1 Corinthians 6:13,14 - Food for the body?

6:13

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”. This was probably some phrase quoted by the Corinthians and used as an excuse for sexual indulgence. “And God will destroy both ...” The next part of the verse is alluding to our resurrection bodies. The body is important, and what we do with our bodies is important. Much of Greek thought separated the body and spirit, no such thought is found in the Bible. Our bodies matter. We are to use them in the way that God intended, and God did not intend them for sexual immorality. This sought of thinking is offensive to the world, but nevertheless the world is wrong. The Bible sees the body as holy, so we are to treat it as such.

In debates on abortion the saying is often “it’s the woman’s body”. No it isn’t, our bodies belong to God, we belong to God. And with regard to sexual activity, our body does not belong to us, it belongs to the Lord, so we must follow His instructions, which are that sex is intended only for a man and a woman in marriage, and in no other context.

6:14

What has the resurrection got to do with sexual morality? Everything! Much Greek thought denigrated the body, saying it was the spirit that really mattered. This could lead to one of two extremes, either promoting sexual immorality, or asceticism. The Bible is unique in that it places great value on the body, this is shown in that it matters how we treat our bodies now, and what we do with them, and by the fact that we will be raised with new bodies. Many liberals talk about a spiritual resurrection. This is wrong on two counts. First the simple fact that Jesus did rise bodily from the dead and the gospels clearly teach this, secondly it is a deeply unbiblical notion. The body matters and the body is holy! See how much sexual immorality denigrates the body.

1 Corinthians 6:11,12 - What some of you once were

6:11

Now we get the words of hope, “and such were some of you”. We were washed, justified, sanctified by Christ and the Spirit. The cross and resurrection justify us completely, make us completely acceptable to God, and the Spirit cleanses us, He starts a work within us to change our nature, to make us ever more Christlike. This applies to any human being, no matter what we may have been guilty of. There are those who say clear Biblical teaching denigrates LGBT people, and there may be some who, claiming the name of Christ, do denigrate LGBT people, but nothing could be further from the truth. What the gospel says is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all can be saved through faith in Christ. So to the LGBT person the gospel most certainly does say that your behaviour is sinful, just as it does to all of us, but it also says that you were created in the image of God, that God considered you so valuable that it was worth Him sending His Son to die for you, and that if you will repent and believe then you will receive eternal life, just as can anyone else who repents and believes. The gospel is completely inclusive!

6:12

Corinth was infamous for its sexual immorality, and this was in a time when the rest of Greece and the Roman Empire were not exactly paragons of virtue. Paul now turns to these matters. “All things are lawful for me” says the ESV, NIV has “I have the right to do anything”, which perhaps captures the attitude more effectively. Man in rebellion against God thinks about himself and his rights. When we come to Christ all this should change, but the old self hangs around for a while! We are still influenced by worldly thinking more than we care to admit. We have been set free from the Law by the cross, but then our old self seeks to use this as an excuse to do what we like. This is completely wrong thinking. For one, if we sin we still becomes slaves to sin. Part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, if we give in to sin we lose control. So that is reason enough not to indulge in anything wrong.

No more Mr Nice Guy (Acts 5:29-31)

Today, both in society and in the church, we place a great emphasis on being nice. The church often aims to be “seeker-friendly”, and there is very little about telling people about sin, and definitely not their sin! To do so is to be “judgemental”, and it may even be construed as hate-speech.

However, if we look in the Bible we find a very different approach. Take Acts 5:29-31 as an example. Peter and the other apostles have been hauled up before the Sanhedrin, now look at what Peter says. “Jesus who you killed ...” , indeed if we look at the early chapters of Acts Peter talks about Israel’s guilt in killing Jesus on several occasions. This feature of being very direct about our sin and sinfulness is a feature of the whole of the Bible, including of Jesus Himself.

Now look at the latter part of v31, “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins”. Look at that phrase, “giving repentance”. Calling people to repentance has very much fallen out of fashion, indeed if we do so we will be accused of hate-speech, but repentance is a gift of God! It is part of His blessing towards us. When the Spirit works in a person’s life, He will lead that person to repent so that they can receive forgiveness. This is another reason why it is so important that we do not pussyfoot around the fact that people are sinners. If we do mess about, then we are denying people the gift of God. Conversely, if we speak the truth then the saving power of the gospel can be released, for then we are preaching in step with the Holy Spirit.

So when our society tells us to never speak about sin we should look at v29 and consider the words of Peter, “we must obey God rather than man”. We must do this today, both out of love and commitment to the Lord, and out of love for people. For the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel that calls people to repentance so that they can receive forgiveness and begin to see their lives transformed. Anything else is no gospel at all.

