Called

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

CALLED

1 Cor 9:1-2

9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

NIV

This whole chapter, as we use chapters, although Paul did not, consists of his defense of his apostleship and his right to make a living from the gospel because he lives for the gospel. This beginning has some truth for us as well, in the sense that it is not up to others to determine our qualification to preach the gospel as it is strictly up to the Lord to call whom he does and to empower those he calls to preach the gospel message. Now, that does not mean that we all have not been called, for all who believe have been called, and all are called to preach the gospel in some sense. Are we not all supposed to witnesses of the grace of God in our lives? Are we not all to live in such a manner that all can see the evidence of the grace of God in us? This is not living by the law, or by a set of manmade rules and regulations believed to be scriptural, but rather a life in which the divine influence of God is upon our hearts and how it is reflected in our lives, as that is how the Greek word translated as grace is defined. So if His grace is reflected in our lives, then we would be a living testimony of grace. We would demonstrate grace to others, or an act of graciousness as we see grace has also defined a verb, an active, just as God’s grace, His influence is upon and active in our lives. This is not a one-time act, but an ongoing active act of graciousness and influence of God in our lives. Therefore, we are to live in this same manner, always being influenced, always being gracious, always being a testimony of His life in us. As far as those called to be preachers, we have to note that each and every denomination is a man-established earthly organization that has the right to certain rules, or standards if one wants to be recognized or certified by them to preach in their organization, or churches. This does not always mean those accepted by those denominations as preachers or pastors have been called by God to be a shepherd of his people. Paul makes it clear his calling is from God, and we too should make certain that if we have the privilege of preaching the word of God that first and foremost we know without a doubt that God has called us to the task. If we have not been called by God and empowered by God, then we are mere men acting in the manner of men, using our knowledge, our abilities and those are meaningless if done without a calling from God. It is not the eloquence of our words that matters, for men can be eloquent, but it is the power of the Spirit within that matters. We can preach with plain words, but if they are empowered by the Spirit they are the words from God for His people. We only have to look at Moses, a man who struggled with words, admitting to God that he was slow of speech, so God gave him Aaron to assist him yet he was used mightily by God to direct His people because he was called. So let us understand it is God who calls us, each for His own purpose, and let us live to fulfill His purpose in our lives.

Be Careful

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

BE CAREFUL

1 Cor 8:9-13

9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

NIV

Now we have arrived at what we had eluded to before about this idea of eating food sacrificed to idols and in doing so causing harm to the weaker brother in Christ. At least that was the situation in Corinth. We do not have any temples to idols nor any food that is sacrificed to them, so we need to modernize this truth for our time and culture. The only perceived taboo in the Christian community today is drinking adult beverages. In some communities of faith, not too long ago, dancing, smoking, going to movie theaters, roller rinks, bowling alleys, and at one time boys and girls going swimming together were all taboos. Many of these things have gone by the wayside, except the drinking of adult beverages. We still hold to the idea that this activity results in being a drunk, and is frowned upon by those who think that being a teetotaler is being righteous. Again, we have to go to the teaching of Jesus about what goes into the stomach does not go into the heart. However, if by the freedom we have in Christ to have a glass of whatever, causes someone who believes it is not right to do so, to indulge themselves in a glass of whatever because we do, and they feel guilty in doing so, then we should not do it either. But this truth applies to so much more then eating food sacrificed to idols or drinking a glass of whatever. The point is that any behavior or attitude that is expressed outwardly that would cause a brother in Christ to think that behavior or attitude is acceptable and therefore engage themselves in the same manner as us, but feels somehow they are doing wrong, and feel guilty, then we should refrain from such behavior or expressing our attitude. When we see a brother or sister that is freely doing something without any guilt or remorse, then we either think it might be alright or that we have ill feelings about them, seeing their attitude as being so wrong, if we are one of the weaker believers. Still, it seems all this applies to our public life, and not what we do in the solitude of our own homes, at least in the having a glass of whatever is concerned. Of course, attitudes and behaviors that are really against the Lord, we all should refrain from. The point is still the same in the sense that we should be aware of our brothers and sisters in all that we do so as not to be a stumbling block to those of them whose faith is weak. This is not in the sense of because they think it is wrong, but in the sense that they would be emboldened to do the same as us. So we need to be careful.   

