795.) 1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9 (New International Version)

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

At first sight this chapter seems quite disconnected from what goes before but in point of fact it is not.  The whole point of it lies in this—the Corinthians who considered themselves mature and advanced Christians have been claiming that they are in such a privileged position that they are free to eat meat offered to idols if they like.  Their Christian freedom and their Christian privilege give them—as they think—a special position in which they could do things which might not be permissible to lesser men  Paul’s way of answering that argument is to set forth the many privileges which he himself had a perfect right to claim, but which he did not claim lest they should turn out to be stumbling-blocks to others and hindrances to the effectiveness of the gospel.

– William Barclay

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ²Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. ³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ¹² If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. ¹⁶ For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

This blog, DWELLINGintheWord, offers the gospel free of charge to the world!  And may the Lord bless all who are reading it!

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Paul is not saying that one should alter the message to suit the various people to whom one is speaking.  No, he is saying he adjusts his approach, or even some of his habits, so as not to alienate anyone about some non-essential thing.  Paul would not be interested in making the Word more politically correct, but he would be urging us to be more available, more helpful, more willing to listen  to those around us who do not yet know Jesus as their Redeemer.

The Need for Self-Discipline

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Sporting events were big in Paul’s day, as they are in our own.  This reference to sports would have been especially meaningful to the Corinthians, because their city was the center for the Isthmian Games, second in prestige to the ancient Olympics.  Paul often uses figures from arena competition (at least twelve different references in his letters), including examples of runners, boxers, gladiators, chariot racers, and trophies.

Paul is telling us to train to compete as athletes who really want to win.  Without effort, nothing can be won in a sporting event.

–David Guzik

²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

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Music:

How can I talk about running and not think of one of my favorite movies, Chariots of Fire?

Based on a true story, Chariots of Fire is the internationally acclaimed Oscar-winning drama of two very different men who compete as runners in the 1924 Paris Olympics.  Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a serious Christian Scotsman, believes that he has to succeed as a testament to his undying religious faith.  Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), is a Jewish Englishman who wants desperately to be accepted and prove to the world that Jews are not inferior.  But this is not a movie only about sports.  It is about the human spirit and the many facts of God’s glory.

If you have never seen Chariots of Fire, give yourself that gift soon!  Here is a bit of the opening sequence and the stirring theme song.

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Running for the prize.   http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fgxC7AODmrc/S3rF7Y_Ej7I/AAAAAAAAAvI/mcpw14p256I/s400/Running+for+the+Prize_T.jpg

blog.  http://blog.abwebsitedesign.com/image.axd?picture=2011%2F7%2FBlog.jpg

race.  http://kevingriggs.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/running-race.jpg

794.) 1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8

(New International Version)

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

¹ Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.

The difference is likened to a puffed up bubble or a built up building! 

New Living Translation puts it this way:  “But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.“

² Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.

Oh, here is a word for me to remind myself of when I am being particularly trying to others!

³But whoever loves God is known by God. ⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

There is only one God, so idols have no real existence — Paul acknowledges that.   That is “knowledge,” and it may be part of spiritual maturity.  But there is something else to consider . . .

⁷ But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸ But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Philippians 2:3-4 (English Standard Version)

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

¹⁰ For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

. . . and what else a Christian must consider is “love,” — how my action might affect someone else.  Paul makes the principle clear.  Our actions can never be based just on what we know to be right for ourselves (knowledge); we also need to consider what is right in regard to our brothers and sisters in Jesus (love).

It is easy for a Christian to say, “I answer to God and God alone” and to ignore my brother or sister.  It is true we will answer to God and God alone, but we will answer to God for how we have treated our brother or sister.

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Music:

The best food to eat is not food that has been offered to idols, but rather that which was offered to God for our salvation — the body and blood of Christ.  “In Remembrance of Me”  sung by Robert Kochis.  The song addresses the “Love” portion that Paul has just been speaking of.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 22 — The Resurrection of the Body

What will our life as people raised from the dead look like?  When will this happen?  What kind of assurance do we have that this will truly take place?  These and other questions are answered by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.  Though the new people of God now live out their faith with some differences on earth, an event will take place in time where all the dead will be raised.  Click here for  AUDIO or  VIDEO.

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 8:8.   http://oneyearbibleimages.com/1corinthians8_8.jpg

793.) 1 Corinthians 7:25-40

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

(New International Version)

Concerning the Unmarried

Paul’s advice:

1) Marriage is not bad in the sight of God. 

