Understanding

2nd Corinthians 1: Reading & Understanding

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     ...we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. (2^nd Cor. 1:13-14).

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Here, Paul states that he did not write anything his contemporary readers could not “read or understand.” This raises the question, “Why do we tend to find so much of the New Testament difficult to understand?” We cite as an example Paul’s letter to the Romans, the meanings and significance of which seem notoriously difficult to grasp. We also think of The Revelation, as well as Hebrews and others, as being particularly challenging to our understanding.

Yet the various letters and books of the New Testament were meant by their authors to be read aloud in the assembly, and to be clearly understood by both readers and listeners. Imagine the Book of Romans read aloud from beginning to end in our church service one Sunday morning, followed by “any questions?” Imagine the blinks and blank stares! 

So what is the difference between the ability of 1^st century believers to hear, read and understand, and our own? Is it that we are less intelligent or educated than they were? I don’t think so. Perhaps we can focus on two factors, both of which can be defined in the broadest sense by the word “distance.”

Distance means that those to whom Paul wrote were much closer – historically, culturally, religiously, ritually, and in terms of language - to Paul himself and to the content of his writings, than we are. Again, here are two examples of this.

First, the writings of the New Testament were set solidly in the historical, geographical and cultural realities of the 1^st century ancient Near East. This cultural framing is extensive, even to the extent that most or all of the New Testament was written in Greek, none in English. Hebrew cultural and historical roots are deep into the text. Metaphors and uses of idioms and expressions emerged not only from a language foreign to us, but also to a foreign way of life and unfamiliar worldviews.

When we move these same writings forward 2,000 years into our own cultural milieu, language, and mindset, we lose a good deal of the original, intuitive and spontaneous understandability Paul referred to. This is one reason why we may tend to move towards paraphrases like The Message or the Phillips Paraphrase. At times - if we are careful in using them and do not rely on them to the exclusion of authentic translations - they may help us understand the gist of what was actually and originally written.

To illustrate this first point further, imagine that our pastor were to travel extensively, being away for some months, and then write us a letter to be read aloud in a Sunday morning assembly. Imagine that in the letter, Pastor wrote: “The music here is off the hook.” Imagine also that two thousand years from now, someone excavates his letter from an archeological dig. Suppose the language in 2,000 years is completely foreign to English, which no one speaks and which is considered an ancient language. How will the discoverers translate and interpret the meaning of “The music here is off the hook”?

Second, the direct recipients of New Testament writings were often personally acquainted with the authors. They had seen them, heard them, listened to their teachings, and were familiar with their ways of communicating, their personalities, their voices and voice inflections, and even their body language and facial expressions. So, they were able to “read between the lines,” calling upon earlier conversations and teachings in order to make intuitive, logical sense out of what was written. After all, which do we understand better: a letter written by a close personal friend, or one written by, say, Alexander Solzhenitsyn?

Both of these factors contribute to distance, and require us to study as well as merely read the text of scripture. Yes, the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us into truth, and this happens as we apply ourselves to the diligent study of Holy Scripture.

In summary, in order to more effectively understand Biblical writings we need to learn at least some of the history, geography and culture in which they were written, and something of the concerns and personalities of the authors and original addressees. In this way, we can close some of the gap (distance) between us and them, enhancing our understanding so we can more effectively apply scriptural truths to our own time, life and culture.

It takes a little work, but if we can both read and think, we can do it.  

2nd Corinthians 1: A Brief Introduction to Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Church in Corinth

 

To gain a helpful sense of the attitude and mindset by which Paul wrote 2^nd Corinthians, and to glimpse the occasion for his writing it, I recommend reading 2 Cor. 7:5-16 before beginning chapter 1, and before reading the following.

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S - “…Our hope for you is unshaken“ (2nd Corinthians 1:7); “….we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” (1^st Corinthians 1:24)

O – These are indications of the great relief and joy Paul felt, having received a report from Titus as to how the Corinthians received and responded to his first letter.

U – This relief and gratitude which Paul felt sets the tone and tenor of Paul’s second letter to Corinth.

L – For more in the way of explanation, and for a brief introduction to 2^nd Corinthians, click below “Understanding” – top right, and see “ 2^nd Corinthians 1:  A Brief Introduction to Paul’s 2^nd Letter to the Church in Corinth.”

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Imagine that your pastor were to move far away in God’s will and grace, where he spent many months apart from your church. Then imagine that someone were to travel from your church to wherever the pastor was staying, reporting to him that many of the members of our church had backslidden and were openly engaging in self-centered sins of various kinds. What kind of a letter would your pastor be likely to send back with that messenger?

1^st Corinthians was just such a letter. Why do I mention 1^st Corinthians in an introduction to 2^nd Corinthians? Here is the reason:

As we have seen, 1^st Corinthians had been sharply critical, demanding changes in attitudes and actions on the part of the believers in Corinth. They were, from the beginning, steeped in the decadence and pluralism of Corinth. As such, they were prone to sliding back from Christian unity and faithfulness into personalized and individualized sins of attitude as well as commission. Consequently, they had received from Paul (1^st Corinthians) his sternest corrections. After sending that letter of reprimand and instruction, Paul prayerfully awaited word of their reaction and response.

Would the Corinthian believers heed Paul’s correction and change their ways? Would they remember the wonderful things God had done in applying His glorious gospel to them? Or would they disregard or reject Paul’s teaching and sink further into their slide back to the norms of their local culture?

Word came to Paul in Macedonia, in the form of a report from Titus (2^nd Cor. 7:6), Paul’s “own son” in the faith (Titus 1:4), reporting that the Corinthians had sorrowed over Paul’s letter, and that they had longed for Paul with deep concern for him. They had also treated Titus very well during his visit, in which he had apparently delivered Paul’s letter (again, the one we call “1^st Corinthians”).

Paul’s letter had not fallen on deaf ears! The Corinthians, motivated by “Godly sorrow” (7:10), heeded Paul’s correction and were repentant in their attitudes and actions. This brought great joy to Paul, who wrote (2^nd Cor. 1:7) “…Our hope for you is unshaken“, and in v.24 “….we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.”

Whereas 1^st Corinthians was written by Paul in agitated concern over the Corinthians’ behavior, 2^nd Corinthians was written under an entirely different, more relaxed, refreshed, reassured, and satisfied attitude and mindset. This is due to the fact that Paul was quite relieved to have received a good report concerning the Corinthian response to his earlier reprimand. Thus, we find 2^nd Corinthians more grateful, conciliatory, gracious, complimentary, diplomatic and joyful in its tone and content than was 1^st Corinthians.

Paul wrote the letter called 2^nd Corinthians in order to: (1) re-establish and restore relationship between himself and the Corinthians; (2) express joy and gratitude over their continuing regard for him as brother and apostle; (3) emphasize and defend his apostolic authority against “false apostles” (11:13) in Corinth and in the province of Achaia (chaps. 10-13); and (4) ask for money for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem (chaps. 8-9).  

With this knowledge and insight, we can approach our reading and understanding of 2^nd Corinthians with a solid and proper sense of historical context and tone, helping us to frame and understand Paul’s letter and enabling us to apply its principles and teaching in the most effective manner. The better we understand what we are reading, the better we can apply its truth and meaning to our own lives and circumstances.

Paul was always concerned about holding fast to pure and true doctrine. We saw in 1^st Corinthians (chap. 15) that Paul included a “Gospel” passage dealing with the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ and its critical importance to the faith of all believers. Paul does a similar thing here at 2^nd Corinthians 3:4-18, in which he compares and contrasts the Old Covenant of Moses with the New Covenant of the Spirit. In doing so, Paul refers to the Law (that which was “engraved in letters on stone”) as being the “ministry of death” and “the ministry that brought condemnation.” Yet he called the Law and Old Covenant “glorious,” as he had also called the law “good” in his letter to the Romans. Unpacking thse concepts will be crucial to our full understanding of the Gospel.

Paul then identifies the New Covenant in Christ as “the ministry that brought righteousness.” Of course, we know that the righteousness to which Paul referred is that which comes by grace through faith in the risen Jesus, the Christ, and neither by our own works nor by the Law.

 

 

1st Corinthians 16: Financial Applications

I have noticed that many believers can be easily offended if a pastor talks about money, especially if he speaks of giving to the Church. Oh, it may be ok if a pastor gives the obligatory once-a-year sermon on giving, but if he comes back to it a few times, it does not seem to sit very well with some. It is not surprising, then, that many Christians are unaware of the fact that financial giving and support is a recurring theme in the New Testament.

Paul, for example, in stressing unity and subordination of the individual to the body of Christ, was not reluctant to make application to money and finances.   

Paul was ashamed to talk about money - Throughout this letter to the Corinthians, Paul taught that believers are to subordinate their personal ambitions to the interests of the body of Christ. The point, in rough terms, is that I am not the center of the universe, and neither are you. Christ is the head and the Center, and we are but members of His body.

Here in chapter 16, Paul rightly includes the importance of caring financially for those who preach and teach, and for those believers who are under persecution and extreme hardship. The Apostle Paul was not bashful about asking for money for his own ministry and for the needs of others, nor was he reluctant to earn it. But he was not in love with it; rather he loved with it.

In other NT writings, Paul thanked the Philippians for money they sent for his personal and ministry needs (Phil. 1:4, 4:10-20), and he advised the Romans that when he came to them, he expected financial support for his missionary trip to Spain (Rom. 15:25-32.) Here in 1^st Cor. 16, Paul instructed the believers to take up a weekly collection until he arrived in Corinth to form a relief party to be sent to the impoverished saints in Jerusalem. In his next letter to the Corinthians, he will renew his appeal for money to be sent to Jerusalem (2^nd Cor. 8 - 9). Paul also appealed to the Corinthian believers (1^st Cor. 16:10-11) to support Timothy financially, as he visited Corinth and traveled on to rejoin Paul in Ephesus (v.8).

Paul called the "love of money" the "root of all evil" (I Tim. 6:10). He worked diligently at his tent making and leather working  trade in order to support himself and not be a financial burden on others (see, for example, 1 Thess. 2:9 & Acts 20:33-35). In all of his teaching, Paul truly repeated the same theme over and over again: All potentially “good” things - spiritual gifts, money, material blessings, knowledge, faith, etc. - are “good” only if used to Godly, unifying, edifying purposes; otherwise they are useless at best.

Distorting the message - We must be careful, however, not to go to extremes by jerking Biblical verses out of their intended context. The topic of money is quite easily subject to distortion if we do so. Depending on what text we choose as “proof,” we can cast money in various lights. We can find numerous statements in scripture seeming to be “anti” money, and we can find passages welcoming its use and endorsing monetary blessings as being the demonstrated favor of God towards those whom He appears to be blessing.

Nowhere in the Bible (read in context) do I recall seeing instructions to hate money per se, nor to despise working for it; neither do I see any instructions to refuse to pray for or to accept God’s blessings, including material ones. By the same token, we are taught in scripture to avoid the love of money and material blessings for their own sake. Contrary to numerous so-called “prosperity teachers” today, material blessings are not to be used as a spiritual scorecard.

Biblical principles concerning money - If we were to examine all Biblical teaching on the subject, we would very likely form “good” and “evil” lists something like these:

Good/Wise: trusting God to provide our needs; gratitude towards God for His provisions; personal generosity; use of money and resources to build and support the body of Christ and to bless needy saints and family members; charity; upright and wise investment of financial resources; earned profits from honest work and commerce; thinking of money and material things as a media of blessing and providence; wise and prudent spending and saving; embracing sound financial principles in order to handle resources well; loving God more than money and possessions; and understanding that God is sovereign over all we will ever possess, including our money.

Evil/Foolish: dishonest gain; miserly attitudes; stinginess; covetousness; jealousy, envy, greed, and resentment towards those with more than us; love of money more than God and others; laziness; foolish investing and handling of resources; lack of sincere effort and diligence in work and career matters; violation of tax, employment and financial laws; falling into the “zero sum game” fallacy; failing to support the Church in accordance with our means; taking advantage of godly pastors and teachers without paying them adequately; buying what we cannot afford with money or credit we cannot or will not repay; shorting the compensation of those who serve us in our everyday lives; and gloating over our own material blessings.

Seeking assistance - Each of us has work to do in these areas. Some have - through professional training, practical experience and faithful service - acquired considerable wisdom in such matters and can be called upon to share it. Helping one another to grow in these areas is, after all, a big part of discipleship, the central mandate of the Great Commission, and if we diligently and proactively look to the body of Christ for knowledge, wisdom and help, we may well find what we are looking for. If we wait around for answers to magically show up, we may wait a long time.

More Letters to the Corinthians

Shifting focus a bit - well, here we are at the end of 1^st Corinthians. I for one am a bit sad to be leaving it but also anxious to get on to 2^nd Corinthians, a letter which will, for reasons we will explore, quite a bit more lighthearted and upbeat than 1^st Corinthians.

For those who would like to see yet another early letter to the Corinthians (“1^st Clement,” a letter which is not included in the New Testament) written perhaps two or three decades after Paul wrote 1^st Corinthians, you can access the full text here:

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-roberts.html

Clement, the author of this letter, is called an “Apostolic Father” – that is, he was a leader in the Church immediately after the time of the Apostles. In fact, the Apostle John was very likely still alive when Clement wrote what is now called “1^st Clement.” In this case, Clement wrote to the Corinthian believers mostly concerning a dispute which had erupted in the local church in Corinth between certain members and elders, by which elders had been dismissed, apparently over “envy and emulation.” Clement wrote urging restoration of peace, proper order, and recognition of authority over and above individuals with their own agendas.

It is quite interesting to find themes in 1^st Clement that are the same or similar to those which we have explored in 1^st Corinthians. Take, for example, the following short excerpt from 1^st Clement, chapter 37. St. Clement writes of the body as a metaphor for the Church, and he stresses the importance of unity and synergy in the body of Christ:

“The great cannot subsist without the small, nor the small without the great. There is a kind of mixture in all things, and thence arises mutual advantage. Let us take our body for an example. The head is nothing without the feet, and the feet are nothing without the head; yea, the very smallest members of our body are necessary and useful to the whole body. But all work harmoniously together, and are under one common rule for the preservation of the whole body.”

Sound familiar?

  

1st Corinthians 15: The Gospel Truth

Paul writes in 1^st Corinthians 15:1-2 that what he is about to convey is so critical that if his readers believe it entirely and permanently, they are saved; if they do not believe it, then whatever they have received and believed is believed "in vain."

The gift of faith in Christ, which includes an abiding belief in the Gospel of Christ, is permanent. Paul implies here that to have “received the Gospel” once, merely temporarily, is not to have received it. That is, authentic belief and saving faith is not necessarily indicated by some fleeting “confession” made by formula and then left behind like one more nostalgic experience, or like some milestone accomplishment for which the box has been checked so “what’s next?”

Paul leaves no picture whatsoever of our “accepting” the Gospel, or “accepting Christ,” and then getting on to other things, leaving the Gospel behind.

Paul states that this Gospel is something to be “received” and persisted in. We should not skip over that. Salvation is not something we “claim” for ourselves, or something we build up in ourselves over time; nor is the Gospel something we “are” or we “do.” Neither is the Gospel something we could ever dream up ourselves. The Gospel is certainly not a thing which we “arrive at” or “achieve” through some personal, superior goodness or moral superiority by which we make the “right” choices and decisions while someone else makes the “wrong” ones.  

If we truly believe the Gospel is any of these things, then we have not received the Gospel.

The Gospel (Good News) is comprised of the facts and eternal effects of a set of historical actions taken by a real Person, the eternal benefits of which are given to us by grace alone through faith alone, where faith - itself the gift of God – brings deep and lasting belief in these facts and in this Person, Jesus Christ.  

Receipt of the gift of faith in Christ and belief in the Gospel are necessary conditions to entering or even seeing the Kingdom, to living in or for Christ, to being a Christ follower of any kind, and to being a ”disciple” of Christ.

Paul summarizes the Gospel as including the following points of historical and eschatological facts:

1. Christ is God incarnate. He became a man, lived a pure and righteous and holy life and died a substitutionary, atoning death for our sins. To do that, He had to be sinless, and He had to be both God and man – man to live a sinless life and to be qualified as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, and God because no mere man was ever qualified or able to become qualified. To be sinless means, among other things, that He was completely honest, and He clearly claimed to be God. If that was not true, then there is no Gospel; if we do not believe it is true, then we have not received the Gospel.

 

1. He was raised by God (15:15) on the third day according to the scriptures. Romans 4:25 states He was “raised for our justification,” that is, for the removal of the guilt of our sin, so we can stand before God whole and redeemed. If we do not believe this, then we have come by whatever we do believe in vain – we have not received the Gospel.

 

1. He appeared alive to many witnesses who were alive during Paul’s lifetime to witness and to testify to that historical fact. From then until now there have been self-proclaimed “Christians” who denied the literal, bodily resurrection of Christ (15:12-19). They believed whatever they did believe in vain - they had not received the Gospel. They were still lost in their sins, no matter how much they tried to blend in with actual believers (v.17).

 

1. On His glorious returning, Christ will raise His own from the dead and take the literal, physical throne of His glorious Kingdom, where there is eternal life for the redeemed, whom He has and will have saved from the “last enemy,” which is death (v.26). This is a vital and integral part of the Gospel, and if someone does not believe it, they have not received the Gospel.

 

1. Not to have received the Gospel is to remain in one’s sins, which is to “go on sinning” by being the lost sinners we all are, unless and until we receive the Gospel (v.34). Having received the Gospel with the gift of faith in Christ, the believer is cleansed from all sin. Not to believe this is not to have received the Gospel.

Those who have received the Gospel will find v.42-58 to be among the most magnificent, soaring, beautiful passages in all of scripture. Those who have not received the Gospel will find nothing there of any real or lasting interest to them, and will probably find Paul’s statements to be perplexing or even irritating.

The very last statements in chapter 15 say, in effect, that IF we have received the Gospel, THEN our labor is not in vain. That is, if we have not received the Gospel, all our best efforts at doing good are in vain. We remain unsaved regardless of what good we do, and all the human accolades and good feelings of accomplishment to the contrary will not change it. But if we have received the Gospel, then our work is redeemed and sanctified (v.58).

In other words, we do not reach anything like perfect righteousness of our own accord, but if and when we labor in and through faith - having received the Gospel - then the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, who redeems all of our works and causes them to be “works of faith,” is ascribed and credited to us.

These are all reasons why Paul relentlessly preached and taught the Gospel to believers and seekers alike, modeling for us what should be the first priority of the Church.   

 

1st Corinthians 14: Should Women be Silent in the Church?

 

“Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church” (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

Was Paul a misogynist?

Or is it more likely that Paul’s comments were made in the specific cultural context of his day and time? After all, as we have been pointing out for some days now, an over-arching theme of 1^st Corinthians is the unified solidarity and community of the entire body of Christ; there is really no valid place in the Church for introducing individualism, factionalism or division-ism.

N.T. Wright, noted Christian scholar and Anglican Bishop of Durham, wrote a very helpful article entitled “Women’s Service in the Church: The Biblical Basis,” (St. John’s College, Durham, September 4, 2004). In this article, commenting upon the meaning of 1^st Corinthians 13:34-35, Wright observes:

“… I have always been attracted, ever since I heard it, to the explanation offered… by Ken Bailey. In the Middle East, he says, it was taken for granted that men and women would sit apart in church, as still happens today in some circles. Equally important, the service would be held (in Lebanon, say, or Syria, or Egypt), in formal or classical Arabic, which the men would all know but which many of the women would not, since the women would only speak a local dialect or patois. Again, we may disapprove of such an arrangement, but one of the things you learn in real pastoral work as opposed to ivory-tower academic theorizing is that you simply can’t take a community all the way from where it currently is to where you would ideally like it to be in a single flying leap.

“Anyway, the result would be that during the sermon in particular, the women, not understanding what was going on, would begin to get bored and talk among themselves. As Bailey describes the scene in such a church, the level of talking from the women’s side would steadily rise in volume, until the minister would have to say loudly, ‘Will the women please be quiet!’, whereupon the talking would die down, but only for a few minutes. Then, at some point, the minister would again have to ask the women to be quiet; and he would often add that if they wanted to know what was being said, they should ask their husbands to explain it to them when they got home.

“I know there are other explanations sometimes offered for this passage, some of them quite plausible; this is the one that has struck me for many years as having the strongest claim to provide a context for understanding what Paul is saying. After all, his central concern in 1 Corinthians 14 is for order and decency in the church’s worship. This would fit extremely well.”

Those who prefer a more complete treatment of this subject can access the entire article at:                                             

http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Women_Service_Church.htm

Did local cultural factors particularize Paul’s teaching to the ancient near east? Or are Paul’s comments dogmatic and universal in their intent? In other words, should we take his words to be “normative” for us in the 21^st century western world?

In examining passages such as this, we should disregard such factors as political correctness, or “I just think that…”, or “I’ve always heard that…”, or even sometimes “Our denomination’s position is…” These do not necessarily have any bearing on the meaning of Scripture, especially difficult passages like this one. Textual context is not even enough – as Dr. Wright points out, we need also to consider cultural and historical context.

There were women in early Church ministry (e.g., Phoebe, Priscilla), whose preaching, teaching and service are acknowledged, commended and approved in the New Testament. In addition, the entire letter to the Corinthians is all about the solidarity and unity of the body of Christ, each part building up the whole, and this leads us clearly away from casting women, or anyone else, as second class citizens in the Church. For these reasons and others, it seems unlikely and inconsistent that Paul’s meaning here is that there are never to be women teachers, deaconesses or ministers of any kind in Church. This observation points us again to the analysis relayed by Dr. Wright.

So, what is our situation in today’s church?

The Church in America is highly feminized. Women in church attendance outnumber men most everywhere, often by a wide margin. Women tend to show up at church related functions more often than men, who are frequently known to participate only because their wives do, or perhaps because they might meet some women there. Many times women lead the men into church, and men lead the women out! Women generally volunteer more than men, serve more, participate more, respond in meetings more, and in many respects participate in church life and community more faithfully and wholeheartedly than men.

There are, on the other hand, relatively few women pastors and elders in today’s Church, perhaps due to one or more of the following: (1) modern interpretations of the teachings of Paul, (2) the fact that Jesus chose no women apostles, and/or (3) tradition, that is, the mere fact that for centuries we see hardly any female pastors, priests, preachers or bishops in the Church. The question is whether any or all of this is obedient to scripture, to temporary cultural norms and conventions, or some combination of both.  

Ironically, the larger thrust of Paul’s teaching would seem to support the idea of women teachers and preachers in the church, at least in our day when culturally such a thing would seem to be in order and quite acceptable. The confusion and division caused by women speaking out during church services and being disruptive about it does not seem to be an issue in our time.

By the way, if we have a church that is dominated by women yet supposedly “led” by men, then it is not hard to see that over time the church will become increasingly feminized. Music and worship styles will tend to become increasingly feminine, as will teaching and preaching content and style. The business and consumer side of Christianity – including the commercial “Christian” music industry – will also become increasingly feminized.

But I suppose this is a subject for another time.

In our day, age and culture, Christian men could be more concerned about the level and quality of their own roles and participation in the body of Christ, than whether or not women should be serving in ministry. If women had not served in many different capacities over the last 150-200 years, there may not BE a church as we know it today.

Again, ironically, the question may not really be, “Should women be silent in the church?” A better question might be, “Why are so many men so silent in the church?”

1st Corinthians 14: Love vs. Self-Gratification

“…in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

“Let all things be done for building up.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

“…all things should be done decently and in order.”

                    1st Corinthians 14:19, 26, 33, 40

 

The famous “love” section (1 Cor. 13) should not be read or understood in isolation, but rather in context both of chapter 14 and of the entire letter. Paul’s overriding theme continues: Believers are to be committed to unity and building up the entire church rather than glorifying individuals. The bottom line question to be asked: “Is the other person being built up?” (v.17)

This raises additional questions such as, “Are people being taught, or merely entertained?” “Who is being glorified, God or ourselves?” “In church, are we going for personal thrills and titillation, or are we seeking increasing understanding and actualization of the things of God for edification (building up) of the entire church?”

As soon as Paul finishes making his points, he does in chapter 15 the very thing which he has encouraged the Corinthians to do: Paul teaches the Gospel of Christ. So, even as chapter 15 is one of the most definitive descriptions of the Gospel in all of the New Testament letters, it is best read and understood in context - along with chapters 13-14 and the rest of the entire letter to the Corinthians - as the ultimate expression and demonstration of the “building up” which Paul has encouraged in the 14 preceding chapters.

If we asked 1,000 Christians at random why they attend the churches they do, the majority will say things like, “I feel comfortable there,” “The people are so nice and friendly,” “The worship is awesome,” “The pastor is really cool and he’s such a good speaker,” “The children’s programs are really well done,” “We do some really cool social service projects,” etc.

These are all ok, but they are not – individually or altogether – the reason anyone should attend a particular church. They are secondary at best. A far better response (and one which would far better resonates with the Scriptures we have been reading) would be something like:

“This church preaches and teaches the Gospel of Christ constantly to existing members as well as to outsiders and seekers. All sermons and all teachings move us towards baptism and the Lord’s Supper, where we share in the resurrection to new life in Christ and in the His healing and saving blood and the body, broken for us. In this church, the word and the Spirit of Christ are everywhere - right, left and center; they are the life blood and the heartbeat of this body and this fellowship, and we are known for these things. In short, I am here because the message is true, consistent, complete and on target.”  

If we wanted to summarize Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, from chapters 1 through 15 with overtones from Paul's other writings (especially Ephesians and Romans), we might put it something like this:

Believers, get over your self-gratifying and self-justifying selves! Love one another in Christian unity and solidarity. Grow together in the love of Christ, always preaching, teaching and affirming the pure Gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as informed by the word of God alone, for His glory alone. Are you sure those around you are consciously grateful and mindful of the Gospel? Make SURE they are! Build up the Church by being and doing that which edifies the entire body and not just your particular part of it. After all, your own individual portion, by itself and apart from the whole body of Christ, is next to useless. Remember that you brought nothing into your own salvation, and it is the Gospel that you proclaim - that is, Christ crucified and resurrected. Use every gift of God to hold to the pure Gospel, and hold each other to it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“…in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

“Let all things be done for building up.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

“…all things should be done decently and in order.”

                  -      1st Corinthians 14:19, 26, 33, 40

 

The famous “love” section (1 Cor. 13) should not be read or understood in isolation, but rather in context both of chapter 14 and of the entire letter. Paul’s overriding theme continues: Believers are to be committed to unity and building up the entire church rather than glorifying individuals. The bottom line question to be asked: “Is the other person being built up?” (v.17)

This raises additional questions such as, “Are people being taught, or merely entertained?” “Who is being glorified, God or ourselves?” “In church, are we going for personal thrills and titillation, or are we seeking increasing understanding and actualization of the things of God for edification (building up) of the entire church?”

As soon as Paul finishes making his points, he does in chapter 15 the very thing which he has encouraged the Corinthians to do: Paul teaches the Gospel of Christ. So, even as chapter 15 is one of the most definitive descriptions of the Gospel in all of the New Testament letters, it is best read and understood in context - along with chapters 13-14 and the rest of the entire letter to the Corinthians - as the ultimate expression and demonstration of the “building up” which Paul has encouraged in the 14 preceding chapters.

If we asked 1,000 Christians at random why they attend the church they do, the vast majority will say things like, “I feel comfortable there,” “The people are so nice and friendly,” “The worship is awesome,” “The pastor is really cool and he’s such a good speaker,” “The children’s programs are really well done,” “We do some really cool social service projects,” etc.

These are all ok, but they are not – individually or altogether – the reason anyone should attend a particular church. They are secondary at best. A far better response (and by the way, a response which would far better resonate with the Scriptures we have been reading) would be something like:

“This church preaches and teaches the Gospel of Christ constantly, including to its continuing members. All sermons and all teachings move us towards the Lord’s Supper, where we share in the healing and saving blood and the body of Christ, broken for us. In this church, the word and the Spirit of Christ are everywhere - right, left and center; they are the life blood and the heartbeat of this body and this fellowship. In short, I am here because the message is true, consistent, complete and on target.”  

If we wanted to summarize Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, from chapters 1 through 15, we might put it this way:

Believers, get over your individual selves! Love one another in Christian unity and solidarity. Grow together in the love of Christ, always preaching, teaching and affirming the pure Gospel of Christ. Are you sure those around you are consciously grateful and mindful of the Gospel? Make SURE they are! Build up the Church by being and doing that which edifies the entire body and not just your particular part of it. After all, your own individual portion, by itself and apart from the whole body of Christ, is next to useless. Use every gift of God to hold to the pure Gospel, and hold each other to it.” 

1st Corinthians 13: Love… for Whom and for What?

 

       So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;   but the greatest of these is love. 

                                                                    1^st Cor. 13:13

 

Paul makes a summary statement about three virtues on which he frequently teaches and exhorts the early Church. In saying “the greatest of these is love,” Paul echoes the words of Jesus (Luke 10:25-28, Mark 12:28-31, Matthew 22:34-40), who taught that love of God and neighbor are the greatest of all His commandments.

Paul invoked the virtue and practice of love in two related contexts. First, he inserted this section in the midst of a teaching on use of the spiritual gifts and offices for the edification of others, and not merely for the enjoyment or edification of the individual believer. Second and moreover, Paul invoked love as the basis for the orientation of believers towards the Church.

If we scan chapters 1 through chapter 14, we find many sub-topics, but the constant theme and context is this: the body of Christ is to operate as a single, cohesive, dedicated unit, built up continuously through the unifying actions and attitudes of its members. This “building up”, if done consistently and earnestly, necessarily employs love for both God and neighbor.

We have here a picture of both unity and diversity – unity in terms of the Church comprised of unified believers in one Gospel and one Christ, and diversity in those gifts and personalities which are dedicated to unity. This juxtaposition of unity and diversity cannot come about without the love of Christ working in and through His people.

I confess that for most of my life I read 1^st Corinthians 13 – the “love chapter” - completely out of context. I knew it was something special, but I supposed it spoke directly "to me" about how "I" should (but did not ever quite manage to) conduct myself in relationships - specifically those with my wife, close relatives and close friends. I supposed this description of love was a good barometer for me to evaluate how I was being loved, or not, by others. In these ways, the chapter was for me a guilt-producer on the one hand, and an entitlement document on the other.

In imagining the love passage to be all about "me," I missed Paul's point entirely.

Chapter 13 is set solidly in context of the body of Christ and our subordinate roles as its individual members. It is about living and acting in ways that unify and build up the body of Christ. That takes the kind of love Paul wrote about, and this kind of love - like grace and faith - is a gift from God, not something you or I are able to pull off by reading an inspirational passage and then making self-propelled resolutions.

Paul's "love chapter" is not a general teaching on romantic love, nor is it essentially a teaching on how "I" love God in my "personal relationship" with Him. It is not a passage to be used in judging the love of others. It does provide a glimpse of how He loves us, and it is clearly a description of the kind of love God extends to and through us by His Spirit. His love must operate in us and through us to accomplish wholeness, unity and health in the body of Christ.

Looking ahead from here, chapter 14 will continues the unity and solidarity theme which began in chapter 1. Chapter 15 will cap the entire matter by making it very clear that the Gospel of Christ - especially the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead for our justification - is the bedrock foundation upon which all of the rest of Paul's teaching, from chapters 1 through 14, rests and depends.

Here then is the New Testament message once again:

The Gospel is what Christ has already done for us, including His sinless life of love, His sacrificial, atoning death for our sins, His literal resurrection from the dead for our justification, His gifts of grace, faith, and all other spiritual gifts, and His future return. We do not, in the first place, "live the Gospel," we receive it, and we believe it, just as we receive and value every good gift God has given us. And in gratitude we learn to obey His commands as we grow up into the united body of Christ, until He returns to complete all things in us and in His glorious Kingdom.

1st Corinthians 12-14: The More Excellent Way

 

Paul writes, “Now eagerly [zealously] desire the higher gifts…” (1 Cor. 12:31)

Let’s Not Jump to Conclusions - A hasty reading might suggest Paul was encouraging his readers to choose from the list of spiritual gifts which he had just enumerated at 12:8-10 and 12:28-30. This interpretation implies that Paul is urging the Corinthian believers to decide what gifts (e.g., word of wisdom, word of knowledge, gift of faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, spiritual discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues, leadership, prophecy, teaching) are “the best” or “the highest” in their personal judgment,hoping and praying to receive their top choices rather than other, “lesser” or “lower” gifts.

We modern, western Christians are somewhat prone to jumping on this bandwagon. That is because we live in a “me, myself and I” culture in which many churches pander to our “personal” desires for self-importance and autonomy. It is rather natural in the modern course of things for us to equate self-importance with impressive manifestations of our “spiritual gifts.” We are surrounded, after all, by the message: “It’s YOUR life… YOU choose, YOU decide.”

This kind of a mindset and interpretation seem quite dubious. For one thing, Paul made the point rather clearly (v.4, 7, 24, 28) that God distributes the gifts, not that we have any personal entitlement or input in how they are distributed. Paul believes in and teaches God’s sovereignty. If Paul is truly encouraging individual believers to “go for” the gifts they think are “the best,” then where is the place for God’s sovereignty in this? We would need to read our own individual and personal sovereignty and supremacy into the text.

The only apparent advantage of this interpretation is that it requires no real thinking and no real reflection beyond our personal desires for greatness.

Yes, we understand that in exercising spiritual gifts we are required to take action in cooperation with the Spirit; but this is hardly a matter of picking and choosing gifts by way of our own discretion, nor is it a matter of our judging which of God’s spiritual gifts are “higher” or “lower.”

Furthermore, on what possible basis would we presume to know and discern which gifts are “higher” and “lower?” Where is the Biblical teaching and precedent for making such a determination, or even to establish that the gifts of the Spirit (gifts of God) could ever lend themselves to quality evaluation and sorting by me, or by you?

Another View - A more plausible and compelling interpretation of 1^st Cor. 12:31 follows from taking a look at the structure of chapters 12 through 14. Verse 31 of chapter 12 starts a new thought, which continues at 14:1, with chapter 13 in between as one of Paul’s inserted or parenthetical sections. More on this in a moment – for now let’s start by focusing on 12:31.

The entire verse (12:31) reads:

“But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

Rather than being a conclusion to the forgoing text, as would be the case if v.31 began with “Therefore, earnestly desire the higher gifts…,” there is a sense here that Paul in now going to add something new to the mix. Verse 31 looks forward into the text, not backwards. Paul begins by using the word “But,” and in so doing he puts a period on the forgoing text and begins something new that will send his teaching in a somewhat different direction.

Try reading from 12:31 right into the beginning of chapter 14 (again, momentarily skipping over chapter 13); we find that the thought flow moves logically and smoothly. Paul’s statement at 14:12 then seems to interpret 12:31: “Since you [Corinthians with an “s”, who together as a body are Paul’s intended readers] are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.”

In other word, if we read 1^st Cor. 12:31 followed immediately by 14:1-12, we find that 12:31 is explained quite clearly. It seems to define the “higher gifts” in 12:31 as those that “build up the church.” This in turn brings up the next question: Don’t ALL of the gifts listed in chapter 12 “build up the church?” Since they certainly do, Paul must be referring to them all. What then is he driving at here?

I believe we can allow the biblical text to interpret itself. Rather than Paul saying, “Hey, each of you Corinthians should examine the menu of spiritual gifts and look for the ‘best’ and ‘highest’ ones to be given you,” it seems he is saying, “As you believers (plural) exercise the gifts of the Spirit in the fellowship of faith, instead of being self-centered and showcasing these gifts personally, try to embrace and exercise them in love, in ways that build up the Church as the body of Christ, not in ways that merely build up and display ‘me, myself and I’.”

Chapter 13 - What about the Love Chapter, 1^st Cor. 13? How can we simply “skip it?”

We certainly do not want to skip this beautiful section of Paul’s letter. However, we want to understand it in its place as the writer (and the Spirit) intended.

Paul uses parenthetical inserts in his writings. That means he occasionally suspends the flow of his written thoughts for a time and writes a separate “parenthetical” section of text, and then comes back to the original thought flow again. A good example is in Romans, where Paul inserts chapters 9-11 as just such a parenthetical section. If we read from the end of Romans chapter 8 directly into chapter 12, we find that it flows quite logically and smoothly, while the intervening chapters 9-11 present Israelite history as a parenthetical insert.

It seems that Paul has similarly inserted the wonderful “love section” that we classify as 1st Corinthians chapter 13. In expounding upon “love,” Paul intensifies and deepens his overriding theme of unity as “one body” in Christ; the unified body of Christ is paramount and supreme over a kind of personalized, individualized “me, myself and I” religion. In including the love chapter, Paul strengthens and fortifies the larger theme of his letter, that in all things believers must put off individualistic, divisive “me first,” so-called Christianity, and instead put on solidarity, unity, and union with Christ as a body or community of faith, which happens (secondarily) to be made up of its individual parts, with Christ as the Head.

I believe we typically and characteristically personalize and individualize the “love chapter” (13) and read it through a narcissistic filter, as though it merely tells “me” how “I” am to love, individually in “my” private, personal, family and church life. We also come quickly to the interpretation that this is how God loves “me, myself and I” within the personal, individual relationship He and I have together.

On closer inspection, chapter 13 appears to be more about subordinating our personal, individual concerns and cares to the unity and solidarity of the body of Christ. This unity of the body of Christ is a large part of our very union with Christ Himself! This theme is also a continuation of that which Paul has been writing about for several chapters running.

We may well tend to think of the Church as being comprised essentially of individuals with personalized gifts who come together occasionally to “check in” or to “refuel.” We may habitually think in terms of one person having superb “gifts” and another having weaker gifts, as though each was on an individual quest or race to obtain and display their level of spirituality. We can go further and say that we tend to view our Christianity as essentially being an individual race to the finish, in which each believer is in some sort of spiritual competition with other believers for a prize that not all can win.

No Zero Sum Game - We modern, western human beings have a horrible tendency to assume that in the case of any good thing, there is only a fixed, finite amount of it to go around. If “they” get more, then “I” get less. Take financial assets (money and valuables) for example. Much argumentation, fear and anger springs from an underlying assumption (presupposition) that there is a certain amount to go around, and no more. We therefore tend to think that if “the other guy” gets more, I will automatically “get less.” This is known as the “zero sum game” fallacy. Today in particular, it sparks enormous debate and much needless political warfare.

The zero sum game fallacy is exactly that – a fallacy. It holds no water, and water is an apt metaphor, because in reality the entire economic tide rises and/or falls together! It is not a fixed quantity at all. In prosperous times, growth occurs and the amount of wealth to go around can dramatically increase, so that if “that guy” gets more, so can “this guy.” Over longer periods of time, we can see the tide rising and falling (in our lifetime, mostly rising). Simply look at the level of prosperity and the material lifestyle of Americans today vs. 200 years ago. There is no comparison whatsoever. The material quality of a person’s life who is considered “poor” by today’s western standards is vastly better than that of a relatively well off person say, 150 years ago.  

In a similar way, we are prone to presupposing that there is only a certain, finite volume of spiritual gifts, or spiritual blessings, or rewards from God, or of passes into God’s Kingdom. The implication of such presupposing is that we are in some sort of competition for these. This is not necessarily something we often think about, for if we did we would probably discard such ideas as being ludicrous. However, the zero sum game fallacy lives stubbornly in us, and we are off to the “me, myself and I” races! I have to be in the center of the picture, because after all, I need to play the zero sum game and try for “my share” of gifts, spirituality, recognition, position, etc., or else I might just decide to quit entirely and say “what’s the use?”

Paul refutes this way of thinking, eloquently and decisively. He teaches that God’s gifts – including His gift of citizenship in God’s Kingdom, as well as all the gifts of the Spirit – are not a zero sum game in which we must compete with one another, looking out primarily for our own spiritual wellbeing. On the contrary, as we look out for the wellbeing of the body of Christ, together as one, our individual wellbeing will be taken care of. The entire tide will rise, and we will rise with it.

