1 Corinthians 5: Tough Love

There is sin occurring within the church of Corinth and news of this sin had reached Paul. The sin is one that would even be considered wrong by the world’s standards. As a matter of fact there were Roman laws that prohibited such actions, and yet we find this immorality within the church; A man engaged in a sexual relationship with his Father’s wife.

Paul’s reaction is different than what we may suspect. While he is clear in his condemnation of this sin, he comes down even harder on the lack of action taken by the church. Is that true of us today? Why is it that we back away from the thought of discipline? I suspect there are many reasons we tolerate such sin. We love peace and harmony and confronting sinful behavior could jeopardize this harmony. We like the idea of freedom and who am I to challenge someone else’s choices? We back away from tough conversations for our own comfort, yet we all know the benefit of discipline. Any parent knows the effects of not disciplining a child. The destructive actions of a child not only continue, but they become worse. A parent disciplines a child because they love them and want what’s best for them.

In the same way we need to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ accountable. What do we love: harmony, friendship, and comfort, or do we love the person? If we truly love our brother or sister in Christ we will sacrifice our own comfort level to have a tough conversation. We may even lose a friend, but is that friend more important than the friendship? Tough love may even require severing a relationship in extreme situations, but only when it is merciful to do so.

Enter into a covenant relationship with a few trusted friends. Give a couple of Christian brothers in your life full access to all your decisions. Allow them to challenge you in all aspects of your life and commit to do the same for them. Commit to love them so much that you are willing to have the tough conversations.

Posted by Jim

1 Corinthians 4: Worthy of Imitation

Are you more prone to exalt yourself in your own mind or beat yourself up in your own mind? In chapter four Paul addresses how Christians are to judge one another and themselves. Ultimately, only God knows a person’s heart and therefore God is the only one with the right to judge. (4b) We are exhorted to judge sin amongst believers (5:12,13) but we are not to judge who is a better servant of Christ. The arrogance (4:18) which had crept into the church was partially due to the reality that when we judge someone, we invariably consider ourselves as better – and this creates an arrogant spirit.

Paul’s self image is a curious case study. He masterfully deals with the superiority complex, having an overly bold or high view of one’s self, stating, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court.” However, Paul also deals with the inferiority complex, having an overly humble or low view of one’s self, stating, “I do not even judge myself.” In truth, only God judges him (4:4b). His conscience is clear without being innocent of sin (4:4a), and yet he urges people to imitate him (4:16). He demonstrates great boldness and great humility at the same time. How? Essentially Paul’s view of himself has been overshadowed by Christ’s view of him. Being in Christ means Paul now has a gospel view of himself. Only the power of the gospel (4:20) – that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe and more loved than we ever dared hope – is able to do a “one, two” on our ego in such a way that we are bold and humble at the same time. This gospel view of oneself is electrifying, contagious and formed through Christ’s humility and courage.

Do you struggle with judging others or being judged? Do you lean towards an inferior view of yourself or a superior view of yourself? How can you workout the implications of the gospel to gain a more Christ-centered view of yourself? If you a spiritual parent (4:15) to another believer, are you urging them to imitate you as you follow Christ (1:12)? Pray about the next best step as you follow the Spirit of Christ in you.

Posted by Eric

1 Corinthians 3: True Spirituality

What does it mean to be spiritual? This is a central question of the entire book of 1 Corinthians. To answer, Paul would say, first and foremost, that to be spiritual is to be capital-S Spiritual. That is, to be filled and led by God’s Spirit.

And what is the mark of being Spiritual? Well, it’s not how much you pray and read your Bible, as vital as these disciplines are. And it’s not how often you attend church or how many ministry activities you’re involved in, although these too are important. Rather, the hallmark of true Spirituality is loving unity. That’s Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 3.

There were factions in the church. People had bought into cults of personality, resulting in rivalry over favored leaders, sniping, backbiting, and division. Paul said that makes you “mere men” not truly Spiritual people.

As “mere men” all your petty politicking is like building a tinder box on Christ. All your activity will burn one day; but in the mean time it’s destroying God’s Temple. It’s deconstructing the unified people God intends us to be.

As a solution, Paul proposes that we sober up and realize all we have in Christ. Why fight over Peter, Paul, or Apollos? Why argue over the present or the future? In Christ, all things are ours together. All godly leaders belong to all of us. The whole world, the whole kingdom, has been given to us and will one day truly be ours. That’s the Spiritual perspective on life.

Posted By Greg

1 Corinthians 2: The message or the messenger?

Which is more important—the message or the messenger? In the upper class Greek culture, they had high expectations regarding the messenger. They would disregard the message if it didn’t come in the fine oratory packaging that they had gotten used to. Paul didn’t want to confuse the message of the gospel with philosophy. He brought a plain message that trusted in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. This is good news for several reasons.

1. Anyone who has the Spirit of God can be confident that God can use them to communicate the gospel. Paul claimed to know only Jesus and his crucifixion. If we can explain the cross, even in rudimentary terms, we can explain the heart of Christianity.
2. Our lives demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. People want a faith that works. A simple rational explanation is only a collection of words. There is no end to words and good ideas. What people long for is something with the kind of power that can change their lives.
3. The Holy Spirit uses the words that we speak with fear and trembling and can reveal to others the mind of Christ.

If that wasn’t enough, we can be confident that God has given us the Spirit “That we may freely understand what God has freely given us.” What an awesome mystery!

