Special Introduction (1 Co. 12-14)
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A special introduction to 1 Corinthians, chapters
12-14
(From this point on I will be using the New
King James Version)
Chapter 12:1 & 2
1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
2. You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to
these dumb idols, however you were led.
Just as he
began chapter 10, Paul shows again that he is an enemy of ignorance among
Christians. He states in 10:1, “I would
not, brethren, have you ignorant…” (ASV)
concerning Old Testament accounts, and he uses the exact same Greek word here
in 12:1, “I do not want you to be ignorant,” and in his second letter
to the Corinthians: “We would not have
you ignorant, brethren…” (2
Co.1:8) of the personal troubles that Paul’s team experienced. He affirms the
same to the Thessalonians: “We would not
have you ignorant, brethren…” (1
Th.4:13), concerning the Lord’s return for His church.
1 Corinthians 11
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Chapter 11
A clear difference between men and women
1.
Be imitators
of me, as I am of Christ.
2.
Now I commend
you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I
delivered them to you.
3.
But I want
you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of a wife
is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
4.
Every man who
prays of prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head,
5.
but every
wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since
it is the same as if her head were shaven.
6.
For if a wife
will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is
disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her
head.
7.
For a man
ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman
is the glory of man.
8.
For man was
not made from woman, but woman from man.
9.
Neither was
man created for woman, but woman for man.
10. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on
her head, because of the angels.
11. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man
nor man of woman;
12. for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of
woman. And all things are from God.
13. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to
God with her head uncovered?
14. Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long
hair it is a disgrace for him,
15. but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her
hair is given to her for a covering.
16. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such
practice, nor do the churches of God.
To
be able to give a recommendation conscientiously, such as Paul does in verse 1,
tells of his assurance of his own true and successful discipleship. He was
wholeheartedly and truly submitted to Christ, therefore he could enlist
followers. However, the statement also suggests a limitation, as there must
always be among imperfect human beings… follow me only to the extent that I follow Christ. It is necessary to
comment, as well, that biblical definitions give a different connotation to
that which immediately comes into our mind, when we see the word imitator. It should express Paul’s
desire that through his example, he would turn every head towards Christ, as
the writer of Hebrews states, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter
of our faith” (He.12:2).
We
can break this chapter almost in half by these words in verse 2, “I commend
you,” and these in verse 17, “I do not commend you”. He commends
them, because they take his ministry and his teaching seriously, putting them
into practice. You will notice that there were apostolic traditions in the
early church, differing from ordinances and biblical instruction, perhaps, as
there may be in the church today. Traditions must be limited, so they do not
take the place or overrule God’s commandments. They pertain, especially, to
good order and testimony before society, I think, rather than spiritual
principle.
1 Corinthians 10
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Chapter 10
A false presumption due to experience
1.
For I do not
want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea.
2.
and all were
baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3.
and all ate
the same spiritual food,
4.
and all drank
the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed
them, and the Rock was Christ.
5.
Nevertheless,
with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the
wilderness.
The
apostle Paul took upon himself the responsibility of assuring that Christianity
would not be a religion of ignorance. In chapter 12:2, he wrote of their
blindness as pagans, following their leaders in idolatry, as uninformed as the dumb
idols that they served. Christian instruction is not an adornment, given to
embellish the church and its members, but is essential in order to carry out
its mission and to give glory to God.
What
is the apostle’s source for the text, from which he will teach? It is the Old
Testament Scripture. Jesus said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent
me” (Jn.7:16). It was already established before He came to earth and He
simply built upon those Scriptures. Jesus recognized the divine inspiration of
the 22 books already determined by the Jews to be inerrant and infallible
truth. His disciples followed him and later taught the church their doctrine
(Ac.2:42). Today we have divided those 22 books into 39, but they are precisely
and completely the same text, from which the earliest believers were taught.
