1 It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Paul continues his exercise in absurdity—acting in a way that makes him so uncomfortable to prove his point to the Corinthians who have fallen for boasting. If the church must have boasting, again, a common practice in the church that is addressed in 1 Corinthians, Paul says, Let me boast so grandly that they will become uncomfortable. If they have decided that the proof of faith is in visions and not in sacrificial generosity, then what better way is there for Paul to reassert his authority.

2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 

Paul tells the story of a man who has been called up to Paradise—the third heaven; the apostle certainly is speaking about himself and his experience. Paul does not know if this happened physically or spiritually, but God does. He repeats this immediately, making God the actual focus and not himself. The great truth that the man encountered there was to be kept to himself and not shared with anyone: how unlike the practice of the boasting super-apostles who appear to actively seek to share “the answer” for the right price. Fourteen years prior to Paul writings these words would be just after his time in Jerusalem with Peter and James (Galatians 1:18,19) during the time of his ministry in Syria and Cilicia. 

5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 

Surely the Corinthians by now realize that Paul’s “Paradise Man” is himself, but he keeps on boasting of this man—but not himself “except for [his] weakness.” Undertaking a journey like this is certainly reason enough to boast. 

6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. 

Paul’s desire is that the Corinthians think better of him for what they have actually seen and heard him doing, not because of some story that he tells. “The fish was this big.” No, even though this divine revelation is a grand one, what he should be judged on his how he carries himself each and ever day. 

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

By now Paul seems to have let the Paradise Man cover go, and he shares his story with them. To prevent these divine revelations from going to his head “a thorn was given [to him] in the flesh,” perhaps as a reminder that he is only mortal in the absence of God’s initiative. In the Roman triumph a messenger would stand behind the general being honored for his excellence, his exemplary deeds, and his unsurpassed service to Rome and constantly repeat the words, “Remember, thou art mortal.” Whatever this skolops is he assumes the Corinthians know—although we do not. But we do ascertain it purpose of its gifting: to keep Paul “from being too elated.” The important thing to consider her is not what it was or even why it was given but who gave it to him. 

If Satan is acting as God’s messenger, then the thorn was given to produce humility. God often uses Satan or agents thereof to produce deeper faith and a closer walk. To put it another way, God is not the author or source of this evil but permits it for His reasons. On the other hand, if the thorn is truly and solely the work of Satan, I can easily see it as being given to Paul to hinder him in the fulfilling God’s call on his life. How can we possibly meet God’s expectations if we cannot even live up to ours? 

Genesis 50:20 gives us a third option and doesn’t have God playing catch-up to Satan or paint Him as mischievous and lacking empathy. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.” (NASB) This perspective is also in keeping with what Paul will write to the Romans in his next letter when he declares that “all things happen for the good of those who love God and seek to do His will.” This is how powerful God is: every action, even those that do not originate in Him will achieve His divine aims. This is born out as Paul continues:

8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

“My grace us sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Through it all, as we experience “weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ,” and precisely because we are facing them for the sake of Christ, God’s grace will bring us through. Therefore, we cannot blame God for having Satan do these things to us—making God lack compassion and empathy—nor can we accuse Him fixing Satan’s messes—always being one step behind. 

11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

Paul lays the Corinthians’ troubles at their own feet. Every proof that was needed to demonstrate that he was a true apostle was performed for them. They had been given everything needed to believe in Christ, repent, and amend their lives together, but they chose instead the “proof” and message of the super-apostles. In verse thirteen Paul expresses his confusion at the fact that the other churches appear to be “getting it” while they aren’t. He then questions if they are failing because he chose to give them more room to figure it out than he did the other churches. 

14 Here I am, ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, because I do not want what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 

Despite all this, Paul is ready to come to them again. But he will not change the way he will stay with them. He promises not to be a burden and not demand their support—or anything for the matter—from them. This is, ...

As mentioned in the introduction episode, with its radical shift in tone and subject matter, there is a thought among scholars that 2 Corinthians 10-13 represent another Pauline letter addressed to the church—a fifth. In my estimation, this is a reasonable position. Reread the chapters before this one and tell me that Paul’s words haven’t become harsh; some argue that this is not a fifth letter but the harsh letter that Paul refers to at the beginning of 2 Corinthians. Decide for yourself, of course. 

1 I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. 3 Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5 and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 6 We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

“I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we [Paul] are acting according to human standards.” Someone in the Corinthian church—or maybe even a group within it—has charged Paul with “acting according to human standards”, and that he is unfit to follow. He states that he may be merely human, but when the gospel message is threatened his weapons will “have divine power to destroy strongholds.” These accusers are hindering the church in its knowledge of God, but Paul’s arguments will overcome their efforts and will “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” This matters so much that Paul, himself, is writing these words, as he expresses his readiness to go to war and “punish every disobedience” when the congregation has come to fully obey God. Perhaps the church was beginning to side with Paul’s accusers?

7 Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.

Things don’t seem to be going too well in the church, and Paul’s comment here seems to indicate that the Corinthians have allowed themselves to be led astray. “If you are confident that you belong to Christ, [you better look at me and ask yourself if you really still do. Compare your life with Christ with mine.]”

 8 Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters.

I can’t help but hear Cartman here. “You will respect my authoritah.” Of course Paul isn’t using his apostolic authority in the same way at all. His has been given to him in order to build the church and not destroy it. He reminds of this with the caveat that he doesn’t want them to think that he is trying to frighten them back to their unhindered walk with Christ. Paul’s statement implies that his accusers may well be claiming authority within the church but are using it like Cartman would. 

 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 11 Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.

Let’s not call them accusers; let’s call them challengers. They say, “He talks a big game on paper, but in person he’s too afraid to.” Paul responds that he will speak what he has written when present with them in the church. 

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you.

He understands his limits and will not even attempt to give the Corinthians an opportunity to choose between him and the challengers by comparison. They are boastful and proud and—apparently—number more than one since “they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another.” By doing so, “they so not show good sense.” They are behaving like the Corinthians were in Paul’s first letter to them—each trying to stand above the other. Paul, on the other hand, submits himself to God and will not go beyond the boundaries that have been divinely set for him. He knows his limitations and strengths, but more importantly he knows why he does what we does: He does it for God. 

14 For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

You see, God had sent him to the Corinthians and equipped him appropriately reach them with the good news. He doesn’t claim to be able to do more, since all he wants to do is what God would have him to, and God has approved Paul. 

(NRSV, 1989)

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Now we see that these challengers are presenting the Corinthians with an alternative message; they are tempting the church to say that it doesn’t need the gospel with which Paul preached to and formed them. He, as their spiritual father, had betrothed them to Christ as a bride. He was convinced that they would rise to challenge and become chaste again, but now he is not so sure. 

He's unsure about their ability to persevere because they seem willing to embrace any false teaching or “different spirit” that comes their way.

4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. 5 I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-...

Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, 2 for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; 4otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.

Paul wants to make sure that Corinthian church remains the example of generosity, commitment, and faith that it had become. Titus and the other brothers are there to encourage the Corinthians to remain motivated to fulfill their pledge to provide assistance. Their failure to follow through could very well hinder the mission of the apostles and damage their reputations. They are being sent ahead of Paul “so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion” when he arrives. 

6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written,

“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
    his righteousness endures forever.”

As God’s children—like David—they have been promised great blessings by God. In verse eight, Paul reminds the Corinthians again that God provides abundance so that they “may share abundantly in every good work [of the gospel].” Believers must ultimately choose to give so that they might fulfill their call and purpose. Those who put little effort into this work will receive little because of it. In the Expanse novels there is a saying: “The more you share, the more your bowl will be plentiful.” 

Now I know there are some rolling eyes out there—and maybe even some charges of communism—but hear me out. These rolling eyes are the result of Christians “keeping it real”/”Let’s be honest.” This only works if everyone in the Church shares, and we know that isn’t going to happen: If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it one-thousand times. This is called an excuse. The truth is, I am afraid that many in the Church today—many Christians in our part of the world—are happy with the Church being a country-club, social club, or politically oriented 501-3(c). In none of these do we have to be vulnerable or to trust; we only have to worry about ourselves. I think this is why Paul was very specific about two things: Firstly, the desire to provide must come from of a person’s heart, and, secondly, that desire will only arise after a person devotes himself or herself to the things of the Lord. As the Corinthians grow “in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness” they also grow in the desire to be generous. (8:7) Or to put the opposite spin on it: a lack of generosity demonstrates a lack of faith. 

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.

“The more you share, the more your bowl will be plentiful.” God makes no promise of blessing without the willingness to “sow”—without the desire to be generous, so God’s promise comes at a price. But again, as we grow in faith—if we are growing in faith—we will want to be generous. This will take the three Cs: courage, commitment, and Christ. When we do, this ministry provides for the needs of the saints, the spreading of the gospel, and brings “thanksgivings to God.” Through generosity—through our willingness to share—we share the mind of Christ. So, if we know this to be true—it is right here in the bible, after all—why don’t we do it? 

 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

The Corinthians’ opportunity to minister to the needs of the Jerusalem church is a test. Does this not apply to the Church always and everywhere, even here? In verse thirteen, Paul appears to link the Corinthians’ willingness to be generous with their confession of faith in Jesus Christ; faith without generosity is not faith. 

1 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; 2 for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, 4 begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— 5 and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, 6 so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. 7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. 

Paul now turns his attention away from his and Titus’ relationship with the Corinthians to tackle what is the most pressing problem facing the Church of Christ: relieving the hardship faced by Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. What this hardship was is not precisely known, but many believe that a famine had, again, begun in Jerusalem as it was, apparently, present in Macedonia as well. Paul praises the Macedonians for demanding to help him in his collection for the Jerusalem Christians, and even more because the Macedonians were in “a severe ordeal of affliction…and…extreme poverty [yet had] overflowed in a wealth of generosity…” The Macedonians gave what they could. 

This generosity was the result of their commitment to Christ, since “they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to [Paul]”—perhaps to encourage Titus to motivate the Corinthians to follow their lead. Paul tells the Corinthians that as they first commit themselves to the Lord they will grow “in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in [Paul’s] love for them” and, subsequently, their generosity.
 

8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. 10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— 11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.

This is something that the Corinthians must want to do; it must be a work of their hearts just as it was in Macedonia. For encouragement Paul reminds them of “the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for [their] sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty [they] might become rich.” This is a thought that Paul will repeat in later letters—and in the case of Philippians even the words will be pretty much reused. We have received to give. Although this collection had begun in the congregation, it had not yet been completed, and Paul was eager for it to be, but he stresses only “according to [their] means.” 

12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15 As it is written,

“The one who had much did not have too much,
    and the one who had little did not have too little.”

Is your heart inclined to generosity? If it is, Paul tells us that whatever gift we can afford is enough. Giving all you have to another, making that person rich and yourself poor, is not the point; there should not “be relief for others and pressure on you”. My condolences to any television preacher whose flock chooses to read the bible for themselves. The concern here is not the amount of money that the Corinthians have but the desire of the heart and the “fair balance between [their] present abundance and [the Jerusalem Christians’] need.” Paul wants them to realize, again, that we receive from God to give to others. Paul uses Exodus 16:18 as an example, when God began to provide manna to His people and commanded them to gather only what they needed for each do: No one had too much, and no one had too little. 

16 But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. 

Titus is as eager as Paul to lead the Corinthians in their generosity. Again, Paul stresses that this is of Titus’ “own accord.”

18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his proclaiming the good news; 19 and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. 

Paul here is likely speaking about Timothy. God will provide the saints with help when it is needed.

20 We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, 21 for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of others. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters, but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you. 

Paul wants no one to be able to claim that there has been any financial fraud in the distribution of the gifts from the Gentile churches. Verse twenty-one is the standout here for me, “for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of others.” It seems that the need for transparency has been paramount in the Church from the very beginning when money is involved. Paul is sending a third person, a third set of eyes and ears for the sake of accountability. 

23 As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

The churches are described here as “the glory of Christ.” This is something that we need to remember in our day and age. We the Church do not exist for ourselves, to perpetuate our legacies, or have others to meet our needs. No, the Church is the reflection and the image of Christ, brought into being to be God’s righteousness in the world. 

...

2 Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.

Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians has been a strained one. In fact, all of the letters that have preceded this one—the ones we have and the ones we don’t—have been critical of the quality of their walk with the Lord. If you recall from the introduction, this letter—or at least this part of it—is Paul’s response to the good news that he received from Titus that there had been a turnaround, of sorts.

Here, Paul asks the congregation to open its heart to him. He tells them that nothing he has said to them has been false, nor was it condemn them—nor has he taken advantage of or led astray any of them. He reminds them that he wrote these things out of his love and empathy for the sake of togetherness: “…for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” He feels a deeply for them as any person can feel for another. He loves them so much that he is even “overjoyed in all [his] affliction.” He doesn’t bemoan his suffering for their sakes, yet they had begun to exact a heavy toll.

5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. 6 But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

Paul was in Macedonia because Titus has failed to show-up whilst he was in Troas; the apostle became worried and decided to go on to Macedonia after preaching there. When he arrived in the province, Paul tells the Corinthians, he was both spiritually and physically “afflicted…[by] disputes without and fears within.” Since he makes a point of telling the Corinthians that “God…consoles the downcast,” one word comes to mind: discouragement. Remember this the next time you are beating yourself up because you feel discouraged. If Paul can be affected by it…

But because Paul is fulfilling the call of righteousness that God has placed upon him and because he clings to the fact that God has become like a father him—see the last episode and the discussion of 1 Samual 7—God send Titus to him with incredible news: that the Corinthians long for his return, are eager for it, and are saddened by his absence. 

8 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it, for I see that I grieved you with that letter, though only briefly). 9 Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. 

Paul refers to the harsh letter that he had written to them. He realizes that it cause them pain, but he had come to the conclusion that their discomfort was necessary. Note in his parenthetical comment that initially he did regret sending the letter because it had caused them pain. It seems that somewhere along the way the Spirit must have provided him with reassurance—perhaps that since the letter was sent in love, sent out of his duty to gospel, it would result with the repentance that it did. 

Grief and “godly grief,” what’s the difference? Paul uses the Greek lype, referring to sense of hurt people feel when others act in a harsh or wrong manner towards them. It can be experienced by groups of people or by individuals. As we learn here, not all lype is bad. The apostle says in verses 10:

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death. 

Our consciences may cause us some trouble—maybe even some sleepless nights—for a time, but we will find transformation and freedom from our sinful pride in the end: “repentance that leads to salvation”. Paul goes on in verse eleven to explain how we can recognize this godly grief. 

11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.

Godly grief has these qualities: earnestness, eagerness, indignation, alarm, longing, and zeal. Notice, the Corinthians do not blame anyone or attempt to justify their previous behavior, and they seem to be unable to rest until they make amends with Paul and within themselves. Their hurt changed them, and they accepted responsibility for its cause. 

12 So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God. 13 In this we find comfort.

This is why Paul wrote his lype letter: to spark the overwhelming desire to amend their relationship with Paul and be transformed in a way that testifies to others. 

In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you. 14 For if I have been somewhat boastful about you to him, I was not disgraced; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved true as well. 15 And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

Paul now has peace in his heart concerning the Corinthians. He says here that he is not only happy that his relationship with the church has been mended but that, even more so, Titus has now found peace in his heart about them and has found that his love for them has become greater and stronger when he remembers how they listened to him and repented. Paul has been boasting about the congregation and glad that they didn’t prove an embarrassment to him. I guess his earlier fretting was in vain. 

1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
    and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 from the LXX. Here’s the quote in context:

“This is what the LORD who rescues you, the God of Israel, says: ‘Sanctify the one who despises his life, who is abhorred by the nations, the servants of rulers. Kings will see him and arise; rulers will also worship him for the sake of the LORD; because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘I have listened to you at the acceptable time, and I have helped you in the day of salvation. And I have formed you and given you as a covenant for the nations, to establish the land and to allot disserted lots, saying to those in chains, “Come out!” and to those in darkness, “Be revealed!” 

“’They will be fed in all the ways, and their pasture will be in all their paths. They will not hunger or thirst, and the burning heat and the sun will not strike them, but the one who shows mercy will comfort them, and he will lead them through springs of water. And I will turn every mountain into way and every path into a pasture for them.

“’Look! These people will come from afar, these will come from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians.’ Be cheerful, heavens, and let the earth rejoice! Let the mountains burst forth with cheer, because God has shown mercy to his people, and he has comforted the low among his people.” (7-13, The Lexham English Septuagint)

These verses from Isaiah are the foundation of Paul’s message to the Corinthians and to the Church. We work together with Christ to bring reconciliation to the world as Christ’s “ambassadors”. Paul tells the Corinthians that God heard their cries and has brought them salvation through Christ from the death of sin, and now they are charged with a purpose, that is to become God’s righteousness and presence in the world. Just as the Holy One has made a way for us to come into God’s presence—to be reconciled to Him—so, too, must we now do the same. Because the Corinthians have died to self they can now live for God. 

3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Here, Paul provides the Corinthians with proof that his new life is in keeping with the purpose for which it has been given. He isn’t trying to make them feel as if they cannot live into Isaiah 49; he doesn’t want them to feel guilty for their failure but to use his own life as an example of what the ministry of reconciliation looks like. Starting in verse 8b, Paul reminds them of something that he wrote to them in 1 Corinthians: the world will see his life as a failure and nothing to emulate, yet quite the opposite is the true: His is the only way to live for it is Christ’s life.  

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

Paul’s concern for the Corinthians is genuine; his “heart is wide open”. He loves them unconditionally, although, it seems, this is not reciprocated. Paul’s heart remains vulnerable because he has chosen to live life as it has been defined by his call to an apostle. Interestingly, here Paul delivers his instruction to the Corinthians commandingly: He doesn’t include any caveats like, “decide for yourself,” etc. He speaks to them “as to children,” and commands them, as their spiritual father, to “open wide their hearts” as he has to them—to make themselves vulnerable and to share the gospel and live their calling unreservedly. He wants them to love others—and himself—as freely as he has loved them and as God has loved them through Christ. He wants their relationship to be as it once was before the strain. 

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will live in them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore come out from them,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch nothing unclean;
    then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be your father,
    and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul’s fatherly command to his spiritual children goes further. Not only do they have no choice but to open their hearts to Paul and others, they must also cease contact with the way they used to live their lives. The life of Christ is a full-time commitment. His examples are of extreme contrasts: light and dark, Christ and Beliar—a name for Satan—believer and unbeliever, “the temple of God with idols”, for God’s people, God’s Church, is the temple of God, the place to where the nations come to find life. 

Paul closes this chapter with a combined quotation from the LXX’s Isaiah 52:11,12 and 2 2 Kingdoms 7:14a (2 Samuel 7:14 if you are following along in your bible):

“Depart! Depart; come out from there and touch no unclean thing! Come out from the middle of her; be separate, you who carry the vessels of the LORD, because you will not come out with trouble or go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the one who gathers you is the God of Israel.” (Isaiah) “I will be like a father to him, and he will be like a son to me.” (2 Kingdoms) 

When the verses that precede Isaiah 52:11,12 and follow 2 Samuel 7:14a are considered, Paul’s point comes into focus. In the former’s case, Isaiah 52 is a rallying cry for God’s people to “Put on [their] strength” (1) and prepare to be redeemed. Through them, God will declare salvation and “the good news of good things…and will make [their] salvation h...

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Paul continues in chapter five informing the Corinthians the outcomes that they should expect following their decision to die to self and live in Christ. These are the results of righteousness. Up front let me tell you that this chapter is one of the heaviest, most theologically and doctrinally dense chapters in the New Testament. Some of the commentary here may seem to you incomplete—and it probably it—because the themes and teachings here are fleshed out further in Romans. In fact, I’m starting to think that 2 Corinthians 5 should be required reading before tackling Paul’s magnum opus.

1 For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

We sacrifice and are afflicted and face hardship and privation for the sake of the gospel; we experience these things in our physical bodies: hunger, pain, and emotional stress, to identify just a few. The Christian who allows his or herself to die with Christ on the cross to live in Christ will find that their faithfulness will yield the blessing of a new spiritual body. This is in keeping with Paul’s earlier teaching on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians. “…our earthly tent” may also refer to our lives in general, with Paul concerned with how we live them: Upon what do we focus? What are our priorities? 

2 Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

We long for that spiritual body given at resurrection just like we long to live in God’s kingdom. Either way, we will be “clothed” in Christ. When that time and state of being finally comes, we will find God to be our refuge, and God’s hand will cover us. Remember Psalm 116 from last episode. As Paul has already explained to the Corinthians, the only way for a person to gain immortality is to die to self and be made alive in Christ. From this perspective, being unclothed means to be mortal and to be clothed is to be immortal, clothed in the glory and majesty of God. We know that this will be the outcome of our faith because God has given to us His Spirit in Christ Jesus. 

6 So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Is Paul speaking specifically here—that this is about our physical bodies—or this Paul speaking generally about to kind of life that we live: our own, worldly one or Christ’s? As with most bibly things, even though most Christians want it either/or, it is probably both/and. Consider verse six: would you rather be here or in God’s kingdom? Would I rather be in the kingdom than be here where I must struggle against my pride every day? Duh… In verse eight Paul tells us his preference, that he’d prefer to be with God, but “whether we are home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.” This really leads us to verse ten. We may long to be in God’s kingdom, like Paul, but the fact is we are still here. Let us spend a minute here in verse ten.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences.

What Paul says to the Corinthians here is one of the most often ignored teachings in the whole of scripture. In our kneejerk reaction to what we perceive to be dogma in the Roman Catholic Church—what has come to be called “works righteousness”—we Protestants long ago decided that salvation was through faith alone. Some of you listening are going, “Yes,” and some of you are going, “No,” but most of you are going, “Where is he going with this?” Well, this is where: We Christians don’t tend to like to dive into the deep end of our common faith. I guess it’s called the comfort zone for a reason. To put this as succinctly as possible, Paul says here that we are to be judged not on what we believe but whether we have faith—which is belief in action. We must act on what we believe, and these actions declare what we believe. And Paul tells us in verse eleven that this is why he does what he does. “What we are in plain to God, and I hope it is plain to your consciences.”

12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. 13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

Paul has not written this letter to provide the Corinthians with evidence for his apostolic authority. Instead, he has written to them to provide them with an example for, or better, a counter argument to, those Christians who wear their belief on their sleeves—those who do what they do to set themselves apart—perhaps even to those who try to do the ministry of Christ commonsensically or as the world would do ministry. These Christians live for themselves, whereas in verse fifteen we hear Paul declare the necessity of the death-to-self: “…so that those who live should no longer live for themselves…” Why we do what we do is as important and necessary as what we choose to do. This message is in line with what he had already written to the Galatians: that we no longer live but that Christ lives in us. 

To me, verse fifteen is the standout. “And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.” Much of Paul’s soon to be written letter to the Romans is dedicated to explaining what the apostle means here, and I can’t wait to get there: Jesus died so that we might be able to live for something greater than ourselves. 