1 Corinthians 6:7-10 - Do not be deceived

6:7

Paul here is urging them to have a different perspective on things. One goes to court to win, but in taking a civil action involving fellow Christians one has already lost. There is an internal defeat in the failure to recognise that we have the ability to reach just decisions on such matters ourselves. There is an external defeat in that the world will mock the church. Getting “our rights” is not the most important thing, sometimes it is actually better to lose!

6:8

The real problem was that there was cheating and wrongdoing within the church, this is the issue that most needed to be addressed. When we get full of ourselves, when we become consumed by the urge to “get our rights” our thinking and judgement becomes clouded. In fact, it can even happen that in the pursuit of getting our rights we will ourselves do wrong!

6:9,10

The Corinthians were living as though immorality in all its forms did not really matter. This was the worldview of some parts of Greek philosophy. Paul’s rejoinder is that behaviour most certainly does matter. In today’s climate  there is little doubt that the focus on this list will fall on “practising homosexuals”. Let’s look at two aspects of this. First, it is one item among many. The list contains sexual immorality in general, idolatry, thieving, greed, drunkenness, adulterers, revilers and swindlers. So in one sense there is nothing special about homosexual acts as being sinful, they are just one sin among many. Moreover, it is clear that all forms of sinful behaviour are to be avoided. Secondly, there is actually no doubt that homosexual acts are sinful. There are those who come up with pseudo-sophisticated arguments that the Bible does not know anything about “loving homosexual relationships” and does not actually apply to these. All I can say is try arguing that one with God, I don’t fancy your chances.

1 Corinthians 6:5,6 - I say this to shame you

6:5,6

The Corinthians were very proud of themselves, thinking themselves wise and advanced in Christian things. In reality they were nowhere at all, very much immature, and this was shown up by their actions. Their willingness to take a civil dispute to court was a sign of their immaturity, for it showed that no one in the church was able to settle the dispute. So does this mean Christians should absolutely never seek legal advice or go to a court to decide a matter? I think that might be taking things too far, applying too legalistic (forgive the pun) approach to these verses. There are two key points. First is the pride of the Corinthians, they needed taking down a peg or two, and that was what Paul was doing. Demonstrating that they were not quite as clever as they thought they were. The second is the attitude. There may be cases where there is uncertainty about the legalities of a matter, and the two parties are genuinely looking for a legal assessment, not just out to get as much as they can for themselves. In such cases it may well be right to use civil legal authorities. It is a matter of the heart.

1 Corinthians 6:3,4 - We will judge angels!

6:3

As well as judging men, we will also be judging angels. Now what does Paul mean by this? Before dealing with the detailed point of what it means to judge angels we should focus on the simpler, and more important point. We need to realise what a great purpose and future God has for us, then we will far less prone to getting involved and upset about petty things. On the angels point, Heb 2:7 says we were made a little lower than the angels, quoting from Psalm 8, a psalm which speaks of God putting everything under our feet.

6:4

The consequence of all this is in the immediate context is that the Corinthian church has no grounds for calling on the world to judge their internal disputes. It is yet another example of the Corinthians, who were so proud of themselves, really being utterly worldly.  The NIV speaks of those whose “way of life is scorned by the church”, the ESV has “those who have no standing”. The NIV here seems to be closer to the Greek.

1 Corinthians 6:1,2 - You will judge the world!

6:1

Paul has just instructed them that they must take care of matters within the church, ensuring proper discipline is exercised. Conversely it is not their responsibility to manage the world! Now we get a further development of that, we are not to get the world to settle matters within the church. As with the previous commands, this is another area where there have been numerous failures within the church. Now, I think it is fair to take this as referring only to civil matters, not matters which are cases of law breaking. Ie if someone commits violence, burglary etc then it is right and proper that they face the legal consequences. Paul is talking about cases which are a matter of dispute between two believers.

6:2

This going to court is another example of having a lack of understanding of what the church is and what the kingdom is. Paul’s instruction obviously has a lot of common sense behind it, but it is also built on fundamental theological truths. We will judge the world. “But I thought Christ will judge the world ...” Yes He will, but on the last day it will be those who follow faithfully follow Christ who will be shown to have been right. At the moment the world thinks it sits in judgement upon us, at present this is particularly true with regard to sexual morality and identity. But on the last day, God’s wisdom will be shown to be the true wisdom. Notice that Paul describes these civil lawsuits as trivial. At the time they seem oh so important to us, but we need to get things in perspective. Having an eternal perspective can help us to see the present more clearly.

