Chapter Eight: Be Wise about … Personal Priorities (1 Corinthians 9)
Key theme: God’s wisdom
II.REPROOF: THE REPORT OF SIN IN THE CHURCH—1:4–6:20
A.Divisions in the church—1:4–4:21
B.Discipline in the church—5
III.INSTRUCTION: THE REPLY TO THEIR QUESTIONS—7:1–16:12
A.Marriage—7
B.Food offered to idols—8–10
C.Church ordinances—11
D.Spiritual gifts—12:1–14:40
E.The Resurrection—15
BE WISE about …
(1 Cor. 1)
(1 Cor. 2)
(1 Cor. 3)
(1 Cor. 4)
(1 Cor. 5–6)
(1 Cor. 7)
(1 Cor. 8; 10)
(1 Cor. 9)
(1 Cor. 11)
(1 Cor. 12–13)
(1 Cor. 14)
(1 Cor. 15)
(1 Cor. 16)
1 Corinthians 1
Jesus, yes! The church, no!”
Remember when that slogan was popular among young people in the ’60s? They certainly could have used it with sincerity in Corinth back in A.D. 56, because the local church there was in serious trouble. Sad to say, the problems did not stay within the church family; they were known by the unbelievers outside the church.
To begin with, the church at Corinth was a defiled church. Some of its members were guilty of sexual immorality; others got drunk; still others were using the grace of God to excuse worldly living. It was also a divided church, with at least four different groups competing for leadership (). This meant it was a disgraced church. Instead of glorifying God, it was hindering the progress of the Gospel.
How did this happen? The members of the church permitted the sins of the city to get into the local assembly. Corinth was a polluted city, filled with every kind of vice and worldly pleasure. About the lowest accusation you could make against a man in that day would be to call him “a Corinthian.” People would know what you were talking about.
Corinth was also a proud, philosophical city, with many itinerant teachers promoting their speculations. Unfortunately, this philosophical approach was applied to the Gospel by some members of the church, and this fostered division. The congregation was made up of different “schools of thought” instead of being united behind the Gospel message.
If you want to know what Corinth was like, read . Paul wrote the Roman epistle while in Corinth, and he could have looked out the window and seen the very sins that he listed!
Of course, when you have proud people, depending on human wisdom, adopting the lifestyle of the world, you are going to have problems. In order to help them solve their problems, Paul opened his letter by reminding them of their calling in Christ. He pointed out three important aspects of this calling.
Paul first attacked the serious problem of defilement in the church, yet he said nothing about the problem itself. Instead, he took the positive approach and reminded the believers of their high and holy position in Jesus Christ. In , he described the church that God sees; in , he described the church that men see. What we are in Jesus Christ positionally ought to be what we practice in daily life, but often we fail.
Note the characteristics of the church because of our holy calling in Jesus Christ.
Set apart by God (vv. ). The word church in the Greek language means “a called-out people.” Each church has two addresses: a geographic address (“at Corinth”) and a spiritual address (“in Christ Jesus”). The church is made up of saints, that is, people who have been “sanctified” or “set apart” by God. A saint is not a dead person who has been honored by men because of his or her holy life. No, Paul wrote to living saints, people who, through faith in Jesus Christ, had been set apart for God’s special enjoyment and use.
In other words, every true believer is a saint because every true believer has been set apart by God and for God.
A Christian photographer friend told me about a lovely wedding that he “covered.” The bride and groom came out of the church, heading for the limousine, when the bride suddenly left her husband and ran to a car parked across the street! The motor was running and a man was at the wheel, and off they drove, leaving the bridegroom speechless. The driver of the “get-away car” turned out to be an old boyfriend of the bride, a man who had boasted that “he could get her anytime he wanted her.” Needless to say, the husband had the marriage annulled.
When a man and woman pledge their love to each other, they are set apart for each other; and any other relationship outside of marriage is sinful. Just so, the Christian belongs completely to Jesus Christ; he is set apart for Him and Him alone. But he is also a part of a worldwide fellowship, the church, “all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ” (). A defiled and unfaithful believer not only sins against the Lord, but he also sins against his fellow Christians.
Enriched by God’s grace (vv. ). Salvation is a gracious gift from God; but when you are saved, you are also given spiritual gifts. (Paul explained this in detail in 1 Cor. 12–14.) The Greek word translated “enriched” gives us our English word plutocrat, “a very wealthy person.” The Corinthians were especially rich in spiritual gifts (), but were not using these gifts in a spiritual manner. The fact that God has called us, set us apart, and enriched us ought to encourage us to live holy lives.
Expecting Jesus to return (v. ). Paul will have a great deal to say about this truth in 1 Corinthians 15. Christians who are looking for their Saviour will want to keep their lives above reproach (1 John 2:28–3:3).
Depending on God’s faithfulness (vv. ). The work of God was confirmed in them (), but it was also confirmed to them in the Word. This is a legal term that refers to the guarantee that settles a transaction. We have the witness of the Spirit within us and the witness of the Word before us, guaranteeing that God will keep His “contract” with us and save us to the very end. This guarantee is certainly not an excuse for sin! Rather, it is the basis for a growing relationship of love, trust, and obedience.
Now, in the light of these great truths, how could the people in the Corinthian assembly get involved in the sins of the world and the flesh? They were an elect people, an enriched people, and an established people. They were saints, set apart for the glory of God! Alas, their practice was not in accord with their position.
When Paul mentioned the word fellowship in , he introduced a second aspect of the Christian’s calling.
Having mentioned the problem of defilement in the church, now Paul turned to the matter of division in the church. Division has always been a problem among God’s people, and almost every New Testament epistle deals with this topic or mentions it in one way or another. Even the 12 Apostles did not always get along with each other.
In , Paul asked his readers three important questions, and these three questions are the key to this long paragraph.
Is Christ divided? (vv. ) The verb means, “Has Christ been divided and different parts handed out to different people?” The very idea is grotesque and must be rejected. Paul did not preach one Christ, Apollos another, and Peter another. There is but one Saviour and one Gospel (). How, then, did the Corinthians create this four-way division? Why were there quarrels (“contentions”) among them?
One answer is that they were looking at the Gospel from a philosophical point of view. Corinth was a city filled with teachers and philosophers, all of whom wanted to share their “wisdom.”
Another answer is that human nature enjoys following human leaders. We tend to identify more with spiritual leaders who help us and whose ministry we understand and enjoy. Instead of emphasizing the message of the Word, the Corinthians emphasized the messenger. They got their eyes off the Lord and on the Lord’s servants, and this led to competition.
Paul will point out in 1 Corinthians 3 that there can be no competition among true servants of God. It is sinful for church members to compare pastors, or for believers to follow human leaders as disciples of men and not disciples of Jesus Christ. The “personality cults” in the church today are in direct disobedience to the Word of God. Only Jesus Christ should have the place of preeminence ().
Paul used several key words in this section to emphasize the unity of the saints in Christ. He called his readers brethren, reminding them that they belonged to one family. The phrase “perfectly joined together” is a medical term that describes the unity of the human body knit together. So, they had a loving union as members of the body. They were also identified by the name of Jesus Christ. This was probably a reference to their baptism.
We do not know who the people were who belonged to “the house of Chloe,” but we commend them for their courage and devotion. They did not try to hide the problems. They were burdened about them; they went to the right person with them; and they were not afraid to be mentioned by Paul. This was not the kind of “cloak and dagger” affair that we often see in churches—activities that usually make the problem worse and not better.
Paul was the minister who founded the church, so most of the members would have been converted through his ministry. Apollos followed Paul () and had an effective ministry. We have no record that Peter (Cephas) ever visited Corinth, unless records it. Each of these men had a different personality and a different approach to the ministry of the Word; yet they were one (; ).
Were you baptized in the name of Paul? (vv. ) Keep in mind that baptism was an important matter in the New Testament church. When a sinner trusted Christ and was baptized, he cut himself off from his old life and often was rejected by his family and friends. It cost something to be baptized in that day.
Just as Jesus did not baptize people (), so both Peter () and Paul allowed their associates to baptize the new converts. Until the church grew in Corinth, Paul did some of the baptizing; but that was not his main ministry. In this section, Paul was not minimizing baptism, but rather was putting it into its proper perspective, because the Corinthians were making too much of it. “I was baptized by Apollos!” one would boast, while another would say, “Oh, but I was baptized by Paul!”
It is wrong to identify any man’s name with your baptism other than the name of Jesus Christ. To do so is to create division. I have read accounts about people who had to be baptized by a certain preacher, using special water (usually from the Jordan River), on a special day, as though these are the matters that are important! Instead of honoring the Lord Jesus Christ and promoting the unity of the church, these people exalt men and create disunity.
Crispus had been the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth (); and Gaius was probably the man Paul lived with when he wrote Romans (). “The household of Stephanas” () is probably described in part in . Apparently Paul did not carry with him a record of the names of all the people he baptized. It was sufficient that they were written in God’s book.
Was Paul crucified for you? (vv. ) The mention of the cross in introduced this long section on the power of the Gospel versus the weakness of man’s wisdom. It is interesting to see how Paul approached this problem of division in the church. First, he pointed to the unity of Christ: there is one Saviour and one body. Then he reminded them of their baptism, a picture of their spiritual baptism into Christ’s body (). Then he took them to the cross.
Crucifixion was not only a horrible death; it was a shameful death. It was illegal to crucify a Roman citizen. Crucifixion was never mentioned in polite society, any more than we today would discuss over dinner the gas chamber or the electric chair.
The key word in this paragraph is wisdom; it is used eight times. The key idea that Paul expressed is that we dare not mix man’s wisdom with God’s revealed message. The entire section on wisdom (1 Cor. 1:17–2:16) presents a number of contrasts between the revealed Word of God and the wisdom of men.
God’s wisdom is revealed primarily in the cross of Jesus Christ, but not everybody sees this. Paul pointed out that there are three different attitudes toward the cross.
Some stumble at the cross (v. ). This was the attitude of the Jews, because their emphasis is on miraculous signs and the cross appears to be weakness. Jewish history is filled with miraculous events, from the Exodus out of Egypt to the days of Elijah and Elisha. When Jesus was ministering on earth, the Jewish leaders repeatedly asked Him to perform a sign from heaven; but He refused.
The Jewish nation did not understand their own sacred Scriptures. They looked for a Messiah who would come like a mighty conqueror and defeat all their enemies. He would then set up His kingdom and return the glory to Israel. The question of the Apostles in shows how strong this hope was among the Jews.
At the same time, their scribes noticed in the Old Testament that the Messiah would suffer and die. Passages like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 pointed toward a different kind of Messiah, and the scholars could not reconcile these two seemingly contradictory prophetic images. They did not understand that their Messiah had to suffer and die before He could enter into His glory (see ), and that the future messianic kingdom was to be preceded by the age of the church.
Because the Jews were looking for power and great glory, they stumbled at the weakness of the cross. How could anybody put faith in an unemployed carpenter from Nazareth who died the shameful death of a common criminal? But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is “the power of God unto salvation” (). Rather than a testimony of weakness, the cross is a tremendous instrument of power! After all, the “weakness of God [in the cross] is stronger than men” ().
Some laugh at the cross (v. ). This was the response of the Greeks. To them, the cross was foolishness. The Greeks emphasized wisdom; we still study the profound writings of the Greek philosophers. But they saw no wisdom in the cross, for they looked at the cross from a human point of view. Had they seen it from God’s viewpoint, they would have discerned the wisdom of God’s great plan of salvation.
Paul called on three men to bear witness: the wise (the expert), the scribe (the interpreter and writer), and the disputer (the philosopher and debater). He asked them one question: Through your studies into man’s wisdom, have you come to know God in a personal way? They all must answer no! The fact that they laugh at the cross and consider it foolishness is evidence that they are perishing.
Paul quoted in , proving that God has written a big “0—Failure!”—over the wisdom of men. In his address on Mars’ Hill, Paul dared to tell the philosophers that Greek and Roman history were but “times of this ignorance” (). He was not suggesting that they knew nothing, because Paul knew too well that the Greek thinkers had made some achievements. However, their wisdom did not enable them to find God and experience salvation.
Some believe and experience the power and the wisdom of the cross (v. ). Paul did not alter his message when he turned from a Jewish audience to a Greek one: he preached Christ crucified. “The foolishness of preaching” () does not mean that the act of preaching is foolish, but rather the content of the message. The New International Version states it, “Through the foolishness of what was preached,” and this is correct.
Those who have been called by God’s grace, and who have responded by faith (see ), realize that Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. Not the Christ of the manger, or the temple, or the marketplace—but the Christ of the cross. It is in the death of Christ that God has revealed the foolishness of man’s wisdom and the weakness of man’s power.
We are called into fellowship because of our union with Jesus Christ: He died for us; we were baptized in His name; we are identified with His cross. What a wonderful basis for spiritual unity!
The Corinthians had a tendency to be “puffed up” with pride (, ; ). But the Gospel of God’s grace leaves no room for personal boasting. God is not impressed with our looks, our social position, our achievements, our natural heritage, or our financial status. Note that Paul wrote many, not any. In the New Testament, we do meet some believers with “high social standing,” but there are not many of them. The description Paul gave of the converts was certainly not a flattering one ().
Paul reminded them of what they were (v. ). They were not wise, mighty, or noble. God called them, not because of what they were, but in spite of what they were! The Corinthian church was composed primarily of ordinary people who were terrible sinners. Before his conversion, Paul had been very self-righteous; he had to give up his religion in order to go to heaven! The Corinthians were at the other end of the spectrum, and yet they were not too sinful for God to reach and save them.
Paul reminded the Corinthians of why God called them (vv. ). God chose the foolish, the weak, the base (“low born”), and the despised to show the proud world their need and His grace. The lost world admires birth, social status, financial success, power, and recognition. But none of these things can guarantee eternal life.
The message and miracle of God’s grace in Jesus Christ utterly confounds (“puts to shame”) the high and mighty people of this world. The wise of this world cannot understand how God changes sinners into saints, and the mighty of this world are helpless to duplicate the miracle. God’s “foolishness” confounds the wise; God’s “weakness” confounds the mighty!
The annals of church history are filled with the accounts of great sinners whose lives were transformed by the power of the Gospel. In my own ministry, as in the ministry of most pastors and preachers, I have seen amazing things take place that the lawyers and psychologists could not understand. We have seen delinquent teenagers become successful students and useful citizens. We have seen marriages restored and homes reclaimed, much to the amazement of the courts.
