1:17
Those who preach out of rivalry and envy have very different motives. We cannot be absolutely sure of their reasons, but maybe they were seeking to take advantage of Paul being imprisoned. So while he was out of the way they would seek to make a name for themselves. In every age there are those in the church who will do “Christian things” (i.e. things that are in themselves good) not out of a love for Christ nor for people, but out of love of self.
1:18
So how does Paul react to all this? He will rejoice! For whatever the motives the word of Christ is preached. This is the second mention of joy/rejoice. This strongly implies that they were preaching the gospel, not some perverted form of it. Otherwise Paul would not be rejoicing. It also implies that the motives of the preacher are not crucial to the effectiveness of the word. Now, it is far better if we have the right motives, and we should always invite God to examine our hearts, but the word is powerful in itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment