Category: Podcast

Talk 14.   No going to idol temples (10:14-11:1)

 

As we have seen in recent talks, in chapter 8 Paul brought out the general principle that there are some things that are quite lawful but from which we should abstain for the sake of weaker Christians.

 

This theme is partly continued in chapter 9 where he points out that he has certain rights as an apostle which he has not claimed. 

 

The same line of thought dominates the second part of chapter 10, which includes a strong prohibition against attendance at cultic meals. 

 

As we saw last time, the chapter may be divided into four main parts:

 

1. An example from OT history (1-5)
2. Lessons to be learned from this (6-13)
3. Christianity and idolatry are incompatible (14-22)
4. Eating market-place food (23-33)

 

Today we pick up where we finished last time.

 

c) Christianity and idolatry are incompatible (14-22)

 

Here Paul flatly prohibits idolatry. He does so on two grounds:

 

1)       The sacred meal means fellowship with the deity

2)       Idolatry involves the demonic.

 

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

 

God’s promise of help (13) is not intended to cause us to see how near we can get to sin and get away with it!  We must flee from idolatry. There are some things it is wise for us to run away from (cf. 2 Timothy 2:22).  It’s not sinful to walk near the edge of a precipice, but it’s very foolish!

 

15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

 

          the cup of thanksgiving

 

A technical Jewish term for the cup of wine drunk at the end of a meal as its formal close. “Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God, Who givest us the fruit of the vine”.  In the Passover meal it was the third of the four cups that had to be drunk.

 

          a participation

 

Koinonia is the joint sharing of a common blessing.  Paul is not identifying the wine with Christ’s blood.  He is thinking of the share all Christians enjoy in the benefits secured for them through the blood of Christ.

 

               the bread that we break

 

The bread comes after the wine in this passage indicating that at the time of writing no strict liturgy had developed (although everywhere else in the NT the bread precedes the wine).

 

17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

 

          one loaf

 

A single loaf was used.  Christians are united, despite their plurality, by the fact that they participate in one loaf, the same Christ.

 

18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

 

          Consider the people of Israel

 

The illustrations that follow are analogies to clarify Paul’s points, not arguments to prove them.  The Jew making a sacrifice in the OT was allowed to eat a part of it. Paul argues that he thus became identified with the altar.

 

19 Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

 

Paul repeats his contention that the idol is nothing (cf. 8:4-5), but:

 

20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

 

A variety of OT passages indicate that heathen sacrifices were made to demons (e.g. Ps.96:5 LXX, Isa. 65:11). 

Idolatry thus brought a man in contact with the unseen spirit world. 

So it’s not the eating of the food that is condemned, but participation in idolatry.

 

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

 

Idolatry is unthinkable for the Christian because of his exclusive relationship with Christ (cf. 6:18, 10:14, with regard to immorality). 

Christ and demons are incompatible.  You can’t be involved with both!

 

22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

 

The general sense of the verse seems to be Do you really think you can do what you like and get away with it?

 

d) On Eating Market Place Food (10:23-11:1)

 

23 “Everything is permissible“–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”–but not everything is constructive.

24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

 

v23    “Everything is permissible”

 

This is almost certainly a quotation from a Corinthian source. Paul does not disagree with it, but quickly qualifies it with           not everything is constructive

 

25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,

26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

 

v25    Eat anything….

 

This remark indicates that Paul had ceased to be a practising Jew. 

 

27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

28 But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake–

29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience?

30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

 

The general sense of these verses is as follows:

 

If you don’t know whether the food you’re offered has been sacrificed to an idol or not, eat it without asking any questions. 

(If it has been offered to an idol it won’t do you any harm). 

So eat what’s set before you;

but if anyone tells you it’s been offered to an idol (28), don’t eat it or you’ll look like an idol-worshipper. 

(People may get the idea that Christ is just another god who can be worshipped along with the idols).

 

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God

 

v31    the glory of God

 

I will not glorify God if I give an idol the honour due to Him, or if I cause ill-feeling within the church, or if I cause a fellow-Christian to fall from his faith.

 

33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

 

All our behaviour should be motivated by the good of others.  The ultimate good is their salvation.  In comparison with that nothing else matters.

 

Verses 23-33 express three basic principles of Christian living:

 

Edification (the spiritual welfare of our fellow-Christians) (23)

Exaltation (the glory of God) (31)

Evangelism (the salvation of many) (33)

 

We are to follow Paul’s example (11:1) as he follows Christ. Christ’s example is the way of the cross, the way of love, which does not insist on its own rights, but seeks the salvation of others.

Talk 13.   Warnings from Israel’s History (10:1-11:1)

 

In chapter 8 Paul brought out the general principle that there are some things that are quite lawful but from which we should abstain for the sake of weaker Christians.

 

This theme is partly continued in chapter 9 where he points out that he has certain rights as an apostle which he has not claimed. 

 

The same line of thought dominates the conclusion of chapter 10, but the main theme of the chapter is a strong prohibition against attendance at cultic meals. 

 

The chapter may be divided into four main parts:

 

1. An example from OT history (1-5)
2. Lessons to be learned from this (6-13)
3. Christianity and idolatry are incompatible (14-22)
4. Eating market-place food (23-33)

 

We will deal with the first two parts today and the final two parts next time.

 

1. a) An example from OT history (1-5)

 

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

3 They all ate the same spiritual food

4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

 

This section is a reference to the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. 

The main theme here is the need to endure to the end. 

Note the repetition of the word all.  They all had all these blessings.

Nevertheless (5) many did not reach the promised land. 

These verses are a serious warning that Christians should not take their security for granted.

 

 

 

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

 

Most of Paul’s readers were Gentiles yet he refers to the Israelites as our forefathers.  However, here as elsewhere he sees Christians as integrated with the people of God.

 

2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

 

Some have taken this to typify baptism in water and in the Spirit, but although the NT acknowledges such a distinction it would be unwise to draw such a conclusion from this verse.

 

3 They all ate the same spiritual food

4 and drank the same spiritual drink

 

This is almost certainly intended to be analogous to the Lord’s Supper.