16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, wh...

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1 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.2 Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.

Paul spends much of chapter four discussing the ministry of the Spirit. In verse six he states that we—himself, the Corinthians, and the Church today—have been made competent ministers of the new covenant through the Spirit. In performing this ministry, the Church becomes “the aroma of the knowledge of Christ” and brings life and was a ministry in which we have no right to participate. Paul states that it is because of God’s mercy that we have become Christ’s credentials to the world. We did not receive the death that we deserved but through Christ have received mercy. And this motivates Paul and should motivate the Corinthian church to continue moving toward the life of Christ. 

Having been entrusted with this ministry, the faithful must cease acting for their own interests and begin only acting for God’s. This same message is repeated from chapter one. We are to live openly and honestly, thus revealing the truth of the gospel. This act is not going to make us rich or powerful or even liked by the world. But it will prove that the kingdom of God is here. The purpose of this ministry is obvious. 

3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

If the gospel message is not understood by those who are not walking with Christ it is because “the god of this age” prevents them from seeing Christ for who He is. Paul states that Jesus, “is the image of God.” Jesus cannot be understood to be anything else: not only a good, wise, or righteous man—not even an exemplary man—apart from his status as the image of God. This is why Paul can tell the Corinthians as he did in 1 Corinthians that human understanding did not bring them their knowledge of God. The message that Paul proclaims is not concerned with what is possible for humanity if it chose to follow Jesus’ example but rather that the image and glory of God is the Lord and not even the “best” human being. “What is impossible for men is possible for God.”

7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

“Clay jars,” what a fitting description. Regardless of its size, drop a clay jar from a certain height onto a hard enough surface and…crack! We cannot be lords; we cannot create anything that truly lasts; we cannot even be the heroes of our own stories because of the fragility of our lives. And it is this way intentionally so that we can not boast that by our authority, design, and power we “have overcome the world.” We are what we are so that all people, everywhere, might know that only God’s power can bring complete and lasting transformation. As much as I love Star Trek, we simply don’t have that in us. Perhaps this is why God made us from clay/the dust of the ground and not out of trees. 

 8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.

Consider how Jesus lived and what He experienced. Consider the practices and lives from which Paul told the Corinthians that they should distance themselves: social status, wealth, influence, self-promotion, and elevation. Only when we have nowhere left to turn, nothing of our own to rely upon, can the life of Christ—that which is the only way to make anything that lasts, which can make anything new—be known. Paul says here that only in our impotence and our unimportance can that which matters be revealed. 

11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. 

Paul tells the Corinthians that all the struggles and the afflictions that he has experienced, all of the failures, setbacks, and weaknesses—the stammering and the ineloquence and the imperfections—everything that Greeks and Romans and modern day Westerners and Americans consider undesirable, these he has willingly experienced and lived so that the life of Jesus—the life we are to live—might shine. In his “death” Jesus’ life is working in Corinth. Remember, Titus has brought Paul good news concerning them—probably for the first time ever! This is why they are the proof of his apostolic authority.

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

Paul quotes here the LXX’s Psalm 116:10: “I believed, therefore I have spoken. I was greatly afflicted.” Although the following reading of Psalm 116 is from the NRSV, 1989—which uses the Masoretic Texts—the message is the same. It is “A Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness”:

“I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplication. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the LORD: ‘O LORD, I pray, save my life.’

“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. The LORD protects the simple; when I was brought low He saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

“For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my consternation, ‘Everyone is a liar.’

“What shall I return to the LORD for all His bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His faithful ones. O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the child of Your servant girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer You a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD. I will pa...

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1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

In Macedonia Paul has learned that the Corinthian church has repented and is seeking to fully embrace their life in Christ. Paul has sent Titus with this letter back to them. Here, Paul asks if he needs credentials to prove that truly represents the gospel of Christ. Perhaps there were those on his painful visit that questioned him in this regard; perhaps those people are still around. In verse two, Paul tells the Corinthians that they are the only proof for his apostolic calling that they need. Likewise, they are the only proof that Paul needs to have confidence in his call. 

But these are not the only two ways that the Corinthians serve as proof:

“You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us [me], not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 

Paul says that the church is also Christ’s credential that is read not through some statement of creed or written declaration but read through their actions and the intentions of their hearts. How we allow the Spirit to operate in our lives acts as a witness for God. 

4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.

Without the presence of the Spirit, nothing that we would do would be sufficient, effective, or lasting. If Paul—or the Corinthians or us, today—preach the gospel through our own power for our own purposes, it would not measure up. The work we do in only “adequate” when it arises from deep in the heart of God. 

What Paul says in verse six is something that should cause pause in the Church as it surely was intended to do in the Corinthian church. 

 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Do as I say. And those who do not do as I say, they are right out. Here is your list of don’ts and do’s. Behave, follow the letter, and you will be okay. The is the ministry of the letter—or at least one way of taking Paul’s meaning here and applying it today. Following the letter of a law or code is not competent ministry and cannot make the new covenant effective. The letter cannot bring life, only death. Only the new covenant—the Spirit—brings life because it is written upon our hearts. And what it writes is the very life of God!

Another way to apply this in our Church today is to understand that no amount of programming, no belief statement, no change in worship form, no change in church-governance will bring life. If what we do is for the sake of numbers, for the balance sheet, it will not bring to our Church lasting life. Only when a church submits to the Spirit—commits to being what God has called it to be in Christ—only when it chooses to begin being Christ’s credential to its community—will it find life. 

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

Here Paul refers to Exodus 34:

29 As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord.30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord. (25-39)

This glory was externally applied like glowing paint that letter of the law had coated Moses. But it is not so with the glory that has been implanted into the human heart by the ministry of the Spirit. It doesn’t fade like that applied to Moses but it radiates out of the Law of God that has been written upon our hearts by the Spirit through Christ. 

In the movie Casino Royale James Bond and Vesper are dressing in their finery for the big poker game in which 007 is about participate. Bond picks up the jacket that Vesper has laid out for him to wear and looks at her most puzzled. “But I have a dinner jacket.” She responds, “There are dinner jackets, and there are dinner jackets; this is the latter.”

12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 

“Since…we have such a hope, we act with great boldness.” What is this hope if it is not life in Spirit and glory of Christ that endures? The Corinthians can live their faith boldly because of the enduring glory of God that remains with them. 

The veil prevents the Israelites from not only witnessing the fading of glory, but it is also a constant reminder of Israel’s shame—a constant reminder of their failure. They couldn’t understand that the law had not come to save them but to bring the penalty of death. The veil reminded them of this death. Only through the presence of Christ and His work can the veil that separates us from the glory of God be lifted. Only with his presence can we live freely and without shame.
 

15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to...

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1 In fact, I made up my mind about this: I would not come to you on another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me? 3 I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours. 4 For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

What self-awareness from Paul! Do we realize the impact that we have on others and how that affects the work of the gospel—both positive and negative? Paul didn’t want his emotions and hurt feelings hinder the movement of the Spirit. In chapter one he tells us that everything he does is to be for the sake of God’s calling—and that everything he does or doesn’t do carries spiritual significance. Paul knew that if he went back to the Corinthians in his emotional state at that time, the kingdom would have suffered. 

Paul tells the Corinthians that they are the ultimate source of his joy and encouragement, and if he grieves them how can he find relief. Regardless of any relational strain, Paul is “confident” that the Corinthians will share in his joy. Of note is the reason for this confidence that he supplies in verse four. “For I wrote to you with many tears our of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.” What is Paul saying here?

It appears that the apostle is confident that the Corinthians will be filled with his joy because of his intent in writing them. Yes, he was harsh with them, but the correction was not to make him feel better or to put them in their place. He wasn’t keeping it real. In fact, it pained him to do so. How often do we correct people for their benefit? If we are being totally honest, aren’t our corrections more often than no tinged with a little “I told you so”? In this circumstance, Paul acted solely with the heart of Christ, so he knows that the Corinthians will one day share in his joy.

5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you. 6 This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. 7 As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Verses 5-11 provide some clarity into what prompts Paul’s harsh letter. Who specifically does what to Paul is not stated. Paul states here that he didn’t take it personally— “…he has cause pain not so much to me but to some degree to all of you.” However, it must have had a somewhat of an impact since it made him hesitant to return to the Corinthians. Likewise, this was something that Paul demanded that they correct—which apparently, according to verse six they did. So, what happened? Here’s what I think. 

Paul had spent eighteen months living and working and ministering with and to the Corinthians. After he leaves and makes his way to Ephesus the apostle Apollos takes the reins in Corinth. At some point during his two-and-a-half years there, Paul pens his first letter to the Corinthians—Letter A, now lost, which the Corinthians misunderstood. Paul learns of this misunderstanding from Chole’s people and from ambassadors sent by the Corinthian church. Paul responds by sending a second letter—B—which we call 1 Corinthians. Things don’t get any better in Corinth, and when someone from the church comes to visit Paul and relay this—possibly Timothy—the apostle decides to pay the church a second visit, travelling there directly from Ephesus. And this is he short, painful visit that prompts Paul’s third letter—Letter C—that, too, has been lost. The attack Paul references here in chapter two precedes this lost letter. 

In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul singles out for chastisement the only person that he does in the entire letter—although it is quite obviously aimed at a church filled with errant Christians. If you recall from 1 Corinthians 5, this member of the church is a man who is having sex with his stepmother. Of course, this sinful act is a problem in-and-of-itself, but what makes matters worse is that the church is pleased with itself that this is happening—even to the point of bragging about it. Paul, through his authority as an apostle, though “absent in the body” but “present in the spirit”, pronounces judgement on this man and tells the church to “hand [him] over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (1-5) I believe that they didn’t do this, and when Paul received word that the man was still present in the body, he makes his second, short, painful trip that prompts Letter C. It seems that the Corinthians didn’t respond to this visit as Paul had hoped.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:6, “that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough”, and that they should, “Clean out the old leaven so that [they] may be a new unleavened batch”. His presence, Paul warns them, hinders the church’s ability to be filled by Christ because it is the “old leaven…[of] malice and evil…[and not] the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (6-8) And this is precisely why this man “caused pain not so much to [Paul] but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of [the congregation].”(2 Cor 2:5) But somewhere between the their receipt of the harsh Letter C and Paul’s visit from Titus in Macedonia, the Corinthians had done a one-eighty and had punished the man. It seems, though, that they may have gone a little too far.

6 This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. 7 As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything.

So, they put him out of the church, and he repented, but now they don’t want to let him back in. Paul tells them to “forgive and comfort him,” so that he might not be overcome by grief. This action on their part will “reaffirm [their] love to him” and prove they are “obedient” to the law of Christ. Aren’t these the same reasons why Paul states he did not come to them again after the second, painful visit and the harsh letter? If they don’t forgive and comfort and welcome back the repentant, what damage might they be doing to that person’s relationship with Christ? 

Paul continues by explaining to the church the events leading to and the reasons for this new letter that he has written to them. 

12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even ...

Paul’s first letter to Corinth, Letter A, is lost; perhaps it will be discovered someday. 1 Corinthians represents Letter B and was written from Ephesus, as was Letter C or E, the “harsh letter” (2 Cor 2:4). It was sent to them via Titus, quite possibly. Afterward, when Paul meets Titus in Macedonia the apostle is met with good news from his padawan: The Corinthians had amended their ways. In response, Paul pens 2 Corinthians and has it sent to them. In it, he justifies the change he made concerning an announced future visit to the church he made in 1 Corinthians 16: a visit that did not occur. Interestingly, some scholars theorize that Paul may have made a short, impromptu trip to the church while he was living in Ephesus, during which he was attacked by someone in the church and had received no aid from its others members—thus providing the reason for his “harsh letter.” And don’t worry, we’ll revisit this timeline when we get to chapter two. 

As usual, please forgive any typos. 

 
Chapter One  (CSB)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother: To the church of God at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul says hello. His greeting does remind us, however, that we are all one in the Lord. He and Timothy are greeting the Corinthian church not only on for themselves alone but on behalf of “all the saints who are throughout Achaia.” Maybe this is something that we need to remember here in America in the twenty-first century, that we are all one in the Lord. I admit that I am guilty of drawing distinctions from time-to-time, but this practice is likely contributing to the Church’s decline in our communities. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

We see clearly here a pastoral emphasis in this letter. “God…the Father of mercies and…all comfort,” this is how Paul describes God’s character. Of course, there are other descriptions of the divine character—and these, too, cannot be ignored—but oft times I fear that we Western Christians living in our highly politicized and divisive society forget to “read the room”. We end up choosing the wrong face for the wrong emotion. Paul is trying to mend fences with the Corinthians and heal the hurt that has occurred between them. 

He reminds the church that God “comforts us in our affliction” for a specific purpose: “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction”. I have believed for some time that the primary reason why the Church is struggling so much in our world today, why there is apparently unmendable division in the Body of Christ today is not doctrinal disagreement—notice that I gave the caveat of “primary”—but is the lack of empathy and compassion. We have allowed our cultural differences to impact, shape, and direct the Church that we have received from Christ. 

The comfort that we have received from God, we have reserved it for ourselves and our friends rather than utilize it for the purpose that God has given it. Patrick’s rule of ministry number two, “There is infinite grace for one’s own sin and swift and sure condemnation for another’s.” We would rather prove a point or justify a decision or “be on the right side of history” than “to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction.”

 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

Is this not Paul’s way of expressing Jesus’s command to take up our crosses and follow Him? “For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” Here is an unpopular and avoided fact of faith, one that none of us want to hear: to have faith in Christ is to have suffering. In His daily interactions with others during His earthly ministry, does Jesus once condemn a sinner, or to be specific dies Jesus ever condemn a person who the religious of his day has labeled “sinner”? Does He excuse that person’s sin or redefine it to be no sin? Does His willing self-sacrifice free that sinner from the penalty sin? And does His resurrection offer to that person a life transformed by grace and love? To be faithful means to be willing to die for your enemies. I don’t think I can put more succinctly.

Paul tells the Corinthians that as he suffers for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he also receives comfort and salvation from Christ to share with them. The Corinthians, in turn, will receive comfort as they, too, suffer for the sake of the gospel. Paul mentions a recent, personal experience to illustrate this teaching.

8 We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again 11 while you join in helping us by your prayers. 

Although the Corinthians are not made privy to any specifics, that hasn’t stopped Christians from trying to discover them: In 1 Corinthians 15:32 Paul mentions that he had fought wild beasts, or in Acts 19:23-40 we learn of the apostle’s involvement in the riot at Ephesus. The truth is, if the details were important, I’m convinced that he would have provided them. As Paul chose to inform the Corinthians of sufferings, who can’t relate to being “completely overwhelmed” with affliction in those times in life when a righteous choice has led to our suffering? Wild animals and riots are details that could hinder empathy. 

In this moment, Paul says in verse nine, he was convinced of the certainty of death; he was powerless to avert it. Yet this was that he might not have anywhere ...

In my estimation, 1 Corinthians 15 is one of the most doctrinally dense chapters in the New Testament outside of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Why the apostle writes what he does in here is easily in keeping with the rest of this letter, but the nature of its subject matter is not. In respect to the former, the Corinthians have strayed from what they were taught and had been demonstrated by Paul, and he was trying to get them back on track. When considering the latter, however, up to this chapter Paul has been focused more on practical or pastoral theology—the hows of the faith and where they have erred in their practice—but here in fifteen, Paul seems to be addressing error that has arisen in their belief. 

1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The gospel—the Good News of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified and Risen—is the only instrument for salvation that is available to the Corinthians. It seems that there may have arisen some doubt within the congregation of the gospel’s uniqueness in this regard. The Corinthians had heard and accepted Paul’s message and had staked their lives on it: “on which you have taken your stand…” Paul was under the impression that this was a done deal; but the apostle’s response here seems to indicate that there is now some doubt: maybe springing from the Corinthians’ determination to keep up the practices of their former lives. 

Note that it is through the gospel that they “are being saved, if [they] hold to the message…unless [they] believed in vain.” This is not a doctrinal statement that some denominations and traditions like to hear. Salvation is a process here and not a single, exclusive act. The Corinthians must “hold to the message” to achieve complete salvation in the future. Thus, believing is not enough to assure salvation. Remember James’ words to a Church that had fallen to temptation: “Even demons believe…” So there is more to salvation than simple belief. 

As stated in the introduction, Paul’s letter has been focused on the need for the Corinthians to change the way that they live—or more specifically the need to engage each other and world in a new, Christlike, way. Salvation, then, is best understood to be a process that starts with belief and ends with a person’s total transformation. “Now I see dimly as in a mirror, then I will see face to face.” Belief—in reference to mental acceptance—is not enough to reach salvation. 

3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

Here is the Good News: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures [by which Paul means the Hebrew scriptures], that he was buried, that he was raised [to new life] …and that appeared [to others for proof].” These then shared the gospel with others who then shared the gospel. 

9 For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

As Paul has stressed before to the Corinthians, the relationship with God has its cause in Him. Just as we can only understand God’s wisdom by the presence of the Spirit—remember, the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world—so, too, can we only become what we are supposed to be with God’s initiative. Paul doesn’t claim to be an apostle, he is an apostle by God’s action. Likewise, all the Corinthians can do is choose to respond in the way that Spirit desires them too, as demonstrated in the life of Christ. If they choose not to capitalize on what they have been given by God through Christ, they have received in vain. 

Salvation is a partnership—a collective action between God and the individual and God with the community and the individual with the community. To find proof of this, all one must do is recall the nine fruits of the Spirit: Three are between God and the individual; three are within the individual; and three are with others in community. Put another way, God does His parts, and we do ours—which we can only do by His presence and grace, ironically. Paul understands this. 

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

So, the purpose for Christ’s appearance to the apostles—the greatest and the least—is so that the Corinthians might believe and hopefully respond. Maybe they’ve got the first three fruits growing—love, joy, and peace—but the other six: patience, kindness, and generosity (with others) and faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (within themselves) so far in the letter appear to be lacking. In fact, maybe even the first three are hard to find. These first three fruits: love, joy, and peace, though, are Paul’s concern here in chapter fifteen. What these opening verses in chapter fifteen tell us is that the fruit that God demands is the product of our belief and our response, and that if we do not maintain a right belief in the gospel, there is no way for us to produce it. 

For some reason, it appears as though members of the Corinthian church are stepping away from the gospel that Paul had preached to them, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” and it is this gospel that provides the foundation of selfless love (agape), joy, and peace that is only found in Jesus Christ.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

In abandoning their belief in the physical resurrection, the Corinthians are turning their backs on the first fruits of the Spirit. Gone is freedom from the fear of death. Perhaps their tendency to hold on to elements of their old lives is surfacing here, too. Previously, the Corinthians would have had no desire to be physically resurrected. (Visit the series on 1 and 2 Thessalonians for a deeper dive into Greek beliefs about death and the afterlife.) It is obvious that they once embraced Paul’s gospel, but now are falling away from it. We see in verse thirteen that the resurrection is central to the joy and peace bought by Christ’s selfless act on the cross. Without it, everything that Paul preached is in vain. 

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

Paul continues his discussion of charismata and his focus on agape. Teaching, preaching, healing, miracles, and prophecy all have been gifted by God for the purpose of building up the Church and the people of God, “for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.” Although he does not dismiss the most valued gift among the Corinthians—gift of tongues—out of hand Paul does diminish its importance because in the exercise of this gift a “person who speaks in tongues builds himself up” and not rest of the congregation. Paul tacks a caveat onto the end of this that if the tongue is interpreted then there is greater value of the members of the Body. 

Paul’s most treasured gift—and the one that he suggests all Corinthians should strive to possess—is the gift of prophecy. This charisma does not allow a person to look into the future like a fortune cookie or like Sister Roberta and her crystal ball; no, the gift of spiritual prophecy has been present since the very beginning of humankind’s relationship with God. Put simply, God’s prophets examine the world and the people around them and seek to bring them in harmony with God’s righteousness and life. They have been chosen by God to speak His word, thus “the one prophecies builds up the church.”

So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds—whether flute or harp—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.

In these verses we may well be catching a glimpse of why the Corinthians’ are so enamored with glossolalia. Often in Paul’s letters we are not told exactly what problem a congregation is facing. So, we must make an educated guess about the circumstance by examining the details of the instruction that Paul gives them. When considering the ongoing theme of this letter and Paul’s effort to convince the Corinthians to come together as one community instead of continually working to show-out, Paul’s words reveal that the Corinthians are babbling “divine” language that no one can understand. It's just noise that draws attention to the speaker and humiliates the listener. I can imagine it. “Well, you don’t understand because you aren’t as wise as I am. I guess I’m just holier than thou.” If we apply the same standard that Paul used when discussing Holy Communion, it is reasonable to argue that these Corinthians may not even be practicing this charisma. 

Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding. Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Paul has already explained why the Corinthians should seek the spiritual gifts that edify others over glossolalia. Here, the apostle points out that there are two limitations to their sought-after gift. Firstly, without interpretation the gift is “unfruitful” in edifying one’s Christian sisters’ and brothers’ understandings. Secondly, the charisma engages only the speaker’s spirit; it is internally focused.  

There is some debate over Paul’s use of to pneumati—“the spirit”. Is he speaking of the Holy Spirit or the human spirit? Which one it is depends on if the translator has chosed to capitalize the S in spirit or not; in Greek script there is not variation script size: everything is written in lower case letters or in upper case ones. Here, I think Paul is referring to his human spirit, since he contrasts “the spirit” with the mind—interpreted here as “understanding”. Notice the contrast in these statements:

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful…if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say, ‘Amen’ at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying…yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”  

It appears that when Paul uses “the spirit” he is speaking about his spirit. This is the intangible, unrelatable part of human existence that only you yourself and God know—his emotions and feelings, perhaps. It’s raising your hand in praise during the song or the sermon. It’s what Mary did that night when the shepherds came and told her about the angels: She cherished it in her heart. Paul compares this to his mind.

He would rather speak five words from his own understanding to others and ten thousand words in a tongue. To put this another way, he would rather speak a few words of his head for others’ understanding than to speak countless words from his heart. 

Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking. 21 It is written in the law,

I will speak to this people
by people of other tongues
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to me,

says the Lord. Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

How we modern Christians sho...

Thank you for tuning into First Day; I am your host Patrick Cooley, currently the pastor of Northport Methodist Church. Please like, subscribe, and share. 

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul gives the Corinthians something to consider: that each person has an equally important and necessary part to play in completing the mission of the Church and that although the Holy Spirit has equipped each person with a different gift, this one Spirit is the source of all charismata—spiritual gifts. It seems as if members of the church are using the perceived quality of their gifts to distinguish themselves one from the other. Of the eight charismata identified by the apostle, speaking in tongues is the gift most desired by the Corinthians, although Paul states that it is best to be considered a steppingstone to the next, “better”, gifts—gifts that begin to cost their user more and more. 