A Saviour for All Seasons

My normal daily blog today was not exactly Christmassy! As you know, I work my way through books of the Bible, they are also written several months in advance. So what you get, is what you get!

However, here is a more seasonal reflection. At this time we celebrate the birth of Jesus. What really happened two thousand years ago? God the Father sent His Son to live amongst us for our salvation. Jesus was sent by the Father, He came from heaven. It is not a case that God saw a particular baby and selected that child. Jesus came from heaven. His conception was supernatural, but beyond that He lived life in a fully human way. As John puts it, He came in the flesh. Mary was pregnant for nine months, He was born in the normal way, though the maternity services in Bethlehem weren’t the  best! Even as a baby He was persecuted by a tyrant ruler, and His family had to flee into exile. Eventually they returned, and He lived a pretty normal life, with all its ups and downs. Joseph died when Jesus was a relatively young man. During His ministry, He was constantly opposed by the religious leaders, they were forever looking for ways to trap Him. At the end He was the victim of political self-interest, both on the part of the ruling powers (Rome) and the religious leader. He was betrayed by a friend, and the rest failed to stand by Him in His hour of need. He was severely beaten, a victim of a show-trial, and died a vicious and cruel death. In all this the purposes of God were being fulfilled. Moreover, death was not the end. Indeed death was not a defeat, it was the means to victory. It was death that was defeated.

So what does this say to you and me? God sent the Son and calls on all of us to put our trust in Him. We can base our life on our own strength, or just “trust to luck”. Or we can put our trust in the one who lived amongst us and who gave His life for us, and was raised from the dead. I will tell you something about myself. There are times when I fail, there are circumstances and situations that I do not know how to handle. And the same is true for you. But I do not base my life, my hope, on myself or my own strength. My hope is in Jesus, He is the foundation of my life.

Jesus came into the mess and confusion and suffering of life in first century Israel. Let Him come into your life today, whether things are going well, or whether life just seems a complete mess.

Merry Christmas.

1 Corinthians 5:12,13 - Expel the wicked person from among you

5:12,13

We see here an attitude very different from that we find in much of the church today. There is no messing about in the attitude and action towards the immoral brother. He is to be expelled. Despite what numerous idiots say, we are to judge those within the church. This is out of respect for God’s ways, out of love and care for the church, and out of love and care for the sinner! But we do not concern ourselves with judging the world, judging those who are outside the church.

So how should this play out in the major sexual morality issue of the day, the LGBT issues? First we must teach and practice Biblical standards within the church. Those who propose accepting LGBT as OK, and maybe practise it themselves are acting in direct disobedience to God. We should stop being “nice” about this. Theirs is not an alternative viewpoint, they are rebelling against God.

But what about the world? Should we seek to influence the world? Here the question is very difficult and complicated. First we should not be surprised that the world has a different standard of morality than God! At one level, letting the world get on with it, as long as we continue to proclaim the truth, so people can repent and turn to Christ would be OK, but that is not the whole picture. On the one hand, many are seeking to stop the church doing even that, they want a complete celebration of LGBT matters, and brook no dissent. So prepare for persecution. But there is more to it than than. The standards that a society adopts matter, they affect the lives of its citizens for good or ill. A society that promotes and respects marriage (Biblical definition!) will fare better than one that adopts the LGBT agenda. Children’s lives have already been adversely affected by the breakdown of marriage in the West. So there are positive reasons for Christians seeking to influence the direction of society. But where does that leave Paul’s words “what business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” I think it means we are not to take any action against those outside the church. We must ensure proper Biblical standards are maintained within the church, we should seek to influence the direction of society by proper argument, but in the temporal context it is for civil governments to decide what laws the society has and the enforcement of those laws. Notice also the start of v13, “God will judge those outside”. There will be consequences for a society that rebels against God’s ways, but it is God’s responsibility to deal with that, it is our responsibility to deal with what happens within the church.
I have discussed the issues raised within the context of LGBT matters, and have done so because it in many ways encapsulates problems within the church. However, we should also note that here it is a heterosexual sin issue that Paul is dealing with. Moreover, we need to recognise that heterosexual sin is a far bigger problem both within the church and within society. Numerically it is far more prevalent, and its social effects go far deeper and wider. It seems that much of the church does not really bother about sex before marriage anymore. The essence of this section is that we need to deal with problems within the church, and we need to do that in the whole area of sexuality, especially with regard to heterosexual matters.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11 - Do not even eat with such people