2) Singleness has its advantages.

²⁵ Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. ²⁶ Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. ²⁹ What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰ those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Other people’s advice:

“I’m single because I was born that way.”

–Mae West

³² I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. ³³ But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— ³⁴ and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”

–George Washington

³⁶ If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. ³⁷ But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. ³⁸ So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

“Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.”

–Rod Stewart

³⁹ A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. ⁴⁰ In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

“The fear of being an old maid made young girls rush into matrimony with a recklessness that astonishes.”

–Louisa May Alcott

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Music:

Adele and her hit single (ha ha!), “Someone Like You.”  (I think probably everything feels better when you’re walking around in Paris!)

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 21 — Disputed Opinions among the New People of God

The new people of God differed in what they regarded as acceptable diet and behavior.  We are given words from Jesus and from leaders of the church about how we are to regard people who differ from our thoughts on such things.  Paul encourages courtesy where there are differences.  And he does so to help build up those who are weaker in faith.  Click here for  AUDIO or  VIDEO.

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Single – Married – Happily Married.   http://urlybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Single-Married-Happily-Married.jpg

792.) 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

1 Corinthians 7:1-24

(New International Version)

Concerning Married Life

¹ Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ² But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. ³ The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

The principle in this passage is important.  God makes it clear that there is nothing wrong, and everything right, about sex in marriage.  Satan’s great strategy, when it comes to sex, is to do everything he can to encourage sex outside of marriage, and to discourage sex within marriage.  It is an equal victory for Satan if he accomplishes either plan!

This can be seen in the way some of the Corinthian Christians thought it was just fine to hire the services of a prostitute (as in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20), and other Corinthian Christians thought it was more spiritual for a husband and wife to never have sexual relations!

A Christian husband and wife must not accept a poor sexual relationship.  The problems may not be easily overcome, or quickly solved, but God wants every Christian marriage to enjoy a sexual relationship that is a genuine blessings, instead of a burden or a curse.

–David Guzik

⁶ I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Yet I know married people who long to have the freedom of singleness again, and single people who weep at night in loneliness, aching for a spouse.  So sad!  In their longing for something different, they lose the joy of the moment God is giving them.  Here is an opportunity to trust God in all things!  (And I say that as one who has lived my adult years about 2/3 married and 1/3 single).

⁸ Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. ⁹ But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Was there a Mrs. Paul (and did she sell fish)?

Though Paul was unmarried at when he wrote this letter, he probably had been married at one time.  We can say this because we know Paul was an extremely observant Jew, and an example among his people (Philippians 3:4-6).  In Paul’s day, Jews considered that marriage was a duty, to the extent that a man reaching 20 years of age without having been married was considered to have sinned.  Unmarried men were often considered excluded from heaven, and not real men at all.  This was based on their understanding of Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

Also, by Paul’s own words, it is likely that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin (in Acts 26:10, Paul says I cast my vote against them, speaking of the early Christians).  An unmarried man could not be a member of the Sanhedrin.

So, what happened to Paul’s wife?  The Scriptures are silent.  Perhaps she left him when he became a Christian, or perhaps she died some time before or after he became a Christian.  But we know that it was likely he was married before, and we know he was not married when writing this letter (and there is no appearance of a wife for Paul in Acts).  Paul could speak credibly of the relative gifts and responsibilities of both marriage and singleness.

Though Paul knew singleness was good for him, he would not impose it on anyone.  The important thing is what gift one has from God, either being gifted to singleness or marriage.

¹⁰ To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. ¹¹ But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹² To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

¹⁵ But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. ¹⁶ How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

My pastor counseled me that there are two specific, Scriptural grounds for divorce:  when there is sexual immorality (Matthew 19:3-9), and when a believing partner is deserted by an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:15).  Does this mean there can never be divorce for another reason?  I willingly confess that I am no expert here, and invite you to share your understanding . . . Please, make a comment below!

Concerning Change of Status

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. ²⁰Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Single, engaged, married, divorced, remarried, widowed — live as you are NOW for Christ!  Don’t waste your time trying to undo the past; if there is sin there, repent, confess, receive forgiveness, and move forward, “keeping God’s commands” NOW.

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

We can seek God’s best and be used by Him right where we are.

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Music:

Art Garfunkel and “All I Know.”