Of course, every Christian and even most non-Christians are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13. It is the most used scripture in religious and marginally religious wedding ceremonies. Who knows, it may be THE only scripture used in non-religious weddings, too.

If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Okay. This is something that I won’t be going too deeply into in this episode but may dedicate an episode to it in the future. As you are aware, English is a unique language—a scientific language with mixed up grammar and vocabulary coming from many sources, Latin, German, French, and Greek—I’m sure along with a few others. This hodgepodge of an origin makes English the world’s most spoken language—though not its most natively spoken one. English’s origin has an interesting side effect: It has a different word for everything—except for some things—including what is arguably the most important thing in life: love. We love our spouses, milkshakes, doing yardwork, quiet evenings, and loud football stadiums. This is not so with Greek. 

There are eight different words used in Greek to distinguish between different types of love: eros—passionate love; pragma—enduring love; ludus—playful love; agape—selfless love; philia—friendship; philautia—self-love; storge—familial love; and mania—obsessive love. I’m sure you can guess to which of these eight words for love Paul is referring. 

“If I don’t have selfless love (agape) it doesn’t matter if I can speak every language on earth or in heaven, nor if have any other charismata—prophecy, teaching, wisdom, or otherwise,” Paul says. If we are not selfless, we are nothing. Paul continues:

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love seeks everything that certain members of the Corinthain church do not. In fact, love seeks everything that many of us still don’t. How can a person be selfless without the qualities that Paul identifies here? Patience, kindness, humility, meekness, satisfied, forgiving, serving, patient, and gracious, these are the makings of agape. 

“Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.” To possess selfless love, obviously, mean that you don’t live for yourself—you don’t live unrighteously—but for God—to live righteously. And those who loves long only for the truth—the truth about God, about Christ, about others, and about themselves. 

“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Paul has already written to the Galatians, “For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love,” (5:5,6) and to the Thessalonians, “We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Th1:3) and, “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” (1 Th 5:8) 

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. 

To have selfless love—to have agape—is to have faith. Paul has already told the Corinthians that faith is a charismata—a gift—and one that they all share; therefore it isn’t a stretch to see that Paul declares here that agape is a gift of the Spirit, too. But unlike the other gifts, it will not come to an end: Selfless and its products never fade. Of all the gifts, however, the Corinthians seek the least, while Paul urges them to seek the greatest. 

I may get some hate mail because of what I am about to say, but I’m going to say it anyway. Here in the South, in the fall, the day you DO NOT PLAN to offer ministry is Saturday—for there is a love that is greater than agape. It never ceases to amaze me when Christians devote so much time to things over which we have no authority, yet neglect the very things that we do. I guess that goes for non-Christians as well. Let’s expend our resources on the things that don’t matter—things that won’t last—until we have nothing left for the things that do.  

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.

Paul tells the Corinthians that it is time for them to grow up, to “put aside childish things” like status and worldly ambition. Because there will come a time when what should matter will be displayed before their very eyes. After putting away these things, the adult Corinthian will have only three concern left: faith, hope, and selfless love—the last being the greatest according to the apostle. When we love selflessly, we place all our hopes in God; when we love selflessly, we place ourselves solely in His capable hands.

Thank you for listening to First Day. Please like, subscribe, and share. My goal is to reach seventy new listeners each series by the end of 2024, and you can help make that happen. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. 

Paul ends chapter eleven criticizing those in the Corinthian church who are participating in Holy Communion with selfish and self-centered motives. Communion is meant to build up the Body of Christ so that the Body might go out and be God’s righteousness in the world; it is intended to make us one in the Lord. This is not what was happening in Corinth; they seem to have forgotten who they have become in Christ Jesus and have lost their way. Of course, this misunderstanding of the meaning and purpose of the Lord’s Table is merely indicative of Corinth’s overarching problem of self-centeredness and pride. They even are using the spiritual gifts with which God has provided them to jockey for position. 

Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul leaves the Corinthians no room to brag. Any positive assertion—any spiritual gift—is from the Spirit of God. They have come their faith in God through Christ Jesus and the presence of the Spirit. This is good-old prevenient grace: We can choose God only because God has made it possible for us to do so. It is unlikely that anyone in the Corinthian church as stating that “Jesus is cursed,” although no one can say for certain, one way or the other. Here, Paul is making the point that it is because of the presence of the Spirit that the Corinthians church even exists. The Spirit will make no one curse Jesus, and only the Spirit can allow one to bless Jesus. Paul couches this discussion on the differing gifts in that same Spirit.

Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

The Corinthians have used their wisdom, their baptism, their daily practices, and even the Lord’s Supper to separate and distinguish themselves one from the other. All in an attempt say, “I am better than you.” So, holier-than-thouism has been alive and active for a long time. So far, Paul has been able to stress oneness in Corinthian church: one baptism, one Lord, one table, one faith. But with differing spiritual gifts being present in the church—in fact being necessary in it—Paul may have his work cut out for him. Paul tells the Corinthians that although they possess different gifts, the foundation of all of them is in ONE Spirit. Like the ability to say that “Jesus is Lord,” none have a right to claim any special status, though they really want to. “A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…distributing to each person as he wills.” Additionally, these differing gifts are active only because the Spirit remains active in Corinthians and that is only “for the common good.” 

Like Holy Communion which doesn’t even exist if it is not being used to build community, if a believer is attempting to use his or her gift for any other purpose than for the common good, the “spiritual” part will be missing, since the Spirit “is active…distributing to each person as he wills.” This is a serious problem in the Church today in my estimation. We often assume that the Spirit is with us, that God is on our side, regardless of our motivations and purposes. Only God gives us the ability to say yes, and only God can empower us to do what He wills. And if we aren’t seeking the same thing that God is, why would be reasonable for us to assume that He is going to send His Spirit, His power to us? 

When we list these gifts of the Spirit, these charismata, it is clearly evident how they could be used to elevate the status and standing of individuals within the church: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment between spirits, speaking different languages, and interpreting different languages. These gifts, it appears, have been present at one time or another in the Corinthian church—and have likely been misunderstood at best and abused at worst—particularly, it seems, the gift of tongues, or glossolalia. Interestingly, Paul lists faith as a gift of the Spirit, so it is something that every Corinthian has. So, like all the other gifts, faith is given by God for a purpose, and we should expect that if our faith is useless it, too, can be taken away. (Just something to think about.)

I will not go into detail about each, specific charismata here and now, because this is not Paul’s point for mentioning them. His point he makes evidently clear: All gifts that are given by God come with strings attached—and none of those strings are for any individual believer to lord his or her gift over others. This is made quite clear in verses twelve and thirteen.

For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

Charismata have been given to the Corinthian church to bring it together to work toward a single goal. And they are given for reasons only God knows to whomever God desires, “Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free”. 

If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

Paul dishes out some pastoral theology here that we should probably heed. Why do we Christians insist on judging ourselves through comparison to other Christians? This applies equally to our own feelings of inadequacy and to our own feelings of superiority. 

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!

Since all Christians are different, their charismata will also differ. And the Body of Christ requires all to function as they have been gifted for the sake of the mission of the God’s kingdom. I picture Mike Witkowski, but even there he is more than just an eye. Yes, the congregation’s members must be different and their functions distinguishable, but not one of them is b...

Paul turns his attention toward another problem within the church that the Corinthians are creating for themselves because of their refusal to see themselves as one and to seek one another’s betterment. 

Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

Paul would ask each Christian why he or she gathers with others around Christ’s table. He criticizes the Corinthians because they come “to eat the Lord’s Supper” not for sake of unity but for the sake of distinguishing themselves one from the other. Remember that this church has become factionalized: “I am of Paul…of Apollos…of Cephas…of Christ…” Some feel comfortable eating food sacrificed to idols because they “know better,” and others, it seems, want to ignore the fact that in Christ Jesus there is no male or female. It should come as no surprise, then, to discover that the reason for the Corinthians’ coming to the Lord’s Table for communion is as selfish and self-centered. Paul cannot understand why the Corinthians are acting this way. “Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink?”

“For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!” They have the bread and the wine, but communion has ceased to be that and has become, instead, an individual affair; its purpose as a means of creating a new community in Christ’s body and blood lost. 

“Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you?” he asks. Here, Paul starts meddling in the lives of modern, Western Christians. In these Corinthian’s zeal to prove how strong their faith is, how in tune with God their lives have become that they can take care of their own communing with Christ—each attempting to walk closer to Christ on his or her own—they prove that they have to idea what the church of God and, in fact, may be demonstrating that they hate it. 

Their Christianity has become a work of individual merit lacking all empathy and compassion. Based on Paul’s response—“What should I say to you? Should I praise you?”—I can only reckon that these Corinthians were expecting an double thumbs-up for their efforts toward becoming righteous. No, Paul tells them, he will not praise them because what they are doing around the Lord’s Table is anything but righteous! 

Paul continues:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

These Corinthians have done the opposite of what Jesus commands here regarding His Table: They have forgotten Christ. The purpose of communion is to remind us of what Christ has done for us and empower and motivate Christians to be willing to do the same for others. It’s not, “Jesus died for me, so I must be awesome,” but, “Jesus died for me so that I can lay down my life for you.” Paul will return to this in his letter to the Philippians. Ask not what the Church can do for you, but what you can do for the Church. The Corinthians, and even we, can do this because in communion we place ourselves spiritually with the other disciples around the table in that upper room so long ago. 

Deuteronomy 26:5-9a states: “’And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: “My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place…” (NKJV)

This passage plays an important part in the Passover celebration in Judaism. In reciting it, Jews identify themselves with those who have gone before and lay claim to the blessings, attention, and promises that God bestowed upon them. In this act, they become the child Jacob’s child; they become the victim of oppression; they are liberated by God and brought into the Promised Land. Paul’s point to the Corinthians is that it is the same for them around the Christ Jesus’ Table in communion. The same blessings that the disciples and first apostles received they do, too, when they place themselves at that table spiritually. 

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” This sacrifice is ongoing, not in the sense that Jesus dies again and again, but, rather, that we receive from Him forgiveness and ongoing sustenance to continue our journey and the mission that we have received. Jesus died to free us from the power of Adam’s sin, and Jesus lives so that we might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

When the Corinthians take part in communion in a way that causes division—for the purpose of elevating and distinguishing themselves one from another—when they forget the reason why it was given to them by the Lord, when they ignore the fact that it proclaims Christ’s sacrifice to establish a relationship with God for the sake of those unworthy to have one, they commit sin and make a mockery of the very Church that Jesus has established through His death and His new life. 

This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

Of course, Paul is not talking about physical but spiritual sickness and death. Visit the podcast’s series on James to dive into the topic of spiritual sickness. Here, he is calling on the Corinthians to practice of critical self-evaluation: “If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged [by the Lord]”. How often do we do this, if at all?

I guess things don’t change that much. In most churches today—both conservative and progressive—rarely do we experience the sentiment of “How have I contributed to this problem?” We judge ourselves worthy and, gosh darn it, okey-dokey. We, like the Corint...

Thank you for listening to First Day. I am Patrick Cooley. Please like, subscribe, and share on Apple, Google, and Amazon Podcasts. 

Of all the scripture that I have studied and taught in my ministry as well as in these series on the New Testament, thus far this is the most difficult I have encountered to wrap my mind and heart around: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. If we take scripture seriously, we cannot quickly ignore the practical implications of Paul’s teaching by saying something like, “We just don’t understand it,” and then continue to argue that the bible contains the only truth that a person needs for living his or her life and that we MUST follow it. So I want to apologize up-front for this journey down the rabbit hole that we find while journeying down the rabbit hole. 

Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head. Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.

It’s disingenuous to command other people to get their lives in line with the words of scripture and then explain away why some passage we find hard to accept—or command hard to fulfill—doesn’t apply to us. Nor can we relegate scripture’s application to context only. In doing so, we rob scripture of its spiritual authority, and we limit its power to transform our lives, since the same arguments used to explain away the things we don’t like can also be used to remove the soapboxes upon which we ourselves stand. So, what do we make of this passage (11:2-16); how are we to understand it and to respond to it? The difficulty arises when we compare what is said here with what the apostle has already spoken to both the Galatians and, even, to the Corinthians themselves.

In Galatians 3:27-29 the apostle writes, “For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” Through this baptism the Christian’s very being is fundamentally changed: a person’s current cultural, legal, and even biological identities become irrelevant in comparison to whom that person becomes in Christ Jesus. In other words, the divisions that separate us—that we ourselves or others have imposed—dissolve away when we are joined with Christ Jesus. So why would Paul draw such a distinction between men and women here in 11:2-16? The befuddlement is further compounded by Paul’s own teaching earlier in this very letter!

In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul discusses with the church his principles of marriage. While arguing the need for husbands and wives to engage in sexual intercourse with one another to prevent Satan’s temptation he writes, “A wife does not have the right to her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right to his own body, but his wife does.” (4) Neither party in the marriage contract owns their own bodies; they belong to the other. 

At face value I find it difficult to reconcile Paul’s edict that “the man is the head of the woman” (11:3) with his teaching in 1 Corinthians 7 states that neither husband nor wife have authority over their own bodies; nor does this subordination align with his earlier teaching to the Galatians that in Christ even the distinction between male and female doesn’t exist. So, what gives: Does this prove that the bible contradicts itself—and is thusly only a book like any other—or that Paul cannot be trusted? The short answer to both questions is, “No,” but a single, absolute, certain answer isn’t easily possible either.

A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man. Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.

Historically, Methodist Christians read scripture through four lenses—a few of those lenses might make Christians from other traditions uncomfortable, but that’s their burden and not the Methodists’. This METHOD of reading, engaging, and applying scripture is often called the Quadrilateral. Forgive me but, although I am an Elder in Full Connection in a Methodist denomination—meaning I am ordained clergy—I did not graduate a Methodist seminary; mine was Episcopalian, the University of the South, Sewanee, “Down with the heathen, up with Church. Yea, Sewanee’s right!” So, every historical detail about the origin of the Quadrilateral I cannot provide. But what I can identify for you are the four lenses that help a person read, understand, and apply scriptural truth in the search for a closer walk with Jesus. These are: the text itself—what do the words themselves say, tradition—what has the Church historically understood the text to mean, reason—does the meaning make any sense—is it logical, and experience—what is the subjective meaning of the text based on the reader’s own life. What this means, of course, is that there are no quick not identical answers.

Applying Paul’s words in 11:2-6 literally is fraught with danger when we remember Jesus’ declaration that the standard by which we judge another is the same standard by which we will be judged. Therefore, all scripture must be applied literally in all circumstances for all people: including us. Likewise if we demand grace for ourselves, we must also demand it for others; remember Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant. Thankfully, the apostle is not concerned with establishing a dogmatic practice here, I don’t think. 

As I have stated before, I believe that scripture is Spirit filled and as such maintains internal consistency—after all, God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. This consistency is present but may not be obvious, hence the usefulness of the Quadrilateral. To hopefully discover this consistent truth or message here in 11:2-16, we must ask what would prompt Paul to write what he does and then consider why he would write it. 

What does Paul say in 11:2-16? Firstly, God is the head of Christ, and secondly, Christ is the head of man, and thirdly, man is the head of woman—each in successive subordination. This makes God—the Father—head over all and everything subordinate to Him. Paul states that men must pray and prophecy with their heads uncovered, contrary to generally accepted Jewish custom. A man covering his head in these circumstances brings dishonor upon it.

On the other hand, women must pray and prophecy with theirs covered—or their faces veiled, there is much disagreement on this—in keeping with Jewish custom. A woman would bring dishonor “to her head” if she performs these aforementioned acts—prophecy and prayer—with her head uncovered. 

If to dishonor one’s head means to bring disgrace to it, the man who prays with his head covered disgraces his head...

So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.

Flee the actual idols that are there in Corinth; the physical things to which you give your devotion, Paul says. But also strive to be free from the heart that desires them—the heart that wants to keep hold of the things that the world offers—which are, in fact, things that we can control. He then places the decision to do so in their hands, having laid out for them the evidence of his exhortation. “The cup of blessing was drunk as often as wine was drunk at a meal.” (Sacra Pagina, Vol. 7, R.F. Collins, 379) 

This cup, though, was not for any one person’s edification but was a reminder that all believers have died in Christ. The same is true for the bread that the Corinthians eat. They are not merely food and drink consumed to satiate a physical desire but, in fact, carry spiritual significance. This may or may not be a reference to the practice of communion, but it at least indicates that the Corinthians were to consider meals together as holy—not intended to fill the belly but the soul—to bring them together as one into the body of Christ. In them, there is no place for conspicuous consumption. To state this another way, the eater must never eat with the intention of separating himself or herself from fellow Christians; we must always have each other in mind. 

 Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 

Paul turns the Corinthian’s attention back to Israel as he did in the beginning of the chapter—particularly to sacrificial system that is practiced in temples. Whether the sacrifice is made to the LORD, to Zeus, or to Baal, there are certain things that these sacred acts have in common, and one of them is that the priests performing the rituals on behalf of the laity take a portion of the sacrifice for themselves. This practice should be taken as proof that the person is a priest and associates that person with the one to whom the sacrifice is being offered. So in eating food that has been sacrificed to idols, the Corinthians in question are participants, indirectly, at the idol’s altar. To them, this may be merely a physical act or it may be intended to demonstrate their social standing, but considering what Paul was just written in verses 14-22, the apostle would say that this meal was spiritually significant and—thus—dangerous because it opens the door to unwanted and distracting spiritual influences. 

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.

These idols have no power to compel, but they—through their worshippers primarily (remember the influence of Moab’s prostitutes on Israel’s men)—can influence and distract Christians from their calling to be like Christ Jesus. They have no power, so it is permissible, but it can still distract, so it isn’t beneficial. And in verse twenty-four Paul tells us how to determine what we do in public and where and what we eat and drink: If our act might hinder another person’s journey to righteousness, it’s best we ignore Nike and don’t do it. Fortunately, Paul provides the Corinthians with a detailed example:

Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, since the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

We are not our own, and we and our loved ones must not be our only concern. The Christianity practiced today in our bit of the world has strayed so very far from Paul’s teaching here that it should make us pause. Our Christianity most often focuses on the end of things; “I need to be right with God so that I can go to heaven.” We each focus our faith—and the fruits of our faith—on ourselves. If this had been Paul’s perspective he would have told the Corinthians that if other people—Christian or otherwise—are negatively influenced by their choice to eat meat sacrificed to idols and gods, those other people just need to grow up. But that is not what Paul teaches here. 

Altering our behavior is not for our sakes but for the sake of others. Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial to other people or builds up the body. I’ve preached this before, and the message is usually met with sound of silence. I don’t mean to say that Paul’s teaching here in chapter ten is hard to understand but that it is hard to accept when we consider the state of modern Christianity and its focus on the hereafter and each of us working to get into heaven as opposed to helping others mature in righteousness in the here and now. Paul’s closing remarks in chapter ten bear repeating:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

And in 11:1 Paul completes his exhortation, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.”

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.

Paul has spent this letter urging the Corinthians to begin living in a way that will be pleasing to Christ. Thus far, the churches to which Paul has written demonstrate three ways that Christians can respond when we receive the gospel. In the Galatians’ case, they received the message with joy, but came to accept the notion that the law was required for sanctification; they responded by enslaving themselves to it. On the other hand, Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians reveals a congregation that was well on its way to sanctification. 

His words to them were of encouragement and for perseverance. Lastly, we learn that the Corinthians have yet to fully put their old lives away; they are keeping to society’s norms. Paul tells them that this is something that they cannot do if they plan to remain faithful and is something that they cannot do since they are expected to lift one another up to God. In chapter nine, Paul uses himself as an example for the Corinthians to imitate. He has willingly entered slavery and relinquished his rights for their sakes. Here in ten, Paul provides the congregation with a second example—this time of a people who refused to leave their practices, desires, and expectations behind. 

Here Paul includes the Gentile Corinthians into God’s people: “our ancestors”. He could, on the contrary, be referring to himself and/or is people as Jews of the Roman age looking back. My money is on the former: Paul’s statement is inclusive because he wants to warn the Corinthians to no do what Israel did when it was freed from slavery. When Paul states that the Israelites were all “baptized into Moses,” he is not equating the transformative effect that believers undergo at their baptism into Christ with their passage through the sea and “under the cloud”. Through the sea and the cloud Israel became one; they were unified in their freedom from slavery and in their receipt of God’s grace. Protection, liberation, sustenance, and life in the form of water from a rock originated from this grace.

These gifts were not merely symbolic for Paul; they were real and had real effect, but their source was spiritual. They were God’s action breaking forth into the world, hence Paul’s declaration that Christ was with them. However, Israel’s lack of concern for God’s righteousness offering to them indicated their lack of concern for one another. Their example mustn’t be ignored!

Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

In verse seven, Paul quotes Exodus 32:6 from the LXX—concerning the creation of the golden calf. In doing so, he links human craving with idolatry. Although Israel received God’s guidance, protection, and provision as it journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land, although it had been freed from centuries of slavery, although its identity as the children of Abraham and as God’s friends had been restored, in almost every circumstance this was not enough for them. Their dissatisfaction with the spiritual food that God had provided to them and their longing for meat—symbolic of the desire for worldly things—Paul tells the Corinthians is intended to act as a warning to them that the desires of their hearts must change. What was once important to them mustn’t be any longer!

Here is the golden calf (Exodus 32:6); here is Israel’s men turning to the prostitutes of Moab and worshipping Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:1-3); here is complaining about God’s provision not being desirable (Numbers 21); here is Israel’s rebellion by refusing to trust in God and failing to enter into Canaan—resulting in that generation’s death in the wilderness and failure to enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 14).

So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

Each member of the community must take care to remain faithful. “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” It is an interesting way to start this last exhortation. Paul doesn’t say “whoever is standing” but, “whoever THINKS he stands”. I detect a touch of sarcasm here. Paul has already made it a point to remind the Corinthians that it is a dangerous thing to assume salvation based upon their own understanding. Remember the end of chapter nine, where the apostle tells the church that even he, who has had a person encounter with the risen Lord, doesn’t make such an assumption: He disciplines himself as athletes discipline themselves. We must choose to remain faithful, and we must choose to remain humble. Never forget that Laodicea thought it was fine. This is Paul’s call for us to be honest with ourselves. 

In the same vein, no Corinthian should ever think that his or her obstacles are any different than anyone else’s. Paul notes this, I think, because he is addressing people that have likely spent their whole lives trying to stand out from everyone else. Remember, status and upward mobility is the name of the game in Corinth. Honestly assess yourselves, Paul tells them, and realize that what you face, others have faced before—even other Christians. But never fear because God is with you. 

Finally, just because God is faithful and “will not allow [us] to be tempted beyond what [we] are able [to bear]” this does not mean that we will escape temptation unchanged or unscathed.

In chapter nine, Paul uses himself as an example for those Corinthians who are lording their under freedom over others. Keep in mind these people’s statement: “Everything is permissible for me.”