5:9,10

We get here the approach we are to the sexually immoral. The key thing is the difference in the approach we have to people of the world and to professing Christians. We are not to associate with professing Christians who are sexually immoral, but this does not apply to people of the world, ie those who are not Christians. Why the difference? If you are in the church then you are claiming to be a disciple of jesus Christ, and to claim to be a disciple but living in deliberate disobedience to the Bible is a complete contradiction. This is an area where much of the church is acting in complete disobedience to God. Let’s apply this to the matter of homosexual behaviour (many other forms of sexual immorality are available). If someone is a practising homosexual then they cannot be part of the church. Now a clear distinction needs to be drawn here with someone who experiences same-sex attraction, but chooses not to act on those desires. Such a person is seeking to live their life in obedience to Jesus. Sam Allberry is perhaps the most famous example, I have read one of his books and heard him speak, and what comes over is someone with a deep love and commitment to Jesus, and it is a blessing to listen to him. That is a completely different situation from someone who is a practising homosexual and claiming that their lifestyle is perfectly compatible with God’s standards. Such a person is deceived. So why is it OK to associate with people in the world who are sexually immoral? Because this is what the gospel is about. Jesus came to save sinners, so the gospel goes out to sinners (which includes all of us). Note that Paul then goes on to include swindlers, idolaters and the greedy. Sexual immorality crops us because it is serious, and it is prevalent, but it is not the only sin!

5:11

Paul reiterates the command. We need to treat being part of the church as a serious matter. Sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, slandering, swindling and drunkenness are linked together in this list here. “But that’s judging some idiot says. Well we are meant to judge behaviour! And first of all our own. Following Jesus involves obeying Jesus. Now this does not mean someone gets chucked out of the church for the least misdemeanour, or even a single serious fall. But if these things are defining your life then you are in big trouble. Most of the church is way too tolerant.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - Boasting is not good

5:6

The Corinthians were prone to boasting, either about themselves or others, but this was not good. They were putting their trust in the wrong things, putting wrong value on things. Pride is something that is dealt with throughout the Bible, it is a most serious sin. Why is it so serious? Because it is in complete contradiction to the truth, and takes worship away from where it rightly belongs. We are completely dependent upon God, and He is the source of everything, of all goodness, and He is completely trustworthy. When we take pride in ourselves or in others (in the wrong way) we are saying we do not need God. This pride may start off as something small, but it is pernicious and works it way through everything.

5:7

Instead, we are to allow the new life to work its way into every aspect of our lives. So in saying here that we are to get rid of the old yeast, it is like when he talks about putting off the old self, and putting on the new. “As you really are”. We have been born again, we need to live out of the new nature, not the old. “For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”. Our old self died with Christ. Note the repeated phenomenon that is found here. Something is done for us or to us, in this case Christ died for us, we are born again, but this never means that we are to be passive. What God has done for us should always spur us on to action.

5:8

So Paul continues the analogy of the Passover Festival. How do we do this? Not in any ritualistic sense, but in the practical sense of getting rid of malice and wickedness. Instead, we replace these with sincerity and truth. In Christ we are a new creation, so we should live a new life.

1 Corinthians 5:3-5 - Hand him over to Satan

5:3

Paul was not with them in person, and some might have thought “while the cat’s away ...”, or considered him to be of no importance. But Paul was with them in spirit, and he prayed for the church. Prayer is not just a pious act, but an act of spiritual power. We speak to the living God, and if we are in step with the Spirit then our prayers will be powerful. The church had taken no action on the matter, but Paul had taken action in the spirit, and this would have effect.

5:4

So Paul urges the church to take action. They should meet together and pass the appropriate judgement on the man. Note here that Paul talks about passing judgement. One of the most common mantras of people is “do not pass judgement”. Most of the talk about not passing judgement is just so much nonsense, and more often than not it is an excuse for sinning, or for not confronting sin. We should be aware that most of the time when we say “do not judge” we are actually advocating disobedience to the Lord. When they did meet together Paul would be with them. He does not mean this in some strange mystical sense, but that they would have apostolic authority behind actions they took that were in line with the word of God.

5:5

The man is to be handed over to Satan. This expression is used only in 1 Tim 1:20. What Paul means is that the man is to be expelled from the church for a time, he is to be put in the world. While in the church he would enjoy some sort of protection, but he had chosen to disobey God in a gross manner and was apparently refusing to repent. So be it then, if he does not want to live under God’s protection then let him experience the full consequences of that sin. The hope is that he would then learn and the power of the flesh in his life would be broken. The goal is that his soul would be saved, ie he would come to repentance. A soft approach to serious sin does not actually do anyone any good, least of all the sinner themselves. Sometimes sinners can be saved by the church taking firm action.