I bruise you, you bruise me
We both bruise too easily
Too easily to let it show
I love you, and that’s all I know

All my plans have fallen through
All my plans depend on you
Depend on you to help them grow
I love you, and that’s all I know

When the singer’s gone
Let the song go on…

But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast, but they pass too slow
I love you, and that’s all I know

When the singer’s gone
Let the song go on
It’s a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
They say the darkest night
There’s a light beyond

But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast, but they pass too slow
I love you, and that’s all I know
That’s all I know
That’s all I know

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 7:4.    http://oneyearbibleimages.com/1corinthians7_4.jpg

in bed.  http://www.healthandphysicaleducationteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Sex-in-Marriage-2.jpg

Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks.  http://notimemommy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/mrs-pauls-fish-sticks-44.jpg?w=150

broken marriage (egg).  http://womenonthefence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Divorce.jpg

791.) 1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6 (New International Version)

Lawsuits Among Believers

¹ If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? ² Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴ Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? ⁵ I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? ⁶But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! ⁷ The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.

⁹ Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

God’s great work for us in Jesus Christ is described in three terms.

You were washed: We are washed clean from sin by the mercy of God (Titus 3:5). We can have our sins washed way by calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16). We are washed by the work of Jesus on the cross for us (Revelation 1:5) and by the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26).

You were sanctified: We are set apart, away from the world and unto God, by the work of Jesus on the cross (Hebrews 10:10), by God’s Word (John 17:19), by faith in Jesus (Acts 26:18), and by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16).

You were justified: We are declared “just” before the court of God; not merely “not guilty,” but declared to be “just” before Him. We are justified by God’s grace through the work of Jesus on the cross (Romans 3:24), by faith and not by our own deeds (Romans 3:28).

–David Guzik

Sexual Immorality

The Corinthian mindset in modern day:

“Sex is a function of the body—a drive which man shares with animals, like eating, drinking, and sleeping. It is a physical demand that must be satisfied. If you don’t satisfy it, you will have all sorts of neurosis and repression cycosis.  Sex is here to stay; let’s forget the prudery that makes us hide from it. Throw away those inhibitions, find a girl who is like-minded, and let yourself go.”

–Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy Enterprises

¹² “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. ¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

Augustine was a Christian who had a lot of trouble with keeping sexually pure.  For a long time, it kept him from really following God.  He used to pray, “God, make me pure – but not just yet.”  But there came a point where he really turned everything over to God.  He stopped hanging around with his companions in sexual immorality, and stopped going to the neighborhood where he used to meet them.  Then once he had to go there on business, and on the street he met an old flame.  She was glad to see him, and started running to him with arms outstretched, saying, “Augustine!  Where have you been for so long?  We have missed you so!”  Augustine did the only thing he could do: he started running the other way.  She called out to him, “Augustine, why are you running? It’s only me!”  He looked back, while still running, and said, “I’m running because I’m not me!”  He was a different man because of Jesus, living a different way.  If we have had our lives changed by Jesus, it will show in the desire to flee sexual immorality.

–David Guzik

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

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Music:

Let us sing today to the Holy Spirit, who helps us honor God with our bodies, and our hearts, and our minds.  “You Raise Me Up”  by Selah.

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20.   https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ylodeJ-aBPU/TXRY3XzqD0I/AAAAAAAAAY4/Cwr61L-PK0k/CLEAN-BibleVersePoster.jpg

sue cartoon, by Stu Rees.   http://fobulousliving.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/cla257e1.gif

I am a child of God.   http://img1.etsystatic.com/il_570xN.174978493.jpg

Playboy bunny.  http://daveibsen.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451db4269e20133f322bd9a970b-800wi

St. Augustine.    http://www.thatreligiousstudieswebsite.com/images_trsw/Theology/augustine.jpg

790.) 1 Corinthians 5

a kind of tough love

1 Corinthians 5 (New International Version)

Dealing With a Case of Incest

¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?

“In sexual matters the heathen did not know the meaning of chastity.  The heathen took their pleasure when they wanted it and where they wanted it.  It was so hard for the Christian Church to escape the infection.  They were like a little island of Christianity surrounded on every side by a sea of paganism. and yet if the Church was to be kept pure they must say a total good-bye to heathen ways.  In the Church at Corinth a specially shocking case had arisen.  A man had formed an illicit association with his own step-mother, a thing which would revolt even a heathen and which was explicitly forbidden by the Jewish law (Leviticus 18:8). 