Both slavery and freedom were ever present in the Roman world. Roman citizens, like Paul, had not fear of enslavement within the Empire; however, this is not true for others. Freedom in Paul’s world contained two ideas: freedom from and freedom for. It was the freedom from slavery and the freedom for exercising one’s rights. Paul discusses both of these elements here in this chapter. 

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

As we learned in last chapter, certain members of the Corinthian church had rightly declared that they were free to eat anything that they desired; this included food that had be offered as sacrifices to idols. Paul was concerned that their laissez faire attitude would hinder the spiritual growth of other members of the congregation. Paul’s agrees that Christians are free to act as they see fit but that every choice that they make may not be beneficial to them. And based upon many other topics the apostle discusses in this letter, it is a safe assumption that their eating habits were not the only things with which they were taking liberties.

In these first two verses, Paul is calling into question the Corinthian’s understanding of Christian freedom. Even though he is a Roman citizen—and thus free from slavery and free to exercise his rights—Paul explains here that his freedom does not derive from Rome but from his apostleship; in other words, he is free because of Jesus. His encounter with Christ freed him to do the work of the evangelist, and they are the only proof of this that is necessary. These Corinthians believed they had been made free to do whatever they wanted—like any good Roman would—but Paul tells them otherwise. 

My defense to those who examine me is this: Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?

As any Roman would have the freedom to exercise his or her rights, so does Paul as an apostle of Christ. He has the right to marry, the right to eat and drink, the right to get paid for his work, and the right to reap the benefits of the harvest. 

Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen? Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.

“Is God really concerned about oxen [getting their rightful wage]?” Paul tells the Corinthians that he deserves to “reap material benefits” from them since he has laid the foundation of Jesus Christ in their hearts (back in chapter 3). Like the soldier and the vinedresser and the shepherd and, even, the ox, he is free to claim any benefit as his right. Yet he hasn’t chosen to exercise this right. Instead, he endures “everything so that [he] will not hinder the gospel of Christ.” Just because you can, it doesn’t mean that you’ll benefit from it; and just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And to beat that dead horse just a little more:

Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?  In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.

Paul has not said these things to the Corinthians to guilt them into providing him with financial support. In fact, he would rather die “than for anyone to deprive [him] of [his] boast!” This may be a little bit of an over exaggeration, but his point is that if he took even the smallest payment from them, his witness—his example—would be for nothing. His boast is not in what he has done through his own choice but what has been accomplished through him by God. He says:

 For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast!

He expounds on this further:

For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.

Paul does not take pride in himself or his choice to preach. If he did, he wouldn’t be much of a witness. Here he tells us that he is compelled by Christ to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles. He is commissioned—or called—to do so, and it has, therefore, become his responsibility. And a person should not receive praise for doing what he or she is supposed to do. 

Remember Paul’s story. He didn’t want anything to do with Jesus; he was a sworn enemy of the church, yet on that fateful day, Jesus Christ compelled him to preach the gospel to the nations of the world. How funny that this Jew-of-Jews was commissioned to love the Gentiles. This, Paul states in verse eighteen is his only reward: to forgo his rights as a follower of Jesus Christ and “To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge”. But to be clear, Paul gives up much more than his freedom for the exercise of his rights; he also gives up his freedom from slavery and submits to Christ’s yoke. 

Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.

What Paul tells the Corinthians that he has done will seem delusional and wrong in a culture that elevates identity above everything else. In his self-enslavement to Christ and to his calling Paul’s identity no longer matters to him. What he was, a Jew, doesn’t matter, and who the Corinthians are, Gentiles, doesn’t mat...

As Paul turns his attention toward the subject of Christian Corinthians eating food that has been “sacrificed to idols,” we are again confronted with Corinth’s overarching problem: self-centeredness. The apostle has already addressed their cliquishness, their self-promotion, their pridefulness, and their tendency to not think about the other members of their community. “We know that ‘we all have knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” It appears that once again certain members of the church are claiming status because of their possession of special knowledge. This distinction within the church centers on the act of eating food that has procured from the any of the myriad of pagan temples located there in Corinth. It appears that some members of the congregation think that “This is bad. This is really bad. M’kay.” 

And we soon learn that Paul thinks that this belief is silly; this is not a problem. The problem for Paul is that there are members of the church that look down on their brothers and sisters that believe this. This latter group believe that they have greater knowledge and are, thus, farther along in their faith. They mistakenly believe that the growth in one’s knowledge is synonymous with the growth of one’s faith. Paul quickly informs them, by verse three, in fact, that they cannot be more wrong. He then returns to the issue that has promoted the enlightened members’ pride.  

About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that ‘an idol is nothing in the world,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.”

Paul declares that “gods” and “lords” have no power to affect the Corinthian’s lives, since they have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it does not matter if the food that they are eating had been presented to these deities as offerings before they consumed it; such offerings are a waste of food.

“For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many ‘gods’ and ‘lords’ yet for us there is one God, the Father.” Paul tells the Corinthians that even of there were deities in creation, it would not matter since for them, “there is one God, the Father…And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ.” He admits that there are many gods and idols that people empower with their faith; they convince themselves that these are real. But none of these matters for the believer. Paul ends this passage with a doctrinal statement similar to ones that he will make in future letters: “All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him,” Paul says. This is why the condition of the Corinthians’ food is of no consequence for Paul; it has no power since God is the source of all things and we have received these for His purposes. 

However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.

There are some in the church that do not yet possess the wisdom to partake in such food. In fact, it may well be the majority. These have not moved far enough away from their old habits, thoughts, and desires that they are able to eat such food. They can eat, but it would not be beneficial for them. True freedom in Christ is the product of maturity. (Galatians 5) If these immature members of the congregation eat food used in idolatry, Paul likely fears that emotional and physical responses might hinder their spiritual development. After all, he essentially warned the Corinthians that participating in sex outside of marriage will do the same. Food for all people—like sex for most—Paul says here serves a purpose, and that purpose is not to make us holier or bring us closer to God. 

But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

Earlier, Paul wrote to the Galatians: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For is anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (6:2,3) “All things are permissible, yet all things are not beneficial for me.” Here in these closing verses of chapter eight, Paul tells the Corinthians what is beneficial to each of them: the betterment and strengthening of every member’s faith in Christ. The Corinthians will come to learn in this very letter that each person is a member of the body of Christ with every other member. What is best for those who brag about their knowledge and the freedom that it gives them is to seek a closer walk with Jesus for other members who lack these.

Sadly, Paul’s words to the Corinthians are also taken out of context by people trying to justify un-Christlike attitudes. Here Paul’s intent is not to argue that Christians who own slaves should not free them. These eight verses are examples intended to reenforce the point that he has just made about divorce: It is best to remain in the condition that we were in when we came to faith. J. Paul Sampley writes, “Paul does not require believers to leave their social setting. As we shall see shortly, this is partly a function of Paul’s conviction that the end of the ages is near and, therefore, there is no need of altering social structures, but it also reflects his profound belief that the gospel can be fully lived whatever one is or whatever one’s circumstances (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7).” (NIB, Vol. 10, 880)

Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is faithful. Because of the present distress, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

In v27, Paul repeats again his overarching message of this chapter. “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” Remain in the condition that you are in presently. As previously stated in the quote from J. Paul Sampley, Paul recommended that each Corinthian should stay in the state that they were in when they came to faith in Jesus Christ as a proof that the gospel is effective no matter the circumstance. Also as we see here, Paul states that a Christian who seeks a change in his or her status only invites distraction. It is the apostle’s opinion that life is already difficult enough for the Christian; why add more trouble to it in the time that remains? 

This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.

We learn here that Paul believed that to expend effort trying to change our status—whatever it may be—would be wasted since the end was near. He suggests here that the Corinthians begin the process of distancing themselves from worldly cares. Status no longer matters nor does condition or circumstance. “For this world in its current form in passing away.” But some might ask if this still holds true today, since Paul was apparently mistaken about the timeline. My answer is a good old non-committed maybe. It depends on what Paul means in the ending of verse 31.

If Paul means to tell the Corinthians that they needn’t worry about status and circumstance because the judgement is imminent, there may be some room to question this teaching, since the apostle’s advice was shared nearly two millennia ago and there has been no “passing away.” The end is nigh; sell your possessions and look skyward toward heaven. I hear Bill Murray’s repeated slogan in Stripes: “It just doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter.” But if the literal end of all things doesn’t happen or is not near, how can we even consider living as Paul advises in v29-31? The Shakers heeded this advice, and today there remains a single active Shaker community in the United States. But perhaps Paul means something different.

“For this world in its current form is passing away.” Later in 2 Corinthians Paul declares that “in Christ there is a new creation. The old had passed away, and, see, the new has come.” If Paul is not talking about the final judgement being near, what is he? Earlier in his letter to the Galatians, Paul informs the congregation that he “no longer lives, but it is Christ who lives [within him].” And it is this very same idea that he may be communicating to the Corinthians—that in Christ the faithful must reevaluate and engage the world in a different way. Believers must begin to see themselves through different eyes. In fact, this theme is repeated in Paul’s later letter to the Romans, who must stop living into their old identities and into Christ’s. For Paul, the new world, the kingdom of God is not something that will come but something that already has in Christ—although it is not yet completely visible. In fact, Paul will soon state to the Corinthians that, “now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2, NJV)

 want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

If the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, then the Corinthians are bound to seeing that it is made real or made known. Paul believes that the Christian who keeps part of his or her mind on the world’s concerns will have a more difficult time pleasing the Lord—or carrying out His will—since, “his interests are divided.” Remember, this is Paul’s teaching and not the Lord’s by his own admission. However, this does not mean that we must ignore it. On the contrary, his observation is correct. Who among us has never been distracted from what we know should be done by things that, to quote Bill Murray again, “Just [don’t] matter”? Paul actually tells us this in the very next passage: that since this teaching is not from the Lord, it is for each of us to decide how best to “please the Lord” and submit to His will. Paul just argues that his way is “more excellent”. 

If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better.

Something else to note is when Paul tells the Corinthians that when a person has sex with a prostitute the two become one in body, but when a person joins with Christ, they become one in Spirit. With this, I believe, Paul is challenging Christians to decide what is more important: the flesh—and the things thereof—or Christ.  

Now in response to the matters you wrote about: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’ But because sexual immorality is so common, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband. A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. Do not deprive one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that.

Chapter seven begins with evidence of that missing letter that I mentioned in the introduction episode. It appears that someone—either an individual or a group—within the church of Corinth was troubled by the sexually immoral behavior that was occurring—and maybe even celebrated—there. Paul considers this letter somewhat overreactive: The opponents of what appears to be the accepted practice in the congregation seek the apostle’s approval of their belief that the only way Christians should live out their faith is in total abstinence whether married or not. 

“’It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’” Paul begins this chapter by quoting them. Surprisingly, Paul disagrees with this—even though he, himself, abstains from having sex. Since sexual immorality is so widespread in Corinth—both in the city at large and, I assume, even in the church—Paul says that people should have sex only with their spouses. Paul knows that for most people physical lust is a powerful hinderance to righteousness—excluding himself and those who share the same spiritual “gift”. He would prefer that people abstain from sexual congress but knows that this is unrealistic; in fact, it appears that Paul expects that this urge will always triumph, because he knows how powerful sex is!

Sex’s influence reaches well beyond the physical into both the psychological and the spiritual. It is so powerful that Paul instructs spouses to NOT without sex from one another—unless mutually agreed upon—since most people lack “self-control.” In Judaism, marriage was considered to a be a primary mechanism in preventing people from becoming sexually immoral. Perhaps this is why Paul tells spouses that their bodies are not their own but belong to the other. In this sense, their bodies are tools intended to serve a function or complete a task. If one spouse refuses to have sex with the other, Paul’s argument goes, then the spouse who is—to quote Dr. Evil— “all pent up” will give into temptation due to the lack of self-control. No, this doesn’t sound very romantical—doesn’t sound like “love-making”—but it will help keep Satan out of one’s marriage. Paul even extends his advice to widows and widowers. It is best not to remarry, but better to marry rather than to be consumed by erotic desire and give into sexual immorality. 

I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.

Before we move on, I think there is an important sidenote to add. In his comments about sex at no point does Paul state or even imply that spouses should engage in it solely for the purpose of procreation. This is just something to think about. Paul then seems to shift gears and takes up the practice of divorce. Please note, I said “seems”.

To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband. But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to divorce his wife.

Some commentators argue that here Paul is addressing a specific circumstance, since he begins this teaching on divorce with the wife initiating the separation. This is in contrast with tradition which usually concerns itself with husbands initiating divorce from their wives. Although with this in mind it seems reasonable to assume that Paul is addressing some specific circumstance, the text that we have provides no such information. More likely, Paul is teaching the Corinthians what Jesus had said regarding divorce among believers. Keep in mind, the four gospels that we have today in our canon had yet to be written; however, it is not only reasonable but probable that early Christians would have access to a collection of Jesus’ sayings and teachings—if not a yet to be discovered proto-gospel. 

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 permits Jewish men to divorce their wives for any number of reasons, but the same is not true for their wives. In the Roman world, though, divorce could be initiated by either party. Thus, the practice in Corinth would be that wives could divorce their husbands. Why does Paul insert this teaching into his letter here? Considering that the apostle has just argued the preeminence of marriage as a means for staving off sexual immorality, would it not be natural for him to remind these nascent Christians that everything they do or don’t do is for a higher purpose? Or perhaps he is teaching the Corinthians “a more excellent way,” to steal a phrase he will use in a few chapters—the way the Jesus taught. 

Paul tells them that although they can divorce under Roman law and cultural practice maybe they shouldn’t seek to do so. Remember verse 6:12: “‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but not everything is beneficial.” In verse eleven, Paul extends this teaching. He does offer grace to the woman who simply cannot stay married, however. 

But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

Paul expands on Jesus’ teaching on divorce and extols the salvific character...

Now Paul goes to meddling where he doesn’t belong. 

If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases? Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life? So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers? Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!

As people who possess new yeast, Paul wonders why the Corinthian Christians are taking each other to court to settle their disputes. This is another indication that the old yeast is present and still must be purged; it is yet another proof that life within the church is no different than life outside of it. Although we do not know the details, what we do know from history is that the Roman court was a tool used by the rich and the powerful and not by the poor or the ordinary. Because of this, it is likely that Paul here is now addressing greed—another of the immoralities that the Christian must avoid.

His questions here are rhetorical and would naturally be followed by the sound duh. Paul is confused as to why Christians are involving the civil, worldly court in their lives, and he finds no use for this. It can only end in greater division. 

Back in chapter four, Paul addresses those Corinthians who are trying to elevate themselves to become leaders in the church. They are using their blessing and “fullness” as proof of worthiness to lead. Paul responds the them, sarcastically pointing out that he, as an apostle appointed by Christ, has experienced none of these blessings that would indicate his right to lead. In 4:14 he writes, “I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.” On the contrary, this time, when it comes to taking Christian brothers and sisters to court, Paul tells them this to shame them! He is shocked that no one in the church is willing to step in in to arbitrate these disputes. The Corinthians, who will one day judge angels appear to care little to nothing about each other or about living into the future in a new way. And if these disputes are about money, if they are about greed, how even more shameful!

In Daniel 7:21,22 state: “I saw, and the same horn made war with the holy ones, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgement was given to the holy ones of God Most High, and the time came that the holy ones possessed the kingdom.” (NJV)

Wisdom 3:8 declares that the righteous, “shall judge the nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever”; while Sirach 4:15 says, “Whoever obeys me will judge nations; whoever listens to me [Wisdom] will dwell in my innermost chambers.” (LXX) 

So Paul’s response cannot be easily labeled hyperbole. He is genuinely perplexed by the Corinthian’s decision to involve secular courts in their disputes with one another—indicating the focus of the plaintiffs’ hearts. 

As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters!

As the sinfulness and habits of their old lives continue to linger so does their effectiveness to be the Church and also their ability to overcome the world as did Christ Jesus. Their reaction to each other is very familiar, and I fear that we have prevented the Church from changing all that much. The fact that they do not turn the other cheek and respond in kind brings into question their status as member of the universal Church. If the pornoi who claim to be brothers and sisters aren’t actually brothers and sisters, is it a stretch to think that the congregation will be held to the same standard?

Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.

Paul expands by three the list of qualities and practices that he gave in chapter five that makes a person adikoi, “unjust/unrighteous”; there, he states that believers should not mingle with the “sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler”, Now Paul adds two sexual acts: adultery and men engaging in sex with other men, and theft. Paul has already taught them this—“Don’t you know”. How can worldly judges be trusted to make righteous decisions and why do you continue to involve them in your lives, Paul is asking. 

The Corinthians’ focus and desire should be on and for the Kingdom of God, solely. Why then turn to judges from an unrighteous system—a system run by those who will not inherit the kingdom of God? The Knox Version translates this passage more eloquently:

“Yet you know well enough that wrong-doers will not inherit God’s kingdom. Make no mistake about it; it is not the debauched, the idolaters, the adulterous, it is not the effeminate, the sinners against nature, the dishonest, the misers, the drunkards, the bitter of speech, the extortioners that will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Verse eleven indicates that the Corinthians—at least some of them—have moved beyond this worldly way of living. “11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Paul reminds them what Jesus did for them to reinforce his admonishment of their ongoing legalism (and assumed greed).

‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but I will not be mastered by anything.‘Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,’ and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Once again, we hear the apostle’s sarcasm. “’Everything is permissible for me,’” Paul quotes the congregation’s mantra. It’s best to imagine this accompanied by an eyeroll. These verses neatly summarize the Corinthians’ problem: Their lives are still all about themselves; they are still the heroes of their own stories. Also, Paul perhaps is indicating that the Corinthians’ problems may arise from more than their maintenance of old practices and habits; they may be coming from a false understanding of the doctrine of grace. 

It is true that we are forgiven solely through an act of God’s grace—that we are all brought into God’s presence through Jesus’ work on the cross—but forgiveness is not a one-way action. It is true that it only begins with God, and we have not earned a right to it—that’s grace—but when we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and life, there is a requirement for the recipient to re...

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this? 3 Even though I am absent in the body, I am present in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who has been doing such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Paul begins this part of his letter expressing his disappointment in the Corinthians stubborn refusal to fully embrace a righteous life in Christ—as Paul had established in them when he laid the foundation. Perhaps these Gentile just prefer shoddy construction. But here, the congregation’s choice to approve sexually immoral behavior that sinks below even Roman sexual mores: in this case, a son having a sexual relationship with his stepmother, is simply too much for the apostle. In both Galatians 5:19 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Paul as already in his letters pointed out the porneia is incompatible with the righteousness that God demands. Here in Corinth it is a social issue that may even threaten the reputation of the Church if allowed to continue.

Paul would likely have in mind Leviticus 18:8, “You are not to have sex with your father’s wife; she is your father’s family.” (CSB) It was against Jewish and Roman law for a man to marry his step. The act is condemned in multiple places in the OT; Deuteronomy 28:20 is an example: “’The one who sleeps with his father’s wife is cursed, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed. And all the people will say, “Amen.”’” According to Leviticus 18:29 those guilty of the act are to be cut-off. 

This is the second time in as many chapters where Paul uses the word arrogant to describe the Corinthians. The first use is in 4:6 in reference to leaders in the congregation favoring some members over others. Also, it appears that they are adding stipulations and conditions to what they have received from Paul. “’Nothing beyond what is written.’” Maybe the Corinthians thought that they knew better—that this isn’t something that is all that bad (They’re both consenting adults.), or maybe they tolerated this because of who was doing it? Regardless, both possibilities arise from Paul’s concern that the Corinthians are refusing to sacrifice their old way of life for the one that they received in Jesus Christ. 

Paul has confidence that they know what must be done with the man because he is with them in spirit. He reminds them that they must cut the member off. “…hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The only hope that this man has to receiving salvation on the day of the Lord is for the congregation to remove him from their midst. 

R.F. Collins draws a parallel to Job’s dealings with Satan and his travails where Satan, “appears as an apocalyptic source of temptation, is God’s agent, not God’s enemy.” (Sacra Pagina, Vol. 7, 212) Acting as God’s agent, Satan’s impact on this man, Paul may believe, will force him to return to Christ’s righteousness. He isn’t suggesting that man’s physical body needs to be destroyed but, rather, the deeds and works of the flesh. Remember, Paul has already told the Corinthians that whatever house they build will have to stand the test. 

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The consequences for the Corinthian’s acceptance of one of its members porneia apply beyond just the man’s risk of losing his salvation; it threatens the very existence of the Corinthian church. The church is taking pride in the fact that this man is part of the community—remember, this affair is ongoing—and, as mentioned already, it either approves of what he is doing (“That’s no big deal.”), or this man brings something to the community: social credibility or financial gain (“Look who’s a member of our church.”). Regardless, a leaven is all that is needed. A church’s celebration of sin, Paul says, will only lead to one end. But like with the man who still has the opportunity—though “through fire”—to receive salvation, so too does the Corinthian church. “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” 

This harkens back to Paul’s trouble with the Galatians. He had brought to them the gospel of Christ and thought that they were well on their way, only to learn that they had taken up the law and search for justification through it; they had received Jesus but has chosen to let Him go. Paul, in fact, considered all his efforts to the Galatians a waste of time, so it is understandable why he is so emphatic with the Corinthians in this. Because they have received Christ and His Spirit, they are able to put away the old practices, the old ways of thinking, and the worldly desires. The Corinthians ARE CHANGED, Paul says, so now is time to let go of the old and enter life anew. 

The community must put away kakia, “badness” or “depravity”, and poneria, “wickedness” or “baseness”—interpreted for some reason in the CSB as malice and evil. However, putting away their depravity and baseness is not enough; Paul tells them that they must take on new qualities and not just expunge the old ones: eilikrineia, “sincerity” or “purity of motive”, and alietheia, “truthfulness” or “dependability” or “uprightness”. In a city where everyone has an ulterior motive in everything they do, this is indeed ne leaven. Paul continues: 

9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10 I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. 11 But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.

Paul must have written a letter to the Corinthians before this one that has been lost to time, and it seems that mingling and associating with pornoi, “immoral people”, has been a long present issue with the congregation. The apostle reminds them not to associate with the base or the sexually immoral, but he provides a caveat: The Corinthians are urged to disassociate with so-called members of the ...

Paul continues to address the Corinthians’ attempts to distinguish themselves form one another. He begins by declaring both Apollos and he are merely servants of Christ—subordinate to Him—and have been given the “mysteries of God” to share with others. Since they have been made stewards of the gospel they must remain faithful to it. Numbers 12:6-8a focus on one such steward.

“He said, ‘Now hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the form of the LORD.’” (New Jerusalem Version)

Moses receives from God because he faithful “in all [God’s] house.” His faith permits him a deep relationship with God and one that is uncluttered by riddles: God speaks to him plainly. Paul and Apollos get the straight dope from the LORD, and apostle wants the Corinthians to do the same. They struggle to understand the gospel because they are not deeply committed to God. This is why Paul has had to resort to feeding them only milk. They must grow in their faith, in their trust in the God. 