Heart or Stomach

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

HEART OR STOMACH

1 Cor 8:7-8

7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

NIV

We are still in the midst of Paul’s instructions regarding idols and lords with special attention to eating food that has been sacrificed to some idol. Why would it make any difference because idols or those false gods of Corinth has no meaning whatsoever to those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, or at least they shouldn’t? The point here is that whether they eat food sacrificed to idols or they don’t, neither choice gets them any closer to God. Is there anything in our world today that could come close to this teaching? It would seem food is not the issue but perhaps drink might. Although there is nothing in the scripture that forbids the drinking of wine, there are those who think abstaining from wine makes them a better Christian, or perhaps get them closer to God, in a sense. It is true that getting drunk is not right and the scripture does speak to that issue in that we should be drunk in the Spirit rather than with wine. Drunkenness is a state of being out of control of our faculties which is how we should be in the Spirit. That is the Spirit should be in control. But the point is that abstaining from wine entirely or drinking some wine does not get us any closer to God. It is not what goes into our bodies that defiles us, as Jesus taught. Food and drink do not enter our hearts, but our stomachs and leave by other means. But what is our heart is what Jesus says makes us unclean. He gives a list that includes evil thoughts, sexual immorally, theft, murder, or hatred, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, or jealously, slander, or gossip, arrogance, or being puffed up, and folly or egoism. That is quite a list of evil that can exist in our hearts which makes us unclean, but some pay way too much attention to whether we drink wine or not, however, pay no attention to how much food they eat, being puffed up in another sense, which is thought of in scripture as being a glutton. It makes no sense to pay attention to whether we eat or drink or don’t eat or drink when there is so much in our heart that we need to be attentive to. What good is it to abstain from wine or certain foods when we are all puffed up with pride, or we gossip or have a desire to store up wealth for ourselves, or any of those things Jesus spoke about being within our heart? Now, have we been forgiven for all those sinful thoughts? Yes, but then that would also mean we have been forgiven, if we even need to be, for eating or drinking that which enters our stomach rather than our heart. We can see the foolishness of this, yet if we go on, the idea is that if we have a weaker brother or sister that does not understand the truth and thinks that eating food sacrificed to idols is wrong, then we should be respectful of that weaker brother or sister. So we need to be careful not to offend that weaker believer by impressing our freedom upon them, and exercise our freedom in their presence, perhaps weakening them even more, but we will get to that later. For now, we simply need to see the truth in this matter, food and drink do not make us unclean, but what is in our heart can. It comes down to heart or stomach.  

idols and lords

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

IDOLS AND LORDS

1 Cor 8:4-6

4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

NIV

As we have already noted, this is only a segment of the main point Paul is making regarding this idea of food sacrificed to idols and our responsibility as believers. Still, these little nuggets along the way are worth spending time with. Once again, within the context, Paul is talking about the culture within Corinth and the fact they had various temples to an array of gods and lords. The reason Paul includes lords seems right in the sense that this Greek word carries the meaning of that which is master over someone, having the power to decide, or he that possesses a thing or person. Certainly, gods mean just that, an object of worship, but it is the word lord that bothers us the most. Of course in the modern church, we mostly consider having idols or making something an idol, something we think very highly of. Still, we do not replace the one true God with our desire of it in some sense worship of our idol. Some would say that some people make money or power or position their idol, but it would seem more appropriate to call them lords. Anything that has mastery over us would be a lord in our lives, not necessarily an idol. Even attitudes can be lords, in the sense that if we are always critical, or judgmental, or prideful, it may have mastery over us. If there is some area in our lives that we cannot gain control of, whatever that is, it may be a type of lord and that it has mastered us. What we have to consider is that the root of all sin is selfishness. Whatever sin we can think of it stems from the desire to have what we want or behave how we want, and think or have an attitude how we want. In all these areas we are the one who has the choice to allow self to master us, which means we are our own lord, or to allow the Spirit to have His way in our life which means the Lord would have his way and He would be our Lord and Master, not our self. Do we struggle with sin? Sure, we would be God if we didn’t, but we are human, living in the world with many temptations and we have not yet attained perfection. Yes, we are not to make provisions or excuses for the flesh or excuse our sin because our flesh or self is weak. But the fact is we do sin, yet the point here is not to allow any sin to become our lord, to be master over us, to make that decision for how we behave or think. Our life is in Christ and we need to always think in those terms looking to Him for He is the only one who gives us life, in whom we live. Nothing should master us and we should not make anything more important than our Lord. There should be no idols and lords for there is but one God. So we should consider if we have allowed in any idols and lords.

Puffed Up or Build Up

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

PUFFED UP OR BUILD UP

1 Cor 8:1-3

8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

NIV

Once again, we should include this whole chapter, or as Paul did not write in chapters, his whole thought regarding eating food sacrificed to idols. But that would be too much to digest at one time and there are these nuggets of truth within to deal with. This idea of thinking they possessed knowledge is one of those nuggets. We can take this idea and bring it right up to date in the church today. We might think that we have all the truth of God and appear that we do. We might even have a fuller knowledge of the word of God than some others, especially those new in the faith and are just learning how to live in accordance with the will of God. Certainly, God has called and gifted some to be shepherds and teachers so as to assist others in their walk of faith. He gifts some with a greater ability to have insights that others might not see. But the fact still remains that it is dangerous to think anyone is better, or that we are better than anyone which leads to being puffed up or arrogant. It is interesting the Greek word translated as knowledge is the root word for Gnosticism. There are various thoughts as to what a gnostic believes and what part, if any, does it play any role in Christianity. Within the context that Paul is using this word, it seems to imply the idea some thought they had a superior spiritual knowledge about God. One of the various meanings of being a gnostic was dualism or acknowledging more than one god and in that culture they certainly were various temples to various gods. Yet, in this idea here, if we restrict it to the church, this idea of thinking we have a superior knowledge only makes us think more highly of ourselves then we should. Being arrogant only divides the church, or it causes others to sin, as in not liking or thinking poorly of the one who is arrogant. This may even apply to those who think themselves to be spiritual, or very spiritual, appearing to be holy, or having this “Holier than thou” attitude can certainly cause division in the church, or at very least, not create unity. Love, on the other hand does create unity, as we love God, we also then love each other. As Paul puts it so concisely, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. So then we have the choice to either be puffed up or to build up.