“Shocked as he was by the sin, Paul was even more shocked by the attitude of the Corinthian Church to the sinner.  They had complacently accepted the situation and had done nothing about it.  They should have been grief-stricken about it.  The word that Paul uses for the grief they should have shown (penthein) is the word that is used for mourning for the dead. 

“An easy-going attitude to sin is always dangerous.  When we cease to take a serious view of sin we are in a perilous position.  It is not a question of being critical and condemnatory; it is a question of being wounded and hurt.  It was sin that crucified Jesus Christ; it was to free people from sin that Christ died.”

–William Barclay

³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Perhaps also — it is the difference between an arrogant sinner and a repentant sinner.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

“The illustration Paul makes us of is drawn from the Passover ritual in which unleavened bread played a significant role.  Before the days of the feast, a ceremony was—and still is in the homes of faithful Jews—performed to search out and destroy all traces of yeast or any kind of fermenting material.  In old editions of the Passover service-book a picture of an old man with a candle is sometimes placed as a frontispiece.

“When Passover begins, the use of leaven is forbidden and unleavened bread is the diet.  A symbolic value is attached to this, as Lev Gillet has described in his book Communion in the Messiah, for the rising of the dough is an apt picture of the swelling of pride, and Israel must be reminded that they were a poor and servile people when the Lord redeemed them from Egypt.

“Against this background the Corinthians are called to 1) clear out every trace of (moral) evil by dealing with the presence of arrogant sin in their midst; 2) recall that they are the New Israel of God, summoned to be a holy people to the Lord, and redeemed by the Paschal Lamb Himself; and 3) celebrate the Christian Passover which lasts, not for seven to eight days as the Jewish rite, but a life-time.”

–Dr. R. P. Martin

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter (note: this letter is unknown to us today) not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

The Church is to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16).  But members of the church who try to profess the faith and live in ways contrary to the holiness of God cannot have it both ways.  They are to be shown their folly and graciously, firmly reminded of the high moral standards demanded by the New Covenant and enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit.  And Lord, give me open eyes to recognize my own sin, and confess it, and turn from it.

¹² What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³ God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

_________________________

Music:

The song today has nothing to do with the text.  Instead, it is in honor of my dearly loved husband, who celebrates a birthday today.   (Ask him about Medicare forms!)  David,  sweetheart, thank you for being kind and wonderful you!

From The Phantom of the Opera, Michael Ball and Sarah Brightman sing “All I Ask of You.”

All I Ask of You

RAOUL
No more talk of darkness,
Forget these wide-eyed fears.
I’m here, nothing can harm you -
my words will warm and calm you.

Let me be your freedom,
let daylight dry your tears.
I’m here, with you, beside you,
to guard you and to guide you . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you love me every waking moment,
turn my head with talk of summertime . . .

Say you need me with you,
now and always . . .
promise me that all you say is true -
that’s all I ask of you . . .

RAOUL
Let me be your shelter,
let me be your light.
You’re safe:  No-one will find you,
your fears are far behind you . . .

CHRISTINE
All I want is freedom,
a world with no more night . . .
and you always beside me
to hold me and to hide me . . .

RAOUL
Then say you’ll share with me
one love, one lifetime . . .
Let me lead you from your solitude . . .

Say you need me with you
here, beside you . . .
anywhere you go, let me go too -
Christine,
that’s all I ask of you . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you’ll share with
me one love, one lifetime . . .
say the word and I will follow you . . .

BOTH
Share each day with me,
each night, each morning . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you love me . . .

RAOUL
You know I do . . .

BOTH
Love me -
that’s all I ask of you . . .

Anywhere you go, let me go too . . .
Love me -
that’s all I ask of you . .

_________________________

New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

tough love.   http://lifegatefellowship.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Tough-Love.jpg

leavened and unleavened bread.   http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JQRVzSS0lIY/Taz7ZWswezI/AAAAAAAAAcY/NhBVUdpK23g/s1600/Purge+The+Leaven+Bread+%2526+Put+On+The+Unleavened+Bread+-+1+Corinthians+5+verses+6-7.jpg

789.) 1 Corinthians 4

1 Corinthians 4 (New International Version)

The Nature of True Apostleship

¹ This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Paul asks to be considered as a servant of Christ and as one who has been given a trust.  Paul is referring here to the idea of “steward,” one who was a slave to the master, but in charge of all the slaves.  He managed the household and the money.  Paul is saying, I am seeking first and foremost to be faithful to God, my master.