Pneumatikos (spiritual) does not mean non-material, but connected with the Holy Spirit.

 

 

4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

 

This is clearly not intended to be taken literally (cf. ll:24).  Israel was supplied by God with visible signs which conveyed to them the blessings of  Christ, just as the Church has been supplied with water, bread and wine.

 

 

5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert

 

          most of

 

This is clearly a great understatement!

 In fact it was all except Joshua and Caleb! 

All but two of them had their corpses scattered all over the desert!

 

 

 

1. b) Lessons to be learned from this (6-13)

 

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”

8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did–and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did–and were killed by snakes.

10 And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

These verses describe a typical idol feast.

Sexual immorality was a part of idol-worship, and is still today in many cases. 

 

Of course, the idol in itself is nothing (8:4-5), but to get involved in idolatry or to encourage others to do so is to invite the judgment of God.

 

The examples Paul cites in these verses probably reflect the Corinthians’ grumbling against Paul over the right to attend pagan feasts.

 

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

 

Immorality and idolatry are both suggested in these words.

 

7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”

 

Paul deliberately chooses the part of the OT narrative which specifically indicates that the people ate and drank in the presence of the golden calf.  Exodus 32:6.

 

               to indulge in pagan revelry

 

Immorality may be implied here, but the verb paizein  simply means to play and its use here probably refers solely to idolatry.  The connection with immorality, however, is clearly established in the next verse.

 

8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did–and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

 

For evidence that feasting in idol temples also at times involved sexual play, see Fee pp 455-456.

 

          twenty-three thousand

 

The reference here is to Numbers 25:9 where a number of 24,000 is mentioned. 

The apparent discrepancy might be explained by Paul’s qualifying phrase in a day.

 

9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did–and were killed by snakes.

 

The reading test Christ is to be preferred.  The reference is to Numbers 21:5-6, the brazen serpent episode.  The same episode is referred to in John 3 with reference to eternal life. Paul is purposely tying the situation of Israel and Corinth together.

 

10 And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.

 

This suggests that the Corinthians were grumblers and, if Fee is right, indicates that they had complained about Paul’s prohibition on attending idol feasts. Grumbling can be a cause of division (cf. Acts 6:1) and there were certainly divisions in the Corinthian church!

 

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come.

 

Paul clearly believed that he was living in the last days of world history before the dawning of the Messianic age (cf. 15:51).

 

12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

 

If there is no possibility of a Christian ‘falling’ this warning is meaningless.

 

13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

“The way out is for those who seek it, not for those who (like the Corinthians) are, where idolatry is concerned, looking for a way in” (Barrett).

 

Note that Paul does not talk about victory here.  Sometimes it’s enough to escape (cf. v 14).

 

Talk 12.  Paul defends his Apostleship (9:1-27)

 

In this chapter Paul continues his theme of love not insisting on its own rights.  In vv 1-14, he talks about his rights as an apostle and in vv. 15-27 explains why he does not choose to exercise those rights. 

 

In this chapter, as in the last, love is the over-riding consideration.  He illustrates by personal example the principles he has been teaching in chapter 8.

 

It is also possible, as we saw in the last talk, and as Fee suggests, that Paul is defending his apostleship in this chapter because it had been challenged at this point in the letter from the Corinthians.

It is even possible that his refusal to accept material support called into question his authority as an apostle.

 

We will consider the chapter in broad outline and see what practical lessons may be learnt from it with regard to the ministry today.

 

The fact of Paul’s apostleship (1-2)

The rights of an apostle (3-6)

The reasons for those rights (7-14)

The extent to which Paul abandoned his rights (19-22)

His reasons for not exercising his rights (15-18, 23-27)

 

The fact of Paul’s apostleship (1-2)

 

        He had seen the risen Christ (Cf. Acts 1:21-22)

 

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?

 

The Corinthians were a proof of it

 

2 Even 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.

 

 

The rights of an apostle (3-6)

 

        to eat at the church’s expense (4)

 

3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink?

 

        to take a wife with him on his travels (5)

 

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?

 

        to give up secular employment (6)

 

6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?

 

The reasons for those rights (7-14)

 

        according to the world (7)

 

7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

 

        according to the Word (8-13)

 

8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? 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 when the ploughman ploughs and the thresher threshes, they ought 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 work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

 

        according to the Lord (14)

 

14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

 

See Matthew 10:10

 

The extent to which Paul abandoned his rights (19-22)

 

        as a free man he has become as a slave (19)

 

19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

 

        as free from the Law he has subjected himself to it (20)

 

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.

 

        as a Jew he has become as a Gentile (21)

 

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.

 

        as strong he has become weak (22)

 

22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

 

 

His reasons for not exercising his rights (15-18, 23-27)

 

        He wanted the reward of knowing that he had made the Gospel of Christ

        without charge (18).  Note that this was the apostle’s decision, not the

        church’s.

 

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. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.

16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for 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 use of my rights in preaching it.

 

Finally, he was determined to gain the crown that will last for ever (23-27).isHisHhhh     

 

23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

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.

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 a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.

27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Talk 11   Love, the Basis of Christian Behaviour (8:1-13)

 

Introduction to Chapters 8-10

 

The main theme of chapters 8-10 is that love does not insist on its own rights (cf. 13:5  Amplified Bible). 

 

This principle is applied to the question of meat offered to idols in chapters 8 and 10 and to the rights of an apostle in chapter 9.

 

The question of meat offered to idols is a very specific topic which was of immediate relevance to the early church and is of less significance to Christians in Britain today. 

However, the principles taught here are always relevant and have a very real application in a variety of areas in our Christian lives.

 

In seeking to understand this section we need to bear in mind two main facts:

 

1. It was the common practice to have a meal in the temple with your friends. It was almost like going to a restaurant. But this involved you in pagan worship. When an animal was sacrificed,

 

part was burnt as an offering to the god,

part was given to the priest

and part to the worshipper who shared it with his friends in a cultic meal.

 

The Gentiles who had become believers in Corinth had probably attended such meals all their lives as every kind of occasion was celebrated in this way.

 

2. Since the priest would get far more than he could eat, it would be sold off in the market.

Most of the meat you could buy in the market would have come from this source, having been already sacrificed to an idol.

