Posted on Apr 20, 2018 in 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Walk of Immaturity Into Maturity |
Read 1 Corinthians 11:1-16
Why did Paul say, “Follow my example?” Paul wasn’t being arrogant; he did not think of himself as sinless. At this time, however, the Corinthian believers did not know much about the life and ministry of Christ. Paul could not tell them to imitate Jesus because the Gospels had not yet been written, so they did not know what Jesus was like. The best way to point these new Christians to Christ was to point them to a Christian whom they trusted (Galatians 4; Philippians 3; 1 Thessalonians 1 and 2; 2 Thessalonians 3). Paul had been in Corinth almost two years and had built a relationship of trust with many of these new believers.
Posted on Apr 19, 2018 in 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Walk of Immaturity Into Maturity |
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-33
The cloud and the sea mentioned here refer to Israel’s escape from slavery in Egypt when God led them by a cloud and brought them safely through the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The miraculous food and water are the provisions God gave as they traveled through the wilderness (Exodus 15 and 16). They were all baptized in the cloud and the sea means that just as we are united in Christ by baptism, so the Israelites were united under Moses’ leadership and through the events of the Exodus.
Posted on Apr 18, 2018 in 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Walk of Immaturity Into Maturity |
Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-27
Some Corinthians were questioning Paul’s authority and rights as an apostle, so Paul gave his credentials: He actually saw and talked with the resurrected Christ, who called him to be an apostle (Acts 9). Such credentials make the advice he gives in this letter more persuasive. In 2 Corinthians 10 thru 13, Paul defends his apostleship in greater detail.
Changed lives were the evidence that God was using Paul. Does your faith have an impact on others? You can be a life-changer, helping others grow spiritually, if you dedicate yourself to being used by God and letting Him make you effective.
Posted on Apr 17, 2018 in 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Walk of Immaturity Into Maturity |
Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Meat bought in the marketplace was likely to have been offered to an idol in one of the many pagan temples. Animals were brought to a temple, killed before an idol as part of a pagan religious ceremony, and eaten at a feast in the pagan temple or taken to butchers who sold the meat in the marketplace. The believers wondered if, by eating such meat, they were somehow participating in the worship of idols.
Posted on Apr 16, 2018 in 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Walk of Immaturity Into Maturity |
Read 1 Corinthians 7:1-40
The Corinthians had written to Paul, asking him several questions relating to the Christian life and problems in the church. The first question was whether it was good to be married. Paul answers this and other questions in the remainder of 1 Corinthians.
Spiritually, our bodies belong to God when we become Christians because Jesus Christ bought us by paying the price to release us from sin. Physically, our bodies belong to our spouses because God designed marriage so that, through the union of husband and wife, the two become one (Genesis 2). Paul stressed complete equality in sexual relationships. Neither male nor female should seek dominance or autonomy.