1 Corinthians 5:1,2 - And you are proud!

5:1

The Corinthians considered themselves so advanced, yet the hollowness of their claims was shown up by the fact that there was gross sexual immorality going on among them. A man was sleeping with his father’s wife. The surrounding culture was not exactly free of sexual immorality, indeed it revelled in it. But even that culture looked down on such acts. We really do need to remember that we are sinners. We have been forgiven, a work of transformation has started in our lives. Hopefully we have made some progress and are continuing to make progress, but we are still sinners. We are not perfect yet. Now, of course, one can go to the other extreme, and become overly obsessed with our sinfulness, but it is at least as dangerous to forget our sinfulness. Pride comes before a fall.

5:2

What made things worse was that the Corinthians were proud! They were puffed up. Instead they should have taken action. They should have been in mourning. Things will go wrong for we are a church of sinners, but when they do we need to face up to the reality of the situation. Moreover, they should have taken action against the sinner. It is clear from the New Testament that firm and clear action was taken against sinners, and against heretics. This is something we have lost today. Of course, we can go to the opposite extreme and that is very dangerous, but we are failing because we do not take any action.

1 Corinthians 4:18-21 - Not a kingdom of words but of power

4:18,19

We need to remember that communications were rather different in those days. If Paul was held up, as 2 Corinthians will make clear there were problems, he could not send a “running late” text message! So it appeared that Paul was not going to be coming to Corinth, and some sought to take advantage of this. However, while there had been a change of plan, Paul most certainly did intend to visit Corinth. Then Paul would find out exactly what was going on, and what power, if any, the dissenters had.

4:20,21

The philosophers loved to talk, but the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Clearly words matter, but the gospel is also about effective power. It involved miracles and healings, it involved changed lives. The detractors were normally just windbags, all talk and no power. We need to be wary of the same phenomenon today. So the people had a choice. If necessary Paul would come “with a rod of discipline”, and if they insisted on being hard hearted he would come in such a manner. But if they repented and were teachable, he would come “in love and with a gentle spirit”.

1 Corinthians 4:14-17 - Be imitators of me

4:14,15

Paul has been quite direct in what he has been saying, and in the way he has said it. But he has not been doing this to get at the Corinthians but to warn them as dear children. True love and care sometimes involves saying hard things, but it says these things not to do people down, but to protect them.

Paul then draws a contrast between guardians and fathers. A father has a much closer and deeper concern for the child than a guardian. A guardian may be technically competent, but there will be something lacking. Moreover, some of those seeking to influence the church would not be doing so from good motives. Correct doctrine and teaching are important, but there must always be more than this, there must be a relational commitment as well. Paul had that relational commitment. He was not just doing a job, he was not just “winning souls”, he was getting children.

As an aside, we should compare verse 16 with Matthew 23:9 where Jesus says “do not call anyone father ...”. This should be a warning against literalistic readings of Scripture, everything needs to be read in context. In Matt 23 Jesus is warning against the attitude of self-aggrandizement. Paul here is speaking for a deep concern and care of leaders over their flock.

4:16,17

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me”. Paul points to himself as an example. None of us are perfect, but even so there should be at least some things in our life that we can point to as an illustration of the work of God. So Paul is sending Timothy, someone he trusts, to help instruct the church. Note that he will teach them about Paul’s way of life. We are to be living examples of the life of Christ. Moreover, Paul taught the same things to all the churches he was involved in

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 - Apostles: like the scum of the earth

4:9,10

Paul now contrasts the life of a real apostle, a real man or woman of God, and the superficiality of how the Corinthians were measuring things. This is something that we in charismatic churches need to be particularly aware of. Compared to what the Corinthians were boasting about, Paul and the other apostles were “at the end of the procession”. This is likening things to a Roman triumphal procession where those condemned to die were placed at the back of the procession. The life of an apostle was not a particularly jolly one! They endured physical persecution and deprivation, and were ridiculed. The Corinthians, in contrast, considered themselves to be so wise. The apostles were, in human terms, so weak, yet the Corinthians considered themselves strong. The apostles were frequently dishonoured, yet the Corinthians were honoured. This should warn us against superficial success-oriented teaching. Now there is nothing wrong with succeeding, and God may well grant us success in many areas, but it can so easily slip into a superficiality, and miss the aspect of the gospel that is concerned with sharing in Christ’s sufferings.

