#35 - Is Grace Sufficient?
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(English Standard Version)
1Cor 1 - Greeting - Thanksgiving - Divisions in the church - Christ the wisdom and power of God
1Cor 2 - Proclaiming Christ Crucified - Wisdom from The Spirit
1Cor 3 - Divisions in the church
1Cor 4 - Ministry of Apostles
1Cor 5 - Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church
1Cor 6 - Lawsuits Against Believers - Flee Sexual Immorality
1Cor 7 - Principles for Marriage - Live as You are Called - The Unmarried and The Widowed
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Because of his excellent Jewish education and his extended time learning directly from Jesus, Paul was uniquely qualified to be one of the Twelve Apostles. On that basis God used Paul to write the majority of the New Testament letters to Jesus’ followers gathered in churches all around the world. Paul had started many of the churches as he traveled around the Roman Empire sharing the Good News of Jesus death and resurrection. Paul used his understanding of God and God’s Gospel to address the various needs of these and all churches. As the center of the Roman Empire, Rome became the center of Christianity and thus needed to be well grounded in the Good News of Jesus Christ, so that was the focus of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome.
The next New Testament letters were written to Christians in Corinth, a cultural crossroad. The Corinthians were led astray by the worldly attitudes and behaviors of their sea port town. How Christians can overcome the temptations of the world around them is the focus of Paul’s writing in his letters to the Corinthians.
As with most of Paul’s letters he begins with very positive, encouraging words. The Corinthian Christians struggled with various sins and the first thing they needed was to be reminded of the power and mercy of God’s Grace and Peace. Before any critique or challenge Paul thanked God for the Grace given to the Corinthian Saints in Christ Jesus. That Grace enriched them in everything, demonstrating that what Jesus had accomplished on their behalf would see them through to His return. That Grace made them guiltless and able to be and do whatever God asked them to do. These words must have been a little confusing to them in light of the sin in their lives that Paul would immediately address. This new LIFE is the result of the crucifixion of Jesus. To the world it seems a great foolishness for God Himself to pay the death penalty of sin, but that is exactly what Jesus did, and what Paul preached. Like Paul told the Romans, (and will tell the Ephesians, Colossians, and others) our salvation is complete; Jesus finished it. It is in forgetting the Grace of God that we fail to live out the new Life that Jesus has gifted us.
It is in this context of needing to more fully understand and accept God’s Grace through the crucifixion of Jesus that Paul begins to point out their various sins. He begins by describing their proud factions, claiming to follow the best leader. (It is interesting how our sins don’t really ever change.) Paul reminded them that their human leaders were quite insignificant in comparison to the Jesus they should be following. No human being could compare to the wisdom and power of God displayed in Jesus. In fact, Paul reminded them that the world considers the followers of Jesus as weak, foolish, and despised. This is just the way it must be so that all the credit for the awesome and amazing things that are accomplished in and through Christians goes to the Lord alone.
Paul could have boasted in his superior education and experiences with Jesus; he could have communicated with the style and prestige of the Greek philosophers; but he gladly accepted the maligned role of an Apostle, foolish, weak, dishonored, “the scum of the earth, the refuse of all things.” As their father in Christ, Paul said and did everything to point people to Jesus, no matter what it cost. This is the same attitude Jesus had when He allowed Himself to be despised, forsaken and crucified.
The lack of this attitude is the source of all our sin. Rather than thinking of Jesus and others, we put our own will and wishes first. This selfish attitude is behind all our disunity, our sexual immorality, our desire to make others pay for their wrongs toward us, our marriage failures and life discontents. Thinking and feeling ourselves wise, we look out for the wrong number one. This makes the Gospel even more Amazing. “Even when we were sinners Christ died for us.” God knew and knows everything about us and still loves us so much that He was willingly crucified in our place in order to buy our freedom from the guilt of sin. Challenging us to remember this is Paul’s encouragement in the midst of our disunity, immorality and any other sin. God’s Grace is Amazing.
1 Corinthians chapter seven is hard to understand. I don’t claim to have it mastered, but I think I have a better understanding than I used to. The headings in my Bible (ESV) include: “Principles for Marriage” and “Live As you Are Called.” Read it and see if you are not confused. It seems to say things like: don’t be sexual; it is best to be single; you can save your unbelieving spouse; stay in whatever life role you find yourself; don’t get married if you can avoid it; if you are married, live like you are not married. Surely God can’t really mean these things. But are we to ignore, weasel out or explain them away simply because they seem unreasonable? In focusing on how to answer the questions about the confusing things in the chapter, I have missed what I think is the real issue Paul is addressing.
The Corinthians were struggling with the same life issues we are faced with today. Sex, marriage, freedom, work and relationships of every sort, are constant challenges to the peace we are all looking for. And … we all tend to look for and plan just the right circumstances in each of these areas to bring us the peace we seek.
I won’t extend my comments, but just quote what the Bible says: (and what I’ve tended to miss)
“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him.” (1Cor 7:17) “I want you to be free from anxieties.” (1Cor 7:32) and “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” (1Cor 7:35)
The only way to live peacefully in a sin-torn world is to learn, by experience, that only by dependence on the powerful, forgiving Grace of God can we be free from the anxieties of seemingly impossible and hopeless relationships and circumstances. Could it be that God “assigns” and “calls” us to the particular lives we face so that we can learn the WONDERFUL lesson (over and over again because we are forgetful) that God, in His Grace, IS sufficient for us, no matter our circumstances. Our peace can never be found in better sex, better marriage, better jobs, better circumstances, but only in better understanding of, and dependence on, the Grace of God. No wonder Paul begins and closes his letters with “Grace to you and Peace from God…” Who do I want to be the director of my life, myself or God?