It
is truly astounding that there are many believers, who treat the Bible with
indifference. God has graciously bestowed upon us this unique treasure store of
divine thoughts and ways. There is nothing in the world to compare to it and
nowhere else on earth can we learn of heavenly, eternal truth.
1 Corinthians 9
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Chapter 9
1. Am I
not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my
workmanship in the Lord?
2. If
to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my
apostleship in the Lord.
3. This
is my defense to those who would examine me.
4. Do
we not have the right to eat and drink?
5. Do
we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles
and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6. Or
is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a
living?
7. Who
serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating
any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8. Do I
say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?
9. For
it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads
out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
10. Does
he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the
plowman should plow in hope and the thresher threshing hope of sharing in the
crop.
11. If
we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material
things from you?
12. If
others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we
have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an
obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
Paul
begins this chapter with four questions, which we will briefly consider, one by
one. Each one presupposes a positive answer. First, he asks, am I not
free? Of course he is and in his epistle
of Christian liberty to the Galatians, Paul wrote: “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother… so,
brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman” (Gal.4:26,31). Every child, who is
born from above, is born in the ambience of freedom. It allows us to function, without restraint, according to the new nature.
Secondly, he
is without question a God-appointed apostle. God, the Father and the Son,
absolutely affirm his apostleship. Again, I refer to his letter to the
Galatians: “Paul, an apostle –
not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father” (Gal.1:1). Thirdly, he had seen our Lord Jesus on
the road to Damascus. Jesus first called the apostles to Himself, he gave them
authority, and then he sent them out. They were all witnesses of His
resurrection (Ac.4:33). Likewise, Paul was called by the Lord Jesus and sent
out with authority. As the believers, after Pentecost, learned from the
apostles’ teaching, so Paul was given authority to teach new believers, and so
he did and continues to do through his multiple letters (1).
Finally, the
seal of his apostleship, meaning his confirmed personal signature in Christ,
was upon the Corinthian church and they existed because of his apostolic work
there. For that reason, Paul concludes, at least by them, he should be
considered an apostle (2). There are people, who would attempt to bring his
apostleship into question, and in answer to them, he would present these four
proofs, and follow with other reasonable questions, that again assume a
positive answer (3).
1 Corinthians 8
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Chapter 8
Are
you motivated by knowledge or by love?
1. Now
concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.”
This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
2. If
anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to
know.
3. But
if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Paul seems to be making use of Corinthian terms to assist him, as he
teaches. Already in chapter 6, there were two… verse 12 and 13: “All things are
lawful for me” and “food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.”
Perhaps they were included in their questions, directed to the apostle. The
next question concerned food offered to idols.
Paul probably quotes their words: “All of us possess knowledge.” It meant that they,
as Christians, were informed concerning the nothingness of idols and that idol
worship was absolute vanity. If that is so, what harm is there in eating food
offered to idols. However, Christians often oversimplify, tending to emphasize
one particular Scripture, ignoring others, and arrive at conclusions that are
far from an accurate representation of principles taught throughout the Bible.
The apostle has at least two facts to add to the knowledge that idols are
nothing more than pieces of wood or metal, therefore an idolater is simply
involved in powerless vanity.
In chapter 10, verses 18-21, he gives the Corinthians and us something
more to consider. He says, “Consider the people of Israel; are not those
who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?” Their sacrifices made them
participants in the worship of God; however, this also meant that when they ate
the pagan sacrifices, they were participants with the pagan gods. “What
do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is
anything?” This is as far as the mentality of Corinthian Christians led them and
Paul is not going to contradict their knowledge. It is true that the idol is
nothing: It does not speak, hear, walk, or breathe. That does not settle the
issue! “No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to
demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.” There is an evil,
spiritual power behind the idol and that brings the participant, who eats from
their sacrifices, into contact with the kingdom of darkness. “You
cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of
the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” So here we have an obvious
fact, beyond the simple eating of pagan, sacrificial foods, that gives us a
clear reason to avoid compromise in this area.
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