And why does God reveal the foolishness and the weakness of this present world system, even with its philosophy and religion? “That no flesh should glory in His presence” (). Salvation must be wholly of grace; otherwise, God cannot get the glory.
It is this truth that Paul wanted to get across to the Corinthians, because they were guilty of glorying in men (). If we glory in men—even godly men like Peter and Paul and Apollos—we are robbing God of the glory that He alone deserves. It was this sinful attitude of pride that was helping to cause division in the church.
Finally, Paul reminded the Corinthians of all they had in Jesus Christ (vv. ). Since every believer is “in Christ,” and he has all that he needs, why compete with each other or compare yourselves with each other? It is the Lord who has done it all! “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (, a quotation from , quoted again in ).
The spiritual blessings that we need are not abstractions that elude our grasp; they are all in a Person, Jesus Christ. He is our wisdom (), our righteousness (), our sanctification (), and our redemption ().
Actually, the emphasis here is that God shows His wisdom by means of the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption that we have in Christ. Each of these theological words carries a special meaning for Christians. Righteousness has to do with our standing before God. We are justified: God declares us righteous in Jesus Christ. But we are also sanctified, set apart to belong to God and to serve Him. Redemption emphasizes the fact that we are set free because Jesus Christ paid the price for us on the cross. This will lead to complete redemption when Christ returns.
So, in one sense, we have the three tenses of salvation given here: we have been saved from the penalty of sin (righteousness); we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification); and we shall be saved from the presence of sin (redemption). And every believer has all of these blessings in Jesus Christ!
Therefore, why glory in men? What does Paul have that you do not have? Does Peter have more of Jesus Christ than you do? (It was likely that Jesus Christ had more of Peter, but that is another matter!) We should glory in the Lord and not in ourselves or our spiritual leaders.
As you review this chapter, you can see the mistakes that the Corinthians were making, mistakes that helped to create problems in their church. They were not living up to their holy calling, but were instead following the standards of the world. They ignored the fact that they were called into a wonderful spiritual fellowship with the Lord and with each other. Instead, they were identifying with human leaders and creating divisions in the church. Instead of glorifying God and His grace, they were pleasing themselves and boasting about men.
They were a defiled church, a divided church, a disgraced church!
But, before we pass judgment on them, we should examine our own churches and our own lives. We have been called to be holy, called into fellowship, and called to glorify God.
Are we living up to this calling?
1 Corinthians 2
My wife was at the wheel of our car as we drove to Chicago, and I was in the copilot’s seat reading the page proofs of another author’s book that a publisher had asked me to review. Occasionally I would utter a grunt, and then a groan, and finally I shook my head and said, “Oh, no! I can’t believe it!”
“I take it you don’t like the book,” she said. “Something wrong with it?”
“You bet there is!” I replied. “Just about everything is wrong with it, because this man does not know what the message of the Gospel really is!”
There was a time, however, when that author had been faithful to the Gospel. But over the years, he had begun to take a philosophical (and, I fear, political) approach to the Gospel. The result was a hybrid message that was no Gospel at all.
It is worth noting that when Paul ministered in Corinth, he obeyed our Lord’s commission and preached the Gospel. There is a beautiful parallel between and .
“make disciples” [teach] (v. )
for a year and six months he taught the Word (v. )
What had happened at Corinth is happening in churches today: men are mixing philosophy (man’s wisdom) with God’s revealed message, and this is causing confusion and division. Different preachers have their own “interpretation” to God’s message, and some even invent their own vocabulary!
Paul explained the three fundamentals of the Gospel message and urged his readers to return to these fundamentals.
The Gospel Centers in the Death of Christ ()
Paul reminded the Corinthians of his approach (vv. ). The opening words, “And I,” can be translated “Accordingly,” on the basis of —the glory of God. Paul had not come to Corinth to glorify himself or to start a religious “fan club.” He had come to glorify God.
The itinerant philosophers and teachers depended on their wisdom and eloquence to gain followers. The city of Corinth was filled with such “spellbinders.” Paul did not depend on eloquent speech or clever arguments; he simply declared God’s Word in the power of the Spirit. He was an ambassador, not a “Christian salesman.”
Had he used spectacular speech and philosophy, Paul would have exalted himself and hidden the very Christ he came to proclaim! God had sent him to preach the Gospel “not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect” ().
A certain church had a beautiful stained-glass window just behind the pulpit. It depicted Jesus Christ on the cross. One Sunday there was a guest minister who was much smaller than the regular pastor. A little girl listened to the guest for a time, then turned to her mother and asked, “Where is the man who usually stands there so we can’t see Jesus?”
Too many preachers of the Word so magnify themselves and their gifts that they fail to reveal the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul gloried in the cross of Christ () and made it the center of his message.
Then Paul reminded the Corinthians of his attitude (vv. ). Though he was an apostle, Paul came to them as a humble servant. He did not depend on himself; he became nothing that Christ might be everything. In later years, Paul brought this up again and contrasted himself to the false teachers that had invaded Corinth (). Paul had learned that when he was weak, then God made him strong.
Paul depended on the power of the Holy Spirit. It was not his experience or ability that gave his ministry its power; it was the work of the Spirit of God. His preaching was a “demonstration,” not a “performance.” The word translated demonstration means “legal proof presented in court.” The Holy Spirit used Paul’s preaching to change lives, and that was all the proof Paul needed that his message was from God. Wicked sinners were transformed by the power of God! ()
However, we must note that Paul is not telling ministers deliberately to preach poorly, or to avoid using the gifts God gave them. Men like Charles Spurgeon and George Whitefield were gifted orators whose words carried power, but they did not depend on their natural talents. They trusted the Spirit of God to work in the hearts of their hearers, and He did. Those who minister the Word must prepare and use every gift God has given them—but they must not put their confidence in themselves (see ).
Finally, Paul reminded them of his aim (v. ). He wanted them to trust in God and not in the messenger God sent. Had he depended on human wisdom and presented the plan of salvation as a philosophical system, then the Corinthians would have put their trust in an explanation. Because Paul declared the Word of God in the power of God, his converts put their faith in a demonstration: they experienced God at work in their own lives.
Years ago, a wise Christian said to me, “When you are leading people to Christ, never tell them that they are saved because they have done this or that. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to witness to people that they are saved. Unless He is at work, there can be no salvation.” Wise counsel, indeed!
I recall a fine professional man who faithfully attended a church I pastored—a man who was unsaved, but not antagonistic to the Gospel. Many of us prayed for him as he continued to listen to the Word. One day a Christian friend of his decided to win him to Christ, or else! He spent several hours presenting argument after argument, and finally the man “prayed the sinner’s prayer.” Then he stopped attending church! Why? Because he had been “talked into” something that was not real, and he knew he could not follow through. Later on, he did trust Christ and, through the Spirit, have the assurance of salvation. Up to that point, if anybody asked him if he were saved, he would reply, “Sure—Tom told me I was saved!” What a difference when the Spirit gives the assurance!
The Gospel is still God’s power to change men’s lives (). Effectiveness in evangelism does not depend on our arguments or persuasive gimmicks, but on the power of the Spirit of God at work in our lives and through the Word that we share.
The Gospel Is Part of the Father’s Eternal Plan ()
Salvation was purchased by the Son, but it was planned by the Father. Those who talk about “the simple Gospel” are both right and wrong. Yes, the message of the Gospel is simple enough for an illiterate pagan to understand, believe, and be saved. But it is also so profound that the most brilliant theologian cannot fathom its depths.
There is a “wisdom of God” in the Gospel that challenges the keenest intellect. However, this wisdom is not for the masses of lost sinners, nor is it for the immature believers. It is for the mature believers who are growing in their understanding of the Word of God. (The word perfect in means “mature.” See .) Perhaps here Paul was answering those in the church who were promoting Apollos, who was an eloquent and profound preacher ().
Let’s notice the characteristics of this wisdom.
This wisdom comes from God, not man (v. ). This wisdom tells the mature saint about the vast eternal plan that God has for His people and His creation. The wisest of the “princes of this world [age]” could not invent or discover this marvelous wisdom that Paul shared from God.
This wisdom has been hidden (v. ). That is why it is called a mystery, for in the New Testament, a mystery is a “sacred secret,” a truth hidden in past ages but now revealed to the people of God. It was Paul whom God used in a special way to share the various “mysteries” that are related to the Gospel (see Eph. 3); but note the repetition of the pronoun “we.” Paul did not leave out the other apostles.
This wisdom involves God’s ordination (v. ). This means that God made the plan, set it in motion, and will see to it that it will succeed. The great plan of redemption was not a hasty afterthought on the part of God after He saw what man had done. Though all of this boggles our minds, we must accept the Bible truth of divine election and predestination. Even the death of Jesus Christ was ordained of God (; ), though men were held responsible for the wicked deed. One of the secrets of an effective prayer life is to lay hold of God’s purposes by faith ().
This wisdom results in the glory of God’s people (v. ). One of the greatest expositions of this “plan of the ages” is in Ephesians 1. Three times in that passage, Paul explains that all of this is done for God’s glory (, , ). It is a staggering thought that we shall one day share in the very glory of God! (see ; )
This wisdom is hidden from the unsaved world (v. ). Who are “the princes of this world [age]” that Paul mentions? Certainly the men who were in charge of government when Jesus was on earth did not know who He was (; ). When Jesus on the cross prayed “Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do” (), He was echoing this truth. Their ignorance did not excuse their sin, of course, because every evidence had been given by the Lord and they should have believed.
But there is another possibility. Paul may have been referring to the spiritual and demonic rulers of this present age (; ; ). This would make more sense in , for certainly Pilate, Herod, and the other rulers were not recognized for any special wisdom. The wisdom of this age has its origin in the rulers of this age, of which Satan is the prince (; ; ). Of course, the spiritual rulers would have to work in and through the human rulers. So perhaps we must not press the distinction (, ).
But if this interpretation is true, then it opens up a challenging area of consideration. The satanic forces, including Satan himself, did not understand God’s great eternal plan! They could understand from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Son of God would be born and die, but they could not grasp the full significance of the cross because these truths were hidden by God. In fact, it is now, through the church, that these truths are being revealed to the principalities and powers ().
Satan thought that Calvary was God’s great defeat; but it turned out to be God’s greatest victory and Satan’s defeat! () From the time of our Lord’s birth into this world, Satan had tried to kill Him, because Satan did not fully understand the vast results of Christ’s death and resurrection. Had the demonic rulers known, they would not have “engineered” the death of Christ. (Of course, all of this was part of God’s eternal plan. It was God who was in control, not Satan.)
Finally, this wisdom applies to the believer’s life today (v. ). This verse is often used at funerals and applied to heaven, but the basic application is to the Christian’s life today. The next verse makes it clear that God is revealing these things to us here and now.
This verse is a quotation (with adaptation) from . The immediate context relates it to Israel in captivity, awaiting God’s deliverance. The nation had sinned and had been sent to Babylon for chastening. They cried out to God that He would come down to deliver them, and He did answer their prayer after seventy years of their exile. God had plans for His people and they did not have to be afraid ().
Paul applied this principle to the church. Our future is secure in Jesus Christ no matter what our circumstances may be. In fact, God’s plans for His own are so wonderful that our minds cannot begin to conceive of them or comprehend them! God has ordained this for our glory (). It is glory all the way from earth to heaven!
For those who love God, every day is a good day (). It may not look like a good day, or feel like it; but when God is working His plan, we can be sure of the best. It is when we fail to trust Him or obey Him, when our love for Him grows cold, that life takes on a somber hue. If we walk in God’s wisdom, we will enjoy His blessings.
We have considered two fundamental truths of the Gospel: this message centers in the death of Christ, and it is part of the Father’s vast eternal plan. The believers at Corinth had forgotten the cost of their salvation; they had gotten their eyes off of the cross. They were also involved in minor matters—“baby toys”—because they had lost the wonder of the greatness of God’s plan for them. They needed to return to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and this would be Paul’s next point.
The Gospel Is Revealed by the Spirit through the Word ()
Our salvation involves all three Persons in the Godhead (; ). You cannot be saved apart from the Father’s electing grace, the Son’s loving sacrifice, and the Spirit’s ministry of conviction and regeneration. It is not enough to say, “I believe in God.” What God? Unless it is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (), there can be no salvation.
This trinitarian aspect of our salvation helps us to understand better some of the mysteries of our salvation. Many people get confused (or frightened) when they hear about election and predestination. As far as the Father is concerned, I was saved when He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world (); but I knew nothing about that the night I was saved! It was a hidden part of God’s wonderful eternal plan.
As far as God the Son is concerned, I was saved when He died for me on the cross. He died for the sins of the whole world, yet the whole world is not saved. This is where the Spirit comes in: as far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved in May 1945 at a Youth for Christ rally where I heard Billy Graham (then a young evangelist) preach the Gospel. It was then that the Holy Spirit applied the Word to my heart, I believed, and God saved me.
Paul pointed out four important ministries of the Holy Spirit of God.
The Spirit indwells believers (v. ). The very moment you trusted Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God entered your body and made it His temple (). He baptized you (identified you) into the body of Christ (). He sealed you () and will remain with you (). He is God’s gift to you.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of liberty (). We have not received the “spirit of the world” because we have been called out of this world and no longer belong to it (, ). We are no longer under the authority of Satan and his world system.
Nor have we received a “spirit of bondage again to fear” (). The Holy Spirit ministers to us and makes the Father real to us. This ties in with —“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound [disciplined] mind.” We have a wealth of spiritual resources because the Spirit lives within us!
The Spirit searches (vv. ). I cannot know what is going on within your personality, but your human spirit within you knows. Neither can I know “the deep things of God” unless somehow I can enter into God’s personality. I cannot do that—but by His Spirit, God has entered into my personality. Through the Holy Spirit, each believer becomes a sharer of the very life of God.
The Holy Spirit knows “the deep things of God” and reveals them to us. makes it clear that “the deep things of God” is another description of “the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (). God wants us to know today all the blessings of His grace that He has planned for us.
The Spirit teaches (v. ). Jesus promised that the Spirit would teach us () and guide us into truth (). But we must note carefully the sequence here: the Spirit taught Paul from the Word, and Paul then taught the believers. The truth of God is found in the Word of God. And it is very important to note that these spiritual truths are given in specific words. In the Bible, we have much more than inspired thoughts; we have inspired words. “For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me” ().