Which is Better

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

WHICH IS BETTER

1 Cor 7:39-40

39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is — and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

NIV

This is the last of Paul’s comments regarding relationships, at least in this portion of the letter. There are other instructions regarding widows in the sense that a woman is still young enough to bear children she should remarry, but if she is past her age of being children, she should remain a widow. We think this is the same as what Paul is saying here, although not mentioning age. Still, there was something different as far as how women were perceived as it is today. For the most part, a woman’s identity was always related to a man, first as the daughter of, then the wife of, or as the mother of. To be a widow, that may have even been seen as the widow of. Still, it was very rare that a woman was seen as a single entity for herself. There have been instructions given regarding widows in that the church should take care of them. So in the manner, they are identified as a widow in the church, cared for by the church. Today, we have left those instructions by the wayside as most husbands have either provided some type of income for their wives should the man die first, or at least if they are older, the wife will receive her husband’s social security and any life insurance he might have. But the church has nothing to do with caring for a widow at least that is how it seems. Oh, at first there might be some concerns, but those concerns eventually wain and she is left to fend for herself. Of course, on the other hand, many women in our culture today have taken on their own identity excluding any relationship with a man. This whole woman’s equality movement has taken such root in our culture and has developed this attitude that women should be the same as men in all respects of life. So then it would be natural that a widow would not look to the church for her care, as she is more than capable of caring for herself, making all her own choices and decisions for her life, at least, as long as she is financially sound enough to do so. That is more or less what Paul is saying here. A woman, a widow has the right to make her own choice whether she wants to remarry or stay a widow. All those concepts of the culture have been set aside in the church and women have been lifted up to have their own choices in life, as such their own identity. So then should we not still care for a widow if she chooses to remain as one? Paul says she would be happier if she stays a widow. Are men that much of a burden, or is it that marriage itself has more responsibilities and being single? That may be at the center of Paul’s point here. But it still comes back to the way God intended his creation to live and that is a man and a woman being together living as one. God did not intend for people to be single and celibate, but to be joined together and enjoy all the benefits of a union. If everyone lived in accordance with the will of God, rather than their own will, it would be far better.

A Settled Mind

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

A SETTLED MIND

1 Cor 7:36-38

36 If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin — this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.  

NIV

This is a very difficult concept because of the various translations of the Greek and then the Greek itself and how it can read. This translation has taken a completely different twist than how the Greek implies if used as it has been thought by many scholars. It all stems from the word translated as a virgin. Some translations add the word daughter to imply that a father has complete control over his daughters’ affections toward a man, or some man’s affections toward his daughter. However, if we use the Greek word here in the context with the rest, it can mean a virgin in the sense of a man remaining celibate. There is no Greek word in this verse that specifically implies the word she. So then we could see this in the respect that if anyone has control of his or her one body and can abstain from marriage and remain celibate that is good, so they can devote themselves holy to God, without the distractions of marriage. This fits with what Paul has already said. However, Paul goes on to say that it is a virgin's own will in the matter, if a person is getting older, beyond the normal years of marriage in that culture, which with the Jews would have been somewhere between sixteen, seventeen to twenty years of age and in the gentile culture anywhere between twenty and thirty years of age, and they think they should marry, then it is fine, that is not a sin. The fact is either being single and celibate or being married is alright, it is up to each person to decide which the best course of life is for themselves. Certainly today, in our society, we have lost all sense of this scripture. There seems to be no concern at all for celibacy in any sense, and that includes in some religious communities, or rather within the church. This does not mean that all who have taken the vow to remain celibate have failed to do so, but it would seem many are not able to abstain from keeping themselves virgins or pure. Because marriage is not an issue, in fact, rather preferred in most church communities it would seem we are not under any compulsion to adhere to these instructions. Nevertheless, we can take this to mean that it is alright to remain single as long as that singleness includes remaining a virgin. We can also take this to mean in the sense of all believers is that we need to remain in control of our own being, or own impulses. That is be settled in our own mind regarding our way of life as we serve the Lord, either being single or married. In other words, we should have no conflict within as to how we have chosen our path. We have the choice and once made to remain celibate we should, or we can change our path and become married, but it is ours and we should not be conflicted but live with a settled mind.