Paul seems to teach that believers, having been chosen, elected, reborn and adopted into the family of God, are first and foremost a single unified body in Christ, comprised (secondarily) of individuals to whom God entrusts the Church’s spiritual gifts and assignments for the common good and edification. This is a rather difficult concept for us to follow in our present culture of extreme individualism. We tend to turn this worldview around and place ourselves individually in the center of the universe, and the Church.

Paradigm Shift - It appears that Paul’s instruction are, in effect, for the Corinthians to move from a “me at the center” outlook, in which more gifted and less gifted individuals come together to form a church, to more of a “Christ in the center” view in which the unified body of Christ, established by Him, has within itself individuals who are stewards of its gifts for the common good.

In other words, the gifts belong to the body of Christ, more than they belong to the individuals to whom they happen to be entrusted. This is a paradigm shift that is sorely needed in the Church today.

So in all of these things, the body of Christ – the Church – comes first, with Christ, the Head, in the very center, while each individual part (each believer) finds his or her true in the one body of Christ. Christ is not graced by my presence; rather we as a body are graced by Christ’s presence and preeminence; He alone is the Head of His body, which happens to be comprised of individual, subordinate parts. Apart from the entire body and its Head, each part (you and me individually) is completely useless and without definition.    

The chapter 13 concept of love advanced by Paul is an awesome explanation of the underlying principle by which this view of the Church and its parts can be understood and lived out. I am not suggesting for one minute that the paradigm shift which Paul urged for the Corinthians was an easy one, nor is it easy for us. It does not take a genius to understand that the kind of love described in 1^st Corinthians 13 is a love which only God truly and faithfully personifies; yet, it is just this love of God which frees and inspires us towards the kind of sacrificial use of God’s gifts that Paul encourages.

So, What Are the “Higher Gifts”? – I believe we can validly conclude that the “higher gifts” are any and all of those gifts which are used and stewarded as they are intended – not for show, or to make the Gospel something more than it already is, or to be competed for by individual Christians, and certainly not to divide some Christians from others. The “higher gifts” are those which Christian believers use to edify, equip, unify and build the body of Christ, that is, the corporate body of Christ which is made up of subordinate parts under the one head who is Jesus Christ.

Challenge - Our western cultural worldview is so deeply individualized, personalized and narcissistic, that it is very difficult for many of us to let go of, even in the reading of Scripture. However, if we can embrace a paradigm shift here and stop addictively reading ourselves - individually, personally and competitively - into the biblical text, then there is hope that the word of God will come alive in the full brightness of its divine truth. 

1st Corinthians 7: “In View of the Present Distress..”

Let’s face it. Paul wrote some seemingly harsh and extreme things.

He wrote that it was better for a man to remain celibate and single than to marry, unless marriage is necessary to avoid sexual sin (v.1-3); Paul wished all believers were single and celibate like he was (v.7). Moreover, he instructed that each should, if at all possible, stay in the situation (job, position, slave or free, married or single, etc.) in which he was converted, and not be concerned with such matters (v.20); and that a man who is engaged to a virgin does well not to marry her (v.37).

Was Paul merely urging the Corinthian believers to develop an ascetic lifestyle? Was he equating singleness to Christian piety? Did he desire all Christians to become monks?

Well, we know that the larger context is that Paul wrote to admonish believers in Corinth to give up their tendencies towards licentiousness. But is there something more behind Paul’s urgings?

Approaching Crisis - Paul made it clear that for the Christians to whom he wrote, all usual concerns should be moved to the background (v.17-24). These are instructions we might expect to hear in times of extreme emergency or crisis.

In fact, Paul made the following statements, which appear to signal impending calamity:

“In view of the present distress…” (v.26) (Note: the word for “distress” is used also at 2 Cor. 6:4-5; it connotes extreme hardship); “…What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.” (v.29); “…those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this” (v.28); “For this world in its present form is passing away” (v.31); and “I would like you to be free from concern” (v.32).

Questions to Consider - Are Paul’s instructions normative? That is, do they apply universally and equally to the Church for all time? Or were his instructions given in context of specific circumstances particular to his time? Are we to accept and apply every statement made here by Paul as being directly applicable to our own circumstances in exactly the same way as they applied to the Corinthians in the mid-first century Greco-Roman world?

Through the Lens of History - We know Paul wrote this letter in approximately the year 54 CE. Persecution of believers had already begun, Stephen had been martyred. The insane, sadistic Roman Emperor Nero was soon to begin (AD 64) his terrible persecutions of Christians and thus launch the great period of official Roman persecution which extended, more or less, for some 200 years. After some lessening, the persecutions would begin again in the late 200’s and continue until the Edict of Milan was issued under Emperor Constantine in 313 CE.

For much of these times, Christianity was completely illegal in the Roman Empire. In fact, to admit to being a Christ follower was to essentially admit to committing capital crimes against the State. Unthinkable persecutions and martyrdoms began during the lifetimes of most of those in Corinth to whom Paul wrote this very letter.

Eusebius, a Christian who wrote a history of the early church in around 300 CE, described the persecution and unspeakable torture and executions of early believers, including husbands and wives, children, pastors, elderly believing men and women, even servants and friends - anyone who either confessed to being a Christian or was condemned by "witness" testimony. Sometimes the believers were given up by their own family members.

The words of Jesus certainly came to pass: “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” (Matthew 10:21) No doubt some who would be martyred were among the very Corinthians to whom Paul wrote.

More on Early Christian Persecution & Martyrdom - Martyrdom was often preceded by days or weeks of repeated torture of unbelievable ferocity, often in the sight of loved ones made to watch, and often for the entertainment of crowds. Death came finally in the most hideous ways, which I will not describe here. Use your worst imagination, and you probably won’t get there. Some of you have read the accounts of early martyrs, and know what I mean. These were not isolated incidents – many thousands of early believers were tortured and murdered in the Roman persecutions, which were carried out all over the Empire.

In this light, Paul’s seemingly harsh words in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 take on an especially ominous hue. Persecution of believers was already a reality, as they were slanderously accused of such crimes as atheism, cannibalism and incest. During much of these times, the Roman Emperor insisted on being worshiped as deity, so the Christians’ refusal to do so was considered a crime of high treason and atheism.

To Roman citizens and leaders, the refusal of believers to acknowledge or worship the Emperor and the many Gods of the Greco-Roman world was seen as strange, perverted, extreme and subversive. One contemporary philosopher put it this way: “How can people not be in every way impious and atheistic who have apostatized from the customs of our ancestors through which every nation and city is sustained? ... What else are [Christians] than fighters against God?” (Porphyry, as quoted by Robert L. Wilkin, “The Piety of the Persecutors”, Christian History, issue 27, p.18).

Paul himself had already suffered, as had others whose ordeals are well chronicled in the New Testament and in early Church history. See for example Acts 6:8–8:3, and Acts chapter 19, beginning at verse 21.