Paul then acts like most us when we hit our fifties and distinguishes himself from the Corinthians. In verse three he tells the congregation that he doesn’t care what they or any person or human authority thinks of him. Their opinion of him doesn’t matter to him. This is a product of faith. The stronger our trust in the LORD, the easier it is to disregard the negative impact that other people’s opinions have on us. The Corinthians care what others think—even their brothers and sisters in the church. Paul seeks no validation for the live of faith that he is building on the foundation of Christ. In fact he doesn’t even seek to validate himself. He just continues to build the strongest building that he can in the best way that he knows how. 

“4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.”

He doesn’t judge himself because even he may have some things in his heart that are so darkened that only Christ can reveal them. Here Paul is speaking about the motivations of the human heart. We really don’t know anyone’s true motivation for the things that they do and say—why they are building the house that they are. So often we jump to conclusions and assumptions that would be best if we ignored. Note that Paul is not contradicting the first three chapters by giving the Corinthians this command: to not prematurely judge because by their own admission they judge themselves and others by worldly standards to be better or worse They should know better based on what Paul taught them when he was with them. 

6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another. 7 For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?

Paul changes his target at verse six away from individual Corinthians (“Each must decide what to build on the foundation of Christ.”) and the church collectively (“Do you not know that you are the temple of God?”) towards specific, though unnamed, members of the congregation. Of course, what is said here can easily be applied to any person’s attitude. If Paul is indeed addressing targeted people, he seems to be speaking to leaders in the congregation who are jockeying for position in the congregation’s hierarchy—commonplace for the city’s residents. This positioning is intentional because they are adding things to the instructions that they received from Paul. We do not know that those words were specifically; all we do know is that certain Corinthians were adding stipulations and conditions. 

8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us—and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you!

A little Pauline sarcasm is always fun—if not convicting—to hear. These special people claim that they know or have more than others in the church. It is great that you have already reached the goal, that you are better off than the rest of your brothers and sisters, Paul says here; how “I wish you did reign, so that we [the people who brought you the gospel of Jesus Christ] could receive from you. Ancient sarcasm at its finest.

9 For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.

Paul compares his and Apollos’s condition with that of the Corinthians; he gives them a taste of what those who follow Jesus should expect. Y’all are reigning over life, but we are “like men condemned to die.” They have become a cautionary tale and like the rebels in the closing verses of Isaiah 66, they are “a horror for all humanity.” Paul’s sarcasm continues in verse ten.

10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

Don’t forget Paul’s audience here: the church that HE brought to know Christ’s forgiveness and new life. He then provides his readers with a more specific description of the state of his life as an apostle. 

11 Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless; 12 we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage.

Perhaps the Corinthians had come to accept from these arrogant people trying to lead and guide them that the life of a follower of Jesus Christ would be one of worldly blessing; it would be a prosperity gospel. Paul instructs them that the truth is quite the opposite. It is an absolute certainty that the person who is faithful to God will be blessed, but it is also an absolute certainty that God blesses in ways that are unlike any of the world’s. This reminds me of the...

16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Although in the preceding verses Paul is speaking to each Corinthian about being careful what is built on the foundation of faith that he established, here in sixteen Paul is referring to the whole church when he asks, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” A good way understand this shift between actors is to see each Corinthian as a subcontractor expected to contribute to the completion of the whole building project; this building is the temple of God. And this is probably why Paul pronounces dire consequences to anyone who would destroy the temple. 

The Greek word translated as destroy is phtheiro. It is used later in 1 Corinthians and in 2 Corinthians to mean ruin or the infliction of severe damage. By using it, Paul here is not referring to the annihilation or utter destruction. “If anyone ruins the temple, God will ruin that person.” It is important for the Corinthians to know why this is the case, “because the temple of God is holy, and that is what [they] are.” The lives that each of them are building merge to make one common life for the congregation, the temple of God. It must be holy, so its parts, too, must be holy. 

18 Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” 

He Paul reminds the Corinthians of what he told them already in this letter: that to keep one’s mind on earthly desires—to scheme—prevents a person from even the ability to understand who God is and what God wants. If they want to keep up the Corinthian practice of climbing to the top, they are in for a rude awakening. “…he must become foolish,” because Jesus’ life was foolish in everyone’s eyes. Paul says here that there is no middle ground: The world’s wisdom is foolishness to God, and God’s wisdom is foolishness to the world. I mean, what’s more foolish than turning the other cheek?

21 So then, no one is to be boasting in people. For all things belong to you,22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Finally, Paul tells the Corinthians if they don’t want to be deceived, they must keep the proper perspective. They are “boasting in people” because they believe that is way you receive. None of these things: Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, and the future are important: only Christ is. Those who focus on Paul believe that they are the only ones who will receive, while those who focus on Apollos believe likewise about themselves. To give ourselves over to any one of these perspectives or realities thinking that by doing so we might gain the world is wrong. 

Paul tells the Corinthians that their efforts to differentiate themselves from one another is a waste of time since “all thing belong” to the Paul faction, the Peter faction, etc. Who makes them who they are, who gives them “all things” are none of the these things, no worldly leader or idea. Everything belongs to all of you, not matter if you think your party is the first and best one, Paul says, because you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God—who owns everything. So by grounding their identity people other than Christ and building their lives and actions around anything other than the gospel that Paul had implanted in them, the Corinthians were risking everything. 

1 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people? 4 For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

What was that I said in the last episode about how we Western Christians look to Christians from other parts of the world? 

In the preceding chapter, Paul informs the Corinthians that it is only through God’s Spirit that people can discern wisdom—that they can know the truth. He tells them that this understanding is given to the spiritually mature believer. Now he begins chapter three by informing the Corinthians that they are not mature and have not been given the ability to discern all things. And why is this? Because they haven’t remained in the Spirit; they have taken their hearts off Christ and placed it on the things of the world, the stuff of their old lives. What you focus on—what is most important to you—shapes your life; so by focusing on fleshly things, on the wisdom, ways, and desires of the world, the Corinthians are living their lives just like everyone else, like “ordinary people.” Because of this, Paul calls them children. And the first proofs of this immaturity are the jealousy and strife separating the congregation. So Paul gave them “milk to drink, not solid food; [why} for you were not yet able to consume it.” Even from the start, the Corinthians were of two minds; one was upon God in Christ Jesus and the other was on the lives they lived before hearing the words Jesus Christ. Sadly, even though some time has passed they are still unable to eat real food. (Perhaps all they had was a faith of platitudes and maxims.) 

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

The divisions that the Corinthians are using to distinguish themselves one from the other are evocative of something that we will soon see in chapter nine of the gospel of Mark when the disciples argue among themselves about which of them is the greatest. We hear Paul’s “Oy vey” in verses 5-9. I picture it, like Jesus’ response to His disciples in Mark, accompanied by an eyeroll. The Corinthians are placing great emphasis on who has baptized them into the church as a means of claiming higher social standing—again, a practice de rigueur for their city. The apostle tells the congregation that this should not be, that he and Apollos, though called to differing tasks, are merely servants to the same God: Paul was sent to establish their church and Apollos to sustain it. As far as Paul is concerned, both men are the instruments through whom God is building His Church. So although they both have different purposes, they work together as one. What good is it to plant if there is no water to sustain it? And without plant, aren’t you just wasting water? 

Apollo was a contemporary of Paul’s, a fellow Jewish Christian who hailed from Alexandria who played a part in establishing the church here in Corinth as well as in Ephesus. Some believe that he had a unique way of speaking that set him apart from Paul. This seems reasonable to me since, being from Egypt, he would have likely been exposed to Philo. Some scholars even think that he was the author of the letter to the Hebrews—even though no authorship is claimed. But regardless of Apollos’ or his CV, Paul states that none of this matters: All that matters is that the two of them are working together to build the Corinthians into the Church. 

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.

What either of these men are doing is only by the will and grace of God. Each one’s work is dependent upon the work of the other. Paul, who planted the Corinthian church, “laid a foundation, and another is building on [that foundation].” Although Paul is specifically referring here in the beginning of verse ten to his collaboration with Apollos is establishing the church, verses 10b-15 possess a broader application. “But each person must be careful how he builds on it.” What kind of church are the Corinthians building on the foundation of Jesus Christ? In verse 10b, Paul encourages the congregation to take a long, hard look at how it is living with one another and gives them the opportunity to build their faith in meaningful ways. Individuals’ decisions impact the whole.

If individual Corinthians are not working towards a common goal, if each seeks to elevate oneself, not only will that person’s faith suffer but so will the faith of the whole church. Paul has laid the foundation of faith in Corinth—the gospel of Jesus Christ—and Apollos has done his part to sustain that effort, but it is up to the Corinthians to see to it that the church that they build will be what God wants it to be—that it will be the body of Christ: something that Paul touches upon later in this letter. What does your church—your collective action—say to the world about God? Does it say anything at all?

The Corinthians are using their faith to separate and elevate themselves, just like everyone else outside of the church is doing. Paul teaching here can also be applied to an individual’s faith journey. If the Corinthian church’s actions reflect on God (what are y’all doing), so, too, does each person’s actions reveal the quality and character of one’s faith (what are you doing). 

“For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident…” Someone shared with each of us the gospel; someone has laid a foundation of Christ into our hearts. Each of us must then choose what to build upon that foundation; what kind of faith are you going to have? Will you build the finest, strongest faith that you can or are you goi...

In chapter one we learn that the Corinthians, despite the odds, had come to believe the gospel that Paul preached to them. After he assures them of God’s ongoing faithfulness to keep the church “blameless until the end”, Paul brings up the first problem that we was told the Corinthian congregation is facing: Its members have become balkanized, indicating to Paul that the cultural tendencies of the city—and Rome—are beginning to hold sway over the peoples’ hearts. They’ve started doing what they know by jockeying for position. 

Paul reminds them at the close of the chapter that the gospel they heard and accepted is unlike anything that had known before. It not only offers them a new way of living but also a salvation that they would never be able to achieve though any effort—neither as a patron or a client. The gospel brought them life and a purpose not through strength or wealth or social standing or political influence but though self-sacrifice, weakness, service, and trust. In fact, Paul says, I didn’t even bring you this gospel in the ordinary, expected way. He carries this thought into chapter two. 

1 And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.

How unlike the usual way of doing things. Paul’s gospel is not what anyone expected! As he writes in chapter one, “…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong…” The Corinthians would have had frequent contact with orators who would make their living moving their listener’s minds and hearts. In fact, they would charge admission for those wanting to hear their rhetoric. Paul’s message, on the other hand, was offered without charge. Based on his description he would have likely had to pay them to get the Corinthians to listen. So not only is the message foolishness by the world’s estimation but so is the delivery. The very fact that the Corinthians did listen may well indicate the divine hand at work. 

In verse two Paul provides his motivation for sharing the gospel in Corinth. He “determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” This is his rationale for not making his message eloquent as someone with “superior…speaking ability or wisdom” would. Paul removes himself from the equation so that the gospel message of the cross can be heard clearly. How different would the Church be today if its messengers would take this practice to heart? This is not unlike a message that he shared with the Galatians when he reminded them that he did not share the gospel with them to have them like him but did so only for the sake of obedience to his calling. 

What’s more, if Paul could remove his influence on the message, then when the message takes root and produces fruit, he would be able to see the result of Christ’s work clearly and the Corinthians would know that they were in the presence of God’s Spirit and power. 

I remember a time when news reports did just this—reported the news with no editorializing or attempts to influence. And in a way, Paul’s m.o. makes even more sense when we, again, consider the world in which the members of this congregation have been raised in and live: patrons and clients peddling themselves for their own advantage and nothing being given to others without a selfish motive. On the contrary, Paul’s message to the Corinthians was given for its own sake and nothing more! Shouldn’t that be the same for today? 

In the absence of any ulterior motive for giving them gospel, the Corinthians would arrive at one inescapable conclusion for its offering: God truly loves them. 

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written:

‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the human heart,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’

Paul tells the Corinthians in verse 6 that even though he has just stated that true knowledge of God occurs in ways quite removed from the ways that it occurs in the world, he is nevertheless imparting wisdom to them; although this wisdom is unlike the world’s as well. The apostle imparts this knowledge to those who are “mature”—a state that may mean different things to different people. Maturity here does not refer to the listener’s age, since we all know many older, more mature people who act like children and children who would be mistaken for the two old guys in the Muppet show if it weren’t for their pimples. 

“Mature” for Paul means to be whole, complete, “to be all that one can be.” The Greek he uses here means literally “the perfect.” And this is not a state reserved for only a few Corinthians. As we will see later in his letter, Paul expects that every Corinthian will come to this deeper knowledge. Also, understanding perfection as completion—or being made whole—is in keeping with Jewish thought. To those who are complete, then, Paul’s gospel message is wisdom. (Sacra Pagina, Vol. 7, 129) This gospel wisdom does not reenforce the world’s wisdom or, in a way, its way of doing things. The “rulers of this age” cannot possibly understand God’s wisdom because they have not faith in Christ Jesus; for them, the truth of things is “hidden”. It is obscured to them not by God but by their own choice.

Paul writes in verse seven, “but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory”. Understanding what is true and what is real has been “predestined” by God to transform us: “to our glory.” The rulers of the world would think that they needed no such help from the Almighty. Paul says that this is evidenced by the fact that they cruficied Jesus. 

In short, Paul is telling the Corinthians that the good news of Christ Jesus is a wisdom that is given by God that is intended to change their lives, and it is only accessed through humility, since “the rulers of this age” cannot access it. For the Corinthians, this would be a radical and difficult thing to understand because of society in which they lived. Remember, if you wanted to get anywhere in Corinth—wanted to be somebody—it was up to you. 

10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God ...

Now that Paul has reminded the Corinthians of the fact of their calling and that God has and is keeping them safe and has provided them with the spiritual gifts necessary to prove His divine presence in their lives, here in chapter one verse ten the apostle jumps headlong into addressing issues facing the congregation—most of which are ones that their forgetfulness and pride have helped to cause. 

Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians because they were willfully laying aside the gospel of Christ’s faithfulness in order to take up the practices of the law of Moses, in spite of the effort that Paul has put in to plant the church. To put this another way, the Galatians are abandoning salvation through faith. His letters to the Thessalonians were to help them remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ while being surrounded by other religions and people telling them to abandon their faith. 

Here, Paul is writing to the Corinthians to tell them to get their acts together—to pay attention to what they are doing to and how they are treating one another. We see this from the very beginning:

“10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name! 16 But I did baptize the household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.”

I guess that there is nothing new under the sun. Paul doesn’t make this a command; he doesn’t tell the Corinthians that the only allowable response are the words, “How high?” The apostle appeals to them by the authority that has been given to him by Jesus to choose to be of one mind and seeking a common goal. 

We discover that Paul is aware of the situation because of a report from “Chloe’s people.” The Corinthian congregation has become divided into factions that are based upon the person who performed any particular baptism. Paul tells the church that these divisions are dangerous because they will result in “the cross of Christ [being] made of no effect.” And indeed, this is the same risk we face even today. 

But what’s the big deal about caring who baptizes someone? I mean who wouldn’t want to be baptized by Billy Graham? Well, I guess Paul, because for him the importance of the act itself—and by extension who performs it—isn’t nearly as important as what results from it: unity of—or being made completer in—mind and judgement. This unity is key to the Corinthians’ ability to remain faithful to the life of Christ Jesus. 

Hear me out. 

Paul wrote to the Galatians that his life was no longer his. He had died with Jesus on the cross, had been buried with Him in the tomb, and had risen with Him on the third day. “I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” In short order, Paul will pen his letter to the Romans in which he will expend plentiful, expensive ink explaining to a factioned church the purpose of Christ’s cross—that is: Jesus died to overcome death which had entered the world because of Adam’s pride. 

The First Man sin was that he made life about himself, about his identity, wants, and needs; it was no longer about the Creator and source of life. The Roman church will divide along ethnic and cultural lines—Jewish and Gentile “Christian”—and threaten the very life and nature of the Church. The factions here in Corinth are doing the same thing. 

In making their baptisms about themselves—about the person who, essentially, brings the baptism to them—the Corinthians are picking back up Adam’s pride and its resultant death. In verse seventeen, Paul uses his own calling to show this. “For Christ did not sent me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech [making it about the messenger and the recipient of the gospel and not the message], so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.” 

Firstly, Paul identifies the problem: The Corinthians, instead of allowing baptism to make them one—one baptism to unify them in mind and judgement—they are using baptism to separate themselves one from the other. And, secondly, he then shares the ultimate outcome: that the cross’s power would be nullified for the Corinthian church. Instead of their baptismal waters washing away the remnant of Adam’s sin, they are helping to make his pride cling even tighter. Paul then begins to explore why this is happening. 

“18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the understanding of those who have understanding, I will confound.’

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom…”

If you recall from the series introduction, Corinth was a wealthy town, one full of movers and shakers, with people trying to climb the social and financial ladder. Like the rest of the Roman Empire city relied heavily on patronage—without which it would have been impossible for individuals to advance socially and economically and, in some ways, even for the city to even function. Patronage placed people from two classes together into a relationship: the patron and the client. In exchange for loyalty to their patrons, clients would receive gifts of food and land and other financial support—even legal representation and more if they needed it. Patrons would gain the respect of others and even political support. 

I think we call it the Old Boys’ Club nowadays. Patronage was grounded in tradition—in the way things have always gotten done. In it, a person found salvation and advancement by playing by the established rules. This is life as the Corinthians would have known it until that day that Paul would have shared with them “a more excellent way.” In such a world the message of the cross would have, indeed, sounded like foolishness or, even worse, hokum. 

From Paul, the Corinthians learned a new way of thinking about themselves and their place in the world. He offered them a greater understanding of life and a new source for it—a source that would never run dry, unlike treasuries and political alliances. Their relationship with their patrons or their clients was based on mutual exchange, yet the one that Christ offered was freely given! 

Paul says here that the gosp...

Thank for listening to the First Day podcast. I am so happy to be a part of your spiritual journey. Please don’t hesitate to reach out; if you have any questions send them to connect@firstday.us. I want to ask that you share this podcast with others if you have found it helpful in your growth as a disciple and journey with Chirst. I am hoping to have an average of seventy listeners per week by the end of 2024. Thank you for your help in growing the podcast. Now on with Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

“1Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It was typical to begin letters with the sender’s name. Paul doesn’t call himself by the  Jewish version of his name, Saul. There is no evidence that his name was changed due to any moment of conversion. Rather, as was the convention of his day, the apostle used different versions of his name depending upon the audience or context. 

Sosthenes may well be the former head of the Jewish synagogue in Corinth—also called Crispus—who was beaten before the proconsul Gallio’s tribunal. This incident was reported in Acts 18. He had come to believe Christ was the Messiah and had brought many Corinthians to believe, too. Sosthenes’ relationship with the Corinthian church is not described, but considering Paul mentions him at all indicates a meaningful relationship between the church and the former Jewish leader. 

Paul declares that he is “called as an apostle of Jesus Christ”. Also note that in the very next verse, Paul states that the Corinthians, too, have been “called as saints”. What, then, does it mean to be called? In current usage, we use the word ‘calling’ synonymously with the word ‘vocation’, but here, it seems, Paul means it to be more broadly and meaningfully utilized. Paul’s authority is, therefore, grounded in the eternal, the divine, and cannot be revoked by anyone. This is similar to his description of his calling to the Gospel that he gives to the Galatians. To be called isn’t just about one’s career path—or abandoning them all together. This calling is specifically stated to be “by God’s will” and not by any other person’s whims.

Indeed, Paul didn’t earn a dime from fulfilling his call in Corinth: He worked as a tentmaker or leather worker if you recall from the last episode. No. To be called means so much more than working in an occupation you love or are have skill in. With this in his introduction, Paul is making this letter not only one specifically concerning Corinth but also one intended for the whole Church. 

Calling is about the meaning and purpose of one’s life and not how that person earns a living. For what gives rise to a saint if it is not the willingness to lay down one’s life for what is more meaningful? In Christ not only have the Corinthians been called to live as saints, Paul tells them, but so have “all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ”. Joel 2:32 comes to mind: “But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.” All of Christ’s followers call upon this same Lord. 

I can’t help but think that Paul has found it necessary to remind the Corinthians of this fact—that they are one with every other believer because of the culture of Corinth—for theirs is a city known for its greed and its citizens’ desire for social advancement and advantage. 

In verse three, the apostle offers the Corinthians God’s grace and peace before offering a thanksgiving to God and then getting right to the issue at hand. “Peace is not simply a negative or passive state in the Christian faith. Rather, it is an integration of the spiritual personality wrought through a faith centered in Christ the Prince of peace.” (The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 124) Years later in his letter to the Ephesians 2:14 declare the Christ Jesus “is our peace.” Our struggles with others—and theirs with us—can only be mitigated through the presence of Jesus Christ. Therefore peace, like purity or impurity, does not originate in the external but comes from the heart—where the Spirit of that same Christ dwells. 

This is the peace that is felt when we live into our calling “as saints”. It is a peace that surpasses all understanding because it is a peace that is available even int the direst for circumstances. A perfect example of this peace is found in the story of Stephen’s calling—and ultimate martyrdom—in Acts 7.

In the next section of his greeting, Paul offers a thanksgiving up to God for the work that the Spirit performed in and among the Corinthians. 

"4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge. 6 In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, 7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul continues his greeting with a thanksgiving. He is thankful that the Corinthians have received God’s grace in Jesus’ work, and he’s thankful that God has made the congregation equipped to understand and share the gospel. In fact, this is proof that the Corinthians have a relationship with God through Christ Jesus. And this relationship has been given and received for purpose: so that the Corinthians may remain faithful until the end—until the Day of the LORD when Christ is revealed.

Paul would, of course, be familiar with this Day, though to most of his Greco-Roman audience the idea would be a foreign one. Amos 5:18-20 states:

”18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord,/ For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?/ It will be darkness and not light;/ 19 As when a man flees from a lion/ And a bear confronts him,/ Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,/ And a snake bites him./ 20 Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light,/ Even gloom with no brightness in it?”

This is a Day of Judgement and not one of relief and comfort. In the last series on Thessalonians, we spent some time considering the fact that so many of us state that we long for the Day to come, but that when it does come, all of our stuff will be laid bare. In so many traditions and congregations there are Christians who long for this day also because it is the Day of the Great Comeuppance. But as Christians should we really be hoping for this to befall those who have not come to the LORD?  

But this Day isn’t only about judgement, but it is also about salvation. 

“32 And it will co...

Corinth was located on an isthmus connecting the Peloponnese to the rest of Greece. The port of Lechaeum was 1.5 miles north on the Bay of Corinth and Cenchraea (sen’-kre-e) was about seven miles to the east on the Saronic Gulf, placing it at a crossroads of two trade routes. By the time of Paul’s letter, the city’s history could be divided into two distinct periods: one thoroughly Greek and another Romans. 