However, the customer could never be sure whether what he bought in the market had been sacrificed to an idol or not.

 

Fee’s Reconstruction

Now before getting into the text of chapter 8, it will be helpful to mention Fee’s understanding of the issues addressed in chapters 8-10.  He argues that

 

although the traditional understanding of these chapters is that Paul is dealing with the eating of food bought in the marketplace (see 2 above),

the real issue is the eating of sacrificial food at the cultic meals in the pagan temples (as in 1 above).

 

This explanation seems to make the best sense of chapters 8-10 as a whole, which Fee sees as a response to the Corinthians’ letter to Paul. He reconstructs the situation as follows:

 

Some of the Corinthians had returned to the practice of attending cultic meals. Paul in his previous letter had probably forbidden this. But they disagreed with him and in their letter made four points:

 

1. We all know that idols aren’t real, so attending the temple has no significance one way or the other.
2. We all know that food is a matter of indifference to God, so it doesn’t matter what we eat or where we eat it.
3. Our baptism and participation in Communion will keep us from falling anyway. (Paul’s strong warning about the danger of falling – see 10:1-13 – seems to indicate that they may have held such a view).
4. What authority has Paul to forbid us on this matter anyway? (This may account for Paul’s strong defence of his apostleship in Chapter 9).

 

Paul’s overall response to all this may be summarised as follows:

 

Love rather than knowledge underlies Christian ethics.

Attendance at cultic meals is forbidden because:

 

• it involves fellowship with demons (10:18-22),
• it may stumble weaker Christians (8:7-13)
• indulging in pagan revelry may lead to destruction (10:1-11)

 

However, buying food in the market-place, even though it may have been offered to an idol, is not forbidden, unless in certain particular circumstances it may cause a brother to stumble.

 

Whatever rights I may feel I have as a Christian, I must be willing to give them up for the sake of my fellow-Christians.

 

Now to the text of chapter 8:

 

1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

 

Knowledge here means knowledge that the idol is nothing (cf. v4).

However, knowledge puffs up (with pride), but love builds up (cf. 13:4). 

 

2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

 

True knowledge begins when we realise how little we know (cf. 13:9  we know in part).

 

3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

 

God knows the man who loves him.

Love is more important than knowledge – even theological knowledge. 

The Corinthians knew that an idol was nothing and therefore reasoned that they could eat meat offered to it. 

But there are circumstances in which love dictates otherwise.

 

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.

 

There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4).

However, compare 10:20 where Paul says that the things sacrificed to idols are sacrificed to demons.

 

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.

 

The terms ‘god’ and ‘lord’ are used interchangeably in verse 5.

Applying the same principle to v 6, we see a clear testimony to the deity of Christ.

 

          for whom we live

 

The whole purpose of our existence is for God.

The Corinthians should not have been insisting on their rights,

but acknowledging God’s rights over them.

 

 

 

7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.

 

There were Christians who were not yet able to shake off the feeling that the idol was somehow real. 

They still felt as though the food were being sacrificed to a god.

So they felt that they were doing wrong in eating meat offered to it. 

These weak Christians were condemned by their own conscience. 

 

Our conscience is moulded by our upbringing and environment. 

That is why people’s consciences differ. 

Ultimately God wants our conscience to come into line with Scripture, but until it does our conscience is a fallible guide. 

Nevertheless, we are answerable to it and must live in accordance with it. 

That is why to cause a man to act against his conscience – even if his conscience is misguided – is to cause him to sin.

 

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.

What we eat does not affect our spiritual or moral standing. 

Despite the OT food laws the NT teaches very clearly that nothing we eat makes us unclean. 

Note Jesus’ very definite teaching on this matter in Mark 7:14-20, esp. v19.

Compare 1 Timothy 4:3-5. 

However, those Christians who understand this must make allowances for those who do not and should seek not to offend them.  Consider Romans 14:13-18.

 

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

 

The word is proskomma – an object against which one strikes one’s foot. 

However, in v13 the verb skandalizo is used. 

The skandalion was the part of a trap that triggers off its mechanism (e.g. the spike on a mouse-trap). 

Seeing another Christian eat meat offered to an idol could ensnare, or even destroy, a weaker Christian.

 

 

 

10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?

 

Many Greeks, on rationalistic grounds, had given up belief in the gods, but for social reasons would eat with their friends in an idol shrine. 

Could not a Christian do the same? 

Perhaps it would even encourage the weaker Christians to realise that there was nothing in the idol. 

No, says Paul.  By following your example they will be acting against their own conscience, and therefore sinning. 

Compare Romans 14:23:  Everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

 

By your example (of doing something which is perfectly in order, both according to Scripture and according to your own conscience), you may cause someone to transgress the law of his (so far uneducated) conscience, and so to backslide and to perish.

 

12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

 

Although it may not be a sin in itself, because it causes a weaker brother to stumble, it is a sin – against him, and against Christ!

 

13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

 

An extravagant statement, but the principle is that the strong must adapt their behaviour to the conscience of the weak.

 

In summary, it’s not what I know that matters. It’s not my rights that matter. What matters is love, a love that sacrifices its rights in order to save someone from perishing.

 

Point to ponder:

Are there areas in my life where by insisting on my rights I might cause someone else to stumble?

Talk 10.  Questions about Marriage (7:1-40)

 

One of Paul’s purposes in writing 1 Corinthians was to answer certain questions about which they had written to him. 

The first of these was on the subject of marriage and Paul devotes the whole of Chapter 7 in giving his answer.

It’s too lengthy for verse by verse exposition and I shall not be reading it all in this podcast.

So I suggest that before listening any further you hit the pause button and take time to read through it and then have it open as you continue to listen.

 

The chapter presents certain difficulties because in some verses (e.g. v.1) Paul appears to be teaching that Christians should not marry. 

However, the slogan It is good for a man not to marry possibly came from a group of ascetics in the Corinthian church rather than from Paul himself. 

 

Today I shall be highlighting ten major lessons that are to be found in the chapter.   