³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

When Jesus judges, it will be according to the motives of the heart, not only the outward action.  This is one reason why human judgment is often wrong, and why Paul feels free to disregard the harsh judgment of the Corinthian Christians towards himself.

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

Paul nails the root of their problem:  pride.

⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else?

If we are different, it is because of what God has done in us.  That leaves us no place for pride.

What do you have that you did not receive?

Everything we have has come from God, so that leaves us no place for pride.

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

It is all the grace of God, a gift from God, and that leaves us no place for pride.

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

The image of verse 9 is either from the coliseum, or the parade of a conquering Roman general, where he displayed his armies first, the booty second, and at the end of the procession, the defeated captives who would be condemned to die in the arena.  And, just as before going into the arena, the gladiators would say, morituri salutamus (“we who will die salute you”), so Paul now salutes the Corinthian Christians!

The word spectacle is theatron, from which we get our word “theater.”  When Paul says we have been made a spectacle to the world, he is speaking of how the apostles have been publicly humiliated.  This kind of humiliation was the greatest horror to the pride of the Corinthian Christians.

–David Guzik

¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

Don’t miss Paul’s sarcasm here!

¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

Be careful what you do.  You may be the only Bible some people ever read.

¹⁷For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

from Experiencing God Day-by-Day,
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

NOT IN WORD BUT IN POWER

Christianity is not moral platitudes, lofty intentions, and noble thoughts.  The fundamental characteristic of God’s kingdom is power.  Paul faced constant criticism about his work among the early churches.  Some of his detractors would travel to cities such as Corinth and speak extensively about all that Paul was doing incorrectly.  At times, people in the churches were enticed to believe the slanderous criticism against the apostle.

Paul responded with a reminder that the test of a kingdom citizen’s authenticity was not the persuasiveness of his words, but the spiritual power of his life.  Paul candidly acknowledged that some did not find him eloquent in speech (2 Corinthians 10:10).  Yet they could not question God’s power in his life.  He had seen many people converted, and many churches were started through his ministry.  He had been used to heal the sick and raise the dead through God’s power.  Regardless of whether his words were eloquent, they carried spiritual power and authority that came from God.

You will encounter many people who seek to convince you of their opinions concerning the kingdom of God.  They may speak passionately.  They may even bring chars and graphs to prove their points!  But the test of the validity of their words is the spiritual power of their lives.  If a person speaks forcefully about a point of doctrine but is habitually sinning, his words are discredited by his life.  If a person talks of the power of God but gives no evidence of victory in her life, her words are empty.  It is much easier to talk about the victorious Christian life than it is to live it. 

If you only have the appearance of godliness without any corresponding spiritual power (2 Timothy 3:5), ask God to cleanse you of your sin and to fill you with His Spirit so that your life is characterized by power.

_________________________

²¹ What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

_________________________

Music:

“More Love, More Power . . . more of You in my life,” is a praise prayer in a minor key.  Michael W. Smith sings, accompanied with clips from the film The Gospel of John.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 20 — The Gifts of the Spirit

For the new people of God to carry out the purpose of the church, they need gifts from the Holy Spirit. The gifts are intended to help people do their work for the Lord in the world.   These gifts come from our Lord to enable us to do His work.  And so we receive them and even can ask for them so that we can be more effective in whatever God has asked us to do.  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 4:20.   http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kurop1dn9B1qzlgb3o1_r2_500.jpg

tattoo.   http://fromthepews.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/wwwdratemyinkdcom.jpg

“Hail, Caesar!”  oil painting by Jean-Leon Gerome.   http://i.minus.com/jdJjUu.jpg

lion.   http://www.breathoflifeonline.net/uploads/5/2/0/0/5200243/promises_-_1_corinthians_4.20_wallpaper.jpg

788.) 1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3 (New International Version)

The Church and Its Leaders

¹ Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

The difference between milk and solid food is one of degrees, not kind.  Every doctrine that can be taught in seminary can be taught to children, though not in the same words. There are not two gospels, one for the learned and one for the unlearned.

³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? ⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

Christian workers have different jobs, and see different results.  But God is the one who gets the work done; God gives the increase.

When a farmer plants a seed, and waters it, he really does not make it grow.  The miracle of life does that.  All the farmer can do is provide the right environment for growth, and trust in the miracle of life.  We do the same thing in ministering Jesus to other people.