Corinth was destroyed in 146 BCE by Rome and many of its citizens were killed or sold into slavery. It was reestablished by Julius Caesar just over 100 years later in 44 BCE—partly as a retirement community for Roman veterans—and became a commercial and political center in later years. Corinth was the capital of the senatorial province of Achaia and the seat of the proconsul from 29 BCE onward. 

It was a multicultural city of about 100,000 people, both Roman and Greek; Corinth’s population had a high percentage of freedmen from Rome, according to Strabo. (Geog. 8.6.23c) These liberti formed a separate social class in Roman society who were former slaves that had been freed by their masters. Some liberti were quite wealthy and educated. Roman culture, law, and religion were dominant from the city’s re-founding, though not exclusively so, and Greek was likely the lingua franca. Remember that much of the Roman Empire had been Hellenized. In fact, coinage from the time has been discovered that utilize both Greek and Latin script. 

“Because there was no landed aristocracy in the new Corinth, there arose an aristocracy of wealth.” (Carson & Moo, 420) Inescapable was the Roman practice of patronage and the corruption that went along with it. Roman patronage was based on a relationship between a patron and a client—each obliging themselves to the other. The patron being of a higher social status or, at least, possessing greater wealth, power, and prestige than the client would promise support and favors in exchange for the client’s loyalty or service when called upon. It’s not hard to imagine that such arrangements can create as many problems as they can create opportunities. Corinth was a place rife with ambition and greed—perhaps providing some explanation for the Corinthian church’s spiritual immaturity—which may have been understandable if Paul hadn’t stayed with them for as long as he did. Corinth was known for its wealth, luxury, immorality, and the viciousness of its residents. It would be great, however, if it were only about money.

Like their brothers and sisters in Thessalonica, the Corinthian Christians were presented with religious alternatives that were incompatible with their faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel that Paul had preached to them. There were at least two statues of Dionysus in the city’s agora, and the cult of the Egyptian goddess, Isis, was particularly strong. Likewise, the Greek deities of Demeter and Persephone—the goddesses of the fertility of the earth and the queen of the underworld, respectively—and Apollo, Hermes, and Poseidon had temples refurbished or built in their honor by the Romans. (Sacra Pagina vol 7, 1 Corinthians, 22) And although there has been no physical evidence yet discovered of any Jewish synagogue being present in the city, there is evidence for it found in the literature of the day.

In Acts 19 we learn that Paul preached in Corinth for the first time during his second missionary journey. He worked in the city as a tentmaker or a leather worker and was hosted by Aquila and Priscilla—Jewish, Christians from Rome, exiled by Claudius. Paul arrived in the city after experiencing great difficulties in Philippi (Acts 16)—where he was punished for his message and had to flee for his life—and after then escaping similar treatment in both Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17). 

Initially, the apostle was trepidatious, but following a vision of a safe and successful mission to the Corinthians (Acts 18:9,10), Paul ends up remaining in the city, worshiping, preaching, and working there for a year and a half. During his time there, Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. The apostle left Corinth c.51 or 52 CE travelling with Aquila and Priscilla; they made their way to Jerusalem. After a brief time in the holy city, he returned to his home in Antioch and then to Ephesus; it was from here that Paul most likely wrote 1 Corinthians. 

Although Apollos and even Peter, apparently, spent time with the Corinthians, things didn’t go too well for the congregation. Members of the church had divided—even antagonistically so. To quote Carson and Moo:

“The church as a whole was less than satisfied with Paul’s leadership…and the integrity of its life was marred by abuses at the Lord’s Table…at least one notorious case of immorality…public litigation among members…uncertainty about the place for marriage…and the propriety of eating food that had been offered to idols, infatuation with the more spectacular of the charismatic gifts without any profound commitment to mutual love…and a decidedly aberrant view of the resurrection…” (421)

While in Ephesus, Paul received reports of this from “Chloe’s household”. Three delegates from the church, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus also bring the apostle their report of the situation and a letter from the Corinthians; 1 Corinthians is his response. After sending his letter with Timothy to the congregation, Paul made plans to visit Greece again and spend some time in Corinth after a follow-up visit to Macedonia. His plans changed when he later received word that, to quote Mr. MaKey, “Things were “bad. MMMM’kay. Bad.” This sets up 2 Corinthians, and we’ll take this back up later in the series. 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ.”

Paul ends his letter to the Thessalonians focusing on prayer. Keeping in mind that the church is under pressure from outside and that they are being actively deceived about the Christ’s coming to discourage them, after telling them to remember and cling to what he had already taught them, Paul tells them to pray. To make it through all this, pray.

“…pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was with you.” Paul uses the Greek trecho to describe this rate of spreading the gospel. It is an word used in athletics meaning, “run or advance rapidly.” We’ll find that this isn’t the last time Paul uses sports metaphors to get his point across. Paul wants the church to pray for a swift and disciplined conversion of all people. What better way to counter the deceivers and the persecutors than to have them come to the same Savior and knowledge of God. Pray that people will listen to me, Paul asks. And the Thessalonians are proof that this is possible.

“…that we be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith. But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” Those outside of the church—as well as some inside of it—seek to hinder the growth of the gospel. Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for the success of the mission. As the Thessalonians focus their prayers on Paul’s and other’s missions, perhaps their worries will diminish because they aren’t thinking as much about themselves—providing an opportunity for God to work.

When the Thessalonians do this, when they focus their prayers and attention on others, they allow God to demonstrate His faithfulness to them as God, “direct[s their] hearts to [His] love and to the perseverance of Christ.” What a lesson for today! Think how much freedom we could experience if we turned out energies and attentions toward others and allowed God to care for us. This, however, is not something that will happen casually. Remember, Paul has just used a sports metaphor in relation to the spreading of the gospel.

Over the next verses, Paul teaches how we can better put ourselves into a position where we can trust God with our lives while we give our attention, efforts, and cares to those who are in need.

“6 Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life and not one in accordance with the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined way among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a role model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”

Paul will phrase this later in Philippians as, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.” (2:3) To condition ourselves to place our trust in God, we must begin living deliberately. Avoid those who lead “disorderly” lives that contrast the one that Paul taught and exampled. Those who contribute to the betterment of other’s lives—over and above their own—will have to trust that God will take care of their needs and bring divine comfort. Don’t fret about your present condition or even your future, Paul says, tend to others and God will see you through. Easy to say but hard to do.

I do want to mention verse 10. “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.” A few years ago I heard the hosts of an extremely popular radio program spend forty-five minutes using this verse to put-down people who lived on welfare and to argue that Jesus would be against the welfare system. I was appalled and never listened to them again. Are there issues with the welfare system? Yes. Are there lazy people who simply don’t want to work? Of course. Would Jesus care about the welfare system? Yes. In fact, much of God’s law concerns itself with caring for the least and the most vulnerable. Is Paul making a statement about those on welfare or about the need for welfare reform in 2 Thessalonians 3:10? Categorically no!

Paul here is speaking about people who contribute nothing to the life of the congregations: the takers. These idol Christians exhibit the very qualities that Paul tells the Thessalonians must avoid if they want to learn to trust God with their very lives and, thus, escape worry and confusion.

“11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now we command and exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to work peacefully and eat their own bread. 13 But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary of doing good.”

To paraphrase: Make what you do really matter for the sake of others and the Church. This will be taxing but it is the good and right thing to do.

“14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person so as not to associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. 15 And yet do not regard that person as an enemy, but admonish that one as a brother or sister.”

Note that the church must address these believers who do not contribute to the life of the community, but it must be done without malice. This is, however, easier said than done, and this command can easily be misapplied. We have all heard stories about denominations and congregations that have shunned members—usually because they will not tow-the-party-line on some doctrine or another. No, Paul is speaking here ONLY about those who contribute little to the life of the congregation and “act like busybodies,” when they really are doing nothing.

16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! 17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

Paul ends his letter to the Thessalonians with a prayer for them to be able to rest in God’s peace through everything that they are facing: famine, social and cultural pressures, active deception, and worry. And just in case the deceivers continue to bring false letters to them, trying to make them worry and doubt, Paul gives them this letter as a sample of how he writes. Diligence, patience, and doing good are the surest way to find God’s peace. 

I hope that you have grown in your knowledge and faith with this series on the Thessalonians. I hope that you can join the podcast for the next series on this chronological journey through the New Testament as we read through 1 and 2 Corinthians. Thank you for listening.

The Thessalonians’ concern for those who have died already indicates that they have accepted the Jewish understanding of what makes up a human being. As Greeks, they would have believed that all people have two parts to their being: one of flesh and the other of spirit. That which is spirit remains even though the flesh will die and decay. As Greeks, they would believe that at death, the spirit of the person, what they called psyche, would enter the afterlife. 

Greeks believe that upon a person’s death, he or she would travel to Hades and depending upon their actions in life would find themselves in three possible places there: Elysium—for the righteous, the heroes, and those whom the gods favored, an eternal paradise—the Asphodel Meadows—where most people’s psyches would end up, a vast, flower covered plain were people who have abandoned their labors wander or possible a land of neutrality for those who were neither righteous not unrighteous—or Tartarus—where the wicked were consigned to eternal punishment. If I recall correctly, this place involves rivers of boiling blood…

So their concern for their Christians brothers and sisters that have already died is justified, since what Paul has taught them about eternal life is NOT what they have always known. Without Christ Jesus, there is not eternal life in all of Hades: Elysium, Asphodel, or Tartarus. This supports my interpretation of olethros aionion to mean eternal destruction and not one of ongoing consciousness. As I have already pointed out, Paul could have used specific Greek words to mean conscious awareness of one’s state in death (Hades) or eternal punishment (Tartarus), and his Greek audience would have understood him.

But please do not misunderstand, I am not saying that these latter two conditions don’t exist—that there is conscious awareness of our state in death or that there isn’t eternal punishment—I am just saying that Paul IS NOT establishing them here as Church doctrine. In telling the Thessalonians this in his first letter to them, he is trying to allay their concerns and worries for the fate of their dead loved ones from the congregation. Don’t fret about this, Paul says, for God is faithful to His promise of eternal life for all who believe, even those that have gone on before. 

I taught school for several years—both adults and youths—and I have been described as a preacher-teacher by my parishioners, so I tend to seek meaning in scripture that will edify a believer faith, prompting that person to walk just a little closer to God. I ask myself how these possible meanings can help bring them into this closer walk. So if a person interprets scripture in a way that doesn’t result in a closer walk with God I have to ask myself if this is an understanding that God would want us to have? In other words, if the understanding doesn’t cultivate the attitude of Christ or the fruits of the Spirit is it one that we should stubbornly cling to?

How does Paul’s description of the persons and events of the end-times in 2 Thessalonians bring about a stronger faith among this congregation of Christian Gentiles? 

I will say this up front, just as I did back in Galatians when we looked at Paul’s statement about the source of eternal life: Is eternal life possible through faith in Christ or because of the faith of Christ: Your Milage May Vary. Despite what some Christian claim, just as I stated when discussing the topic of the rapture, who or what the lawless one is or was or will be is not a matter of dogma—it’s not a requirement to believe one specific way or another. 

I’ve been in the process of rewatching several of the Star Trek series from the past. DS9, Voyager, and now I’m working on Enterprise—much to my wife’s chagrin. 

Anyway, I just watched an episode of Enterprise where the antagonists hi-jack the Enterprise so they can wage war on another sect of their religion. Both sides in this war believed the same things about the same things except one side said creation was accomplished in 8 days and the other in 9 days. They destroyed their home world over this! I say this because we shouldn’t go to war over this, but we usually do. 

Nevertheless, I believe it is our responsibility to explore, discuss, and test our faith and to reason together. 

Different traditions and denominations and congregations understand what is saying in 1 Thessalonians chapters one and two differently. Some hear him speaking about THE temple in Jerusalem and about specific, real-world events. And if this brings these Christians comfort while strengthening in them the image of Christ, well good for them. 

Others say that this is a historic event that has already happened, and others still that it is only imagery used by Paul—or some other writer—to meet a specific need at a specific time: It does not apply to us and is not intended for us. Again, YMMV.

Regardless of the content or context of your understanding of what Paul is saying here, that understanding should draw others into a closer walk and must reveal Christ Jesus. 

By this time, Paul is writing to a confused congregation—one that is actively being deceived, it appears. His words here are words of encouragement to keep trusting in the message that they received from him and to remain obedient to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Can your favorite interpretation claim to be doing that? Remain faithful, Paul says, the end is not here yet. But I’ll tell you, the apostle goes on, this is what the end looks like. 

I touch upon my understanding of the lawless one and Paul’s teaching in 2 Thessalonians in the First Day episode called, “What Makes a Vulcan Cry?” To put it briefly, the lawless one is revealed when apostasy increases and is indicated by other, unworthy things, taking the place of God in Christians’ hearts. It’s making the soapbox more important than the soap. The lawless one is not here to deceive the lost, I’m afraid. It is here to scatter the found. And who can argue that today, with the Church spanning the globe in a myriad of denominations and traditions, we aren’t more scattered than we ever have been? 

When I think of the lawless one, I think of Ezekiel 14:1-8.

“1 Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put in front of their faces the stumbling block of their wrongdoing. Should I let Myself be consulted by them at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Anyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will let Myself answer him in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, 5 in order to take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who have turned away from Me due to all their idols.”’

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, I the LORD will let Myself answer him Myself. 8 I will set My face against that person and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.”
It's easy to sit on the hill and root for Nineveh’s destruction, but it’s something entirely different to ask ourselves if we truly are obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

The lawless one has them, but who ...

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul continues to address Christ’s coming, the Day of the LORD. As we learned while looking at chapter one, it appears that false teachers have come into the congregation and begun telling the Thessalonians that Christ had already come; some apparently even carried forged letters from Paul as evidence. Being believers struggling under persecution and trial—people whom Paul had urged to remain faithful because God has promised to make things right—this false teaching would have been a gut-punch and tantamount to advising the Thessalonians to give up hope.

“God promised you that He would make it right at His second coming. Well, that has happened, and He didn’t do that for you.” Think Job’s three friends and his wife. Paul writes:

“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 No one is to deceive you in any way!”

He urges the Thessalonians to not give into a feeling of despair or believe the words of these liars or to be tricked into thinking that Paul has changed his message. Let “no one…deceive you in any way!” And then to counter any “But what ifs” that will likely enter their hearts and minds he continues.

“For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

Readers are told here that the Day of the LORD will not come until there is first “the apostasy.” This belief in an increasing lack of moral integrity and lack of faith arose in the intertestamental period within Judaism. That is, in the period between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament. Referring to the last chapter, those who commit apostasy are those who “disobey the gospel of Jesus Christ” and will face olithros aionion, “eternal destruction”.

This belief in a great falling away before the coming of the LORD is found in numerous Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical writings. Although not considered canon by the majority of the Church today, the teachings found in these writings impacted the zeitgeist of the 1st century. Indeed, you can find their influence outside of Paul’s letters in Jude and Revelation—two texts much younger than 2 Thessalonians.

1 Enoch 91:7,8—which was likely composed over the course of the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE during this intertestamental period—reads:

“And when sin, and unrighteousness, and blasphemy, and violence, increase in all kinds of deeds, and apostasy, and transgression, and uncleanness increase, a great discipline will come from heaven on all these, and the Holy Lord will come out with wrath and discipline to execute judgement on earth. In those days violence will be cut off from its roots, and the roots of unrighteousness together with deceit, and they will be destroyed from under the heavens.”

In the Book of Jubilees, another such book, recognized today by some traditions as canonical but not by most, it, too, composed in the intertestamental period, states in chapter 23:14-22 that God’s people will fall away from Him before the Last Day, and in verses 23 and 24 we are told,

“And He [God] will wake up against them the sinners of the nations who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who will respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor anyone, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men. And they will use violence against Israel and transgression and transgression against Jacob, and much blood will be shed on the earth, and there will be none to gather and none to bury. In those days they will cry aloud, and call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the nations, but none will be saved.”

I don’t bring these two texts up to say that they should be part of canon, only that in Paul’s day within Judaism there was already an established belief that before the Last Day, when God reconciles and makes things right, things will be bleak. It’s always darkest before the dawn. This would not necessarily have been the case for the Greek, pagan Thessalonians. Perhaps this is why Paul asks in verse 5, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”

“…and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

Back in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 Paul speaks of Jesus’ being “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels…” So it is not as if He has been away, playing golf in the Maldives. Christ has always been here, always been present and not far off—as Luke puts it in Acts 17. Here, too, this “man of lawlessness is revealed,” as if he also has been here all along, lurking in the shadows working against the Thessalonians’ faith.

This unnamed and unspecified entity—I refrain from saying Paul is necessarily talking about an individual here—is destined for apoleias. The Knox Bible translates this lawless one to be “destined for perdition,” thereby making it clear that this destruction is due to God’s judgement. He is characterized by anomia: that is willful opposition to all faith; and not just faith in the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and considers himself greater than all religions’ beliefs and even objects of worship. All these paltry gods are beneath him. Or more to the point, next to him in priority and importance.

This enemy of faith has the goal of usurping God—with a capital G—and of becoming the object of worship himself, “…he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God,” even though he is “destined for perdition”. Since Paul does not tell the Thessalonians who this guy is, what is the apostle getting at here?

Many Christians who focus their faith on the end-times believe that Paul is speaking here about and event that will happen in Jerusalem someday. They believe that at some point the Temple will be restored and, after this, the Antichrist will declare himself God.

Contrary to this position, other Christians believe that this event has already happened with the emperors of Rome being deified, starting with Julius Caesar. But even before this, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who considered himself a manifestation of Zeus, desecrated the Temple c.167 BCE by erecting a statue of Zeus—made in his own likeness—there and then by sacrificing a pig.

Regardless of their differences, these two positions have one thing in common: They believe that Paul is talking about a single, historical event—something that we can see with our own eyes and maybe watch a clip of it on You Tube. However, I don’t think that this is what Paul has in mind.

In Paul’s next letter, 1 Corinthians, penned just two to four years later, he describes the Corinthian church as God’s temple. The structure around which Jerusalem is built is now not of any consequence to him or to his faith. I find reasonable to believe that he had already started to come to this conclusion when writing to the Thessalonians. Recall what Paul writes to the Gentile Galatians in 4:26, “But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” So, it is necessary for Paul, a Jew, to teach and remind his Gentile audience of the necessity of these two events—the apostasy and the lawless one—happening before the end times, since they would have no experience of such things. However, to restrict the ac...

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Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians was written just months after his first, sometime around 51 CE. The issues it addresses are very much the same ones that 1 Thessalonians are concerned with: in particular, remaining faithful until the end. The church there remains in Christ and continues to face its troubles faithfully; Paul, like last time, is concerned with their remaining so. However, 2 Thessalonians is not an exact repetition or mere extension of what came before it.

Paul’s first letter to the church is best seen as a letter of general encouragement to a group of new, Gentile Christians to help them remain faithful amid a cultural, religious, and societal landscape that could very easily tempt them away from Christ. Added to this is the fact that their bit of the world had been facing food shortages for some time; it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that there would be an urge to just go back to the way they were present in the Thessalonian church. What is familiar and common can be very tempting.

They are surrounded by well-established religious cults, money, and all the signs of imperial power. And since Thessalonica had a strong history of loyalty to the emperor, this would have likely been their home to run to when things got bad. Paul in 1 Thessalonians, then, is akin to a coach preparing and encouraging his team of underdogs as it faces off against a much stronger opponent; talking up the nerd who has to ask the homecoming queen to prom. He encourages them and builds them up before instructing them on how to remain faithful and overcome.

In his first letter to them, the only specific problem that the Thessalonians are facing that we catch a glimpse of involves questions about the disposition of God’s blessing of eternal life for those who have died before Christ’s return. Will those who have died before the Judgement—the end-times—receive eternal life, or is this gift only for the living? And it is on this subject, the end-times, that 2 Thessalonians focuses; specifically, that it appears that someone was deliberately misleading them that the end-times had already occurred. In fact, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:2, they were trying to pass-off these teachings as Paul’s! (But more on that when we get there.)
 
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater. 4 As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.”

How similar this opening is to that found in 1 Thessalonians:

“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father…”

Paul offers the Thessalonians grace and peace and tells them that he is thankful for the example of their faithfulness and love. Like in his former letter, Paul here in 2 Thessalonians tells them how proud he is of them for their example. He is going to rinse and repeat until it finally sinks in.

Paul continues:

“5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. 6 For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.”

Paul is once again echoing James who said that it is a blessing to face trials because to endure them is to strengthen faith. The Thessalonians’ perseverance and faith in their trials indicate that they are “worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which [they] are suffering.” They could run back to the emperor or to Artemis or Apollo, but they don’t.

Nevertheless, the pressure of these trials will undoubtedly increase to a point when bearing it will be next to impossible. Who among us hasn’t thought, “Why does this keep happening? When will it end? It seems that Paul thinks that the Thessalonians are at this point.

“For after all it is only right for God…to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, WHEN the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.”
 
Don’t give up. God will see you through. Paul can’t say when precisely this relief will come, but only that it will. Is it worth it? Well, each of us must decide for ourselves if the juice is worth the squeeze.

You’ll notice that I omitted part of verse six a second ago when I quoted 6 and 7 about the promise of God’s relief in the second coming. “6 For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you…”

God promises relief for His faithful—for those who persevere—but He also promises to do unto those that which they have done unto you. Sadly, it seems like the human condition hasn’t changed much in 2000 years. Paul says that it is not our place to pay our afflicters back for the troubles that they have caused us. Paul, like James, surely would have in his possession a collection of Jesus’ teachings and sayings. He would know that Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies and to do good to them.

How strange that even today, nearly two millennia later, many of us just can’t do a Frozen and let it go—can’t let go of the hurts, hangups, and hates. We simply refuse to be happy until they get their comeuppance.

“…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

“…to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” This is key. The church is facing pressure from those who do not know God and who do not desire to live like Jesus. This isn’t God is about to bring down fire on a specific person—Ms. Smith or your estranged friend or some politician. Nor is this God laying the flames down on any specific group of sinners. Paul here is speaking about those outside of the faith who directly afflicting the Thessalonians. This is personal.

Though this will be denied some, in my experience there seems to be a bit of glee attached to thoughts about the Last Day among our more self-righteous sisters and brothers. Their longing for divine comeuppance is directed at those whose actions have had zero, real impact on their daily lives in the faith. It’s like Jonah at the beginning of chapter four. (This is from the RSV.)

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take my life from me, I beseech thee...

In the final section of 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul brings up, again, the topic of Christian conduct. In chapter four, Paul reminds the church that since it has been sanctified, its life must be different than what it had been before. Here, Paul describes the sanctified life in greater detail than he does previously. If understood to be a continuation of what comes before it, the apostle is providing the Thessalonians with a picture of the life of a day-walker.

“12 But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, 13 and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”

The person who is “of the day” realizes he or she must have guidance to live a fully righteous and faithful life. God will provide whomever is needed to lead the congregation down the particular path that the congregation has been asked to follow. Those who walk in the day realize that there are no free agents and that they depend upon one another; therefore, they must, “Live in peace with one another.”