4:11-13

There were times when the apostles and their co-workers went hungry or thirsty, they were dressed in rags and were beaten up by their oppressors. They may even be homeless. But they did not react to this by repaying like with like. Instead they worked hard, they blessed those who cursed them. They endured persecution and responded with blessing. In short, they fulfilled Christ’s commands. Far from being honoured they were treated like filth, the scum of the earth. Now Paul is not saying here that things were always like this, but there were times when they were, and it was all part and parcel of being a servant of Christ. We need to be very wary of times when the world speaks well of us (Luke 6:26), and of all superficial “gospels”.

1 Corinthians 4:6-8 - Already you have become kings!

4:6

Paul has been using Apollos and himself as an example to illustrate how they should regard preachers. There are lesson too that preachers themselves can learn, but the primary target is “ordinary” members of the church. “Do not go beyond what is written”. There is no specific scripture reference in view here. Perhaps what Paul is meaning is that their whole focus should be on the Bible, instead of seeking to interpret things in human terms. For if we put the focus on a particular man or woman, we also puff ourselves up, taking a pride in our following the “right preacher”. It is all about God, not about man!

4:7

This verse addresses the root of pride. When we become proud we are tacitly assuming that we have made some contribution to our salvation or goodness. But all that we have, we have only because God has given it to us. This applies to our salvation and any gifts or ministries that we might have. We are utterly and completely dependent upon God for everything. Now this most definitely does not mean that we do not have responsibilities. We do, but must not have pride.

4:8

Paul is being somewhat sarcastic here. The Corinthians thought they had achieved so much. Worse, they had become self-satisfied, they were no longer hungry. So why were they mistaken? They were mistaken because for a whole variety of reasons. They were still looking to worldly wisdom as their yardstick, they were still full of worldly attitudes, as demonstrated in their idolising of particular leaders or apostles, and in even worse ways, as will become evident later in the letter.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 - I do not even judge myself

4:3,4

The Corinthians were pitting one preacher or apostle against another, or saying they preferred one over the other. Paul is saying that this is of no account to him, and indeed is absolute nonsense. We need to be aware that we can do the same today, comparing one preacher against another. Moreover, Paul does not even judge himself. This does not mean that he paid no attention to how well or otherwise he was doing something, but he did not waste his time comparing whether he was a better or worse apostle than some other apostle. His conscience is clear. Ie he has no reason to doubt himself, as far as he can tell there were no major failings in himself that needed to be addressed. We should assess ourselves in relation to Christ, and if the Spirit is putting His finger on something, then we should do something to address the matter. Even so, our having a clear conscience is not the final arbiter. It is the Lord who judges, He alone is the one who truly knows how well or otherwise we are doing.

4:5

“Judge nothing before the appointed time”. It may seem that a sermon is very good, or not so good, but that actually indicates very little as to its actual effectiveness. We are in the business of serving God, working with Him. The goal is to achieve long term change, lasting results. Only when the Lord returns will the true effectiveness or otherwise of our work been known. Moreover, He will expose the motives of our hearts. Then each will receive praise from the Lord. Two things to note here. The first is that there is praise from the Lord. Sometimes we get so caught up in the fact that we cannot save ourselves, and that we are utterly dependent upon the Spirit, that we cannot see how any concept of praise or reward from God can exist. Yet Jesus often spoke about rewards, and Paul here speaks about praise. So our thinking must be wrong! The second point is that Paul is shifting the emphasis completely away from human judgement to God’s judgement. Praise from men is of limited value. It is God who gives the final assessment of our work, and He is the judge.

1 Corinthians 4:1,2 - Servants of Christ

4:1

Having dealt with the negative side of the Corinthian’s propensity to “worship” individual leaders, Paul gives the more positive side of apostleship. They are to be regarded as servants of Christ, and those entrusted with the mysteries that God has revealed. The latter refers to the gospel. So the people who are apostles are to be regarded as servants of Christ, they are not to be looked at as  some sort of super beings. What is special is the message they have been entrusted with, the gospel.

4:2

The apostles had a special responsibility to God, and must prove faithful in that responsibility. Today there can sometimes be a lot of talk about apostles. The first thing we need to be clear about is that there are no apostles in the sense that Peter, Paul etc were apostles. The primary hallmark of an “apostolic” church must be that it holds true to the teachings of the apostles as given in the Bible. Now the term apostle is used in at least two senses in the New Testament, and there may be “apostles” in the lesser sense of the word. Personally I think it is a waste of time arguing about titles, I am more interested in what someone does than in any title they may or may not have. This is where the teaching here is most useful. In short, if someone is a faithful witness to Christ, living a godly life, with the work of God flowing through them then what they are called is of at best secondary importance. Conversely, if someone is using the term apostle as a badge of pride then that person is in grave danger, and a spot of repentance is in order.