Each of our four children has a different vocation. We have a pastor, a nurse, an electronics designer, and a secretary in a commercial real estate firm. Each of the children had to learn a specialized vocabulary in order to succeed. The only one I really understand is the pastor.
The successful Christian learns the vocabulary of the Spirit and makes use of it. He knows the meaning of justification, sanctification, adoption, propitiation, election, inspiration, and so forth. In understanding God’s vocabulary, we come to understand God’s Word and God’s will for our lives. If the engineering student can grasp the technical terms of chemistry, physics, or electronics, why should it be difficult for Christians, taught by the Spirit, to grasp the vocabulary of Christian truth?
Yet I hear church members say, “Don’t preach doctrine. Just give us heartwarming sermons that will encourage us!” Sermons based on what? If they are not based on doctrine, they will accomplish nothing! “But doctrine is so dull!” people complain. Not if it is presented the way the Bible presents it. Doctrine to me is exciting! What a thrill to be able to study the Bible and let the Spirit teach us “the deep things of God” ().
How does the Spirit teach the believer? He compares “spiritual things with spiritual.” He reminds us of what He has taught us (), relates that truth to something new, and then leads us into new truth and new applications of old truth. What a joy it is to sit before the pages of the Bible and let the Spirit reveal God’s truth. The trouble is, many Christians are too busy for this kind of quiet meditation. What enrichment they are missing!
The Holy Spirit is like a householder who “bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (). The new always comes out of the old and helps us better understand the old. God gives us new insights into old truths as we compare one part of Scripture with another. Jesus based His teaching on the Old Testament, yet people were amazed at what He taught because it was so fresh and exciting.
I suggest that you make time every day to read the Word and meditate on it. Follow a regular schedule in your reading and give yourself time to pray, think, and meditate. Let the Spirit of God search the Word and teach you. The study and application of basic Bible doctrine can transform your life.
The Spirit matures the believer (vv. ). The contrast here is between the saved person (called “spiritual” because he is indwelt by the Spirit) and the unsaved person (called “natural” because he does not have the Spirit within). In , Paul will introduce a third kind of person, the “carnal man.” He is the immature Christian, the one who lives on a childhood level because he will not feed on the Word and grow.
At one time, every Christian was “natural,” having only the things of nature. When we trusted the Saviour, the Spirit came in and we moved into the plane of “spiritual”—able to live in the realm of the Spirit. Then we had to grow! The unsaved man cannot receive the things of the Spirit because he does not believe in them and cannot understand them. But as the Christian day by day receives the things of the Spirit, he grows and matures.
One of the marks of maturity is discernment—the ability to penetrate beneath the surface of life and see things as they really are. Unsaved people “walk by sight” and really see nothing. They are spiritually blind. The maturing Christian grows in his spiritual discernment and develops the ability (with the Spirit’s help) to understand more and more of the will and mind of God. The Corinthians lacked this discernment; they were spiritually ignorant.
To “have the mind of Christ” does not mean we are infallible and start playing God in the lives of other people. Nobody instructs God! (Paul quoted . Also see .) To “have the mind of Christ” means to look at life from the Saviour’s point of view, having His values and desires in mind. It means to think God’s thoughts and not think as the world thinks.
The unsaved person does not understand the Christian; they live in two different worlds. But the Christian understands the unsaved person. does not suggest that unsaved people cannot point out flaws in the believer’s life (they often do), but that the unsaved man really cannot penetrate into the full understanding of what the Christian’s life is all about. I like the New American Standard Bible’s translation: “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.” That “no man” includes other Christians as well. We must be very careful not to become spiritual dictators in the lives of God’s people ().
The Corinthian Christians were so wrapped up in the miraculous gifts of the Spirit that they were neglecting the basic ministries of the Spirit. And in their emphasis on the Spirit, they were also neglecting the Father and the Son.
Blessed are the balanced! And blessed are they who understand and share “all the counsel of God” ().
1 Corinthians 3
British Bible teacher Dr. G. Campbell Morgan had four sons; all became ministers. Someone asked one of the grandsons if he also would become a minister, and he replied, “No, I plan to work for a living.”
What is a pastor supposed to do? What really is “the work of the ministry”? If we don’t know, we will never know how to evaluate the minister’s work. Perhaps no issue creates more problems in the local church than this one: how do we know when the pastor and church leaders are really doing their job?
Paul painted three pictures of the church in this chapter and, using these pictures, pointed out what the ministry is supposed to accomplish. The church is a family and the goal is maturity (). The church is a field and the goal is quantity (). The church is a temple and the goal is quality ().
Paul already explained that there are two kinds of people in the world—natural (unsaved) and spiritual (saved). But now he explained that there are two kinds of saved people: mature and immature (carnal). A Christian matures by allowing the Spirit to teach him and direct him by feeding on the Word. The immature Christian lives for the things of the flesh (carnal means “flesh”) and has little interest in the things of the Spirit. Of course, some believers are immature because they have been saved only a short time, but that is not what Paul is discussing here.
Paul was the “spiritual father” who brought this family into being (). During the eighteen months he ministered in Corinth, Paul had tried to feed his spiritual children and help them mature in the faith. Just as in a human family, everybody helps the new baby grow and mature, so in the family of God we must encourage spiritual maturity.
What are the marks of maturity? For one thing, you can tell the mature person by his diet. As I write this chapter, we are watching our grandson and our granddaughter grow up. Becky is still being nursed by her mother, but Jonathan now sits at the table and uses his little cup and (with varying degrees of success) his tableware. As children grow, they learn to eat different food. They graduate (to use Paul’s words) from milk to meat.
What is the difference? The usual answer is that “milk” represents the easy things in the Word, while “meat” represents the hard doctrines. But I disagree with that traditional explanation, and my proof is . That passage seems to teach that “milk” represents what Jesus Christ did on earth, while “meat” concerns what He is doing now in heaven. The writer of Hebrews wanted to teach his readers about the present heavenly priesthood of Jesus Christ, but his readers were so immature, he could not do it (note ).
The Word of God is our spiritual food: milk (), bread (), meat (), and even honey (). Just as the physical man needs a balanced diet if his body is to be healthy, so the inner man needs a balanced diet of spiritual food. The baby begins with milk, but as he grows and his teeth develop, he needs solid food.
It is not difficult to determine a believer’s spiritual maturity, or immaturity, if you discover what kind of “diet” he enjoys. The immature believer knows little about the present ministry of Christ in heaven. He knows the facts about our Lord’s life and ministry on earth, but not the truths about His present ministry in heaven. He lives on “Bible stories” and not Bible doctrines. He has no understanding of .
In my itinerant ministry, I have preached in hundreds of churches and conferences; and I have always been grateful for congregations that wanted to be enlightened and edified, not entertained. It is important that we preach the Gospel to the lost; but it is also important that we interpret the Gospel to the saved. The entire New Testament is an interpretation and application of the Gospel. Paul did not write Romans, for example, to tell the Romans how to be saved—for they were already saints. He wrote to explain to them what was really involved in their salvation. It was an explanation of the “deep things of God” and how they applied to daily life.
There is another way to determine maturity: the mature Christian practices love and seeks to get along with others. Children like to disagree and fuss. And children like to identify with heroes, whether sports heroes or Hollywood heroes. The “babes” in Corinth were fighting over which preacher was the greatest—Paul, Apollos, or Peter. It sounded like children on the playground: “My father can fight better than your father! My father makes more money than your father!”
When immature Christians, without spiritual discernment, get into places of leadership in the church, the results will be disastrous. More than one brokenhearted pastor has phoned me, or written me, asking what to do with church officers who talk big but live small. (In all fairness, I should say that sometimes it is the officers who write asking what to do with an immature pastor!)
The work of the pastor is to help the church grow spiritually and mature in the Lord. This is done by the steady, balanced ministry of the Word. explains how this is done: It is necessary for each member of the body to make his own contribution. God gives spiritual gifts to His people, and then He gives these gifted people to the various churches to build up the saints. As the believers grow, they build the church.
Paul will have more to say about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12–14, but this should be said now: A mature Christian uses his gifts as tools to build with, while an immature believer uses gifts as toys to play with or trophies to boast about. Many of the members of the Corinthian church enjoyed “showing off” their gifts, but they were not interested in serving one another and edifying the church.
What is the ministry all about? It involves loving, feeding, and disciplining God’s family so that His children mature in the faith and become more like Jesus Christ.
Paul was fond of agricultural images and often used them in his letters. “Ye are God’s husbandry” simply means, “You are God’s cultivated field, God’s garden.” In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus compared the human heart to soil and the Word of God to seed (, ). Paul took this individual image and made it collective: the local church is a field that ought to bear fruit. The task of the ministry is the sowing of the seed, the cultivating of the soil, the watering of the plants, and the harvesting of the fruit.
How did this image of the church as a “field” apply to the special problems of the Corinthians? To begin with, the emphasis must be on God and not on the laborers. Paul and Apollos were only servants who did their assigned tasks. It was God who gave life to their efforts. Even the faith of the believers was a gift from God (). It is wrong to center attention on the servants. Look instead to the Lord of the harvest, the source of all blessing.
Note the emphasis in this paragraph on increase or growth. Why compare preachers or statistics? God is the source of the growth; no man can take the credit. Furthermore, no one man can do all the necessary work. Paul planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but only God could make it grow ().
Three main lessons appear from this image.
First, diversity of ministry. One laborer plows the soil, another sows the seed, a third waters the seed. As time passes, the plants grow, the fruit appears, and other laborers enjoy reaping the harvest. This emphasis on diversity will also show up when Paul compares the church to a body with many different parts.
Second, unity of purpose. No matter what work a person is doing for the Lord, he is still a part of the harvest. “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one” (). Paul, Apollos, and Peter were not competing with each other. Rather, each was doing his assigned task under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Even though there is diversity of ministry, there is unity of purpose; and there ought to be unity of spirit.
Third, humility of spirit. It is not the human laborers that produce the harvest, but the Lord of the harvest. “God gave the increase … God that giveth the increase” (). Granted, God has ordained that human beings should be His ministers on earth; but their efforts apart from God’s blessing would be failures. The Corinthians were proud of their church, and various groups in the assembly were proud of their leaders. But this attitude of being “puffed up” was dividing the church because God was not receiving the glory.
Jesus expressed the same idea as recorded in . The sower and the reaper not only work together, but one day they shall rejoice together and receive their own rewards. There can be no such thing as isolated ministry, because each worker enters into the labors of others. I have had the privilege of leading people to Christ who were total strangers to me, but others had sown the seed and watered it with their love and prayers.
“And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor” (). What men may think of our ministry is not important; what God may think is of supreme importance. Our reward must not be the praise of men, but the “Well done!” of the Lord of the harvest.
God wants to see increase in His field. He wants each local church to produce the fruit of the Spirit (), holiness (), giving (), good works (), praise to the Lord (), and souls won to Christ (). Along with spiritual growth, there should be a measure of numerical growth. Fruit has in it the seed for more fruit. If the fruit of our ministry is genuine, it will eventually produce “more fruit … much fruit” to the glory of God ().
Those who serve in ministry must constantly be caring for the “soil” of the church. It requires diligence and hard work to produce a harvest. The lazy preacher or Sunday School teacher is like the slothful farmer Solomon wrote about in . Satan is busy sowing discord, lies, and sin; and we must be busy cultivating the soil and planting the good seed of the Word of God.
The usual explanation of this passage is that it describes the building of the Christian life. We all build on Christ, but some people use good materials while others use poor materials. The kind of material you use determines the kind of reward you will get.
While this may be a valid application of this passage, it is not the basic interpretation. Paul is discussing the building of the local church, the temple of God. (In the individual believer is God’s temple; but here it is the local assembly that is in view. In , the whole church is compared to a temple of God.) Paul points out that one day God will judge our labors as related to the local assembly. “The fire will test the quality of each man’s work” (, NIV).
God is concerned that we build with quality. The church does not belong to the preacher or to the congregation. It is God’s church. “Ye are God’s building” (). If we are going to build the local church the way God wants it built, we must meet certain conditions.
First, we must build on the right foundation (vv. ). That foundation is Jesus Christ. When Paul came to Corinth, he determined to preach only Christ and Him crucified (). He laid the only foundation that would last. In more than thirty years of ministry, I have seen “churches” try to build on a famous preacher or a special method or a doctrinal emphasis they felt was important; but these ministries simply did not last. The Corinthians were emphasizing personalities—Paul, Peter, Apollos—when they should have been glorifying Christ.
The foundation is laid by the proclaiming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The foundation is the most important part of the building, because it determines the size, shape, and strength of the superstructure. A ministry may seem to be successful for a time, but if it is not founded on Christ, it will eventually collapse and disappear.
I am thinking now of a pastor who “discovered a great truth” in the Bible (actually, he read it in some books) and decided to build his church on the promotion of that “great truth.” He split his church and took a group with him who were “devoted to the truth” he had discovered. But the new church never succeeded. Now his group is scattered and he goes from church to church, trying to get converts to his cause. He built on the wrong foundation.
Second, we must build with the right materials (vv. ). Paul described two opposite kinds of materials, as the chart reveals.
Gold, Silver, Precious Stones
Wood, Hay, Stubble
Permanent
Passing, temporary
Beautiful
Ordinary, even ugly
Valuable
Cheap
Hard to obtain
Easy to obtain
What did Paul want to symbolize by his choice of materials? He is not talking about people, because Christians are the “living stones” that make up God’s temple (). I personally believe Paul is referring to the doctrines of the Word of God. In each section of this chapter, the Word is symbolized in a way that fits the image of the church Paul used. The Word is food for the family, seed for the field, and materials for the temple.
The Book of Proverbs presents the wisdom of the Word of God as treasure to be sought, protected, and invested in daily life. Consider these passages:
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies ().
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God ().
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it ().
When you remember that Paul has been writing about wisdom in these first three chapters, you can easily see the connection. The Corinthians were trying to build their church by man’s wisdom, the wisdom of this world, when they should have been depending on the wisdom of God as found in the Word.
This says to me that ministers of the Word must dig deep into the Scriptures and mine out the precious gold, silver, and jewels, and then build these truths into the lives of the people. D.L. Moody used to say that converts should be weighed as well as counted. God is interested in quality as well as quantity, and Paul makes it clear that it is possible to have both. The faithful minister can work in the field and see increase, and he can build with the Word of God and see beauty and lasting blessings.