 

1. Marriage is a gift from God (7)

 

7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

 

So it would be quite wrong to suggest that Christians should not marry.

Marriage is a divine institution given:

 

• for companionship
• as a channel for our sexual desires
• that children might be brought up in the ways of the Lord.

 

The Christian view of marriage is the answer to many of the social problems of our generation.

 

2. The married have privileges and duties that the unmarried do not have (3-5)

 

3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

4 The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other except 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.

 

Each partner in the marriage has sexual privileges from and duties to the other. 

It is the will of the God that husbands and wives fulfil their sexual responsibilities to each other except for times of prayer and fasting by common consent (5).

 

3. The unmarried can devote themselves more fully to the Lord’s work (32-34)

 

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.

 

In pastoral life there are considerable advantages in being single. 

There are also serious disadvantages.

 

4. To remain single requires a definite gift (charisma) from God (7)

 

7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

 

No Christian is ever left ‘on the shelf’.  God is able to find us a partner, if he will, or to give us the charisma to go through life unmarried.

 

 

5. Those who do not have this gift ought to marry (9)

 

9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

 

They should marry is a command.  With passion (NIV) is not in the Greek. Nevertheless, this is clearly the sense here.

 

6. In time of difficulty for the church it may be better not to marry (26)

 

26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are.

 

What Paul means by the present crisis is unclear.

Barrett and Fee both take it to refer to the eschatological woes that are to precede the second coming.

More generally we could take it to refer to times of persecution.

 

But even in these circumstances it is not sinful to marry (25-28, 35-40). 

As we have already seen, it is better to marry than to burn with passion (9)

Cf. v.36 if he feels he ought to marry (NIV)   

           If his passions are strong (EV)

 

However, in times of persecution there are greater problems and heartaches for married people, especially for those with children

 

7. A Christian should never marry an unbeliever (39).

 

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.

 

She marries anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 

This is the only restriction placed on marriage other than the OT prohibitions placed on marrying close relations. The Christian may choose their partner provided they’re also a Christian.

 

(‘Marriage’ to someone of the same sex would of course have been unthinkable.)

8. If your partner is not a Christian, let them go if they want to! (12-16)

 

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 him do so. A believing man or woman 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?

 

Since Christians may not marry non-Christians, this must refer to the situation where one partner becomes a Christian after marriage. 

The suggestion is that the Christian life is so incompatible with that of the non-Christian that the marriage may well break up. 

There is no guarantee that the partner will get converted.  There is no Scriptural basis for ‘claiming’ one’s loved ones for the Lord.  This practice rests on a false interpretation of verse 14 and a misunderstanding of Acts 16:31.

The word sanctified (14) simply means that the marriage is sanctified in the sight of God and the children are not illegitimate.

Some of the benefits of salvation extend beyond the saved person.  Christians act as salt in any community, even their own family, but this does not bring eternal life to the members of that community. 

Whichever way it is interpreted, v 16 makes it clear that the conversion of the family is not certain.

 

9. Christian couples may separate, but not remarry (10-11)

 

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.

 

It is possible that Matthew 19:9 modifies this slightly, but opinions vary as to the correct interpretation of marital unfaithfulness.

However, the general principle is undoubtedly that marriage is for life. 

Paul’s teaching does not contradict that of Jesus.

He is answering specific questions in this passage, not giving an entire analysis of the Christian view of marriage.

 

10. As a general principle, don’t change course unless clearly led to do so (17-24)

 

17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. 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.

20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.

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 he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

 

These verses do not just apply to marriage.  The general principle is repeated in 20 and 24.  Your outward circumstances are relatively unimportant compared with what you are in Christ (22).

Talk 9:  Dealing with Immorality (Part 2)

 

Welcome to talk 9 in our series on 1 Corinthians. Today we are in chapter 6.

As we saw last time, in chapter 5 Paul has been dealing with a very serious case of sexual immorality within the church.

He teaches the Corinthians that they must judge and discipline the offender.

He concludes by explaining that, in saying that they were not to keep company with the immoral, he was referring to those inside the church, not to those outside it.

Similarly it is not our responsibility to judge those outside the church, but we must judge those within.

 

This brings him quite naturally in Chapter 6:1-8 to the case of a Christian going to law with another Christian. This might appear at first sight to be something of a  digression from the subject of sexual immorality, but Paul is simply expanding on the whole subject of the Christian’s responsibility to judge and quickly returns to the subject of sexual immorality in vv9-20.

 

We will deal with the chapter under three headings:

 

Christians have a responsibility to judge (1-8)

Sexual  Immorality is not compatible with the Kingdom of God (9-11)

Six reasons why a Christian should avoid sexual immorality (13-20)

 

1. a) Christians have a responsibility to judge (6:1-8)

 

v.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 (the saints)?

 

has a dispute

 

This phrase in the Greek is a technical term for a law-suit

 

dare

 

This verb powerfully expresses Paul’s horror at what he has heard. How dare a Christian do such a thing?! He is horrified at the very idea of a Christian taking a brother to court before the ungodly. A Christian should not take a fellow-Christian to a secular court.

 

v2 or do you not know that the Lord’s people (the saints) 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!

 

 

 

judge the world

 

Daniel 7:22 is probably in mind here.  Judgment was given to the saints of the Most High – though Paul does not explain what this means in a Christian context, nor does anyone else in the NT. 

 

However, the sense of what he is saying is quite clear.  If Christians are going to have to judge the world, and angels one day, they ought to be able to sort out these small matters.

 

are you not competent..?

 

This means literally, Are you unworthy of the most insignificant tribunals?

This could mean either,

 

Are you unfit to form even the most insignificant courts?

Or

Are you not competent to judge trivial cases?

 

Fee prefers the latter on the grounds that kriterion, which properly means a court of justice can also denote the legal action itself.

 

 

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?

 

The Corinthians ought not to be making an outsider the judge between Christians.  To go to court before the Roman pro-consul was, in effect, to ‘appoint’ him over their affairs.

 

5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

 

With all the wisdom they had been boasting of, there was not a man among them wise enough to deal with these things.  It was an absolute disgrace for a Christian to go to law with his brother Christian (cf 4:14).

 

6 But instead, one brother takes another to court – and this in front of unbelievers!

 

The church is airing its dirty linen in public (cf 10:32, 1 Thes. 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 6:1, Titus 2:8, 10, 3:1)

 

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?

 

Whatever the result of the court case, you’ve already lost (because you felt the need to go to court at all).

If you have a quarrel, sort it out among yourselves, but better still, take wrong.  Let them cheat you if they want to. 

Turn the other cheek.    Give your cloak too.  (Cf  Matthew 5:39-41). 

If they hadn’t learnt that basic lesson they were already defeated!

 

8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.

 

This is a very serious statement in the light of verse 10.

nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God

 

 

1. b) Sexual Immorality is not compatible with the Kingdom of God (6:9-11)

 

In these verses Paul returns to the theme of sexual immorality and other sins.  Some things (vv9-10) are completely incompatible with the Kingdom of God.

 

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.

 

Paul’s purpose is to warn ‘the saints’ that if they persist in the same evils as ‘the wicked’ they are in the same danger of not inheriting the Kingdom of God. If, as some believe, this warning is purely hypothetical, it is no warning at all!

 

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.

 

But you’re not like that any more (11). You were washed…!  Literally,  you got yourselves washed. So stop living like the wicked!

 

Six reasons why a Christian should avoid sexual immorality (6:13-20)

 

1. Our bodies are ‘for the Lord’

 

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.

 

Paul refers to a common saying, without necessarily agreeing with it. 

It may be true that food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,

but that does not mean that the presence of sexual desire means that it must be satisfied (cf.  the modern attitude to sex).

 

2. Our bodies are to be raised from the dead

 

14. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

 

The importance God attaches to our bodies is indicated by the fact that we are to be physically resurrected (cf chapter 15).

 

3. Our bodies are members of Christ

 

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.’
17. But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

 

To give yourself to a prostitute (or to anyone to whom you are not married, for that matter) when you belong to Christ is unthinkable.  Physical union with a prostitute is totally incompatible with our spiritual union with Christ (vv 16-17)

 

4. To indulge in sexual immorality is to sin against your own body.

 

18. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

 

To indulge in sexual immorality is to sin against your own body.  Strong evasive action is, therefore, necessary.  Such temptation was common at Corinth, even as it is in Britain today.  The verb flee is Present Continuous:  keep on fleeing from it.

 

5. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

 

19. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

 

Again it is  naos that is used (as in 3:16), but here it is the individual Christian rather than the church that is seen as the dwelling place of God.

 

6. Your body belongs to God, not you!

 

20. You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

 

The fundamental idea of a ransom Paul derived from the OT

but the picture is also that of ‘sacral manumission’.

A slave could buy his own freedom by paying the price of it into the temple treasury. 

He then became the slave of the god, but as far as men were concerned he was free. 

The Christian is both free and yet a slave to his God.  Our bodies are not our own to do with as we like.

But this goes much further than sex. It should be the fundamental principle guiding every area of our lives. My life is not my own. It belongs to Jesus.

Talk 8: Dealing with Immorality (5:1-13)

Chapters 1-4 have dealt with divisions in the church.

Now in Chapters 5-6 Paul turns to the serious matter of immorality.

The two chapters may be divided into four main sections:

          Sexual immorality must be put out of the church (5:1-13)

          Christians have a responsibility to judge (6:1-8)

          Sexual immorality is not compatible with the Kingdom of God (6:9-12)

          Six reasons why a Christian should avoid sexual immorality (6:13-20).

In this talk we shall deal only with chapter 5.

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.

2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?

3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,

5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?

7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I have written you in my letter 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 you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

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 man from among you.”

 

Sexual Immorality must be put out of the Church

Today I think the best way to deal with this passage is to work through it verse by verse

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.

actually

The Greek holos could also mean everywhere

          sexual immorality

porneia strictly means prostitution, but in the NT it means any form of sex outside marriage.

          does not occur

There is no verb in the Greek here. Thus Paul need not be taken to imply that such things did not happen among the pagans.  They clearly did! He probably means that the Gentiles condemned these things too. Cf. ESV …is not tolerated

          a man has his father’s wife

The verb has is a present infinitive in the Greek. This indicates not a singular incident, but marriage or concubinage.  Barrett translates is living with.

Note that his father’s wife does not necessarily mean his mother. Paul does not use the word for incest, so the woman was possibly the man’s step-mother. (This was forbidden in Leviticus 18:8). He does not use the word for adultery, so the father was probably dead or divorced

 

2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?

you are proud

Perhaps they were proud of their tolerance! (Cf v 6)

          filled with grief

The word used is that referring to mourning for the dead. The immoral person should have been so excluded from their company that it would have been as though he were as one dead to them

3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

          with you in spirit

Paul does not just mean that he would be thinking of them! It could be that in some mystical way he was to be present in spirit though absent in body. This is a difficult concept, but compare Ezekiel 8. 

Alternatively, spirit in this context could be taken as an aspect of Paul’s personality.  He will make his contribution as the Corinthians reflect on what they remember of his convictions etc.

However, I find Fee’s explanation more compelling. The believer in the new age has received the Spirit and has become ‘one spirit with the Lord’ (6:17). Paul also speaks of ‘my spirit’ in ways that seem ambiguous.

Compare 14:14-15 where speaking in tongues is described as ‘my spirit’ praying, but is clearly enabled by the Holy Spirit.  Fee argues that we might translate this ‘My S/spirit prays’. 

So here in 5:3 he is saying When you and my S/spirit are assembled together….. In short, Paul is able to be present with them because his spirit is united with the omnipresent Spirit of God.

4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,

          the name of……. the power of…….

Note the connection between the name and power of the Lord

5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature (the flesh) may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

          hand … over to Satan

Compare 1 Timothy 1:20 (Hymenaeus and Alexander). The suggestion seems to be that those who sin seriously can be handed over to the one to whom they have already in a measure given themselves. The sinner is thus confirmed in his sin. A physical affliction is suggested in order to produce spiritual good. Compare Job and Paul, though not because of sin.

Compare also Hebrews 12:5-11.  The purpose is corrective and ultimately redemptive.  In effect, the church withdraws its protective fellowship from the offender.  To be put out of the church is in a very real sense to be in the hands of Satan. To be truly in the church is to be out of Satan’s hands.

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?

          your boasting

The form of pride may well have been subtle rather than open (cf v2)

          yeast

If the yeast is not got rid of, it will only spread.

Paul’s concern is not only for the offender, but for the purity of the church

7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

          without yeast – as you really are

For seven days before the Passover the Jews would clean out the house and get rid of the old yeast.

So when the Passover Lamb was sacrificed, there was no yeast left.

Paul reasons that, since Christ our Passover Lamb has already been sacrificed then the Corinthians must already be without yeast. (Yeast here is a symbol for sin). In effect he is saying, You are without yeast, so be without yeast!  

This is often the exhortation of Paul. The fundamental structure of Paul’s ethical thought is that an imperative (a command) is based upon an indicative (a statement of fact).  This underlies his teaching in Romans 6. A Christian’s state does not always conform to his status, but it is only when he understands that he is holy (in God’s sight) that he can obey the command to be holy (cf. 1 Peter 1:16, 2:9).

8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

          the Festival

In the context this is clearly a reference to the Jewish Passover which for Christians is superseded by the Lord’s Supper or communion.

 

 

In verses 9-13 Paul clears up a misunderstanding arising from his previous letter. He had told them not to keep company with the sexually immoral. Now he clarifies the matter. Christians must mix with non-Christians even though they may be immoral, otherwise it would mean being taken right out of the world altogether!  It is the so-called Christian who is immoral who must be excluded (although of course the repentant sinner would be welcomed back).

9 I have written you in my letter 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 you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

v11    Do not even eat

This  would include, but not be confined to, the Lord’s Supper

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 man from among you.”

           expel

The verb is plural, indicating the church’s collective responsibility to judge.

And as we shall see in the next chapter, Paul goes on to make it clear that:

Christians have a responsibility to judge (6:1-8)

          Sexual immorality is not compatible with the Kingdom of God (6:9-12)

And he concludes by giving us

          Six reasons why a Christian should avoid sexual immorality (6:13-20).

 

Talk 7: The Privileges and Responsibilities of Church Leadership

 

Chapter 4 forms the final part of the opening section of Paul’s letter in which he deals with divisions in the church.

The divisions have been based largely on personalities and it is with this subject that the chapter opens.

Paul is appealing to the Corinthians not to glory in men and to follow his example.

But there is much in the chapter that we can learn about the privileges and responsibilities of apostleship, and this is how we will be looking at the chapter today.

 

Note: Much, though not all, of what Paul says could be applied to all forms of church leadership.

 

Apostles today? Yes. In NT we find three categories of apostle:

 

Christ the unique apostle – sent by the Father

The Twelve – sent by Christ

Later apostles – sent by the Spirit.

 

Apostles today fall into this third category. For more, see Body Builders

 

Privileges

 

1. To be a servant of Christ

 

• So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ…

 

1. To be entrusted with the secret things of God (the gospel)

 

…and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.

 

1. To exercise power and authority in Christ’s name

 

20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

 

 

 

Responsibilities

 

1. Servanthood

 

1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.

 

Huperetes means under-rower or galley-slave

 

1. Faithfulness

 

2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

 

The word here means literally a household administrator or the overseer of an estate, one who looks after something on behalf of another as if it were his own. In relation to Christ, Paul is a galley-slave, in relation to the church he is an overseer. He is accountable only to Christ, the Master of the house

 

1. Accountability

 

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.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

 

The verse is self-explanatory, but what a solemn thought! At the Lord’s coming every secret thing will be made known (cf 3:13). Thus any Christian judgment is premature before the Lord comes, although Paul allows Christian courts in this age for practical purposes (cf Ch. 6)

 

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.

 

Compare James 4:13-15. Everything we do must be subject to his will

 

 

 

1. Adherence to Scripture

 

6 Now, brothers, 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 take pride in one man over against another.

 

RSV: that you may learn in us to live according to Scripture. By considering what Paul has had to say about Apollos and himself they will learn the scriptural ideal of the subordination of man. What is written was a catch-phrase of Paul. In the NT church the all-important thing was What does the Scripture say? The phrase may have been included to correct the Everything is permissible slogan of some of the Corinthians (6:12)

 

1. A life of sacrifice

 

9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

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

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. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

 

v8      Already you have become rich…….. kings…..

 

This section is full of heavy irony. Already is the key word. The Corinthians were behaving as though the age to come had already been consummated, as if the saints had already taken over the kingdom. The Holy Spirit had already been given as a deposit (Eph.1:14), but they must still live by faith. The End has not yet arrived and the time for fulness and wealth is not here!

 

“They have indeed entered the kingdom, of which the Spirit is the evidence. But they have not yet fully realised the End, of which the resurrection will be the evidence (cf chap.15)” (Fee, p 173).

 

I wish you really had….

 

Paul wished that the Kingdom had come! It would make a pleasant change for him!

 

v9      procession…… arena…….. spectacle

 

In the Roman arena the gladiators came in last in the procession and were in a very real sense condemned to die, the most wretched of men. Paul sees the apostles in this position, while men and angels are the spectators

 

v10    we are fools ….. but you are wise

 

He is, of course, referring to their own opinion

 

v11    to this very hour

 

The letter seems to have been written from Ephesus (16:8), possibly during the period described in Acts 19. Contrast the spiritual revival in that chapter with Paul’s personal circumstances mentioned in these verses

 

v12    We work hard with our own hands

 

The word used here means literally work to the point of weariness. Manual work was despised by the Greeks. It was the work of slaves.

 

          When we are cursed, we bless

 

The words are reminiscent of the Sermon the Mount, but there is no indication that Paul was aware that he was using the language of Jesus

 

v13    the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world

 

What is referred to here is the filth that is left at the edge of the cleaning. Because the word suggested cleansing there is also a connotation of sacrifice. Paul also thinks of himself as scum. To say I  follow Paul is to identify yourself with scum, so don’t boast in me

 

1. Fatherhood

 

In vv 14-21 Paul sees himself as their spiritual father

As such he has a responsibility to warn and even discipline them. But to have the moral authority to do so he must set the right example.