What about Us? - In applying this portion of Paul’s letter to our own days and circumstances, it is helpful and appropriate to take into account the specific conditions of the early Church, as compared to our own circumstances. It is prudent for us to think about these things in historical context when reading Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian Christians, and for that matter, in reading and understanding the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation.

We can ask ourselves if we see any comparisons or differences between the situation in Paul’s day and our own circumstances. In other words, can we identify any pending or present crises or calamities which would cause us to heed Paul’s warnings and instructions? Do we have legitimate reasons to consider his instructions in our own times? Can the truth of this chapter be squarely and fittingly applied to us, and if so, how?

How might Paul’s words impact and inform our prayers for persecuted believers in the 21^st century? ARE THERE ANY persecutions and martyrdoms being carried out in the world today? Answer: YES, there certainly are! Christians are being burned, shot, beaten and tortured THIS VERY DAY!

These are the kinds of things we can and must learn to consider when reading the Scriptures, because these types of questions and answers will help us validly apply the teachings of Scripture in our own lives. Asking ourselves these sorts of questions and then answering them can certainly help us to understand God’s word more deeply and more practically.

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      "Though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire,

      and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but, the more such

                things happen, the more do others in larger numbers become faithful." 
                                             

                                                       -- Justin Martyr (100-165 CE)

1st Corinthians 6: To Sin or Not to Sin?

 

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     “…do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?”

                                                          (1^st Corinthians 6:9)

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The unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Where does that leave us?

Who among us can claim to be righteous, especially in view of Jesus’ teaching that our attitudes alone are equivalent to outward sin (Matthew chapter 5)? Who among us are righteous in light of clear Biblical teaching that none are without sin, that we are prone to sin, and that our hearts are deceitfully wicked? How can we read Romans 6-7, for example, and reach a conclusion that we are righteous?

If being inherently unrighteous we cannot inherit the Kingdom, how then are we saved?

Paul reminded the Corinthian believers that although they HAD BEEN unrighteous, they were NO LONGER (v.11). How can this possibly be, since even the slightest reading of 1^st Corinthians proves they had not stopped sinning?

The Corinthians were no longer unrighteous because they had been – once and for all - “justified” in Christ – that means they were declared righteous and were credited with righteousness by God. (Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way [1^st Cor. 6:11]: “…certain of you were these! But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were DECLARED RIGHTEOUS in the name of the Lord Jesus…” (emphasis added).

We are not saved by our own righteousness, because we never had any before, and we do not have any now. We are, however, saved by the righteous work of Christ, whose righteousness is credited to us when we are converted and adopted into the family of God, trusting in Christ and in His Gospel of salvation by grace through faith. If Paul thought otherwise he would not have been a Christian, and 1^st Corinthians 6:11 would not have been written. Neither would the rest of the New Testament.

Is Paul saying that if the believers were truly justified, they would engage in no further sin?

We know he is not saying that, because he wrote to the justified and sanctified (1:2, 1:8-9, 6:11) who were sinning. In fact, Paul wrote in part to reprimand them for their continuing sin. If their sinning had rendered them unsaved, then instead of proclaiming them to be justified and sanctified, Paul would have instructed them to become converted to Christ all over again. He did no such thing.

Is Paul saying that the Corinthian believers, once justified (declared righteous in Christ), must cease all sinning or lose their righteous standing before God? If so, how many sins would it take for a believer to lose his salvation? Two? Ten? Would a particular sin be enough to ruin their salvation, as opposed to another? To say on one hand that we cannot earn our salvation by our own righteousness, yet on the other hand we lose our salvation by not continuing to earn it, is a hopeless contradiction.

Was Paul “soft on sin?” By no means! It is a stark contradiction to suggest that because we are justified by grace, we should go on sinning as though it doesn’t matter. For Paul’s clear and emphatic teaching on this point, see Romans 6:1-14. There, Paul points out that we who belong to Christ, having been crucified with Him, having died to sin, and having been set free from the power and condemnation of sin, should stop sinning. This should be our clear direction, as we grow in Christ together. This means, for one thing, that over time we experience a decreasing pattern of sin in our lives.

Elsewhere, the Apostle John noted (1^st John 1:1-2): “…My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

A careless reading of portions of 1 Cor. chapter 6 (especially 6:9-10) might mislead one to think we are saved by works and lose our salvation by sinning, but Paul does not teach salvation by personal righteousness. (See Ephesians 2:8-9, Phil. 3:9, Rom. 3:21-22 & Rom. 4:5) Nevertheless, we know that those who are justified by faith and pardoned of their sin will manifest an increasing pattern of freedom from besetting, chronic sins along with an increasing desire to live for Christ.

Such “progressive sanctification” is possible only because upon conversion (rebirth, born again, regeneration) believers are given a new nature inclined towards God and towards living for Him, and they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit who empowers and inclines them for growth in Christ. The elect and redeemed person is given a new nature by which there arises both a desire and a growing capacity to resist sin.

In other words, increasing righteousness (fruit) is the outcome, not the cause of salvation. The justified in Christ are not saved by works, but by faith that works; they live and grow in Christ, free of condemnation (Romans 8:1).

“Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’” (Galatians 3:11)

This means, in part, that the justified live in confidence that they ARE righteous before God, who declares it to be so on the basis of the righteousness, atoning death, and life-giving resurrection of Christ. As those who are pardoned in Christ learn to live for Him by the faith they have received, the Holy Spirit - working through the word of God and through those He raises as influencers and leaders - will lead them to grow in Christ.

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Warning: Be very wary of The Message paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 6, especially v.9-11. In infusing its own interpretation of the original text, rather than simply translating it, TM adds its own theological spin to more direct and reliable translations, such as ESV, KJ, NKJ, NASB, ASV, NIV and others. The Message paraphrase adds the idea of our being qualified for the Kingdom by getting a “fresh start,” implying that our being “cleaned up” in conversion is only to give us another chance to be sinless and thus to “qualify” ourselves for God’s Kingdom.

By these implications, The Message paraphrase over-reaches the text and changes the meaning of it, as a reading of a few reliable translations will amply illustrate. According to the New Testament, our “qualification” comes by way of justification. Our righteousness resides – by grace through faith - solely in Christ and His completed work, not in our own. When His righteousness is credited to us in justification, His qualifying life and work become our qualification. We do not earn that, though we do reflect it progressively in our lives as believers.

Any “fresh start” was made by Christ and by Him alone on our behalf, because we could neither effect our own ”fresh start” nor do it any justice if we could. Upon our conversion, we receive a new nature and a new desire to grow in Christ and to do what pleases Him, and in that sense we could say we experience a “fresh start,” but it is better and more accurately described as a brand new life in Christ, whose work and righteousness become ours by grace, through faith, by adoption, and by inheritance.

In any event, the concepts implied in The Message paraphrase of the passage (1^st Cor. 6:9-11) are not contained in any of the various translations.