It is a serious thing to be a part of the building of God’s temple. warn us that, if we destroy (“defile”) God’s temple by using cheap materials, God will destroy us! This does not mean eternal condemnation, of course, because assures us that each worker will be saved, even if he loses a reward. I think Paul is saying that each of us builds into the church what we build into our own lives. Veteran missionary to India, Amy Carmichael, used to say, “The work will never go deeper than we have gone ourselves.” So we end up tearing down our own lives if we fail to build into the church the values that will last. We may look very successful to men, but “the day shall declare it” and on that day, some ministers will go up in smoke.
It is unwise to compare and contrast ministries. Paul warned in , “Therefore, judge nothing before the time.”
Young ministers often asked Dr. Campbell Morgan the secret of his pulpit success. Morgan replied, “I always say to them the same thing—work; hard work; and again, work!” Morgan was in his study at 6 o’clock each morning, digging treasures out of the Bible. You can find wood, hay, and stubble in your backyard, and it will not take too much effort to pick it up. But if you want gold, silver, and jewels, you have to dig for them. Lazy preachers and Sunday School teachers will have much to answer for at the Judgment Seat of Christ—and so will preachers and teachers who steal materials from others instead of studying and making it their own.
Third, we must build according to the right plan (vv. ). It comes as a shock to some church members that you cannot manage a local church the same way you run a business. This does not mean we should not follow good business principles, but the operation is totally different. There is a wisdom of this world that works for the world, but it will not work for the church.
The world depends on promotion, prestige, and the influence of money and important people. The church depends on prayer, the power of the Spirit, humility, sacrifice, and service. The church that imitates the world may seem to succeed in time, but it will turn to ashes in eternity. The church in the Book of Acts had none of the “secrets of success” that seem to be important today. They owned no property; they had no influence in government; they had no treasury (“Silver and gold have I none,” said Peter); their leaders were ordinary men without special education in the accepted schools; they held no attendance contests; they brought in no celebrities; and yet they turned the world upside down!
God has a specific plan for each local church (). Each pastor and church leader must seek the mind of God for His wisdom. warns that man’s wisdom will only trap him (a quotation from ); and warns that man’s wisdom only leads to vanity and futility (a quotation from ). Though the church must be identified with the needs of the world, it must not imitate the wisdom of the world.
Finally, we must build with the right motive (vv. ). That motive is the glory of God. The members of the Corinthian church were glorying in men, and this was wrong. They were comparing men () and dividing the church by such carnal deeds. Had they been seeking to glorify God alone, there would have been harmony in the assembly.
Paul closed this appeal by pointing out that each believer possesses all things in Christ. Each one of God’s servants belongs to each believer. No member of the church should say, “I belong to Paul!” or “I like Peter!” because each servant belongs to each member equally. Perhaps we cannot help but have our personal preferences when it comes to the way different men minister the Word. But we must not permit our personal preferences to become divisive prejudices. In fact, the preacher I may enjoy the least may be the one I need the most!
“All are yours”—the world, life, death, things present, things to come! How rich we are in Christ! If all things belong to all believers, then why should there be competition and rivalry? “Get your eyes off of men!” Paul admonished. “Keep your eyes on Christ, and work with Him in building the church!”
“Ye are Christ’s”—this balances things. I have all things in Jesus Christ, but I must not become careless or use my freedom unwisely. “All things are yours”—that is Christian liberty. “And ye are Christ’s”—that is Christian responsibility. We need both if we are to build a church that will not turn to ashes when the fire falls.
How we need to pray for ministers of the Word! They must feed the family and bring the children to maturity. They must sow the seed in the field and pray for an increase. They must mine the treasures of the Word and build these treasures into the temple. No wonder Paul cried, “And who is sufficient for these things?” But he also gave the answer: “Our sufficiency is of God” (; ).
1 Corinthians 4
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul presented three pictures of the local church. Now he presents three pictures of the minister—a steward (), a spectacle (), and a father (). He wanted his readers to understand how God measured and evaluated a Christian’s service. explains Paul’s purpose: “That no one of you be puffed up for one against another.”
We must avoid extremes when it comes to evaluating men and their ministries. On the one hand, we can be so indifferent that we accept anybody who comes along. But the other extreme is to be so hypercritical that Paul himself would fail the test. It is important that we “try the spirits” (; and note ), but we must be careful not to grieve the Spirit as we do so.
In these three pictures of ministry, Paul presented three characteristics of a true minister of Jesus Christ.
Paul answered the leaders of the various factions in the church when he called himself, Peter, and Apollos “ministers of Christ.” The word translated ministers is literally “under-rowers.” It described the slaves who rowed the huge Roman galleys. “We are not the captains of the ship,” said Paul, “but only the galley slaves who are under orders. Now, is one slave greater than another?”
Then Paul explained the image of the steward. A steward is a servant who manages everything for his master, but who himself owns nothing. Joseph was a chief steward in Potiphar’s household (Gen. 39). The church is the “household of faith” (), and the ministers are stewards who share God’s wealth with the family (). Paul called this spiritual wealth “the mysteries of God.” We met this important word mystery in , so you may want to review it.
The responsibility of the steward is to be faithful to his master. A steward may not please the members of the household; he may not even please some of the other servants; but if he pleases his own master, he is a good steward. This same idea is expressed in .
So, the main issue is not, “Is Paul popular?” or, “Is Apollos a better preacher than Paul?” The main issue is, “Have Paul, Apollos, and Peter been faithful to do the work God assigned to them?” Jesus had this same test in mind when He told the parable recorded in . If a servant of God is faithful in his personal life, in his home, and in his ministry of the Word, then he is a good steward and will be adequately rewarded.
But a servant is constantly being judged. There is always somebody criticizing something he does. Paul pointed out that there are three judgments in the life of the steward.
There is man’s judgment (v. ). Paul did not get upset when people criticized him, for he knew that his Master’s judgment was far more important. The phrase man’s judgment is literally “man’s day.” This is in contrast to God’s day of judgment yet to come (; ).
There is the servant’s own self-judgment (vv. ). Paul knew nothing that was amiss in his life and ministry, but even that did not excuse him. Sometimes we do not really know ourselves. There can be a fine line between a clear conscience and a self-righteous attitude, so we must beware.
The most important judgment is God’s judgment (v. ). Certainly God judges us today through His Word () and by the ministry of the Spirit. Sometimes He uses the ministry of a loving friend to help us face and confess sin (). But the main reference here is to the final evaluation when each Christian stands at the Judgment Seat of Christ (; ). Then the true facts will be revealed and the faithful servants rewarded.
These verses must not be used to cultivate a self-righteous independence of people. The local church is a family, and members of the family must help each other to grow. There is a place for honest, loving criticism (). If the critic is right, then he has helped us. If he is wrong, then we can help him. Either way, the truth is strengthened.
Paul’s “therefore” in alerts us that he is about to make a personal application of the truths just discussed. He closed this section with a threefold rebuke.
First, “you are judging God’s servants at the wrong time” (v. ). It is when the Lord returns that He will evaluate their lives and ministries, so wait until then. In fact, you cannot see into men’s hearts; you cannot begin to judge their motives. Only God can do that. “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” ().
The Corinthians who were passing judgment on Paul were actually “playing God” and assuming to themselves the privileges that only God has. How often in my own ministry I have made this mistake! How easy it is to misread a situation and misjudge a person.
Second, “you are judging by the wrong standard” (v. ). The Corinthians were measuring different men by their own personal preferences and prejudices. They were even comparing ministers with one another. The only true basis for evaluation is “that which is written”—the Word of God.
The Bible clearly reveals what kind of life and service is required of God’s ministers. There is no need for us to devise new standards. Often I receive letters from churches seeking pastors, asking if I could recommend candidates to them. Too often their “requirements” have gone beyond what God requires in His Word. Again, it is the problem Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2—the wisdom of men versus the wisdom of God.
Third, “you are judging with the wrong motive” (v. ). Each group in the church was tearing down the other preachers in order to build up the man they liked. Their motive was not at all spiritual. They were promoting division in the church by being partisan to one man as opposed to the others. They needed to examine their own hearts and get rid of the pride that was destroying the church.
God’s servants are stewards of His truth, and the key test is: Have they been faithful to obey and to teach the Word of God? Not just faithful preaching, but faithful practicing as well. The testimony of Samuel () and Paul () will bear witness to this truth.
When Paul called himself and other apostles “a spectacle unto the world” (), he was using an image familiar to people in the Roman Empire. The government kept the people pacified by presenting entertainments in the different cities. The amphitheaters would be filled with citizens, eager to see men compete in the games and prisoners fight with the beasts. (In fact, the Greek word translated spectacle gives us our English word “theater.”) The Colosseum at Rome became the center for these “entertainments.”
When the “main events” were ended, then the poorest and weakest prisoners were brought in to fight with the beasts. Nobody expected too much from their performance.
What a picture of the Apostles of Jesus Christ! But it forms the background for a series of contrasts that Paul presents for the purpose of trying to humble the Corinthians.
Kings—prisoners (vv. ). The questions in ought to make all of us stop and think. I like the New American Standard Bible’s translation of the first question: “Who regards you as superior?” A young preacher once said to a friend of mine, “Please pray that I will stay humble.” My friend replied, “Tell me, what do you have to be proud about?” Why would anybody regard us as superior? Perhaps it is our own biased opinion that makes us feel so important. The best commentary on is the witness of John the Baptist, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven … He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (, ).
Paul used a bit of sanctified sarcasm in when he described the Corinthians as kings. “I wish I could reign with you and be important!” he wrote. “But instead, I must go into the arena and suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ. You are first in men’s eyes, but we apostles are last.” In the eyes of God, the apostles were first (), but in the eyes of men they were last.
There is no place for pride in the ministry. If a truly great leader like Paul considered himself “on exhibition last in the program,” where does this leave the rest of us? Church members are wrong when they measure ministers other than by the standards God has given. They are also wrong when they boast about their favorite preachers. This is not to say that faithful servants cannot be recognized and honored, but in all things, God must be glorified ().
Wise men—fools (v. ). Paul was a fool according to the standards of men. Had he remained a Jewish rabbi, he could have attained great heights in the Jewish religion (). Or had he sided with the Jewish legalists in the Jerusalem church and not ministered to the Gentiles, he could have avoided a great deal of persecution (Acts 15; ). But when Paul asked the Lord, “What wilt Thou have me to do?” () he really meant it.
The Corinthians were wise in their own eyes, but they were actually fools in the sight of God. By depending on the wisdom and the standards of the world, they were acting like fools. The way to be spiritually wise is to become a fool in the eyes of the world (). I often find myself quoting those words of martyred Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Strong men—weak (v. ). There was a time when Paul gloried in his strengths; but then he met Jesus Christ and discovered that what he thought were assets were really liabilities (Phil. 3). It was through his own personal suffering that Paul discovered that his spiritual strength was the result of personal weakness (). Strength that knows itself to be strength is weakness; but weakness that knows itself to be weakness becomes strength.
The Corinthians were proud of their spiritual achievements. The factions in the church were proud of their human leaders and favorite preachers. But all of this was only weakness. There is strength only when God gets the glory. “My strength is made perfect in weakness” ().
Honorable—despised (vv. ). This was the crux of the whole matter: the Christians in Corinth wanted the honor that comes from men, not the honor that comes from God. They were trying to “borrow” glory by associating themselves with “great men.” Paul answered, “If you associate with us, you had better be ready for suffering. We apostles are not held in honor—we are despised!”
Paul then described the privations and sufferings that he had to endure as a servant of God. The fact that he worked with his own hands as a tentmaker would have lowered him in the eyes of many, because the Greeks despised manual labor.
Paul also described how he responded to the way people treated him; and this, in itself, helped to make him great. What life does to us depends on what life finds in us. When Paul was reviled, he blessed—just as Jesus commanded (). When persecuted, he endured it by the grace of God and did not retaliate. When he was slandered, Paul tried to conciliate. In all things, he sought to respond in love.
What was the result? Men treated him “as the filth of the world … the offscouring of all things” (). “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For it is not fit that he should live!” () Paul and the other apostles were treated just as their Lord was treated; but God vindicated them and brought glory to His name.
Faithfulness in service and humbleness of mind: these are two important characteristics of a minister of Jesus Christ. He must be willing to work and willing to suffer. It is one thing to be faithful and quite another to be popular. But there is a third characteristic that helps to balance the others.
Paul had already compared the local church to a family (). But now the emphasis is on the minister as a “spiritual father.” In none of his letters did Paul ever call himself “father.” He was mindful of the Lord’s teaching in . But in comparing himself to a “spiritual father,” Paul reminded the church of the important ministries he had performed on their behalf.
First, Paul had founded the family (vv. ). The Corinthians were Paul’s beloved children in the faith. Whenever we share the Gospel with someone and have the joy of leading him to faith in Christ, we become a “spiritual parent” in his life. This does not give us any special authority over his faith (), but it does create a special relationship that God can use to help him grow. The local church is God’s family for helping the newborn Christians develop.
It is important to note that Paul did not take the “credit” for their conversion. Their spiritual birth was in Christ and through the Gospel. Sinners are born again through the ministry of the Spirit of God and the Word of God (; ). Paul was the “father” who stood by and assisted at their birth.
A child may have many guardians and teachers, but he can have only one father. He has a special relationship to his father that must not be preempted by anyone else. There had been no church in Corinth before Paul came, so that even the second-generation believers in the church were the results of Paul’s effective ministry.
Paul founded the church and Apollos followed him and taught the people. In some way that is not made clear in the Scriptures, Peter also ministered at Corinth. (Perhaps he had not been there personally, but other teachers from Jerusalem had ministered in Corinth as “representatives” of Peter.) God’s children need the ministry of different teachers, but they must never forget the “spiritual father” who brought them to Christ.
Second, Paul was an example to the family (vv. ). Children have a way of imitating their parents, either for good or for ill. Researchers tell us that teenagers learn to drink at home and not from their peers. My guess is that other bad habits are learned the same way.
The word followers literally is “mimics.” Paul gave the same admonition in , but we must not think that he was exalting himself. Little children learn first by example, then by explanation. When Paul pastored the church in Corinth, he set the example before them in love, devotion to Christ, sacrifice, and service. “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (). Paul was a good example because he was following the greatest Example of all, Jesus Christ.