In the next two verses, Paul describes what it means to live in peace with each other.

“14 We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.”

Care enough about the other person that you are willing to involve yourself in that person’s life. Those who walk in the day are deeply committed to one another for the betterment of our faith. We are not in this alone. What’s more, this concern is not to stop at the church doors but must extend beyond them. “…always seek what is good for one another and for all people,” the apostle writes. But how often do we take this to heart—this active striving to improve the quality of one another’s faith and closeness of our walk with Christ?

This is a call for our congregations to be more than Sunday social meetings with a little Jesus thrown in. This is a call for an active, brave, and broad faith: a Three Musketeers faith. You know: “All for one and one for all!” If we are honest, this is not what happens in our congregations, is it?

Verses 14 and 15 are how day-walkers should to respond to one another and to all people; and in verses 16-22 Paul tells the Thessalonians how they can begin to cultivate this concern.

“16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not utterly reject prophecies, 21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.”

This is our inward response. We “admonish the unruly” (others); we also never stop rejoicing or praying or giving thanks. We don’t become Negative Nancys by quenching the Spirit. We have the courage to engage “prophecies” and not dismiss them out of hand. And we “hold firmly to that which is good, [while we] abstain from every form of evil.” As mentioned earlier in this series, this is very much James’ message to the Church that had given in and was looking to come back to a full, powerful, and life changing faith.

Those who live in the day have a responsibility to others and to themselves to strengthen the faith.

“23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians ends with his prayer for the church. He askes that all that may pull them away from Christ be removed from them, that God sanctify them fully. May they be of one mind and heart and purpose so that when that great and glorious day comes, the one back in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, they will be ready. 

“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.” None of this is possible for the Thessalonians to accomplish on their own; they must die to themselves for Christ to live. Only God can do the impossible. “…in humility receive the implanted word which has the power to save your souls,” is how James puts it. Just because we cannot do what is necessary on our own, it does not mean that we are to fail to attempt it. The ultimate question is this: Do we really want to?

“Brothers and sisters, pray for us…Greet [each other] with a holy kiss…have this letter read to all the [Thessalonians].”

Lifechanging care begins with the smallest—the least—sign or action: the prayer, the kiss, sharing time with another for his or her betterment. What starts with these simple acts grows into a deep concern for others’ well-being that finally blooms into an inescapable, unshakeable desire for their salvation on that last Day.

I hope that through this series on 1 Thessalonians your faith in and trust of God has strengthened. Like the Thessalonian church, keep the faith when troubles occur, seek to live sanctified lives that are pleasing to God, and seek the best for others. 

Thank you for listening to First Day and see you soon in the next series of 2 Thessalonians. Blessings and peace.

Thank you for listening to the First Day podcast. I am Patrick Cooley. Visit the podcast website @ firstday.us to subscribe, listen to past episode, and share.

The Thessalonian church has probably had better days. Although we aren’t told precisely the nature of the trial or trials that they are facing, here are some things that we know to be true from history. We know that the city has spent several years facing food shortages. We know that there were many other religions and religious cults there, too. And we know that the cult of the emperor was quite strong there. In fact, the city enjoyed a strong relationship with Rome for many generations. So the Thessalonian Christians weren’t just thoroughly Greek, but they were also thoroughly Roman.

Since the church wasn’t cut-off from the rest of the city, and its members not isolated, Paul was concerned, it seems, that the temptation to go back to what they had always known would negatively impact the community’s faith, considering the social, religious, and cultural pressures that would be ever-present. Unlike in his letter to the Galatians where the church there has already begun to falter: Need I remind you that Paul uses the words, “You foolish Galatians”? We hear no such criticism of the Thessalonians. In fact, we hear the opposite.

Paul is kind to and supportive of the church. He seems to be trying to cut any trouble off before it even begins rather than manage any crisis. He reminds the church of its example of love and the positive impact it is having on the other Christians there in Macedonia and across Greece. Chapter four of his letter is spent encouraging the church’s members that, since they had already been sanctified by Christ, they were expected to live life differently than their pagan neighbors—differently than how they used to live.

They were to be intentional about life: about sex, about business, and about grief. And it is in his concern for how the Thessalonians are dealing with their grief that he invites Christians to think about what comes next. 1 Thessalonians 4 is the first, exclusively Christian scripture that deals with the subject of eschatology. Therefore, when Paul speaks in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 of the dead in Christ rising and those saints who are still alive being “snatched up” to meet Jesus, he does so in relationship to the Thessalonian’s grief over fellow Christians who have died.

Perhaps Paul has received word that the Thessalonians are worried dying before the second coming of Christ. This would explain their inordinate, almost despairing, grief. They are afraid that the people they love who have died will not be blessed with eternal life. 

Chapter five begins as a continuation of this word of comfort to the Thessalonians concerning grief over those who have gone on before and of the future of all the faithful and the world.

“Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

Paul begins this final part of his letter using two different Greek words concerning time—translated here as periods and times: They are chronos and kairos, “length of time” and “period of time”, respectively. This phrase, “periods and times,” is being used to point to the end-time and regards the divine timing of events. We see the same combination used later by Luke in Acts 1:7. When used, authors are directing their readers’ attention to the Day of Judgement.

Jeremiah 6, for example, speaks of the suddenness of the LORD’s Day of Judgement, with verse 15 reading, “At the time that I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.

We see this reference to the God’s timetable again in Jeremiah 27:22, “’They will be brought to Babylon and will be there until the DAY I visit them,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’” We find the same implied in Daniel 8:17: “So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; and he said to me, ‘Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.’”

Daniel 12:5-7 kicks this up a notch.

“5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the stream and the other on that bank of the stream. 6 And someone said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish smashing the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.”

Although John’s Revelation will not be authored for many decades, God’s promise to remake everything is inescapable in Israel’s faith, and these prophetic uses of the word “time” in the Old Testament make it clear that Paul’s use of chronos and kairos in these opening verses of chapter 15 are about those end-times and how they concern those Thessalonians who have died.

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night.” The Thessalonians have already received teaching about the end-times, though we do not know the details. But Paul tells us here that “the day of the Lord” will come quickly. The prophets speaks of this day in Isaiah chapter 2 and in Malachi chapter 4 and go into detail about its events in Isaiah 24 and Micah 1, for example. There is no need to flee when floodgates are opened if it is done slowly, now is there? “The great day of the LORD is near, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the LORD!” (Zephaniah 1:14)

“While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

In Ezekiel 13, the LORD commands the prophet to speak “against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD!’” (2) These prophets “are following their own spirit and have seen nothing” and are “like jackals among ruins.” (3) These false prophets are condemned, “because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace.” (10) And Ezekiel is then commanded by concerning these prophets, “And when anyone builds a wall, behold, their plaster over it with whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out.” (10b,11)

So, Paul isn’t speaking to the Thessalonians about something new, except for this, whereas the Day of the LORD was once only for Israel’s ultimate benefit, now it was for their as well.

“ 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.”

Considering the Day of the LORD and all that God promises to those who remain faithful, Paul encourages the Thessalonians to continue to live in the new way that they already are. He has already said this to them in chapter four, when he reminded them that they had been sanctified—that they had been made holy—and because of this they must now practice a new kind of relatio...

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul has been encouraging the church to remain faithful in times of trial. He reminds them at the very beginning of the chapter that they have been sanctified and, therefore, can no longer live like the others around them. He begins by focusing on avoiding sexual immorality and then, possibly, moves on to avoiding underhanded, self-serving business practices. They have been set aside by God; they have been made holy, so their behavior cannot remain as it once was. 

By avoiding the things that might cause their faith to waver, they will certainly escape temptation. Paul tells them that they are already doing things right, they are already loving each other in the way God wants them to, but he suggests that if they want to be certain that they will overcome, then the must philadelphia even more. They do this my loving those outside of the church in the same way that they do each other. AND, they take responsibility for their life in Christ. 

So, don’t treat sex the way the pagans do; don’t do business the way the pagans do; don’t treat others the way that the pagans do; live deliberately. You oversee your walk with Christ. This then morphs into a statement about grief and emotionalism. To take control of our faith life, Paul tells us, we not only have to have to reevaluate how we use  our squishy bits and our financial needs and our relationships with one another and with outsiders, but we also have to have a handle on our emotions. 

“Don’t grieve the way the pagans do,” Paul instructs. “They despair. But you have hope.” He then tells them why they have hope: Because one day, Jesus will return and draw the faithful—those already physically dead and those still living—to Himself. 

Phew. Summary of chapter 4: done! You can stop listening to this episode here if you want to. This is a decent summary of the chapter. However…I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t address the pachyderm residing in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. So I am going to pause here for a few seconds and let you decide if you want to continue. 

Before I proceed, remember Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians about being overly emotional and my episode on the subject that is entitled, What Makes a Vulcan Cry? Let’s keep out wits about us. 
“17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

To certain Christians in certain traditions and denominations, this is one of the most important verses in the whole of scripture. Indeed, in numerous congregations a person will not be considered a true Christian if he or she doesn’t agree with the meaning that that these congregations apply to verse 17. And that meaning is summed up in one word: rapture. 

Paul tells the Thessalonians that just after the physically dead in Christ rise those “who are alive [Paul includes himself in this group] …will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord [Jesus] in the air…”

The apostle uses the word arpagesometha, meaning “will be snatched up”, to describe the event. This is foundational to the prophecies of Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth and popularized by Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series.

To put this as succinctly as possible, the belief is that the Christian faithful will be snatched away from the earth before the tribulations that precede the day of judgement. True believers then don’t have to worry about all that stuff that happens in Revelation—during the time of God’s wrath—because they will have been called up to heaven to be with Jesus there. I guess to be as specific as possible, this is known as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. But is this what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Thessalonians?

Now, the rapture of God’s people is a topic that can get a person into the weeds. Just do an internet or YouTube search and there before your eyes and in your ears will appear millions of words both for and against it. And as I have already stated in this very episode, some Christians have made the belief in the rapture dogma. Meaning that you MUST believe in it or you’re not a REAL Christian. They may not state this directly, but to quote Jimmy from South Park, “Come on.”

I do find it interesting that those who make the belief in rapture dogmatic will turn around and criticize Roman Catholics for their church’s position about the belief of Mary’s perpetual virginity by using arguments like, “Believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and letting Him take away your sins is the only thing that is required.” We Christians do have a way of claiming something to be simple and then making it really, really, complicated for others to do?

But I’m going down a rabbit hole. Sorry. My point here is this: The topic of the rapture—like the topic of Mary’s place in our Christian faith—is a very deep one. It is a complex belief and very touchy to some people. And I don’t want to spend hours or multiple episodes on the subject: in this case the rapture, and in later series the extent of Mary’s involvement in our faith. Here, I just want us to consider this one question: Is Pre-Tribulation Rapture what Paul had in mind when he wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:17?  

When Paul wrote his letter, only two of the current books of the Bible that are recognized by the vast majority of the world’s Christians were in existence: those being James and Paul’s own Letter to the Galatians. Neither of these letters concerned themselves with the eschaton—the end times or the tribulations and judgement. In James’ case, he was concerned with helping the Church return to its faith from its foray into temptation. In Paul’s, he is trying to defuse a situation that may lead the Galatians’ into falling away from their faith in Christ. Again, the thought of the tribulation is nowhere to be found. 
“But that doesn’t mean that Paul can’t be talking about that here,” I hear some say. This is true, but I don’t think that it is that likely. And here’s why: The context and purpose of the letter. 

Paul is writing to encourage the Thessalonian church to keep up its faith. It is successfully facing its trials and withstanding temptation. He’s just reminded them that they have been sanctified by Christ in His death and that they can’t go back to living the way that they used to. He says that they are abounding in love for one another and that they should now extend that love to everyone and not just their brothers and sisters if they want to remain strong against temptation.

There is no talk about the end times or about future judgement, and certainly none about the Tribulation. Paul writes about the living being “snatched up” only in response to a question about whether or not any members of the Thessalonian church who have or will die before Christ’s return will be blessed. And this is only after his exhortation not to grieve like the pagans because unlike them, “who have not hope,” the Thessalonians do. “And this is why,” Paul says. (v 14-17)

Paul even gives us his reasoning for reminding each other of verses 16 and 17: It is so that the Thessalonians might “comfort one another with these words.” (18) The apostle isn’t concerned here with the Great Tribulation at the end of time but only with helping the Thessalonians continue to face their trials and hardships in faith. 

Macedonia, the province in which Thessalonica was located, had been in a food shortage and in famine conditions for the better part of a decade. We know from the historical record that this is true for Macedonia from c.44-c.51. Talk about trial. Add to that the fact that Thessalonia was a center for cultic worship—as mentioned in the introductory episode for 1 and 2 Thessalonians. It is a large city with many religious alternatives. Yet, these Chri...

In the first half of chapter 4 we finally catch a glimpse of what is happening in Thessalonia that prompts Paul’s letter. It appears that the church’s members are undergoing some trial, and Paul doesn’t want them to give in to temptation. This concern links Paul’s letter to James’ letter, since it, too, deals with the subject of temptation. The differences between the two letters, though, warrant mentioning.

Firstly, James’ letter is addressed to Jewish Christians, while Paul’s is to Gentiles. And James’ church, secondly, seems to have already yielded to temptation, whereas the Thessalonians have not. Paul’s letter, then, can be understood to be a preemptive measure to cut off any turning away from their faith in Christ.

As we covered last time, Paul instructs the church that they have been called “in sanctification” and should adjust their behavior accordingly. I understand this to mean that Paul believes that how we choose to live our lives can and will impact our faith. We cannot claim to be people of faith while continuing in sexual immorality and choosing to remain in slavery to our baser appetites. Paul’s aim here is to salt any field that might produce a crop of unrighteousness. He wants the members of the church to remove from their lives anything that could impact their faith negatively.

Here in verse 13, I still think that the apostle has this goal in mind.

“13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope.”

“…those who are asleep,” is a euphemism for death widely used in the literature of the ancient Mediterranean world. Just as a believer who has been made holy must put away behaviors that might detract from that holiness, the Thessalonians mustn’t grieve their loss in the same way as “the rest of mankind do”.

I had an episode of First Day entitled, What Makes a Vulcan Cry?, that was about who emotionalism and reactivity is damaging the Church. It takes our eyes and hearts off God and places them on ourselves: our ideas and our feelings. Grief is normal, expected, and necessary—Paul is not advocating that the Thessalonians become Stoics. But a grief that leads to despair becomes prideful by taking one’s heart off God and focusing it on oneself. 

This fits perfectly with the opening section of this chapter. Sex is great—a gift from God that is very much needed—but when we become sexually immoral and give into our lustful passions—sex becomes like excessive grief—it devolves into a prideful distraction from God. Paul tells the church that it cannot give into despair in its loss because the Christian possesses something that the pagan does not: hope.

“14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.”

And this is the source of our hope, “that Jesus died and rose from the dead”. Notice, though, Paul’s use of that qualifier that so many Christians would rather ignore. He says that we will have hope “if we believe”. Maintaining hope, then, becomes our prerogative. It is our choice to not excessively grieve; it is our choice not to despair.

The second thing of note in this verse is what Paul tells the Thessalonians what God is going to do if they choose to hold onto their faith. “…so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” In the last series on Galatians, Paul closes out chapter 2 and spends much of chapter 3 explaining the meaning of this part of verse 14.

In Galatians chapter 2 he tells the church that he no longer lives, but Christ lives in him. And the life that he has now he has through and because of Jesus. Therefore, “…those who have fallen asleep through Jesus” are not only those who have physically died but are also those who have allowed themselves to die in order that Christ might live in them.

“15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

Some commentators understand Paul’s motivation in saying this to be the belief that the living Christian is more blessed than those that have come before—that the Thessalonians believe that since they are living, they will receive the first share. But I don’t think so. Rather, what I discover here is the cause of the Thessalonians’ grief.

“16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”

The Thessalonians grieve because they fear that their brothers and sisters who have physically died before the return of Christ will not receive the blessing eternal life through faith. This is why Galatians is so important, since, as I have already mentioned here today, we who are in Christ have already died; we live only because Christ lives in us. Paul tells the church not to give into despair because when the Day comes, all of those who have died through Christ—including those who are still living—will be with the Lord Jesus.

Finally then, brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel even more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Paul encourages the church to keep being faithful and to keep striving for righteousness; he reminds them here that they already know what to do and how to live.

“3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

Finally, after three chapters, we perhaps catch a glimpse as to why Paul has written to the Thessalonians. The Greek word porneia—translated here in verse three as “sexual immorality”—although it can mean from prostitution to incest to sexual immorality to unchastity or even to idolatry—tells us at least one of the church’s temptations.

Paul states that holiness is the will of God. This is the first time in his writings that the apostle declares something to be God’s will. First and foremost, it is God’s will that believers live in a way that is pure, good, and unlike how the world would have you live. In this case, the Thessalonians first sign of holiness—of specifically sanctification—is to “abstain from sexual immorality”, porneia; human behavior and God’s will are hereby linked. Later on scripture, remember what Jesus says to Peter: “If you love me, you will feed my sheep and care for my lambs.”

To be sanctified—to be holy—is to set aside and dedicated to God’s purposes. Put another way, it is to put God’s needs first. Also important here is the fact that we do not become holy by abstaining from porneia. But we abstain from porneia BECAUSE we have been made holy. Remember Galatians: Christ is first. So Paul’s message in this passage can be summed up as: God has made you holy, so don’t do “x,y,z”.

In verse 4 Paul writes:
“4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God…”

The holy—sanctified and set apart—person is not controlled by his or her sexual appetites. This is a matter of learning—"that each of you know how to”—and appears to be able to be in our wheelhouse. We can choose “to possess” our bodies and not be swept away in our base urges or “lustful passions”.

We learn at the end of verse 5 that this ability to control our urges derives from knowing God. Again, honorable and pure sexual behavior is preceded by God’s will for holiness. I say honorable and pure sexual behavior because Paul does not say here that the Thessalonians must be abstinent; only that they should not be sexually immoral and slaves to baser sexual desires.

What Paul means in verse 6 is something that folks just can’t quite agree upon. Some think that it is a continuation of Paul’s exhortation on sexual immorality and others think the apostle is speaking about another kind of impurity. Let me give you the options and you can be the judge. Let’s look.

“ 6 and that no one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you.”

In the former position (that this verse is still about sex) the thinking is that Paul is warning the Thessalonians to not engage in illicit sex with one another. Perhaps 3-5 concern avoiding the attitudes and desires that lead to sexual immorality and that verse six is a specific warning about hubba-hubba-ing with fellow church members. Or maybe more specifically that no one use the special relationship that Christians within the church have with one another in order to gratify themselves.

For the latter position (that Paul is changing the subject from verses 3-5) some scholars argue that Paul is talking about the need to maintain honorable business practices in with fellow church members: “don’t violate the rights and take advantage of…” Here, sanctification involves avoiding sexual immorality and lust, controlling your bodily urges, AND dealing honestly with one another. This is not an unreasonable position, especially in light of what Paul writes in verses 10 and 11. Impure desires are not exclusively sexual in nature.

“7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in sanctification.”

Christians are called “in sanctification.” Again, this act of God comes first, and then we choose how to respond. All in all, this is a restatement of verse three. Paul REALLY wants to make this clear to the Thessalonians.

“ 8 Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

And since our transformation starts with Christ—see the last series on Galatians—we best pay attention to Paul’s instruction. Our practices must be in alignment with what God has done and is doing. If they are not, we are not rejecting a human being’s instruction but “the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

By using this phrase, I think Paul is linking back to something that he teaches in Galatians: that the descendant of Abraham that will bless the world is only Jesus Christ, and He blesses us with the Holy Spirit. And it is only through the power of the Spirit that we can die to ourselves so that Christ may live in us. So, to put this into the context of what Paul has been saying in this section of 1 Thessalonians:
Our natural state is one of sexual immorality. It is one of lust. It is one where we are controlled by our urges. God sanctifies us with the Holy Spirit through Christ so that we might live through Him. Through the presence of that same Spirit, we come “to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor”. But if we continue in sexual immorality, even though we don’t have to, since we have the Spirit, we are telling God that we want none of what He is offering.

“ 9 Now as to the love of the brothers and sisters, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 for indeed you practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel even more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we instructed you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.”

God has taught the Thessalonians to love each other, and they do! They philadelphia one another to be precise. They are a family, brothers and sisters, and they even include the Christians “in all Macedonia” in the family. But Paul thinks that they can do better, can “excel even more”. They can do better by extending that love for one another even to outsiders. “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands…so that you will behave properly toward outsides and n...

“Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at Athens, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith, 3 so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 4 For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it happened, as you know.5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be for nothing.”

Since Paul was going to be unable to go the Thessalonians to be with them in the “afflictions” that they were facing—and because they were so important to him—Paul sends Timothy to be with them. He is Paul’s brother and fellow worker and has been sent to remind the church of the power, presence, and work of Jesus Christ, “to strengthen and encourage” them for the “benefit of [their] faith”. This is so that their faith will not waiver— “for fear that the tempter might have tempted [them]”—as they faced this unspecified trial. And this trial is related to the message that had been preached to them.

The last part of verse 3 and verse 4 bear this out. “For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it happened, as you know.” Paul reminds them here that the gospel message of Jesus Christ WILL LEAD TO SUFFERING. And those who live by it will be off-putting to others. 

This is something that is often overlooked in today’s Christianity. Our faith will not win us admiration and kudos from the world. It’s a way of life that brings difficulties. This is not supposed to be an easy thing. Paul says, “I told you if you chose to have faith in Jesus you’d suffer because of it, and so it happened…” What’s Bill Ingvar’s catch phrase? “Here’s your sign.” 

In verse five he tells them that when his worry about them got too high, it was then that he “sent to find out about [their] faith.” The apostle feared that they were slipping to temptation—as many in James’ audience had done. They are his crown and joy, and he doesn’t want to see the falter and his efforts wasted.
 
“ 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, 7 for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; 8 for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.”

Here Paul encourages the church to do a Dory and just keep swimming. He tells them of Timothy’s report of their continuing faith and love. They are staying the course in their trial. Paul says in verse seven that their faithfulness is an encouragement to him in his “distress and affliction”. Such is the power of faith, and this is something that we need to remember. 

You are not the only person facing whatever it is that you are facing. But 1 Thessalonians 3:7 is here to remind you that you are not alone. There are examples of people that have faced and are facing these same things that you are because of their faith that have chosen to remain faithful to the gospel that is Jesus Christ.

Maybe it’s a relative or a stranger or even one of your heroes pushing you and trying to discredit your faith. Maybe the Tempter is trying to convince you that just this once to not seek to do what Christ would do—to act or say something that is contrary to the Way and the Truth and the Life that is Jesus. Remember, you aren’t the first to face these trials and afflictions, and you won’t be the last, but you are an example to others, just as they are to you. 

