November 21 - I Corinthians 1-3
The book of I Corinthians can be very encouraging and discouraging at the same time. God inspired Paul to write this letter to a church with a lot of troubles, and some of them are serious problems. However, in all of the chapters we see the grace of God to lead us and to provide what we need to overcome the challenges of life and the church. I pray that God will speak to you at the point of your need as we read this book together.
In chapter 1 the remarkable thing to notice as Paul begins is how he affirms the believers in Corinth as being true Christians and saints. He knew about all of their problems, but instead of starting off with a passage getting on to them, he builds them up and reminds them of their relationship with Christ. This should be a lesson to us. We should look for the best in other believers whenever we can. It is easy to emphasize the weaknesses, but it is good to remember the strong points first like Paul does here. Only then does he begin to speak to them about the lack of unity and the divisions which have been reported to him. The truth is that there would be no unity at all, if they were not believers. The truth is that they needed to lose their pride and to realize that they all were saved by God's grace and not because of any merit in themselves. We as believers have no room to boast in our salvation, except to boast of what Christ has done for us.
In chapter 2 Paul continues to make that point by saying that none of us could even know the things of God, except we have the Holy Spirit to teach us the things that we could know in no other way. God has given us the mind of Christ in His word, so we can know what Christ would do. We must give Him the credit for giving us wisdom from God, because the wisdom of this world does not understand the things of God. This is a vital principle for all of us to grasp. If we don't hear from the Spirit of God and the word of God, we can't know the things of God, because they are spiritually discerned. (v.14) That is God's plan for sharing His truth.
Then, in chapter 3 Paul concludes His argument by saying to the believers at Corinth that it does not so much matter what any human does for God, because only God can give the increase. (v.6) Only God can save a soul. Only God can really add someone to a church. We can't do any of that, so we must be dependent on Him for all that really matters. Therefore, we lay the foundation of Christ, and we ask God to use us to build on that foundation, as He would have us to build. He must build the church, not us. It is His church, not our church. We must be submissive to Him and get out of the way. This is so important, when it comes to having a healthy church. We must all focus on Christ and His will, instead of what we want to do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Corinthians 4-6.
In chapter 1 the remarkable thing to notice as Paul begins is how he affirms the believers in Corinth as being true Christians and saints. He knew about all of their problems, but instead of starting off with a passage getting on to them, he builds them up and reminds them of their relationship with Christ. This should be a lesson to us. We should look for the best in other believers whenever we can. It is easy to emphasize the weaknesses, but it is good to remember the strong points first like Paul does here. Only then does he begin to speak to them about the lack of unity and the divisions which have been reported to him. The truth is that there would be no unity at all, if they were not believers. The truth is that they needed to lose their pride and to realize that they all were saved by God's grace and not because of any merit in themselves. We as believers have no room to boast in our salvation, except to boast of what Christ has done for us.
In chapter 2 Paul continues to make that point by saying that none of us could even know the things of God, except we have the Holy Spirit to teach us the things that we could know in no other way. God has given us the mind of Christ in His word, so we can know what Christ would do. We must give Him the credit for giving us wisdom from God, because the wisdom of this world does not understand the things of God. This is a vital principle for all of us to grasp. If we don't hear from the Spirit of God and the word of God, we can't know the things of God, because they are spiritually discerned. (v.14) That is God's plan for sharing His truth.
Then, in chapter 3 Paul concludes His argument by saying to the believers at Corinth that it does not so much matter what any human does for God, because only God can give the increase. (v.6) Only God can save a soul. Only God can really add someone to a church. We can't do any of that, so we must be dependent on Him for all that really matters. Therefore, we lay the foundation of Christ, and we ask God to use us to build on that foundation, as He would have us to build. He must build the church, not us. It is His church, not our church. We must be submissive to Him and get out of the way. This is so important, when it comes to having a healthy church. We must all focus on Christ and His will, instead of what we want to do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Corinthians 4-6.