But Paul was also a good teacher. It takes both example and instruction to bring a child to maturity. Paul sent Timothy (also one of his spiritual children) to remind the church of the doctrines and practices that Paul always taught. Timothy did not carry the letter to the church (), but apparently went ahead to prepare the way for the letter.
God does not have one standard for one church and a different standard for another church. He may work out His will in different ways (), but the basic doctrines and principles are the same. Because churches have gotten away from God’s wisdom and have substituted man’s wisdom, we have serious doctrinal differences among various churches. Men have gone beyond “that which is written” () and this has brought division into the church.
Third, Paul was faithful to discipline the family (vv. ). A child’s will must be broken, but not destroyed. Until a colt is broken, it is dangerous and useless; but once it learns to obey, it becomes gentle and useful. Pride is a terrible thing in the Christian life and in the church. The yeast of sin (leaven, ) had made the Corinthians “puffed up,” even to the point of saying, “Paul will not come to us! His bark is worse than his bite!” ()
Paul had been patient with their disobedience, but now he warned them that the time had come for discipline. Paul was not like the tolerant modern mother who shouted at her spoiled son, “This is the last time I’m going to tell you for the last time!”
A faithful parent must discipline his children. It is not enough to teach them and be an example before them; he must also punish them when they rebel and refuse to obey. Paul would have preferred to come with meekness and deal with their sins in a gentle manner, but their own attitude made this difficult. They were puffed up—and even proud of their disobedience! ()
The contrast in this paragraph is between speech and power, words and deeds. The arrogant Corinthians had no problem “talking big,” the way children often will do; but they could not back up their talk with their “walk.” Their religion was only in words. Paul was prepared to back up his “talk” with power, with deeds that would reveal their sins and God’s holiness.
This section prepared the way for the next two chapters that deal with discipline in the local church. There was much sin in the Corinthian congregation and Paul was prepared to deal with it. He had already written them a letter about the matter (), but the congregation had not obeyed him. It was then that some of the more spiritual members contacted Paul (; ) and shared the burdens with him. Some of the church leaders had written Paul for counsel (), and Paul prayed that they might obey the counsel he wrote to them.
It is a principle of life that those who will not govern themselves must be governed. Insurance companies and medical authorities urge drivers to wear seat belts, but many of them refuse. So the government must pass a law requiring drivers to wear seat belts. If you fail to obey, you will be punished.
Paul gave the Corinthian church opportunity to set their household in order. In the following chapters, he explains how the local church ought to be governed in the will of God. Unfortunately, the church did not immediately obey. Paul had to make a quick visit to Corinth and his experience during that visit was very painful (; ; ). He then had to write them a very strong letter (); possibly it was carried by Titus.
To the glory of God, the matters did get settled for the most part. There was still some “mopping up” to do (2 Cor. 12:20–13:5), but the crisis was now over.
It is not an easy thing to be a minister of Jesus Christ. As a steward, you must be faithful to your Master no matter what men may say to you or do to you. You will be treated as refuse by the people of the world. Your own spiritual children may break your heart and have to be disciplined.
God’s faithful servants deserve our love, respect, obedience, and prayer support.
1 Corinthians 5–6
The church at Corinth was not only a divided church, but it was also a disgraced church. There was sin in the assembly and, sad to say, everybody knew about it. But the church was slow to do anything about it.
No church is perfect, but human imperfection must never be an excuse for sin. Just as parents must discipline their children in love, so local churches must exercise discipline over the members of the assembly. Church discipline is not a group of “pious policemen” out to catch a criminal. Rather, it is a group of brokenhearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore an erring member of the family.
Since some of the members at Corinth did not want to face the situation and change it, Paul presented to the church three important considerations.
“What will this sin do to the church?” is certainly an important consideration. Christians are “called to be saints” (), and this means holy living to the glory of God. If a Christian loves his church, he will not stand by and permit sin to weaken it and perhaps ruin its testimony.
How should we respond? Paul gave three specific instructions for the church to follow.
Mourn over the sin (vv. ). This is the word used for mourning over the dead, which is perhaps the deepest and most painful kind of personal sorrow possible. Instead of mourning, the people at Corinth were puffed up. They were boasting of the fact that their church was so “open-minded” that even fornicators could be members in good standing!
The sin in question was a form of incest: a professed Christian (and a member of the church) was living with his stepmother in a permanent alliance. Since Paul does not pass judgment on the woman (), we assume that she was not a member of the assembly and probably not even a Christian. This kind of sin was condemned by the Old Testament Law (; ) as well as by the laws of the Gentile nations. Paul shamed the church by saying, “Even the unsaved Gentiles don’t practice this kind of sin!”
While it is true that the Christian life is a feast (), there are times when it becomes a funeral. Whenever a Christian brother or sister sins, it is time for the family to mourn and to seek to help the fallen believer (). The offending brother in Corinth was “dead” as far as the things of the Lord were concerned. He was out of fellowship with the Lord and with those in the church who were living separated lives.
Judge the sin (vv. ). While Christians are not to judge one another’s motives () or ministries (), we are certainly expected to be honest about each other’s conduct. In my own pastoral ministry, I have never enjoyed having to initiate church discipline; but since it is commanded in the Scriptures, we must obey God and set personal feelings aside.
Paul described here an official church meeting at which the offender was dealt with according to divine instructions. Public sin must be publicly judged and condemned. (For our Lord’s instructions about discipline, study .) The sin was not to be “swept under the rug”; for, after all, it was known far and wide even among the unsaved who were outside the church.
The church was to gather together and expel the offender. Note the strong words that Paul used to instruct them: “taken away from among you” (), “deliver such an one unto Satan” (), “purge out” (), and “put away” (). Paul did not suggest that they handle the offender gently. Of course, we assume that first the spiritual leaders of the church sought to restore the man personally.
This was to be done by the authority of Jesus Christ—in His name—and not simply on the authority of the local church. Church membership is a serious thing and must not be treated carelessly or lightly.
What does it mean to deliver a Christian “unto Satan”? It does not mean to deprive him of salvation, since it is not the church that grants salvation to begin with. When a Christian is in fellowship with the Lord and with the local church, he enjoys a special protection from Satan. But when he is out of fellowship with God and excommunicated from the local church, he is “fair game” for the enemy. God could permit Satan to attack the offender’s body so that the sinning believer would repent and return to the Lord.
Purge the sin (vv. ). The image here is that of the Passover supper (Ex. 12). Jesus is the Lamb of God who shed His blood to deliver us from sin (; ). The Jews in Egypt were delivered from death by the application of the blood of the lamb. Following the application of the blood, the Jewish families ate the Passover supper. One of the requirements was that no yeast (leaven) be found anywhere in their dwellings. Even the bread at the feast was to be unleavened.
Leaven is a picture of sin. It is small but powerful; it works secretly; it “puffs up” the dough; it spreads. The sinning church member in Corinth was like a piece of yeast: he was defiling the entire loaf of bread (the congregation). It was like a cancer in the body that needed to be removed by drastic surgery.
The church must purge itself of “old leaven”—the things that belong to the “old life” before we trusted Christ. We must also get rid of malice and wickedness (there was a great deal of hard feelings between members of the Corinthian church) and replace them with sincerity and truth. As a loaf of bread (), the local church must be as pure as possible.
However, the church must not judge and condemn those who are outside the faith. That judgment is future, and God will take care of it. In , Paul emphasized once again the importance of separation from the world. Christians are not to be isolated, but separated. We cannot avoid contact with sinners, but we can avoid contamination by sinners.
If a professed Christian is guilty of the sins named here, the church must deal with him. Individual members are not to “company” with him (—“get mixed up with, associate intimately”). They are not to eat with him, which could refer to private hospitality or more likely the public observance of the Lord’s Supper (see ).
Church discipline is not easy or popular, but it is important. If it is done properly, God can use it to convict and restore an erring believer. indicates that this man did repent and was restored to fellowship.
The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city. Not only did the unsaved know about the immorality in the assembly, but they were also aware of the lawsuits involving members of the church. Not only were there sins of the flesh, but also sins of the spirit ().
The Greeks in general, and the Athenians in particular, were known for their involvement in the courts. The Greek playwright Aristophanes has one of his characters look at a map and ask where Greece is located. When it is pointed out to him, he replies that there must be some mistake—because he cannot see any lawsuits going on! However, the United States is rapidly getting a similar reputation: over 200,000 civil suits were filed in the federal courts in one recent twelve-month period. Nearly 1 million lawyers (their number is increasing) are handling them. In one year, more than 12 million suits were filed in the state courts.
Paul detected three tragedies in this situation. First, the believers were presenting a poor testimony to the lost. Even the unbelieving Jews dealt with their civil cases in their own synagogue courts. To take the problems of Christians and discuss them before the “unjust” and “unbelievers” was to weaken the testimony of the Gospel.
Second, the congregation had failed to live up to its full position in Christ. Since the saints will one day participate in the judgment of the world and even of fallen angels, they ought to be able to settle their differences here on earth. The Corinthians boasted of their great spiritual gifts. Why, then, did they not use them in solving their problems?
Bible students are not agreed on the meaning of Paul’s statement in . Some think he is using a bit of sarcasm: “You are better off asking the weakest member of your church to settle the matter, than to go before the most qualified unsaved judge!” Others take the phrase “who are least esteemed in [or ‘by’] the church” to refer to the pagan judges. Or it may be that Paul is saying that God can use even the least member of the church to discern His will. The result is still the same: It is wrong for Christians to take their civil suits to court.
Sometimes there are “friendly suits” that are required by law to settle certain issues. That is not what Paul was referring to. It seems that the church members were “at each other’s throats,” trying to get their way in the courts. I am happy to see that there is a trend in our churches today for Christian lawyers to act as arbitrators in civil cases, and help to settle these matters out of court.
There was a third tragedy: the members suing each other had already lost. Even if some of them won their cases, they had incurred a far greater loss in their disobedience to the Word of God. “Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you” () can be translated, “It is already a complete defeat for you.” Paul was certainly referring to our Lord’s teaching in . Better to lose money or possessions than to lose a brother and lose your testimony as well.
Over the years of my own ministry, I have seen the sad results of churches and church members trying to solve personal problems in court. Nobody really wins—except the devil! The Corinthians who were going to court were disgracing the name of the Lord and the church just as much as the man who was guilty of incest, and they needed to be disciplined.
I recall a ministerial student who phoned me to tell me he was going to sue his school. Apparently the administration would not allow him to do something he felt was very necessary to his education. I advised him to “cool off,” talk to his faculty counselor, and get the idea out of his mind. He took my advice and in so doing not only avoided a bad testimony, but grew spiritually through the experience.
There was a great deal of sexual laxness in the city of Corinth. It was a permissive society with a philosophy similar to that which the world has today: Sex is a normal physical function, so why not use it as you please? Paul pointed out that God created sex when He made the first man and woman, and therefore He has the right to tell us how to use it. The Bible is the “owner’s manual” and it must be obeyed.
God condemns sexual sins; Paul named some of them in . In that day, idolatry and sensuality went together. “Effeminate” and “abusers” describe the passive and active partners in a homosexual relationship. (Paul dealt with this and with lesbianism in .) In , Paul pointed his finger at the members guilty of sins of the spirit, those suing each other because of their covetous attitude.
But God can also cleanse sexual sins and make sinners into new creatures in Christ. “Ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified” (). The tenses of these verbs indicate a completed transaction. Now, because of all that God had done for them, they had an obligation to God to use their bodies for His service and His glory.
Consider God the Father (vv. ). He created our bodies and one day He will resurrect them in glory. (More about the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15.) In view of the fact that our bodies have such a wonderful origin, and an even more wonderful future, how can we use them for such evil purposes?
The Corinthians had two arguments to defend their sensuality. First, “All things are lawful unto me” (). This was a popular phrase in Corinth, based on a false view of Christian freedom. We have not been set free so that we can enter into a new kind of bondage! As Christians, we must ask ourselves, “Will this enslave me? Is this activity really profitable for my spiritual life?”
Their second argument was, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats” (). They treated sex as an appetite to be satisfied and not as a gift to be cherished and used carefully. Sensuality is to sex what gluttony is to eating; both are sinful and both bring disastrous consequences. Just because we have certain normal desires, given by God at Creation, does not mean that we must give in to them and always satisfy them. Sex outside of marriage is destructive, while sex in marriage can be creative and beautiful.
There may be excitement and enjoyment in sexual experience outside of marriage, but there is not enrichment. Sex outside of marriage is like a man robbing a bank: he gets something, but it is not his and he will one day pay for it. Sex within marriage can be like a person putting money into a bank: there is safety, security, and he will collect dividends. Sex within marriage can build a relationship that brings joys in the future; but sex apart from marriage has a way of weakening future relationships, as every Christian marriage counselor will tell you.
Consider God the Son (vv. ). The believer’s body is a member of Christ (see ). How can we be joined to Christ and joined to sin at the same time? Such a thought astounds us. Yet some of the Corinthians saw no harm in visiting the temple prostitutes (there were 1,000 of them at the temple of Aphrodite) and committing fornication.
Jesus Christ bought us with a price (), and therefore our bodies belong to Him. We are one spirit with the Lord and we must yield our bodies to Him as living sacrifices (). If you begin each day by surrendering your body to Christ, it will make a great deal of difference in what you do with your body during the day.
Paul referred to the Creation account () to explain the seriousness of sexual sin. When a man and woman join their bodies, the entire personality is involved. There is a much deeper experience, a “oneness” that brings with it deep and lasting consequences. Paul warned that sexual sin is the most serious sin a person can commit against his body, for it involves the whole person (). Sex is not just a part of the body. Being “male” and “female” involves the total person. Therefore, sexual experience affects the total personality.
Paul did not suggest that being joined to a harlot was the equivalent of marriage, for marriage also involves commitment. The man and woman leave the parental home to begin a new home. This helps us to understand why sex within marriage can be an enriching experience of growth, because it is based on commitment. When two people pledge their love and faithfulness to each other, they lay a strong foundation on which to build. Marriage protects sex and enables the couple, committed to each other, to grow in this wonderful experience.
Consider God the Holy Spirit (vv. ). God the Father created our bodies; God the Son redeemed them and made them part of His body; and God the Spirit indwells our bodies and makes them the very temple of God. How can we defile God’s temple by using our bodies for immorality?
The word your is plural, but the words body and temple are singular (). It may be that Paul is here describing not only the individual believer, but also the local church. Each local assembly is a “body” of people united to Jesus Christ. The conduct of individual members affects the spiritual life of the entire church.