 

14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.

15 Even though you have 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.

 

v14    warn

 

The primary meaning of this word is to try to have a corrective influence on someone, as a father would his children. See below.

 

          as my dear children

 

Paul was their only spiritual father, for only he had begotten them in the Gospel. There is no contradiction here with the spirit of Matthew 23:1-12. Scripture frequently refers to those whom we lead to Christ as our spiritual children. This is a very special relationship. We should love them as a father loves his children. We have a responsibility to them, but must beware of an over-emphasis on ‘discipleship’ and ‘submission’

 

v16    imitate me

 

Children do like to imitate their parents. (Note the connecting word therefore). Compare 11:1 as I follow the example of Christ. Their imitation of Paul was no doubt intended to include the tribulations listed in vv 11-13

 

17 For this reason I am sending 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.

21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

 

His spiritual authority to discipline them with supernatural power is very important in these verses. Compare 5:5 and Acts 5:1-11.

 

Summary

 

Privileges

 

To be a servant of Christ

To be entrusted with the secret things of God (the gospel)

To exercise power and authority in Christ’s name

 

Responsibilities

 

Servanthood      Faithfulness      Accountability

Adherence to Scripture      A life of sacrifice      Fatherhood

Talk 5       God’s Superior Wisdom

 

Today we’re continuing our study of 1 Corinthians 1:18 -2:16.

Last time we discovered nine problems with human wisdom:

 

1. It is foolishness to God
2. It does not recognise God
3. It rejects the message of the cross
4. It rejects Christ who is God’s Wisdom personified
5. It is totally different from and inferior to God’s Wisdom
6. It is useless as a means of winning others for Christ
7. It is an insecure basis for our faith in Christ
8. It gets you nowhere! It leads only to death
9. It crucified the Lord of glory

 

Today we’ll be considering God’s superior Wisdom

 

One of the causes of division in the Corinthian church seems to have sprung from a human and worldly wisdom which was totally contrary to the wisdom of God.

These two kinds of wisdom (God’s and man’s) are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 1:18 -2:16

 

But first it will be helpful to mention some other NT verses which refer to God’s wisdom.

 

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

 

Romans 16:25-27

25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past,

26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him –

27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

 

Ephesians 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ

 

Ephesians 3:8-11

8 Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord

 

Colossians 2:2-3

2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

 

1 Timothy 1:17

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen

 

Jude 25

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy–

25 to the only wise God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

 

From these passages we learn that:

 

• Only God, who is eternal, is truly wise
• God’s wisdom is beyond our understanding
• God’s wisdom is a mystery
• The mystery is the message of Christ crucified – the gospel
• God’s wisdom is manifested in his church

 

With this in mind we can now turn to today’s passage and see what more we can learn about God’s wisdom.

 

The ‘foolishness’ of the gospel is described in 1:18-2:5.

However, in 2:6-16 it is seen as God’s revealed wisdom.

This is the passage we’ll be looking at today, but, as I am not attempting a verse by verse commentary in these talks, for those who are interested there are additional notes on 1:18-2-5 at the end of the notes on today’s talk.

 

We now turn to Chapter 2. Please have your Bible open there.

 

In the previous section Paul has been talking largely about human wisdom.  Now he turns his attention to the wisdom of God.  This is true wisdom. 

The main point of this section is that those who are still ‘of this age’, who do not have the Spirit, do not understand the wisdom of God in Christ crucified. 

Paul’s concern is to get the Corinthians to stop acting like non-Spirit people and understand who they are in terms of the cross.

 

v6 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.

 

Although man’s wisdom cannot lead him to God, God’s wisdom can lead man to him.  The very message that is foolishness to the unbeliever is wisdom in God’s eyes. 

 

Mature here means spiritually adult.  The Corinthians were showing their immaturity by boasting in a wisdom that was not the wisdom of the cross.

 

v7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

 

In this verse Paul sees God’s wisdom as eternal

It was ordained before the world began but is hidden from the wisdom of man. 

It is (literally) in a mystery, a secret once hidden but now revealed in the gospel.

 

v8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

 

None of the political rulers of the day had possessed this divine wisdom or they would not have crucified Christ.  It was by their so-called wisdom that he was put to death.

 

The Lord of glory – Another example of a title clearly applied to Jesus but which in the OT was applied uniquely to Jehovah (Ps. 24:7-10).

 

v9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

 

Human wisdom is based on the observation of the senses (Cf. modern Logical Positivism).

 

v10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

 

Divine wisdom is not perceived with the senses but is revealed by the Spirit. 

It’s possible that some of the Corinthians were being influenced by an early form of Gnosticism.

They supposed that they could by searching plumb the depths of God’s being. 

But only the Spirit of God can know the thoughts of God. See next verse:

 

11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

 

The key to understanding God’s wisdom lies with the Spirit.

How can we really know the thoughts of another? 

A man can only know his own thoughts. 

Similarly, only the Spirit of God can know the mind of God.

True wisdom comes to us by revelation from the Holy Spirit

 

12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

 

We have received God’s Spirit so that we may understand…

We have not received the spirit of the world (Satan, the god of this age 2 Cor.4:4). 

Any suggestion that a Christian could receive any spirit other than that which comes from God would be totally foreign to Paul’s thinking. 

 

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

 

The revelation of the Spirit is what enables Christians to understand God’s wisdom. 

It is also what enables us to preach it! This is what we speak…

 

          Expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words

 

The gospel is a spiritual truth and must be proclaimed with spiritual words – words taught by the Spirit (not with human wisdom)

There could even be a reference to spiritual gifts here (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:1 pneumatika). 

 

14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

Note that the ‘man without the spirit’ (psuchikos – natural) does not accept the things of the Spirit.  They are foolishness to him because he cannot understand them.

 

15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

 

By contrast, ‘the spiritual man’ (pneumatikos) can make judgments about all things because he has the Spirit.

 

16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.