Some people are frustrated because they want to water when God has called them to plant, or they want to plant when God has called them to water.  Others are frustrated because they want to make the increase happen, when only God can do that.  Real fruitfulness in ministry happens when we are peacefully content with what God has called us to do.

–David Guzik

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

When our work is tested by God, it will be revealed what kind of work it was.  Just as fire will destroy wood, hay, and straw, but not gold, silver, and precious stones, so the work of some will be revealed as nothing on that Day.

Notice that the amount of the work isn’t going to be evaluated (though it does have some relevance).  Paul says the work will be tested to see what sort it is.  If one did a lot of the wrong sort of work, it will be as if he did nothing.  His work will be burned and will vanish in eternity.  D.L. Moody wisely said that converts ought to be weighed as well as counted.

Paul also referred to this great testing in 2 Corinthians 5:10:  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  When our work is tested before the Lord, we will be rewarded according to what remains.

It is a sobering thought:  many, many people who believe they are serving God, but are doing it in an unworthy manner or with unworthy “materials” will come to find in eternity that they have, in reality, done nothing for the Lord.  Some will be saved, but with a life that was wasted, and receive no crown to give to Jesus, for His glory (as in Revelation 4:10-11).  He himself will be saved, yet so as through the fire:  Saved, but barely saved, and saved with everything gone.

–David Guzik

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

_________________________

Music:

“Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”  These verses were given to me on my Confirmation Day by Pastor Hugo Schwartz.  I have never forgotten the “blessed assurance” that this passage gives!  With thanks to Fanny Crosby for writing this hymn, and Third Day for singing it.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 19 — The Lord’s Supper, a Supernatural Meal

When the Christians in Corinth shared the Lord’s Supper they made some mistakes.  Now we can learn from their errors.  In this study, we can see how our Lord is present in the meal He created.  And we can learn how to receive this supper in the manner that will bless us most.  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 3:7.  http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvjl33kUgg1qzlgb3o1_r1_500.jpg

child planting.   http://extension.unh.edu/hcfg/images/childplanting.jpg

fire. gold, silver.    http://www.thepropheticscroll.org/home/images/stories/firegoldstones.jpg

787.) 1 Corinthians 2

1 Corinthians 2 (New International Version)

Real Wisdom from God

¹ And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you,

Paul’s arrival in Corinth is described in Acts 18.  He came and met a Christian couple named Aquila and Priscilla, who were tent makers by trade, like Paul.  He ministered in Corinth for more than a year and a half, supporting himself by tent making.

I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

To know nothing “does not mean that he left all other knowledge aside, but rather that he had the gospel, with its crucified Messiah, as his singular focus and passion while he was among them.”

–Dr. Gordon Fee

I heard of a young pastor (obviously not St. Paul!) who was trying to impress the congregation with his clergy vestments and what he had accomplished in order to wear them.  So during the children’s sermon he asked the kids, “Why do I wear this white collar?”  One child answered loudly, “Because it kills fleas and ticks for up to five months.”

³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

If someone’s faith is in human wisdom and not God’s power, if someone can be persuaded into the kingdom by human wisdom — they can be persuaded out of the kingdom by human wisdom also.

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Some scholars consider the Lord of glory the loftiest title Paul ever gave to Jesus.  It is certain proof that Paul regarded Jesus as holding the highest place of all, as nothing less than God, the Second Person of the Trinity.

⁹However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . .” –  this phrase is often used to indicate the things that are waiting for us in heaven.  But as a saint of the Middle Ages wrote, “The road to heaven, is heaven.”  What glorious things has the Lord revealed to us here in our everyday life?  We have all creation, prepared for us by a loving Father, a sure redemption, provided by our Savior’s blood, and steady growth in the ways of God. guided kindly by the Holy Spirit!  Surely no human mind could ever have conceived a story so wonderful, so purposeful, so true!

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. ¹⁴ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Spiritual things seem to be “foolishness” to the natural, unredeemed person.  Why waste time on “spiritual” things when you could be making money or having fun?   I have known people who feel they have “outgrown” the faith, much as they outgrew middle school clothing.  Yet it seems we humans must worship something, so if not God, then what?  Our world today provides many options that may seem lovely but in fact lead nowhere — worship of self, of money, of Mother Nature, of politics, of sports, of achievement, of fame, of appearance . . .

¹⁵ The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

_________________________

Music:

How many times did I sing this song at chapel when I was a student at Wheaton College?!  Many, many, many.  It was a new hymn to me, and quickly became a favorite.  “May the Mind of Christ my Savior” was written by Kate Barclay Wilkinson in the early 1900′s.  The six stanzas of the hymn were originally intended for each day of the week leading up to Sunday.  However, every day we ought to ask ourselves the question, “What is the Christ-like way for handling this or that situation?”  At all times I should be examining myself and praying to the Lord — “May the Mind of Christ, my Savior” be in me.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1 Corinthians 2:9.  http://airmiles.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/2010-01-29.jpg?w=1000

“Eye hath not seen”  by Danny Hahlbohm.  http://www.tribulation.com/images/eyeseen.jpg

786.) 1 Corinthians 1

Corinth was one of the great cities of the ancient world — prosperous, busy, growing.  The people there were known for their reckless pursuit of pleasure.  Australian New Testament scholar Leon Morris describes Corinth as “intellectually alert, materially prosperous, but morally corrupt.”

1 Corinthians 1 (New International Version)

Jesus, the Wisdom of God

 ¹ Paul,

The apostle Paul follows the normal pattern for writing a letter in ancient times.  We write a letter by saying who the letter is to first, and we conclude with writing who the letter is from.  In the ancient culture of Paul, a letter began with writing who the letter is from, and then stating who the letter is to.

Paul had an extensive history of contact with the city of Corinth, beginning when he established the church in Corinth, coming there after visiting Athens and staying a year and a half (Acts 18).

He wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth from the city of Ephesus (Acts 19), which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9.  This “previous letter” is lost.

Paul then received reports from people in Chloe’s household about disturbances in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:11), and he may have received a delegation from Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:7) who brought him questions from the congregation (1 Corinthians 7:1).

So Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to respond to these reports.  And because of all the time Paul spent in Corinth, and all the letters he wrote them, we know more about the Christians at Corinth than we know about any other church in the New Testament.

–David Guzik

called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul will often (more than seventeen times in the letter) refer to Jesus as the Lord Jesus Christ; it is well to recall what the title means.

Lord: A title designating not only master and boss, but also the Lord revealed in the Old Testament (known as Yahweh or Jehovah). 

Jesus: The given name of the son of Mary, which is the Greek pronunciation of Joshua.  The name Joshua means, “Yahweh is salvation.”

Christ: The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, or “Anointed One.”  This is the One prophesied by the Old Testament Scriptures, sent by the Father to save and deliver us.

Thanksgiving

⁴ I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— ⁶ God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In these first nine verses, Paul refers to Jesus nine times, in nearly every verse.  With this emphasis on Jesus, Paul is promoting the sure cure for the problems of the Corinthians: getting one’s eyes off self and on Jesus.

A Church Divided Over Leaders

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided?

Thinking about “one holy and apostolic church”: 

My mother used to tell this story.  There was a contentious man who went from one congregation to another, never finding the “true” church.  Someone once said to him, “Well, what church are you in now?”  He said, “I am in the true church at last.”  “How many belong to it?”  “Just my wife and myself, and I am not sure about her sometimes.”

Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written:   “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

“Jews demand signs” — as we remember in the ministry of Jesus from beginning to end — for they thought the Messiah would come accompanied by amazing wonders.  A crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms.

“Greeks look for wisdom” — for they believed that the gods cannot and do not suffer mortal pain.  Instead, the gods remain aloof and untouched by human misery.  The Greeks were proud of their intellectual acuteness, and to them, the whole idea of the incarnation was revolting, insulting to both the gods and humanity.

²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Galatians 6:14 (New Living Translation)

As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Music:

Sometimes when I hear familiar words put to a different tune, I hear it all fresh!  Here is “The Church’s One Foundation,” written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone and rearranged by Indelible Grace.

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New International Version (NIV)   Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

1st Corinthians.    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89140MkMMQ8/SwWHm7gw99I/AAAAAAAAAlE/N7Q5Ncv8w1w/s1600/sermon_pic-1corinthians.png

Lord Jesus Christ.   http://bcsay.webs.com/The%20Cross%20of%20the%20Lord%20Jesus%20Christ.jpg

1 Corinthians 1:18.   http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yy-ItMVS570/TbB2VDNHviI/AAAAAAAABIc/28CgpGrWLt4/s1600/1corinthians1_18.jpg

cross of Christ.   http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-x8Cm_0irFE/S7Jn8NsLtCI/AAAAAAAAAW8/8_nMl8i_nog/s1600/cross-of-christ.jpg