In both cases, the lesson is clear: “Glorify God in your body!” The Holy Spirit was given for the purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ (). The Spirit can use our bodies to glorify Him and to magnify Him (). Our special relationship to the Holy Spirit brings with it a special responsibility.
So God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all involved in what we do with our bodies. If we break God’s laws, then we must pay the penalty ().
As you review this section, you will see that sexual sins affect the entire personality. They affect the emotions, leading to slavery (). It is frightening to see how sensuality can get ahold of a person and defile his entire life, enslaving him to habits that destroy. It also affects a person physically (). The fornicator and adulterer, as well as the homosexual, may forget their sins, but their sins will not forget them.
In my pastoral counseling, I have had to help married couples whose relationship was falling apart because of the consequences of premarital sex, as well as extramarital sex. The harvest of sowing to the flesh is sometimes delayed, but it is certain (). How sad it is to live with the consequences of forgiven sin.
Having said all this, we must also realize that there are eternal consequences for people who practice sexual sins. In , Paul twice states that people who practice such sins will not inherit God’s kingdom. A Christian may fall into these sins and be forgiven, as was David; but no Christian would practice such sins ().
Finally, in all fairness, we must note that there are other sins besides sexual sins. For some reason, the church has often majored on condemning the sins of the prodigal son and has forgotten the sins of the elder brother (see ). There are sins of the spirit as well as sins of the flesh—Paul names some of them in . Covetousness can send a man to hell just as easily as can adultery.
We must remember that the grace of God can change the sinner’s life. “And such were some of you” (). It is wonderful how faith in Christ makes a sinner into a “new creation” (, ). And it is important that we live like those who are a part of God’s new creation. We are not our own. We belong to the Father who made us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Spirit who indwells us. We also belong to the people of God, the church, and our sins can weaken the testimony and infect the fellowship.
“Be ye holy, for I am holy” ().
1 Corinthians 7
Up to this point, Paul had been dealing with the sins reported to be known in the Corinthian congregation. Now he takes up the questions about which they had written to him: marriage (, ), food offered to idols (), spiritual gifts (), the resurrection of the dead (), and the missionary offering for the Jews ().
As you study 1 Corinthians 7, please keep in mind that Paul is replying to definite questions. He is not spelling out a complete “theology of marriage” in one chapter. It is necessary to consider as well what the rest of the Bible has to say about this important subject.
Some liberal critics have accused Paul of being against both marriage and women. These accusations are not true, of course. Nor is it true that in , , , and Paul is disclaiming divine inspiration for what he wrote. Rather, he is referring to what Jesus taught when He was on earth (; ; ; ). Paul had to answer some questions that Jesus never discussed; but when a question arose that the Lord had dealt with, Paul referred to His words. Instead of disclaiming inspiration, Paul claimed that what he wrote was equal in authority to what Christ taught.
Paul explained God’s will concerning Christian marriage, and he addressed his counsel to three different groups of believers.
Christians Married to Christians ()
Apparently one of the questions the church asked was, “Is celibacy [remaining unmarried] more spiritual than marriage?” Paul replied that it is good for a man or a woman to have the gift of celibacy, but the celibate state is not better than marriage, nor is it the best state for everybody. Dr. Kenneth Wuest translates Paul’s reply, “It is perfectly proper, honorable, morally befitting for a man to live in strict celibacy.”
makes it clear that celibacy is permitted, but it is not commanded; and informs us that not everybody has the gift of remaining celibate. This ties in with our Lord’s teaching in , where “eunuchs” refers to those who abstain from marriage. “It is not good that the man should be alone” () is generally true for most people; but some have been called to a life of singleness for one reason or another. Their singleness is not “subspiritual” or “superspiritual.” It all depends on the will of God.
One purpose for marriage is “to avoid fornication.” makes it clear that God does not approve either of polygamy or homosexual “marriages.” One man married to one woman has been God’s pattern from the first. However, the husband and wife must not abuse the privilege of sexual love that is a normal part of marriage. The wife’s body belongs to the husband, and the husband’s body to the wife; and each must be considerate of the other. Sexual love is a beautiful tool to build with, not a weapon to fight with. To refuse each other is to commit robbery (see ) and to invite Satan to tempt the partners to seek their satisfaction elsewhere.
As in all things, the spiritual must govern the physical; for our bodies are God’s temples. The husband and wife may abstain in order to devote their full interest to prayer and fasting (); but they must not use this as an excuse for prolonged separation. Paul is encouraging Christian partners to be “in tune” with each other in matters both spiritual and physical.
In , Paul applied the principle stated in to single believers and widows: If you cannot control yourself, then marry.
Not only did the church ask about celibacy, but they also asked Paul about divorce. Since Jesus had dealt with this question, Paul cited His teaching: Husbands and wives are not to divorce each other (see also ). If divorce does occur, the parties should remain unmarried or seek reconciliation.
This is, of course, the ideal for marriage. Jesus did make one exception: If one party was guilty of fornication, this could be grounds for divorce. Far better that there be confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation; but if these are out of the question, then the innocent party may get a divorce. However, divorce is the last option; first, every means available should be used to restore the marriage.
It has been my experience as a pastor that when a husband and wife are yielded to the Lord, and when they seek to please each other in the marriage relationship, the marriage will be so satisfying that neither partner would think of looking elsewhere for fulfillment. “There are no sex problems in marriage,” a Christian counselor once told me, “only personality problems with sex as one of the symptoms.” The present frightening trend of increased divorces among Christians (and even among the clergy) must break the heart of God.
Christians Married to Non-Christians ()
Some of the members of the Corinthian church were saved after they had been married, but their mates had not yet been converted. No doubt, some of these believers were having a difficult time at home; and they asked Paul, “Must we remain married to unsaved partners? Doesn’t our conversion alter things?”
Paul replied that they were to remain with their unconverted mates so long as their mates were willing to live with them. Salvation does not alter the marriage state; if anything, it ought to enhance the marriage relationship. (Note Peter’s counsel to wives with unsaved husbands in .) Since marriage is basically a physical relationship (“they shall be one flesh”—), it can only be broken by a physical cause. Adultery and death would be two such causes ().
It is an act of disobedience for a Christian knowingly to marry an unsaved person (note “only in the Lord” in ; ). But if a person becomes a Christian after marriage, he should not use that as an excuse to break up the marriage just to avoid problems. In fact, Paul emphasized the fact that the Christian partner could have a spiritual influence on the unsaved mate. does not teach that the unsaved partner is saved because of the believing mate, since each person must individually decide for Christ. Rather, it means that the believer exerts a spiritual influence in the home that can lead to the salvation of the lost partner.
What about the children? Again, the emphasis is on the influence of the godly partner. The believing husband or wife must not give up. In my own ministry, I have seen devoted Christians live for Christ in divided homes and eventually see their loved ones trust the Saviour.
Salvation does not change the marriage state. If the wife’s becoming a Christian annulled the marriage, then the children in the home would become illegitimate (“unclean” in ). Instead, these children may one day be saved if the Christian mate is faithful to the Lord.
It is difficult for us who are “accustomed” to the Christian faith to realize the impact that this new doctrine had on the Roman world. Here was a teaching for every person, regardless of race or social status. The church was perhaps the only assembly in the Roman Empire where slaves and freemen, men and women, rich and poor, could fellowship on an equal basis (). However, this new equality also brought with it some misunderstandings and problems; and some of these Paul dealt with in .
The principle that Paul laid down was this: Even though Christians are all one in Christ, each believer should remain in the same calling he was in when the Lord saved him. Jewish believers should not try to become Gentiles (by erasing the physical mark of the covenant), and Gentiles should not try to become Jews (by being circumcised). Slaves should not demand freedom from their Christian masters, just because of their equality in Christ. However, Paul did advise Christian slaves to secure their freedom if at all possible, probably by purchase. This same principle would apply to Christians married to unsaved mates.
But suppose the unsaved mate leaves the home? gives the answer: the Christian partner is not obligated to keep the home together. We are called to peace, and we should do all we can to live in peace (); but there comes a time in some situations where peace is impossible. If the unsaved mate separates from his or her partner, there is little the Christian can do except to pray and continue faithful to the Lord.
Does separation then give the Christian mate the right to divorce and remarriage? Paul did not say so. What if the unconverted mate ends up living with another partner? That would constitute adultery and give grounds for divorce. But even then, would encourage forgiveness and restoration. Paul did not deal with every possible situation. He laid down spiritual principles, not a list of rules.
We are prone to think that a change in circumstances is always the answer to a problem. But the problem is usually within us and not around us. The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart. I have watched couples go through divorce and seek happiness in new circumstances, only to discover that they carried their problems with them. A Christian lawyer once told me, “About the only people who profit from divorces are the attorneys!”
Paul had already addressed a brief word to this group in , but in this closing section of the chapter, he went into greater detail. Their question was, “Must a Christian get married? What about the unmarried women in the church who are not getting any younger?” (see ) Perhaps Paul addressed this section primarily to the parents of marriageable girls. Since Jesus did not give any special teaching on this topic, Paul gave his counsel as one taught of the Lord. He asked them to consider several factors when they made their decision about marriage.
First, consider the present circumstances (vv. ). It was a time of distress () when society was going through change (). There was not much time left for serving the Lord (). It is possible that there were political and economic pressures in Corinth about which we have no information. In view of the difficulties, it would be better for a person to be unmarried. However, this did not mean that married people should seek a divorce (). Paul’s counsel was to the unmarried.
This did not mean that nobody should get married; but those who do marry must be ready to accept the trials that will accompany it (). In fact, the situation might become so difficult that even those already married will have to live as though they were not married (). Perhaps Paul was referring to husbands and wives being separated from each other because of economic distress or persecution.
To consider the circumstances is good counsel for engaged people today. The average age for first-time brides and grooms is climbing, which suggests that couples are waiting longer to get married. In my pastoral premarital counseling, I used to remind couples that the cheapest thing in a wedding was the marriage license. From then on, the prices would go up!
Second, face the responsibilities honestly (vv. ). The emphasis in this paragraph is on the word care, which means “to be anxious, to be pulled in different directions.” It is impossible for two people to live together without burdens of one kind or another, but there is no need to rush into marriage and create more problems. Marriage requires a measure of maturity, and age is no guarantee of maturity.
Once again, Paul emphasized living for the Lord. He did not suggest that it was impossible for a man or a woman to be married and serve God acceptably, because we know too many people who have done it. But the married servant of God must consider his or her mate, as well as the children God may give them; and this could lead to distraction. It is a fact of history that both John Wesley and George Whitefield might have been better off had they remained single—Wesley’s wife finally left him, and Whitefield traveled so much that his wife was often alone for long periods of time.
It is possible to please both the Lord and your mate, if you are yielded to Christ and obeying the Word. Many of us have discovered that a happy home and satisfying marriage are a wonderful encouragement in the difficulties of Christian service. A well-known Scottish preacher was experiencing a great deal of public criticism because of a stand he took on a certain issue, and almost every day there was a negative report in the newspapers. A friend met him one day and asked, “How are you able to carry on in the face of this opposition?” The man replied quietly, “I am happy at home.”
Unmarried believers who feel a call to serve God should examine their own hearts to see if marriage will help or hinder their ministry. They must also be careful to wed mates who feel a like call to serve God. Each person has his own gift and calling from God and must be obedient to His Word.
Third, each situation is unique (vv. ). Paul addressed here the fathers of the unmarried girls. In that day, it was the parents who arranged the marriages, the father in particular (). Paul had already said in that he was not laying down an ironclad rule for everybody to follow, regardless of circumstances. Now he made it clear that the father had freedom of choice whether or not he would give his daughter in marriage.
I have noticed that often in churches marriages come in “packs.” One couple gets engaged and before long four couples are engaged. If all of these engagements are in the will of God, it can be a very exciting and wonderful experience; but I fear that some couples get engaged just to keep up with the crowd. Sometimes in Christian schools, couples get what I call “senior panic” and rush out of engagement and into marriage immediately after graduation, lest they be left “waiting at the church.” Sad to say, not all of these marriages are successful.
Even though our modern approach to dating and marriage was completely foreign to the Corinthians, the counsel Paul gave them still applies today. It is a wise thing for couples to counsel with their parents and with their Christian leaders in the church, lest they rush into something which afterward they regret.
Paul hit on a key problem in when he mentioned “the flower of her age.” This is a delicate phrase that simply means the girl is getting older. Dr. Kenneth Wuest translates it “past the bloom of her youth.” She is starting to become one of the “unclaimed blessings” in the church. The danger, of course, is that she rush into marriage just to avoid becoming a spinster, and she might make a mistake. A pastor friend of mine likes to say to couples, “Better to live in single loneliness than in married cussedness!”
Each situation is unique, and parents and children must seek the Lord’s will. It takes more than two Christian people to make a happy marriage. Not every marriage that is scriptural is necessarily sensible.
Finally, remember that marriage is for life (vv. ). It is God’s will that the marriage union be permanent, a lifetime commitment. There is no place in Christian marriage for a “trial marriage,” nor is there any room for the “escape hatch” attitude: “If the marriage doesn’t work, we can always get a divorce.”
For this reason, marriage must be built on something sturdier than good looks, money, romantic excitement, and social acceptance. There must be Christian commitment, character, and maturity. There must be a willingness to grow, to learn from each other, to forgive and forget, to minister to one another. The kind of love Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13 is what is needed to cement two lives together.
Paul closed the section by telling the widows that they were free to marry, but “only in the Lord” (). This means that they must not only marry believers, but marry in the will of God. Paul’s counsel (for the reasons already given) was that they remain single, but he left the decision to them.
God has put “walls” around marriage, not to make it a prison, but to make it a safe fortress. The person who considers marriage a prison should not get married. When two people are lovingly and joyfully committed to each other—and to their Lord—the experience of marriage is one of enrichment and enlargement. They grow together and discover the richness of serving the Lord as a “team” in their home and church.
As you review this chapter, you cannot help but be impressed with the seriousness of marriage. Paul’s counsel makes it clear that God takes marriage seriously, and that we cannot disobey God’s Word without suffering painful consequences. While both Paul and Jesus leave room for divorce under certain conditions, this can never be God’s first choice for a couple. God hates divorce () and certainly no believer should consider divorce until all avenues of reconciliation have been patiently explored.