 

Mind here = spirit.  ‘In the Greek Bible that Paul cites the word “mind” translates the Heb. ruah, which ordinarily means “spirit”’ (Fee pp 119-120).

 

Note again that Christ is identified with Jehovah (cf. Isaiah 40:13). 

 

Finally, note the connection between the Spirit and the cross in this passage. 

 

2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

 

7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom 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.

9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”–

10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit

 

God’s wisdom is revealed in the cross

God’s wisdom is revealed by the Spirit

The things of the Spirit may be discerned by their relationship to the cross

It is only by preaching the message of the cross with the power and wisdom given by the Spirit that we can hope to bring others to Christ who is the Wisdom of God.

 

 

Additional notes on 1:18-2:5

 

1. a) God’s ‘foolishness’ – the cross (1:18-25)

 

In v17 Paul reminds the Corinthians that the Gospel had not been preached to them with human wisdom lest it should detract from the cross of Christ

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.

19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

 

v18    but to us who are being saved

 

There are only two groups of people in the world as far as God is concerned, not Jew and Gentile but those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

 

Note the continuous tense here.  The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are on their way to destruction, but it is the power of God to those who are on their way to salvation. 

 

v19    I will destroy

 

Man’s wisdom has been destroyed by the cross.  Any wisdom that man may seem to have is rendered meaningless by Calvary. 

 

v20    age……world

 

The terms are used synonymously here.  The emphasis is that the world is passing, transient.

 

          scholar

 

Fee (p 71) rightly points out that this should be translated expert in the law.

 

v21    The world though its wisdom did not know him

 

Paul rejects the claim that man can know God through wisdom (cf. Romans 1:18-31). 

 

          The foolishness of what was preached

 

It is not the act of preaching but the content that is referred to here (as NIV makes clear – cf. AV ‘the foolishness of preaching’).  It is through the apparently foolish message of Christ crucified that God is pleased to save those who believe.

 

v22    Jews……Greeks

 

Both Jews and Gentiles are looking in the wrong direction unless they look to Christ.

The answer is not in miraculous signs, nor in human wisdom.

The search for these is an expression of man’s rebellion against God. 

The answer is the message of the cross.  

Power and wisdom are still the two basic idolatries of our fallen world.

 

v23    but we preach Christ crucified

 

Christ crucified, by human standards, is the very opposite of what each group is looking for. Indeed a crucified Messiah is a contradiction in terms – ‘fried ice’!

 

The verb crucified is in the Perfect Tense which speaks of a past act the effects of which are still felt in the present.  Christ’s atoning death is still efficacious.

 

v24    to us who are called

 

Salvation is rooted in a divine, not a human decision – but this does not deny the necessity of a human response.

 

          power….. wisdom

 

Note the different effects the preaching of the Gospel has. 

Power contrasts with stumbling-block, wisdom with foolishness. 

The cross was a stumbling block to the Jew because of Deuteronomy 21:23 – Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (cf. Galatians 3:13).

 

v25    the foolishness of God

 

Of course Paul is not ascribing foolishness to God.  He is saying that God’s truth which seems foolishness to the unbeliever is wiser than the unbeliever’s wisdom.  He uses the neuter of the adjective – to moron – instead of the noun – moria – here (literally the foolish thing instead of foolishness).  This points to a particular act of God’s foolishness (the cross).  Compare weakness where again the neuter of the adjective is used.

 

‘Had God consulted us for wisdom we could have given him a more workable plan, something that would attract the sign-seeker and the lover of wisdom.  As it is, in his own wisdom he left us out of the consultation’ (Fee, p 77).

 

1. b) God’s ‘foolishness’ – the Corinthian believers (1:26-31)

 

v26    think of what you were when you were called

 

This verse has been much used as evidence of the sociological structure of early Christianity.  See Fee pp 80ff for a brief discussion.  However,

 

‘The truly unique feature of early Christianity was its nonhomogeneous character, that it cut across all sociological lines and accepted as “brothers” slave and free, Jew and Gentile, male and female” (Fee, p 81).

 

vv27-28                foolish…… weak…….lowly

 

It is the things which the world considers foolish, weak, and lowly that God has chosen to nullify or render inoperative the things considered to be wise, strong and noble.  The purpose of this is in verse 29 – that no-one may boast before him. In Christ God has already set the future in motion, whereby the present age is on its way out.

 

v30    righteousness …… holiness….. redemption

 

NIV gets the translation right here (AV is misleading).  Righteousness, holiness and redemption are three different aspects of God’s wisdom.  They’re all central to Paul’s theology and result from the cross.

 

v31    he who boasts…. let him boast in the Lord

 

The verse clearly refers to Jesus, but it is a quote from Jeremiah 9:23-24 where it is Jehovah who is referred to (cf notes on 1:2 and 1:8.

 

Boast here has the sense of trust.

 

1. c) God’s ‘foolishness’ – Paul’s preaching (2:1-5)

 

v1      I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom

 

When Paul came to Corinth he did not try to persuade them with human philosophy.  He simply preached Christ crucified (v2).  The cross cannot be rationalised.

 

          The testimony about God

 

Testimony or mystery? Texts differ (marturion or musterion).  Barrett prefers testimony because (a) mystery is in the context and could have affected a copyist subconsciously, and (b) testimony is more suited to the initial proclamation of the Gospel.

 

v2      I resolved

 

Paul’s determination here is probably not because of his apparent failure at Athens (Acts 17).  ‘He is not contrasting his evangelistic method with that which he employed elsewhere, but with that which others employed in Corinth’ (Barrett).  Cf Fee, p. 92.

 

v3      weakness, fear …… much trembling

 

See note on Acts 18:1.  The weakness may refer to some observable physical condition.  Astheneia normally means sickness and this is by no means impossible – cf Galatians 4:13-14.

 

v4      not with wise and persuasive words but with ……. the Spirit’s power

 

Having contrasted human wisdom with the cross in vv 1-2 he now contrasts it with the Spirit’s power.  This does not necessarily refer to signs and wonders here – note the absence of reference to miracles in Acts 18.  Fee, p. 95, believes it refers to their actual conversion with the accompanying gift of the Spirit which was probably evidenced by spiritual gifts, especially tongues.