1 Corinthians 3:19-23 - You are of Christ

3:19,20

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight”. The world may well applaud itself on its “wisdom” on same-sex marriage or transgenderism, but its wisdom is absolute nonsense in God’s sight. Paul then quotes from Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11. The world’s wisdom will be shown up for the foolishness that it really is. These verse remind one of Rom 1:21, “they became futile in their thinking”. The madness of the world will be shown up for what it is. We should not be enticed by its “wisdom”, nor should we feel threatened by it, for its vacuousness will be exposed.

3:21

Paul now goes right back to the original symptom of the problem, the boasting about human leaders. We must not boast about human leaders. Each one of us, if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, understands something of the gospel, knows God to some degree. But we all know only in part, and we are all also imperfect, there are things we do not understand, and quite probably things we misunderstand. So if we tie ourselves to one particular leader then we are missing out on the full glory of Christ, the full riches of the gospel. We also risk tying ourselves into the shortcomings of that individual. This is also why it so important that all of us make sure we learn from others, never falling for the deception that it can be “me and God”.

3:22,23

Everything is ours. Every Christian leader is ours, all the world, all the present and the future are ours. See how the world always tries to minimise, tries to restrict. Nationalism seeks to focus everything, limit everything, to one nation. The LGBT stuff seeks to define a person purely in terms of sexuality. Christian movements can end up defining things in terms of one doctrine, or one aspect of gospel mission. All things are ours in Christ. We belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16-18 - Do not deceive yourselves

3:16

The “you” here is plural, so Paul is addressing the church as a whole. The words could be taken as applying to each individual member, or to the church as a whole, or to both. Given v17, it is clear that here Paul is thinking primarily of the church. Later on he will be concerned with us individually being temples. It is vital that we have a proper view of ourselves and of the church. We are not a human organisation, we do not live our lives purely out of our own resources. We are God’s temple. Individually we are temples of the Holy Spirit, together we are God’s church. We belong to Him, and we are here so that His life can flow through us, not so that we go along with the world and its futile thinking.

3:17

There were those who were working for their own ends, seeking to sow disunity in order to further themselves or their own cause. Such a person needs to be aware that in attacking the church, they are attacking God’s temple, they are attacking God Himself. Such a person can expect nothing but judgement from God. We need to have a very sober view. God’s temple is sacred, and we are God’s temple, so we are sacred. A person messes with God’s church at their peril.

3:18

There is a great temptation to want to be wise in the world’s eyes. We all like it when people agree with us or think well of us. So we quite like it when the world says how wise we are. So there is a temptation to try to do things that we think the world will recognise as wise. This was a danger for some in Corinth, they wanted to appear wise in the world’s eyes. Today we see exactly the same thing happening with LGBT issues, especially gay “marriage”. If a church decides to accept and bless gay “marriage” it is seen as being progressive, as wisely accepting the way the world is going. However, the Corinthians were deceiving themselves, and the churches which are collapsing on same-sex marriage are deceived. Why choose the world’s “wisdom” when it goes directly against God’s wisdom? “You should become fools so that we you may become wise”. Paul is not advising them to become idiots, but to choose God’s wisdom over man’s wisdom. God has a far better idea of how things should be than the world has!

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 - Building with silver and gold

3:12,13

The foundation has been laid by God, there is no other. Now we can build upon that foundation with “gold, silver or costly stones”, ie valuable things, or with “wood, hay or straw”, ie worthless things, things that will quickly perish. It will be tested with fire. Jesus said that He came to baptise with fire and the Holy Spirit. So we can preach a cheap prosperity gospel, or a humanistic gospel. Or we can preach the true gospel, the full meat of the word. Events will happen, whether to us as individuals, or to us as churches. These things will test the value of the work we have done. What sort of preacher or teacher do you want to be? One who puts froth into someone’s life, froth that is blown away so easily, or one who builds true faith and perseverance into people. So that when the wind blows, when the storms come, the people still stand.

3:14,15

We will receive a reward if our work proves to have been of quality. Note that yet again we see the concept of a reward. However, if we are shown to have been building with cheap, shoddy goods, then we will suffer loss, though we will not lose our salvation. So the focus in our efforts to be good master builders is not our salvation, but seeking to please the king, and seeking to build up His people. What we do with our lives matters.