While a person’s marital failure may hinder him from serving as a pastor or deacon (, ), it need not keep him from ministering in other ways. Some of the best personal soul winners I have known have been men who, before their conversion, had the unfortunate experience of divorce. A man does not have to hold an office in order to have a ministry.
In summary, each person must ask himself or herself the following questions if marriage is being contemplated:
1.What is my gift from God?
2.Am I marrying a believer?
3.Are the circumstances such that marriage is right?
4.How will marriage affect my service for Christ?
5.Am I prepared to enter into this union for life?
1 Corinthians 8; 10
After answering their questions about marriage, Paul turned to one of the most controversial subjects in the letter he received from the Corinthian church: “Can Christians eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols?” The immediate question does not interest believers today since we do not face that problem. But the wider issue of “Christian liberty” does apply to us, because we face questions that Paul never faced. Is it right for Christians to attend the theater? Should a believer have a television set in his home? To what extent can a Christian get involved in politics?
In 1 Corinthians 8–10, Paul enunciated four basic principles that would guide believers in making personal decisions about those “questionable” areas of the Christian life. The four principles are:
KNOWLEDGE MUST BE BALANCED BY LOVE (1 COR. 8)
AUTHORITY MUST BE BALANCED BY DISCIPLINE (1 COR. 9)
EXPERIENCE MUST BE BALANCED BY CAUTION ()
FREEDOM MUST BE BALANCED BY RESPONSIBILITY ()
As you can see, Paul addressed himself primarily to the strong Christians in the church, believers who had spiritual knowledge and experience and who understood their authority and freedom in Christ. It is the strong who must care for the weak (Rom. 14–15).
The question of meats offered to idols is dealt with in 1 Corinthians 8; 10, so we will examine it in this chapter. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul illustrated this principle of the right use of authority by explaining his own financial policy; so we will consider that in our next study.
Knowledge Must Be Balanced by Love ()
There were two sources of meat in the ancient world: the regular market (where the prices were higher) and the local temples (where meat from the sacrifices was always available). The strong members of the church realized that idols could not contaminate food, so they saved money by purchasing the cheaper meat available from the temples. Furthermore, if unconverted friends invited them to a feast at which sacrificial meat was served, the strong Christians attended it whether at the temple or in the home.
All of this offended the weaker Christians. Many of them had been saved out of pagan idolatry and they could not understand why their fellow believers would want to have anything to do with meat sacrificed to idols. (In Rom. 14–15, the weak Christians had problems over diets and holy days, but it was the same basic issue.) There was a potential division in the church, so the leaders asked Paul for counsel.
Paul called to their attention three important factors.
Knowledge (vv. ). The Corinthians were enriched in spiritual knowledge () and were, in fact, rather proud of their achievements. They knew that an idol was nothing, merely the representation of a false god who existed only in the darkened minds of those who worshiped it. The presence of an idol in a temple was no solid proof that the god existed. (Later, Paul would point out that idolatry was basically the worship of demons.) So the conclusion was logical: A nonexistent god could not contaminate food offered on his altar.
So far, it is the strong Christians who are ahead. Why, then, are the weak Christians upset with them when their position is so logical? Because you don’t always solve every problem with logic. The little child who is afraid of the dark will not be assured by arguments, especially if the adult (or older brother) adopts a superior attitude. Knowledge can be a weapon to fight with or a tool to build with, depending on how it is used. If it “puffs up” then it cannot “build up [edify].”
A know-it-all attitude is only an evidence of ignorance. The person who really knows truth is only too conscious of how much he does not know. Furthermore, it is one thing to know doctrine and quite something else to know God. It is possible to grow in Bible knowledge and yet not grow in grace or in one’s personal relationship with God. The test is love, which is the second factor Paul discussed.
Love (vv. ). Love and knowledge must go together; “speaking the truth in love” (). It has well been said, “Truth without love is brutality, but love without truth is hypocrisy.” Knowledge is power and it must be used in love. But love must always be controlled by knowledge (see Paul’s prayer in ). The strong believers in the church had knowledge, but they were not using their knowledge in love. Instead of building up the weak saints, the strong Christians were only puffing up themselves.
Paul’s great concern was that the strong saints help the weaker saints to grow and to stop being weak saints. Some people have the false notion that the strong Christians are the ones who live by rules and regulations and who get offended when others exercise their freedom in Christ; but such is not the case. It is the weak Christians who must have the security of law and who are afraid to use their freedom in Christ. It is the weak Christians who are prone to judge and criticize stronger believers and to stumble over what they do. This, of course, makes it difficult for the strong saints to minister to their weaker brothers and sisters.
It is here that love enters the picture, for “love builds up” and puts others first. When spiritual knowledge is used in love, the stronger Christian can take the hand of the weaker Christian and help him to stand and walk so as to enjoy his freedom in Christ. You cannot force-feed immature believers and transform them into giants. Knowledge must be mixed with love; otherwise, the saints will end up with “big heads” instead of enlarged hearts. A famous preacher used to say, “Some Christians grow; others just swell.”
Knowledge and love are two important factors, for knowledge must be balanced by love if we are to use our Christian freedom in the right way. But there is a third factor.
Conscience (vv. ). The word conscience simply means “to know with,” and it is used thirty-two times in the New Testament. Conscience is that internal court where our actions are judged and are either approved or condemned (). Conscience is not the law; it bears witness to God’s moral law. But the important thing is this: conscience depends on knowledge. The more spiritual knowledge we know and act on, the stronger the conscience will become.
Some Christians have weak consciences because they have been saved only a short time and have not had opportunity to grow. Like little babes in the home, they must be guarded carefully. Other saints have weak consciences because they will not grow. They ignore their Bibles and Christian fellowship and remain in a state of infancy (; ). But some believers remain weak because they are afraid of freedom. They are like a child old enough to go to school, who is afraid to leave home and must be taken to school each day.
The conscience of a weak Christian is easily defiled (), wounded (), and offended (). For this reason, the stronger saints must defer to the weaker saints and do nothing that would harm them. It might not harm the mature saint to share a feast in an idolatrous temple, but it might harm his weaker brother. warns that the immature believer might decide to imitate his stronger brother and thus be led into sin.
It is important to note that the stronger believer defers to the weaker believer in love only that he might help him to mature. He does not “pamper” him; he seeks to edify him, to help him grow. Otherwise, both will become weak.
We are free in Christ, but we must take care that our spiritual knowledge is tempered by love, and that we do not tempt the weaker Christian to run ahead of his conscience. Where knowledge is balanced by love, the strong Christian will have a ministry to the weak Christian, and the weak Christian will grow and become strong.
Experience Must Be Balanced by Caution ()
Paul reminded the experienced believers who were strong in the faith that they had better not grow overconfident in their ability to overcome temptation. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (). Paul used the nation of Israel as his example to warn the mature believers that their experience must be balanced by caution. He gave three warnings.
First, he warned that privileges were no guarantee of success (vv. ). Israel had been delivered from Egypt by the power of God, just as the Christian believer has been redeemed from sin. (In , Paul had already related Passover to salvation.) Israel was identified with Moses in their Red Sea “baptism,” just as the Corinthians had been identified with Christ in their Christian baptism. Israel ate the manna from heaven and drank the water God provided, just as Christians nourish themselves on the spiritual sustenance God supplies (, ; ). However, these spiritual privileges did not prevent the Jews from falling into sin.
There are dangers to maturity as well as to immaturity, and one of them is overconfidence. When we think we are strong, we discover that we are weak. The strong believer who eats in the temple may find himself struggling with an enemy who is too strong for him.
Paul did not suggest in that an actual rock accompanied the Jews throughout their wilderness journey, though some Jewish rabbis taught this idea. It was a spiritual rock that supplied what they needed, and that Rock was Christ. Sometimes the water came from a rock (; ) and at other times from a well (). God provided the water.
Paul issued a second warning: good beginnings do not guarantee good endings (vv. ). The Jews experienced God’s miracles, and yet they failed when they were tested in the wilderness. Experience must always be balanced with caution, for we never come to the place in our Christian walk where we are free from temptation and potential failure. All of the Jews twenty years old and upward who were rescued from Egypt, except for Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness during their years of wandering ().
We can hear some of the “strong” Corinthians asking, “But what does that have to do with us?” Paul then pointed out that the Corinthian church was guilty of the same sins that the Jews committed. Because of their lust for evil things, the Corinthians were guilty of immorality (1 Cor. 6), idolatry (1 Cor. 8; 10), and murmuring against God (). Like the nation of Israel, they were tempting God and just “daring Him” to act.
Paul certainly knew his Old Testament, and his readers would recognize the events referred to. The “lusting” is found in , the idolatry in Exodus 32, and the fornication in Numbers 25. The Israelites often tempted God, but perhaps was the reference Paul had in mind. For their complaining, see Numbers 14 and 16.
This kind of sin is serious and God must judge it. Not only did some of these rebels immediately die (see ), but those who remained were not permitted to enter the Promised Land. They were saved from Egypt but were not privileged to claim their rich inheritance. Paul was not suggesting that his readers might lose their salvation, but he was afraid that some of them would be “castaways” (), disapproved of God and unable to receive any reward.
I heard about a pastor who gave a series of sermons on “The Sins of the Saints.” One member of the church, apparently under conviction, disapproved of the series and told the pastor so. “After all,” she said, “sin in the life of a Christian is different from sin in the life of an unsaved person.”
“Yes, it is,” the pastor replied. “It’s worse!”
We must not think that because the Jews were under the Law that their sins were worse than ours and therefore dealt with more severely. Sin in the church today is far more serious, because we have Israel’s example to learn from, and we are living “at the end of the ages.” To sin against the Law is one thing; to sin against grace is quite something else.
Paul’s third warning was that God can enable us to overcome temptation if we heed His Word (vv. ). God permits us to be tempted because He knows how much we can take; and He always provides a way to escape if we will trust Him and take advantage of it. The believer who thinks he can stand, may fall; but the believer who flees will be able to stand.
Paul had already told his readers to “flee fornication” (); and now his warning is, “Flee from idolatry” (). He explained the reason why: the idol itself is nothing, but it can be used by Satan to lead you into sin. Idolatry is demonic (; ). To sit at an idol’s table could mean fellowship (“communion, partakers”) with demons. Paul was again enforcing the important doctrine of separation from sin (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).
He used the Lord’s Supper as an illustration. When the believer partakes of the cup and loaf at the Lord’s table, he is, in a spiritual way, having fellowship with the body and blood of Christ. By remembering Christ’s death, the believer enters into a communion with the risen Lord. In , Paul pointed to the temple altar and sacrifices as another illustration of this truth. The application is clear: A believer cannot partake of the Lord’s food (the Old Testament sacrifice, the New Testament supper) and the devil’s food (the idol’s table) without exposing himself to danger and provoking the Lord.
“Are we stronger than He?” () is directed at the strong Christian who was sure he could enjoy his liberty in the pagan temple and not be harmed. “You may be stronger than your weaker brother,” Paul intimated, “but you are not stronger than God!” It is dangerous to play with sin and tempt God.
Freedom Must Be Balanced by Responsibility ()
At no time did Paul deny the freedom of the mature Christian to enjoy his privileges in Christ. “All things are lawful”—BUT not everything is profitable, and some things lead to slavery (). “All things are profitable”—BUT some activities can cause your weaker brother to stumble (). In other words, it is a mark of maturity when we balance our freedom with responsibility; otherwise, it ceases to be freedom and becomes anarchy, lawlessness.
To begin with, we have a responsibility to our fellow Christians in the church (). We are responsible to build others up in the faith and to seek their advantage. gives the same admonition. While we do have freedom in Christ, we are not free to harm another believer.
Paul applied this truth to the impending question of meat offered to idols. He had already warned against a believer publicly participating in pagan feasts (), so now he dealt with private meals. In , he instructed the believers to ask no questions about the meat purchased at the market for use in their own homes. After all, everything comes from God (he quoted ) and all food is permissible to the believer (see ; , ; ). The mature believer can enjoy in his own home even meat sacrificed to idols. Even if meat purchased at the regular market originally came from the temple (which was often the case), he would not be harmed.
But what about those times when the believer is the guest in the home of an unbeliever? Paul handled that problem in . If the Christian feels disposed to go (Paul did not make this decision a matter of great import), he should eat whatever is set before him and ask no questions (see ; ). However, there may be present at the meal one of the weaker brothers or sisters who wants to avoid meat offered to idols, and who has done some investigating. If this weaker saint informs the stronger Christian that the meat indeed has been offered to idols, then the stronger saint must not eat it. If he did, he would cause the weaker believer to stumble and possibly to sin.
Paul anticipated the objections. “Why should I not enjoy food for which I give thanks? Why should my liberty be curtailed because of another person’s weak conscience?” His reply introduced the second responsibility we have: We are responsible to glorify God in all things (). We cannot glorify God by causing another Christian to stumble. To be sure, our own conscience may be strong enough for us to participate in some activity and not be harmed. But we dare not use our freedom in Christ in any way that will injure a fellow Christian.
But there is a third responsibility that ties in with the first two: We are responsible to seek to win the lost (). We must not make it difficult either for Jews or Gentiles to trust the Lord, or for other members of the church to witness for the Lord. We must not live to seek our own benefit (“profit”), but also the benefit of others, that they might be saved.
When Paul wrote, “I please all men in all things” (), he was not suggesting that he was a compromiser or a man-pleaser (see ). He was affirming the fact that his life and ministry were centered on helping others rather than on promoting himself and his own desires.
Before we leave this important section, we ought to note the fact that Paul probably appeared inconsistent to those who did not understand his principles of Christian living. At times, he would eat what the Gentiles were eating. At other times, he would eat only “kosher” food with the Jews. But instead of being inconsistent, he was actually living consistently by the principles he laid down in these chapters. A weather vane seems inconsistent, first pointing in one direction and then in another. But a weather vane is always consistent: it always points toward the direction where the wind is blowing. That is what makes it useful.
Are there some things that a mature Christian can do in the privacy of his own home that he would not do in public? Yes, provided they do not harm him personally and he does not tempt the Lord. I know a couple who, when their children were small, eliminated all games from their home that used either cards or dice. When their children were more mature, they were permitted to play those games.
As Christians, we do have freedom. This freedom was purchased for us by Jesus Christ, so it is very precious. Freedom comes from knowledge: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (). The more we understand about the atom, for example, the more freedom we have to use it wisely. However, knowledge must be balanced by love; otherwise, it will tear down instead of build up.