(English Standard Version)
1Cor 1 - Greeting - Thanksgiving - Divisions in the church - Christ the wisdom and power of God
1Cor 2 - Proclaiming Christ Crucified - Wisdom from The Spirit
1Cor 3 - Divisions in the church
1Cor 4 - Ministry of Apostles
1Cor 5 - Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church
1Cor 6 - Lawsuits Against Believers - Flee Sexual Immorality
1Cor 7 - Principles for Marriage - Live as You are Called - The Unmarried and The Widowed
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Because of his excellent Jewish education and his extended time learning directly from Jesus, Paul was uniquely qualified to be one of the Twelve Apostles. On that basis God used Paul to write the majority of the New Testament letters to Jesus’ followers gathered in churches all around the world. Paul had started many of the churches as he traveled around the Roman Empire sharing the Good News of Jesus death and resurrection. Paul used his understanding of God and God’s Gospel to address the various needs of these and all churches. As the center of the Roman Empire, Rome became the center of Christianity and thus needed to be well grounded in the Good News of Jesus Christ, so that was the focus of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome.
The next New Testament letters were written to Christians in Corinth, a cultural crossroad. The Corinthians were led astray by the worldly attitudes and behaviors of their sea port town. How Christians can overcome the temptations of the world around them is the focus of Paul’s writing in his letters to the Corinthians.
As with most of Paul’s letters he begins with very positive, encouraging words. The Corinthian Christians struggled with various sins and the first thing they needed was to be reminded of the power and mercy of God’s Grace and Peace. Before any critique or challenge Paul thanked God for the Grace given to the Corinthian Saints in Christ Jesus. That Grace enriched them in everything, demonstrating that what Jesus had accomplished on their behalf would see them through to His return. That Grace made them guiltless and able to be and do whatever God asked them to do. These words must have been a little confusing to them in light of the sin in their lives that Paul would immediately address. This new LIFE is the result of the crucifixion of Jesus. To the world it seems a great foolishness for God Himself to pay the death penalty of sin, but that is exactly what Jesus did, and what Paul preached. Like Paul told the Romans, (and will tell the Ephesians, Colossians, and others) our salvation is complete; Jesus finished it. It is in forgetting the Grace of God that we fail to live out the new Life that Jesus has gifted us.
It is in this context of needing to more fully understand and accept God’s Grace through the crucifixion of Jesus that Paul begins to point out their various sins. He begins by describing their proud factions, claiming to follow the best leader. (It is interesting how our sins don’t really ever change.) Paul reminded them that their human leaders were quite insignificant in comparison to the Jesus they should be following. No human being could compare to the wisdom and power of God displayed in Jesus. In fact, Paul reminded them that the world considers the followers of Jesus as weak, foolish, and despised. This is just the way it must be so that all the credit for the awesome and amazing things that are accomplished in and through Christians goes to the Lord alone.
Paul could have boasted in his superior education and experiences with Jesus; he could have communicated with the style and prestige of the Greek philosophers; but he gladly accepted the maligned role of an Apostle, foolish, weak, dishonored, “the scum of the earth, the refuse of all things.” As their father in Christ, Paul said and did everything to point people to Jesus, no matter what it cost. This is the same attitude Jesus had when He allowed Himself to be despised, forsaken and crucified.
The lack of this attitude is the source of all our sin. Rather than thinking of Jesus and others, we put our own will and wishes first. This selfish attitude is behind all our disunity, our sexual immorality, our desire to make others pay for their wrongs toward us, our marriage failures and life discontents. Thinking and feeling ourselves wise, we look out for the wrong number one. This makes the Gospel even more Amazing. “Even when we were sinners Christ died for us.” God knew and knows everything about us and still loves us so much that He was willingly crucified in our place in order to buy our freedom from the guilt of sin. Challenging us to remember this is Paul’s encouragement in the midst of our disunity, immorality and any other sin. God’s Grace is Amazing.
1 Corinthians chapter seven is hard to understand. I don’t claim to have it mastered, but I think I have a better understanding than I used to. The headings in my Bible (ESV) include: “Principles for Marriage” and “Live As you Are Called.” Read it and see if you are not confused. It seems to say things like: don’t be sexual; it is best to be single; you can save your unbelieving spouse; stay in whatever life role you find yourself; don’t get married if you can avoid it; if you are married, live like you are not married. Surely God can’t really mean these things. But are we to ignore, weasel out or explain them away simply because they seem unreasonable? In focusing on how to answer the questions about the confusing things in the chapter, I have missed what I think is the real issue Paul is addressing.
The Corinthians were struggling with the same life issues we are faced with today. Sex, marriage, freedom, work and relationships of every sort, are constant challenges to the peace we are all looking for. And … we all tend to look for and plan just the right circumstances in each of these areas to bring us the peace we seek.
I won’t extend my comments, but just quote what the Bible says: (and what I’ve tended to miss)
“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him.” (1Cor 7:17) “I want you to be free from anxieties.” (1Cor 7:32) and “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” (1Cor 7:35)
The only way to live peacefully in a sin-torn world is to learn, by experience, that only by dependence on the powerful, forgiving Grace of God can we be free from the anxieties of seemingly impossible and hopeless relationships and circumstances. Could it be that God “assigns” and “calls” us to the particular lives we face so that we can learn the WONDERFUL lesson (over and over again because we are forgetful) that God, in His Grace, IS sufficient for us, no matter our circumstances. Our peace can never be found in better sex, better marriage, better jobs, better circumstances, but only in better understanding of, and dependence on, the Grace of God. No wonder Paul begins and closes his letters with “Grace to you and Peace from God…” Who do I want to be the director of my life, myself or God?
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project summary of 1Corinthians
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"