1 Corinthians 3:10,11 - No other foundation

3:10

There are several principles in this one verse. First, Paul does his work by the grace God gave him. We often think of grace as being passive, as being only about forgiveness, but it is much more than this. The grace of God is an active thing, it enables us to do things we should not be able to do. God’s grace is enabling and empowering. Then, although it is by the grace of God that we do things, we also have to put great effort and care into the things we do. Paul built as a master builder. The grace of God in no way means that we do not use human effort as well. Paul certainly worked hard. Next, we are never the only ones building. God tends not to give solo projects! The things He gives us to do are part of a much larger plan, and other people, even other churches, will have their role to play. Sometimes in parallel, sometimes following on from what He gives us to do. Regardless of the part we have, whether it seems big or small, we should fulfil our task with great care and commitment.

3:11

Now we get the reason for this. There is only one foundation, only one thing we can build on. And that foundation is Jesus Christ, it is who He is and what He has done. This foundation has already been laid by God. God has decided that this is the one and only foundation. To try and build on anything else is utter foolishness, and an exercise in futility. Regardless of this, people are forever trying to build on other foundations.

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 - God makes things grow

3:6,7

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow”. Paul had founded the church in Corinth, he was the first to preach the gospel there. Then Apollos continued the work, nurturing the church, but it was God who actually made it grow. We all have different talents and roles in life. These are important and it is vital that we use our talents and fulfil the roles given to us, moreover we should enjoy doing this, but we need to know that without God nothing at all would be achieved. We cannot cause spiritual growth, we can only work with God. Conversely, if some church leader, or preacher or prophet has had a great influence on your life be aware that it was not them who influenced your life, but God working through them.

3:8,9

We need to have the right perspective on things. People have different roles, different ministries, but they are all part of the one purpose. Moreover, they will be rewarded. Note that the New Testament speaks quite a lot about rewards. The work we do for God matters, how we do it matters, and there are rewards for faithful servants. Now we do not work in order to get a reward, but we work knowing we will get a reward. There is an enormous difference between these two approaches. The former is focused on getting the reward, the latter on serving God. We are all part of God’s purpose. Sometimes we are active participants in God fulfilling His purpose, at other times we are recipients of God’s work. Whatever the case, we need to recognise that it is God who is the focus of everything. We must never make a person the focus.

1 Corinthians 3:3-5 - I follow ...

3:3,4

So how does Paul know that they are still worldly? Because there is jealousy and quarreling among them. Now this does not mean we never disagree on anything, or there are never debates. Debates took place within the early church, Acts 15 being the most important example. Paul frequently argued with people, especially in his letters. But they were acting just like the world. They were envious of one another, jockeying for position. In particular, they were claiming allegiance to various church leaders, Peter, Paul and Apollos. We are not called to follow men, but to follow Jesus.

The Greek word used for “worldly” (NIV) or “of the flesh” (ESV), means characterised by the flesh, by our human or worldly nature. Instead, we should be characterised by the Spirit, we should become ever more Christlike.

3:5

It is interesting that Paul says “what is Apollos, what is ...”, rather than “who is ...” The focus is on what they are. People matter, they are important. Leaders matter and are important, but what are they? They are servants of Christ, and servants with a purpose. That purpose is that we come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gospel, and that is the purpose of us all. It is not that we come to follow a particular leader. The Lord assigns various tasks to various people, He achieves various things through various people, but our focus must always be upon the Lord, not on the leader.

God sent Jesus to bless you (Acts 3:26)

In Acts 3:26 Peter, addressing the crowds after healing the lame man, says:

When God raised up his servant (Jesus), he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

This verse is so crucial, and one we so need to get a hold of today. It says so much about the God’s plan of salvation, the place of Israel, and the nature of the gospel.

First, God raised up His servant. It is God, not man, who decides the way of salvation, and He has chosen His Son Jesus Christ to be the one and only way of salvation.

He was sent first to Israel. It is implicit in this that He would then become the salvation of the world. God’s plan, made clear from Abraham when He declared that all nations  on earth would be blessed through him, was that salvation would flow from Israel to the whole world.

Notice the phrase, “to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways”. All too often to preach like that today would be considered “not seeker friendly”, or even hate speech. But here calling people to repentance is seen as a blessing. God has not changed, and the blessing of God in Jesus Christ is to turn men and women from our wicked ways, and to turn us to ways of life. If we are on a destructive road, then to be called to turn from it and get on a way of life is indeed good news.