The strong Christian not only has knowledge, but he also has experience. He can look back and see how the Lord has dealt with him through the years. But he must be careful, for experience must be balanced with caution. Take heed, lest you fall!
The strong Christian knows that he has this freedom, but he also knows that freedom involves responsibility. I have the freedom, for example, to take my car out of the garage and drive it on the highway; but I must drive it responsibly. I am not free to drive at any speed on my street; nor am I free to ignore the traffic signs along the way.
Out of these chapters come several “tests” we may apply to our own decisions and activities.
“All things are lawful,” BUT—
1.Will they lead to freedom or slavery? ()
2.Will they make me a stumbling block or a stepping-stone? ()
3.Will they build me up or tear me down? ()
4.Will they only please me, or will they glorify Christ? ()
5.Will they help to win the lost to Christ or turn them away? ()
The way we use our freedom and relate to others indicates whether we are mature in Christ. Strong and weak Christians need to work together in love to edify one another and glorify Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 9
This chapter deals with Paul’s policy of financial support, and it appears to be an interruption to his discussion of “meats offered to idols.” Actually, it is not an interruption; it is an illustration of the very principles that he presents in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. Paul used himself as an illustration of the mature use of liberty: he was free to receive financial support from the Corinthian church, yet he set aside that right in order to achieve a higher goal.
Keep in mind that, for the most part, the Greeks despised manual labor. They had slaves to do manual labor so that the citizens could enjoy sports, philosophy, and leisure. The Jews, of course, magnified honest labor. Even the learned rabbis each practiced a trade, and they taught the people, “He who does not teach his son to work, teaches him to be a thief.” Paul was trained as a tentmaker, a worker in leather.
In order to illustrate the Christian use of personal rights, Paul presented a twofold defense of his financial policy as a servant of Christ.
He Defended His Right to Receive Support ()
In this first half of the chapter, Paul proved that he had the right to receive financial support from the church at Corinth. He gave five arguments to support this contention.
His apostleship (vv. ). The word apostle means “one sent under commission,” and refers primarily to the 12 Apostles and Paul. These men had a special commission, along with the New Testament prophets, to lay the foundation of the church (). One of the qualifications for being an apostle was a personal experience of seeing the resurrected Christ (). Paul saw the Lord when he was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians (). The Apostles were to be witnesses of Christ’s resurrection (; ; ; ).
The Apostles also were given the ability to perform special signs and wonders to attest the message that they preached (). Paul had performed such miracles during his ministry in Corinth (). In fact, Paul considered the Corinthian church a very special “seal” of his ministry as an apostle. Corinth was a difficult city to minister in, and yet Paul accomplished a great work because of the Lord’s enablement (see ).
Therefore, as an apostle, Paul had the right to receive support from the people to whom he ministered. (The word power is used six times in this chapter, and means “authority, right.”) The apostle was the representative of Christ; he deserved to be welcomed and cared for. Paul was unmarried; but if he’d had a wife, she too would have had the right to be supported by the church. Peter was a married man (), and his wife traveled with him. Paul had the same right, but he did not use it.
Paul also had the right to devote his full time to the ministry of the Word. He did not have to make tents. The other Apostles did not work to support themselves because they gave themselves completely to the ministry of the Word. However, both Paul and Barnabas labored with their own hands to support not only themselves, but also the men who labored with them.
Human experience (v. ). Everyday experience teaches us that a workman deserves some reward for his labors. If a man is drafted to be a soldier, the government pays his wages and provides a certain amount of supplies for him. The man who plants a vineyard gets to eat the fruit, just as the shepherd or herdsman has the right to use the milk from the animals.
Perhaps in the “back of his mind,” Paul was comparing the church to an army, a vineyard, and a flock. As an apostle, Paul was in the very front line of the battle. He had already compared the church at Corinth to a cultivated field (), and the Lord Himself had used the image of the vine and branches (John 15) as well as the flock (John 10). The lesson was clear: The Christian worker has the right to expect benefits for his labors. If this is true in the “secular” realm, it is also true in the spiritual realm.
The Old Testament Law (vv. ). The Old Testament was the “Bible” of the early church, since the New Testament was in the process of being written. The first believers found guidance in the spiritual principles of the Law, even though they had been liberated from obeying the commandments of the Law. St. Augustine said, “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is by the New revealed.”
Paul quoted to prove his point. (He quoted this same verse when he wrote to Timothy and encouraged the church to pay their ministers adequately, .) Since oxen cannot read, this verse was not written for them. Nor was it written only for the farmer who was using the labors of the ox. It would be cruel for the farmer to bind the mouth of the ox and prevent him from eating the available grain. After all, the ox was doing the work.
Paul correctly saw a spiritual principle in this commandment: The laborer has the right to share in the bounties. The ox had plowed the soil in preparation for sowing, and now he was treading out the grain that had been harvested. Paul had plowed the soil in Corinth. He had seen a harvest from the seed he had planted. It was only right that he enjoyed some of the fruits of that harvest.
enunciates a basic principle of the Christian life: If we receive spiritual blessings, we should in turn share material blessings. For example, the Jews gave spiritual blessings to the Gentiles; so the Gentiles had an obligation to share materially with the Jews (). Those who teach us the Word have the right to expect us to support them ().
We have reason to believe that Paul did accept financial support from other churches. The Philippian believers sent him two gifts when he went to Thessalonica (). “I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service,” Paul reminded the Corinthians (). Apparently other ministers had accepted support at Corinth (), but Paul preferred to remain independent “lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ.” He wanted to be the best example possible to other believers ().
Old Testament practice (v. ). The priests and Levites lived off of the sacrifices and offerings that were brought to the temple. The regulations governing their part of the offerings, and the special tithes they received also are found in ; Leviticus 6:14–7:36; and . The application is clear: If the Old Testament ministers under Law were supported by the people to whom they ministered, should not God’s servants who minister under grace also be supported?
The teaching of Jesus (v. ). Paul was no doubt referring to our Lord’s words recorded in and . The Corinthians did not have a copy of either Gospel to refer to, but the Lord’s teaching would have been given to them as a part of the oral tradition shared by the Apostles. The laborer is worthy of his hire is a fundamental principle that the church dare not neglect.
Paul certainly proved his point. His five arguments proved conclusively that he had the right to expect the Corinthian believers to support him in his ministry when he was with them. Yet he had deliberately refused their support. Why? This he explained in the second part of his defense.
He Defended His Right to Refuse Support ()
Paul had the authority (right) to receive material support, but being a mature Christian, he balanced his authority with discipline. He did not have the right to give up his liberty in Christ, but he did have the liberty to give up his rights. Now we understand why he wrote as he did: he gave the Corinthian believers a living example of the very principles he was writing about. Should not the stronger believers in the church be able to set aside their rights for the sake of the weaker saints? Was eating meat more important than edifying the church?
Paul was talking about priorities, the things that are really important to us in our lives. It is unfortunate that some Christians have their personal priorities confused and, as a result, are hindering the work of Christ. If each believer were practicing , there would be plenty of money for missions, plenty of manpower for service, and the work of the Lord would prosper. But not every Christian is practicing .
A lady sent a gift to a ministry and explained that it was money she had saved because she had turned off the hot water tank in her house. She also did without a daily paper so that she might have more to give to the Lord’s work. When she took a bath, she heated the water on the stove, “just the way we did it when we were kids.” The Lord may not call all of us to this kind of sacrifice, but her example is worthy of respect.
Paul gave three reasons that explained why he had refused support from the Corinthian church.
For the Gospel’s sake (vv. ). Paul did not want to “hinder the Gospel of Christ” (). In that day, the Greek cities were filled with all kinds of itinerant teachers and preachers, most of whom were out to make money. Not only had Paul refused to use the kind of oratory and arguments that these teachers used (), but he also refused to accept money from those to whom he ministered. He wanted the message of the Gospel to be free from any obstacles or hindrances in the minds of lost sinners.
For that matter, when Paul added “neither have I written these things” (), he was making sure that his readers did not get the idea that he was “hinting” that they should support him!
Paul could not claim any credit for preaching the Gospel, because he had been called of God to preach. “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!” () God had given him a divine stewardship (“dispensation”), and “it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (). God would see to it that Paul would receive his wages (reward—same word translated “hire” in ).
What was Paul’s reward? The joy of preaching the Gospel without charge! This meant that no man could accuse him of underhanded motives or methods as he shared the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It is unfortunate when the ministry of the Gospel is sometimes hindered by an overemphasis on money. The unsaved world is convinced that most preachers and missionaries are only involved in “religious rackets” to take money from innocent people. No doubt there are religious “racketeers” in the world today (), people who “use” religion to exploit others and control them. We would certainly not agree with their purposes or their practices. We must make sure that nothing we do in our own ministry gives the impression that we are of their number.
A wrong attitude toward money has hindered the Gospel from the earliest days of the church. Ananias and Sapphira loved money more than they loved the truth, and God killed them (Acts 5). Simon the magician thought he could buy the gift of the Spirit with money (). His name is now in the dictionary. Simony is the practice of buying and selling religious offices and privileges.
For eighteen fruitful years, Dr. H.A. Ironside pastored the Moody Church in Chicago. I recall the first time I heard him announce an offering. He said, “We ask God’s people to give generously. If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, we do not ask you to give. We have a gift for you—eternal life through faith in Christ!” He made it clear that the offering was for believers, lest the unsaved in the congregation stumble over money and then reject the Gospel.
For the sinners’ sake (vv. ). What a paradox: free from all men, yet the servant of all men! “Ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (). Because he was free, Paul was able to serve others and to set aside his own rights for their sake.
It is unfortunate that the phrase “all things to all men” () has been used and abused by the world and made to mean what Paul did not intend for it to mean. Paul was not a chameleon who changed his message and methods with each new situation. Nor was Paul a compromiser who adjusted his message to please his audience. He was an ambassador, not a politician!
Paul was a Jew who had a great burden for his own people (; ). But his special calling was to minister to the Gentiles (). Whenever he went into a new city (and he always went where the Gospel had not yet been preached—), he headed straight for the synagogue, if there was one, and boldly shared the Gospel. If he was rejected by the Jews, then he turned to the Gentiles.
What separated Jews and Gentiles in that day? The Law and the covenants (). In his personal life, Paul so lived that he did not offend either the Jews or the Gentiles. He did not parade his liberty before the Jews, nor did he impose the Law on the Gentiles.
Was Paul behaving in an inconsistent manner? Of course not. He simply adapted his approach to different groups. When you read his sermons in the Book of Acts, you see this wise adaptation. When he preached to Jews, he started with the Old Testament patriarchs; but when he preached to Gentiles, he began with the God of Creation. Paul did not have a “stock sermon” for all occasions.
It is worth noting that our Lord followed the same approach. To the highborn Jew, Nicodemus, He talked about spiritual birth (John 3); but to the Samaritan woman, He spoke about living water (John 4). Jesus was flexible and adaptable, and Paul followed His example. Neither Jesus nor Paul had an inflexible “evangelistic formula” that was used in every situation.
It takes tact to have contact. When the people I witness to tell me about their experience of confirmation, I tell them that I too was confirmed. I express my appreciation for the pastor who taught me and prayed for me. Then I tell them, “A year after I was confirmed, I met Jesus Christ personally and was born again.” A good witness tries to build bridges, not walls.
To immature people, Paul’s lifestyle probably looked inconsistent. In reality, he was very consistent, for his overriding purpose was to win people to Jesus Christ. Consistency can become a very legalistic thing, and a man can become so bound by man-made rules and standards that he has no freedom to minister. He is like young David trying to battle in Saul’s armor.
Paul had the right to eat whatever pleased him, but he gave up that right so that he might win the Jews. Paul revered the Law (see ), but set that aside so that he might reach the lost Gentiles. He even identified himself with the legalistic weak Christians so that he might help them to grow. It was not compromise, but rather total abandonment to the higher law of love. Paul followed the example of the Saviour and humbled himself to become the servant of all.
For his own sake (vv. ). Paul was fond of athletic images and used them often in his letters. The Corinthians would have been familiar with the Greek Olympic Games as well as their own local Isthmian Games. Knowing this, Paul used a metaphor very close to their experience.
An athlete must be disciplined if he is to win the prize. Discipline means giving up the good and the better for the best. The athlete must watch his diet as well as his hours. He must smile and say “No, thank you” when people offer him fattening desserts or invite him to late-night parties. There is nothing wrong with food or fun, but if they interfere with your highest goals, then they are hindrances and not helps.
The Christian does not run the race in order to get to heaven. He is in the race because he has been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Only Greek citizens were allowed to participate in the games, and they had to obey the rules both in their training and in their performing. Any contestant found breaking the training rules was automatically disqualified.
In order to give up his rights and have the joy of winning lost souls, Paul had to discipline himself. That is the emphasis of this entire chapter: Authority (rights) must be balanced by discipline. If we want to serve the Lord and win His reward and approval, we must pay the price.
The word castaway () is a technical word familiar to those who knew the Greek games. It means “disapproved, disqualified.” At the Greek games, there was a herald who announced the rules of the contest, the names of the contestants, and the names and cities of the winners. He would also announce the names of any contestants who were disqualified.
Paul saw himself as both a “herald” and a “runner.” He was concerned lest he get so busy trying to help others in the race that he ignore himself and find himself disqualified. Again, it was not a matter of losing personal salvation. (The disqualified Greek athlete did not lose his citizenship, only his opportunity to win a prize.) The whole emphasis is on rewards, and Paul did not want to lose his reward.
Only one runner could win the olive-wreath crown in the Greek games, but every believer can win an incorruptible crown when he stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ. This crown is given to those who discipline themselves for the sake of serving Christ and winning lost souls. They keep their bodies under control and keep their eyes on the goal.
In recent years, evangelical Christians have rediscovered the importance of personal discipline and the relationship between a disciplined body and a Spirit-filled life. We must, of course, avoid extremes. On the one hand, religious asceticism is unhealthy and of no value spiritually (). But on the other hand, there is something to be said for disciplined eating, exercising, and resting, and a Spirit-directed balanced life. We smugly congratulate ourselves that we do not smoke or use alcohol, but what about our overeating and overweight? And many Christians cannot discipline their time so as to have a consistent devotional life or Bible-study program.
Paul had one great goal in life: to glorify the Lord by winning the lost and building up the saints. To reach this goal, he was willing to pay any price. He was willing even to give up his personal rights! He sacrificed immediate gains for eternal rewards, immediate pleasures for eternal joys.