each and every day like it could be the judgment day. Another verse that supports this is first Thessalonians 5:6 “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be both alert and self-controlled. Here we are shown that leading lives where we are inanimate is unacceptable. The second part of first Corinthians 16:13 tells us to “stand firm in the faith.” You can not stand firm on just church days; we must always be a light for others to see.
There is a multitude of positive repercussions that come from standing firm in the faith. First we know that if we stand firm then we are not alone because our Christian brothers and sisters are attempting to be all that they can be and live to the standards set before us in God's holy word. This is shown in first peter 5:9 “Resist him, stand firm in the faith because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” As that verse shows us we will always have someone to turn to that will understand what we are going through and be there for a confidence booster.
Secondly standing firm in the faith is key part of reaching every Christians ultimate goal, eternal life. Matthew 24:13 very clearly states this “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”, also this is seen in Luke 21:19 where it is said that standing firm gains you life. All this comes from standing firm in the faith. We must also be careful about believing that we are standing firm but really are not. First Corinthians 16:13 foreworns of this by saying “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!” You can break first Corinthians 16:13 into one last group. In the latter part of the verse we are told to be men of courage: to be strong. By saying be strong the bible does not mean be strong physically necessarily but to be able to defend your faith and stand for the lord. Joshua 1:9 states “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." We are told not to be terrified or discourage. In saying this we can perceive that at times it will not always be easy being strong and courageous but we must not back down for the Lord our God will stay with us. We are confronted with many situations in today's world that we must attempt to not be pushed back or back down; we can not allow others to trample over us for we are the ones that are shining through with God's light.
The most powerful reason as to why we should be strong is to be saved. Revelations 12:8 speaks of someone who was not strong, and as a result they lost their place in heaven. Now look at it this way. Your friend approaches you and begins to tell you why the church is wrong. It would be so easy to be pushed around to avoid the argument because you are timid. But in the long run is avoiding one argument or even losing a friend worth losing you place in the book of life? Now as I have shown first Corinthians 16:13 can be broken down into three sections but we must not look at them as if we can have just one or two of them. It is necessary to obtain all three. Each one of them plays a key role in the other. For example if you stand firm in the faith it is easy to be alert and so on. Without being alert, standing firm, and being strong we will not be able to reach what we are striving for, spending the rest of eternity with God.