How have you experienced The Spirit helping you understand what God has freely given us?

Posted by Marc

1 Corinthians 1: Integrity and the Christian Life

1 Corinthians 1

What marks the Christian life? Paul in writing to the Corinthian church is forced to admonish them for their failure to live according to the grace of Christ. In essence, their faith in Christ does not coincide with their lives. They needed integrity.

Paul begins 1 Corinthians by responding to the report that he hears from Chloe’s household (v. 11) about their behavior. They have broken into quarrelsome groups warring against each other. Unfortunately, the church today often looks eerily similar. We argue about music, traditions, and everything else that we can think of. But Paul will have none of this among people whom he loves so dearly. Instead, Paul appeals to the unity they have in Christ (v. 13) and his death on a cross (v. 17), because there is something about Christ and the cross that should mark Christians as different.

Instead of quarrels, Christians should be marked by the power and wisdom of God (v. 18, 24), namely Christ. But for the world this wisdom is foolishness and completely contrary to anything they can imagine. It is the foundation of ‘spiritual’ integrity.

Integrity is defined as an internal state or quality of being that leads to strong moral and ethical principles. We are not born with integrity rather it is cultivated within us. We can call it spiritual integrity because it derives from our union with Christ. In him we have been enriched in every way (v. 5) including that we can be strong (v. 8) and live with integrity. True spiritual integrity should mark our lives and there is no greater testimony. Therefore, since we have this foundation in Christ; then let us live with His integrity.

Posted By Aaron

Corinthians Introduction

The complex history surrounding the two letters to the Corinthian church begins in Acts 18 during Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul plants the church of which Aquila and Priscilla are its most notable members. However fruitful his initial efforts were by his third missionary journey the relationship had become strained.

• Previous Letter – Paul writes a letter to the Corinthians warning them not to associate with immoral persons. Unfortunately they misunderstood the letter.

• Report of certain disorders – Paul hears a report of certain disorders and receives a delegation from the household of Chloe who had a number of questions

• 1 Corinthians - In response to the reports he writes 1 Corinthians. Paul deals with practical issues as sexual relations, meats offered to idols, disorders in public worship, spiritual gifts, and death and resurrection.

• Painful Visit – Paul decided to make another visit to Corinth which was extremely painful for him. The details of the visit are unknown, but he was forced to withdraw in haste most likely out of being openly insulted by someone questioning his authority.

• Sorrowful Letter – After his painful visit Paul writes a sorrowful yet strong letter to try to rectify the matter.

• Titus meets Paul in Macedonia and reports to him that the sorrowful letter had been received positively.

• 2 Corinthians – Paul writes to the church again expressing his relief at the good news of their response. He wrote them specifically to spur them into action for the collection they promised to give to the Jerusalem church.

Major Themes:

1 Corinthians

Disorders Reported to Paul (1:10-6:20):

• Divisiveness (1:10-4:21)
• Moral lapses (5:1-13; 6:12-20)
• Appeals to heathen lawcourts (6:1-11)

Problems Raised by the Corinthians (7:1-15:58)

• Sexual relations (7:1-40)
  
• Meats sacrificed to idols (8:1-11:1)
  
• Disorders in public worship (11:2-34)
  
• Spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40)
  
• Resurrection (15:1-58)
  

2 Corinthians

The Apostle's Ministry (1:12-7:16)

• His plans (1:12-2:17)
• The character of his ministry (3:1-7:16)
• Ministry is in the service of the new covenant (ch. 3)
• Ministry imposes tremendous responsibilites (4:1-15)
• Ministry must be carried out in the light of the judgment seat of Christ (4:16-6:2)
• His own ministry has had much hardship and suffering
• An exhortation to cleanse themselves from all uncleanness (6:14-7:1)
• An account of the meeting with Titus in Macedonia (7:2-16)

The collection for the Jerusalem church (8:1-9:15)

Paul’s vindication of his Apostleship (10:1-13:10)

New Series Kickoff

Start reading 1 & 2 Corinthians together on Sunday, October 12

Reading about the church of Corinth is encouraging in a strange sort of way. At one level, it is almost embarrassing to read about the kinds of sins and struggles that Paul has to address the church. Yet, Paul is not morose, but rather hopeful about what God can do in and through a whacked out, mixed up group of people. That is where it becomes encouraging. We can find encouragement because we have more in common with the people of Corinth than we would like to admit. The issues may be similar or not, but the God of Corinth is the same God we follow. And if there is hope for those whacked out, mixed up people, then there is hope for us whacked out, mixed up people.

Let’s read it and dig in together--One chapter a day, every day. As we move forward, I hope you enjoy some of the ways we have freshened up and sharpened our focus of this blog. Some of what is new is:

· New bloggers: our goal is to keep our postings fresh, relevant, Biblical and helpful. They will be no more than 350 words so that you can dig in without getting backed up.

· A New Look: We want to keep the look of our blog fresh, welcoming and inviting so that you will be able to use it in your personal ministry and share this resource with those whom you are ministering to. The only thing better than reading the Bible everyday is reading everyday with a friend.

· New Features—Look for a fresh introduction to the letters to Corinth as well as links to helpful articles and sermons along the way. Also, easy ways to forward postings to your friends or to post on your facebook page.

Look for an introduction to the book in the next few days and then a regular posting for each chapter starting Sunday, October 12th.

Marc and Aaron
Editors for Bible for Everyday