If we choose to react as the You Tube or Tick Tok advises us to; if we choose to change course to get along and choose not to keep our integrity, what telling other believers?

“…for now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.” Okay. Now Paul has crossed a line! Paul makes the impact of the Thessalonians’ willingness to remain faithful more than academic. He places the onus not on those watching but on those demonstrating their faith or their faithlessness. Rephrasing this verse makes this clearer: if you stand fast in the Lord, I will continue to live. In other words, it is the Thessalonians’ responsibility to remain faithful for the sake of others. They—we—are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
 
Remember, Paul has already implied this very idea earlier in this letter when he informed the church of its positive impact on the other churches—how its faith has helped others to become faithful. This back in chapter one. Now he just kicks it up a notch. 

“9 For what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God, 10 as we keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may see your faces, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?”

Just as the Thessalonians’ faithfulness is for Paul’s benefit, so too is his joy for their “sake before our God”. And since their faith is not perfect—whose is—the apostle prays to finally get to be with them to “supply what is lacking” in their faith. Remaining faithful takes work, and discipleship is ongoing until the end. 
“ 11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you;12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”

Paul then offers a prayer. He prays to be able to finally get to see them and that cause their love to “overflow” for each other in the church “and for all people.” Here, yet again, Paul reminds his readers that their faithfulness and love is not for themselves but for others. Finally, Paul prays that Christ will keep the church faithful through all their current afflictions and the ones yet to come.

Paul begins chapter 2 by fleshing out chapter 1 verse 5 when he writes, “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.” Here in chapter two, he provides the Thessalonians with proof of this. 

“For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our reception among you was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been treated abusively in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

In a similar way to what he had done in his letter to the Galatians, here Paul begins to catalog all the reasons why the Thessalonians can trust him. He reminds them of what they already know: that when he had preached the gospel to them, their lives had changed, since this preaching “was not in vain.” And the power of his message was in no way curtailed by what had happened in Philippi, even though there was such opposition to it that he and his companions were run out of town. He preached the same gospel to the Thessalonians despite what had happened to him there!

And he maintained the boldness of his message even after this incident at Philippi: 
“3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.”

In other words, Paul can be bold because he knows that his message, that his teaching and exhortation, is the truth. He can because—just as he told the Galatians—he speaks because of the Lord’s calling upon his life. He remains bold because what he says isn’t intended “to please people, but to please God”.
He then reminds the Thessalonians why they know that this is the truth. 

“5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness— 6 nor did we seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though we could have asserted our authority as apostles of Christ. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you. As a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children, 8 in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

The message—the teaching—was not accompanied by any flattery, requests for money, or demands for honor even though he, “could have asserted [his] authority as [an apostle] of Christ.” He could have demanded that they listen to him and follow whatever he said since he was called to be an apostle, but he didn’t even do that. And in verses seven and eight he reminds them that he responded to them in quite the opposite way, actually. He was gentle, motherly, “delighted to share with [them] not only the gospel of God, but also [his own life]”, because the Thessalonians “had become very dear” to him. 

In verses 9-12, Paul provides them with evidence of this care: 
“9 For you recall, brothers and sisters, our labor and hardship: it was by working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

Paul’s proof of his care for the Thessalonians is in his “labor and hardship”. He never took a dime from them, and he provided for his own financial needs. He did not want concerns about money to get in the way of the mission. (Ahem) 

The final two verses in the above passage can be summed-up in this way: We practiced what we preached and anytime we may have been hard on you, we only did so so that you would do likewise and live a life worthy of your calling and faith. It is for the sake of the Thessalonians’ walk with God that Paul chose to live among them as he did. 

To use a modern expression: There is a difference between ministry to the poor and ministry with the poor. The Thessalonians are not a project for Paul to complete before he can move on to the next group. Quite contrary, Paul loves them has both a mother AND a father! He is personally invested in their growth as Christians. 

“13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews…”

Paul is grateful that the congregation accepted his message and call as authentic and from God. It is for this reason that the Thessalonians, “became imitators” of the Jewish Christian’s in Judea. The apostle is thankful that God has empowered these Gentiles to persevere in the same way that their Jewish counterparts were being equipped to: “for you also endured the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews”. 

It is here that we catch the first glimpse of Paul’s reason for writing to the Thessalonians. The congregation is facing trials and persecution for its beliefs. 

“15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all people, 16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always reach the limit of their sins. But wrath has come upon them fully.”

As I pointed out in the Galatians series, Paul makes a distinction between Abraham’s two offspring: Isaac and Ismael. The latter he refers to as child of the flesh, but the former he calls the child of the promise. They may both be Abraham’s sons, but only through one of them, Isaac, will the promise of God’s blessing be extended to the whole world. 

Likewise, Paul distinguishes between Jewish Christians and their Jewish countrymen. I guess the apostle is sticking with what he said to the Galatians in Galatians 3:28; in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile. Like the Thessalonians and the Galatians, these persecuted, Jewish Christians are no longer who they were before they came to know Christ—“or to be known by Christ.”

He tells the Thessalonians that the worldly descendants of Abraham are “hostile to all people,” because they hinder the proclamation of a gospel to the Gentiles that would bring salvation to all. This hindering has consequences (i.e., it comes with a price). 

“…with the result that they always reach the limit of their sins. But wrath has come upon them fully.”
There will come a time when they will no longer be able to prevent the spreading of the gospel of salvation. Even though Paul is specifically talking about Jews oppressing Jewish Christians, this statement can be equally applied to the “countrymen” who oppress the Thessalonians. In other words, “Haters gonna’ hate.” 

“But wrath has come upon them fully.” Paul here introduces the concept of orge, which means wrath or retribution, as the means through which God will rectify the oppression that the Thessalonians are currently experiencing. God will bring salvation to those seeking the gospel and to those who are seeking to prevent them…His wrath. So, to seek to prevent a person from sharing the gospel of salvation is to become an enemy of all people.&nb...

“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.”

The letter begins with a typical greeting. Paul identifies that he is not alone in delivering this message to them, and that Silvanus’ and Timothy’s hearts are with the church as well. In the day, it was not uncommon for a person to have and use both a given name and a Roman or Greek name—depending on the circumstance. (For example, John Mark and Simon Peter). Of course, Paul is his Roman name and Saul his given. 

Here also, Silvanus is likely Silas—Paul’s fellow missionary to the Greeks. We will see him again with Paul and Timothy in ministry to the Corinthians. 

Although this is a common enough “how do you do” I think that there may be something a bit deeper here:
Paul defines the Thessalonians with the word ekklesia, “church, assembly, community.” This word is used to associate people with a liturgical body and/or the people of God. It is used in the same way as the Hebrew, synagogue. So, to Paul, their assembly exists “in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” They and their church are who and what they are because of God. 

Paul’s greeting continues: 
“2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, His choice of you; 5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.”

The apostle tells them that they are not forgotten, and that they are being lifted to God in prayer. Indeed, their faith—their belief and subsequent deeds—are always on his and his compatriots’ minds. Let’s look a bit more intently at verse three.

“…your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope…” Them’s a lot of “of’s”.

Notice the action words here: work, labor, and perseverance. I am reminded of a line in the movie A League of Their Own when Tom Hanks’ character says that playing baseball professionally is supposed to be hard. In fact, we and the Thessalonians can only remain in faith and in love and maintain hope “in the presence of our God and Father”.  

Although Paul doesn’t start his letter directly addressing the reason why he sends it, unlike James does in his, I think we catch a glimpse of the letter’s purpose here at the beginning.

To have faith is more than just to believe. It is to order one’s life around belief—to choose to act in that belief. To keep faith, Paul says here, is work. Now I will remind you of something I brought out in the James series: I think that it is reasonable to assume that—although the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the stories of Jesus—there was in existence a collection of Jesus’ sayings and teachings: all of which could be supported by the Tanak—the Hebrew Bible. 

Surely the Thessalonians would know Jesus’ teachings about love—about the love that counts, the love of one’s enemy. This is love that is self-sacrificing for sake of those who hate you. This love is seen when we are kind and merciful to the wicked and the ungrateful. This love is laborious. It involves turning the other cheek and praying for one’s enemies—and not that a piano or widow AC unit will fall on their heads as they walk by! 

And finally, Paul constantly keeps in mind the Thessalonians’ “perseverance of hope”. We touched on hope in the Galatians series. There is certainty in following the Law of Moses—certainty in oneself and one’s choices—but there is no faith in it. To be hopeful IS NOT to be CERTAIN; to be hopeful is to act in faith. And when we are under stress, when we are, as I am certain the Thessalonians are, facing great trials, you know as well as I do how easy it is to give up hope. 
 
Yet, Paul in his greeting reminds the Thessalonians of their successes because they have remained in God’s presence. Which makes me wonder how well I have remained in that Presence: “4 knowing, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, His choice of you”.

By implication, Paul lets us know that something is happening TO the church at Thessalonica, but that they are facing it in power and with success. Essentially, the coach is telling the team to keep it up; that no matter what you are facing you can and will prevail because you always have remained faithful, loved, and maintained hope. 

Paul tells them that they can rest assured that they can face—and overcome—whatever it is that they are facing because they remain in God—that they have been made a part of God’s people although they are Gentiles. 

He writes in verse five, “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.” The Thessalonians can trust that everything that he has just said to them is true because when the gospel was brought to them, it came with the proof of the Holy Spirit. And, he says, this is demonstrated by our character and seen in our faith and choices.

Paul continues building the Thessalonians up: 
“6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word during great affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

Paul reminds them that they have already become apostles and have already begun changing other people’s lives. They are already examples for other believers who are facing affliction and prove that even in tough times, a Christian and be faithful, loving, and hopeful—not to mention even joyful! 
In verse 8 Paul tells them that they are already serving as apostles, declaring the gospel by their work, labor, and perseverance. So much so that in verse nine, he tells them that other believers in other congregations “report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God”. Their story is a witness to the power of God in Jesus! And their reputation precedes them. 

The Thessalonians have turned away from other gods and have claimed the LORD as their Savior. They now LIVE by and through God—and that life has the power or change others. Only God is living and true! 
Paul concludes this chapter and his greeting encouraging the Thessalonians to remain patient in their time of trial, that Christ Jesus will rescue them in the end.

Paul’s claim that he was called by Christ Jesus to preach the gospel to the Gentiles is one that he quite obviously took seriously. (Galatians 1:16) The gospel that he carried with him took root in at least four Roman provinces: Galatia, Asia (Colossae and Ephesus), Macedonia (Philippi and Thessalonica), and Achaia (Corinth).  

Some scholars believe that Paul’s mission to the Thessalonians occurred between his two visits to Jerusalem that are mentioned in Galatians 1:18 and in 2:1—during the 14 years between Paul’s arrival in Syria and Cilicia and his return to Jerusalem for the conference with the other apostles. 

Prior to his visit to Thessalonica, Paul and Silas had been expelled from Philippi by the city’s leaders. (Acts 16:39) 

It is uncertain how long Paul and Silas stayed in the city—anywhere from four weeks to four months. Regardless, their time in Thessalonica was tumultuous; Luke stating at the beginning of Acts 17 that the two preached in the synagogue there for three sabbaths providing “evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’” (2) This message resulted in a mob attacking the two apostles’ host, Jason. Anger against Paul’s and Silas’ message stemmed from a claim that the two advocated a king other than Caesar. 

Thessalonica is in Macedonia and located on a good natural harbor; it was the meeting place of four roads, one being the Via Egnatia, Rome’s main east-west highway. This combined with its harbor made the city a commercial center and ultimately the capital of the province. At the time of the apostles’ visit Thessalonica was estimated to have had a population of around 100,000 people. (532, Carson and Moo) This was no piddling backwater.

Thessalonica was a free city, meaning that although it was part of the Roman Empire, it maintained its own government, and Roman troops were not stationed within it—except for some personal guards attached to Roman officials. The status of civitas libera was granted after the battle of Philippi in 42 BCE settled the civil war between Brutus and Cassius, who had killed Julius Caesar and the forces of Marc Anthony and Octavian—who would later become Caesar Augustus—in recognition of the city’s loyalty to Rome. By 44 CE, just a few years prior Paul’s letter—but sometime close to the time of James’ letter—Macedonia became a senatorial province. This meant that it was governed by the senate and not the emperor. So Paul’s Thessalonica was governed, essentially, by the people. So taking all this into consideration, the very Greeky Thessalonians were also proudly Roman. 

Thessalonica’s population also maintained a fairly high percentage of immigrants: Roman, Jewish, and many others. The last bit of this historical stuff that is important to know is that from 40-51 CE, the latter date is about the time of Paul’s letters, this part of the eastern Roman Empire was experiencing food shortages and famine. Acts 11 touches on the impact of this famine. 

Now a brief look at the city’s religion: Thessalonica was a cultic center for the worship of the many gods that were shared throughout the empire, as well as for some that were not. These included Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Cabrius, and Serapis: “You know that old chestnut.” The city possessed a Serapeum where the gods of Egypt were worshipped; Isis worship was wide-spread. To put it clearly, there were many cults vying for the Thessalonian’s attention and faith. 

Lastly, by the time of Paul’s letters to the church there, the imperial cult had been present in Thessalonica since 42 BCE with the divinization of Julius Caesar. It was not forced upon the population—yet—but served as a sort of social and religious glue across the Empire. Its presence in the city was seen as a sign of gratitude for all that Rome had done for it. 

This context helps shape the issues that the Thessalonian church is facing and even provides some understanding to Paul’s theology. We need to keep this in mind as we study Paul’s letters to the congregation. 

Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians can be divided into sections: 2:1-3:13, describing Paul’s interaction with the church, and 4:1-5:11, concerned with the apostle’s teachings and exhortations. In the first half of chapter 2, Paul reminds the Thessalonians of his ministry there and how they had received his message. The second part of the letter concerns the need to live in a way that pleases God. This is necessary despite the persecution the church appears to be facing. Once again, we give a nod back to James and his teaching on how to remain faithful in times of trial. In this respect, 1 Thessa-lonians is reminiscent of James’ letter. In many ways, Thessalonians is a Gentile mirror for James’ church, since both letters concern themselves primarily with dealing with the temptation that believers are experiencing during trial.

If you recall from that series, James’ letter is addressed to Jewish Christians who are facing pressures from all directions. James begins his letter by reminding them that trials and tribulations should be expected and should be considered a blessing because they prove and strengthen faith. However, it appears that many in the Church are yielding to temptation, or have already done so, while facing their struggles. He reminds them of all that they have learned in their Jewish faith and explores why believers fall into temptation. And in response to this situation, James provides them with instructions as to how they can return to faith. 

James, therefore, is concerned primarily with how Christians who have given in to temptation can fully return to their faith. By comparison, Paul addresses here a Gentile church facing troubles and provides it with instruction on how to maintain and strengthen its faith through it all.

"Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load."

“…each one [must look] to yourselves, so that you are not tempted as well…For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” When we bring the end of verse one together with verse three we get a better understanding of what Paul is getting at. 

The Galatians must not get judgy with one another when unrighteousness rears its ugly head. Paul is telling them to be sure that they have come to rest in the Spirit’s power and presence and not their own merit, or else they will fall into temptation as well. Here, let me remind you that the problem that James was addressing in the Church was its yielding to temptation during trial. Since each person will have to “bear his own load,” he will have to face his or her own weaknesses and failures. Everybody’s poop stinks. 

In the next section, verses 6-10, Paul tells the Galatians why they mustn’t get judgy, why they must choose the deeds of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit.

"6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."

 “6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.” The teacher and the student share in the good that comes from learning the gospel; they must share the fruits of the Spirit. "7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap." The Galatians must not delude themselves into thinking that they can turn their noses up at the gospel of Christ and the life the results from faith. They cannot look to justify themselves by their merit and expect a harvest of the fruits of the Spirit. 

In verse nine, Paul speaks of not becoming discouraged and not becoming weary of the faith the Galatians live. Let’s not tire of living in faith, to put this a slightly differently. And I think that I can understand what the apostle is talking about. 

It can become tiring and frustrating when things don’t go the way that we would like them to or expect. To live by faith is to live in hope and not in certainty. To live by the Law, well that is something entirely different. Sure it is pretty clear that no one can fulfill Moses’ Law, but there is more certainty in taking matters into our own hands. 

Now good deeds are by definition good, whether done to show one’s faith or not. When the starving person gets fed it really doesn’t matter to her if the food comes from a Buddhist, an atheist, or a Christian: from a Baptist or a Roman Catholic for that matter. 

Paul concludes this section by writing, “So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people…” (6:10a) Deeds done in the flesh will fail. Deeds done in the flesh will not last. Whatever we do by our own power—according to our own merit—will ultimately lead to the sin of pride and also to those deeds of the flesh that Paul named in chapter 5. 

But the works born out of faith, out of the fruit of the Spirit, that is another thing entirely. Oh to have the kind of faith that remains deep even in the face of setback. And we know in deepest recesses of our hearts and minds what Paul is talking about here, because we’ve all begun good deeds that rested in our strength and merit. How long did they last? Did they change anyone’s life for good? Didn’t you simply grow weary of doing and doing? 

The fruits of the Spirit, however, are lasting; in fact, they are going to outlast us. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, these nine fruits arise out of faith, and when we choose to live by the Spirit, choose to leave the tomb and die to ourselves—our efforts and work and merit and pride—we allow Christ’s Spirit to live in us, and we receive that blessing that Israel could never hold on to.

"11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! 12 All who want to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who [d]are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And all who will follow this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God."

In verse eleven Paul tells the Galatians that this means so much to him that he, himself, is writing them this letter. He was investing even more of his time into their faith—this time in the hope of helping them reclaim it. By comparison, in the next two verses Paul gives the Galatians a glimpse of the agitator’s motivations in what they are doing to the church. “…they want to compel you to be circumcised…so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ…they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.” (12, 13) They don’t really care about the Galatians but only about themselves—as anyone committed to the works of Moses’ Law would be. 

In the closing verses of this section, Paul brings his letter back around to the Christ-centered doctrine that he laid out back in chapter two. He writes:

"But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ [meaning he has done nothing, and Christ has done everything], through which the world has be crucified to me, and I to the world [“…for I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives within me]. For neither is circumcision anything [the way that I was, living under the Law and trying to justify myself by it], nor uncircumcision [the only thing that matters is faith working through love], but a new creation.” (14,15)

Paul will return to this idea of being a new creation in his letter to the Corinthians. And his point to the Galatians here is clear: Having welcomed Christ, His faith has brought them into a relationship with God and has offered them the chance to live. To live a new life as a new person and to see the world and other people with the eyes of their new life—the life of Christ that lives in their hearts. 

All the matters is what they have become not what they once were—no matter who you were. “And all ...

"13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."

The legal practices of the Law of Moses provide “an opportunity for the flesh” to declare itself righteous. There is no hope nor faith in this. The Galatians are free to do what they want, but they shouldn’t take back up the sin of Adam. In this, each one of them only serves themselves, but Paul commands them to “serve one another through love.”

Paul is justified in making this command because Leviticus 19:18 orders God’s people to do this very thing, to love their neighbors as themselves. In fact, Paul them triples down on what he said earlier—about Jesus only being concerned with faith working through love—when he begins verse 14 by declaring that “the whole Law is fulfilled in one word,” the love of one’s neighbor as oneself. 

"15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."
The Galatians are going to do what they are going to do, and Paul has hope that they will return to the true gospel, but their choice to pick at one another—their choice to disagree among themselves—will damage and infringe upon their witness and their ability to fulfill the role of being the body of Christ. 

If the church continues down the path of walking in the Law, in merit, they will only fulfill the desires of the flesh—they will only, ultimately, be overcome by sin. Paul then writes some of the most quoted words in all of Christianity. 

"16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Paul says here that to seek to fulfill the Law will carry out the desire of the flesh. This legalism will ultimately lead to the “deeds of the flesh” that “are evident”. He then gives the Galatians a long list of the things that WILL result from carrying out the desires of the flesh. Paul’s statement is proven true simply by looking at the life of the Jews who maintained the necessity of the Law. 

Ok. What I’m about to say will be provocative to some, but it ties in with what Paul has been saying of the Law to the Galatians. Here goes. Paul tells the Galatians that submitting to the Law will only result in “the deeds of the flesh” that are listed in verses 19-21. It doesn’t matter that the Law was given by God to the Moses to set His people apart, although it is full of things about holiness and purity…If the Galatians submit to it, they will fall away from Christ. 

And why is this? In verses 16-18 Paul tells the church that only the Spirit acts against the flesh—against pride. And since the Law only results in pride…So Paul tells the Galatians that they cannot do whatever they want because the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are incompatible. Well, more than that, they are enemies. “You cannot serve both God and wealth,” Jesus says. 

Following the Law will ultimately lead to the DEEDS of the flesh, which will produce a life of chaos; just look at that list bouncing around from one sin to the next. “ 22 But the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control”. 

As we learned in the series on James, deeds done without faith are dead. And Paul tells us why, they lead only to chaos. Our works, even when undertaken with the best intentions, will only lead to these deeds of the flesh. 

In verses 22 and 23, Paul distinguishes the deeds of the flesh—the work that comes out of our pride—from the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control spring not from our effort—or work—but arise in our lives from the presence of the Spirit. 
So, going back to something that Paul said earlier in this letter. Jesus died in order that the nations of the world might be blessed by the presence of the Spirit. Jesus died so that we might experience these fruits; something that would have been impossible otherwise. 

Paul closes out the chapter by stating: “25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. 26 Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

This is further evidence of what is happening in the church. “I’m holier that you.” “You are a sinner.” They are competing in the works of the Law—which will only lead to disappointment—when they should be competing in love.

"2 Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love."

In verses 2-6 Paul has his Moses—Deuteronomy 30—moment with the Galatians:
“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.” (17,18 NLT)

“…if you have yourself circumcised…” “…if you refuse to listen…” 

“You have been severed from Christ…” “…you will certainly be destroyed…” 

Paul remembers something that the neither the Galatians nor many of us Christians—and people in general—seem to have: There is a cost to every decision, every action, and every desire. If the men of Galatia choose to have themselves circumcised in honor to fulfill legal requirements, if they ignore Paul’s teaching that doing so will not make them righteous in God’s eyes, there will be a price to pay.

This is because the man does so “is obligated to keep the whole Law,” which cannot be accomplished! If they do submit to circumcision, they “have been severed from Christ,” because they “are seeking to be justified by the Law”. Verse 14 is intended to be a wake-up call for the erring Galatians: This is the cost of a wrong choice—because it was Adam’s choice. 

Paul is not being hyperbolic in these verses because he equates this different gospel, this gospel of the agitators, to the sin of Adam that said to God, “I no longer need You. I can make my own way, because I get to say what is right and wrong, good and evil.” If that isn’t still the common sentiment lurking in the human heart and head, I don’t know what it could be. Adam’s sin is at the core of social and cultural relativism, which is encapsulated in the commonly used phrases my truth and your truth. And our participation in this practice—this belief—tells God that we do not want Jesus Christ’s life as our own.