Episode 213 - "Be mature in your thinking!" - 1 Corinthians 14:20-25

1 Cor. 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

It may seem like Paul is beating a dead horse, so to speak, with his instruction concerning spiritual gifts. But the fact of the matter is that this is a divisive issue among Christians still today. There are people who think they’re more godly or special because they claim to have a certain gift. There are people who want to argue that others cannot be Christian if they don’t have the gift of tongues or some other sign gift. There are churches that make it a part of their doctrinal statement that the sign gifts have ceased, and they make it clear that those who think otherwise are not welcome among them. I think if the Apostle Paul were here today, he would say the same thing he tells the Corinthians, “You all need to grow up!”

I love how he says in verse 20, “Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” In terms of experience in the ways of the world, he would prefer them to be naive and innocent or inexperienced. People sometimes think they need to experience the things others around them are doing. Paul wants them to avoid things that are evil. However, they are to be mature in their thinking. He follows this with perspective to assist them in thinking more maturely.

Technically, “the Law” is the first five books of the Old Testament. However, it’s often used to speak of the whole Old Testament. Paul paraphrases Isaiah 28:11 when he writes, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” (v. 21) In citing this text, he argues that “tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.” (v. 22) Oddly, his argument in verses 23-25 appears to work in the opposite manner. What gives?

It’s important to interpret what Paul is getting at by considering the historical context of the Isaiah passage he has just quoted. Isaiah, writing the Lord’s revelation, is describing a coming judgment upon unbelieving Israel. In other words, God is telling Israel, “Because you haven’t listened to my clear revelation through the prophets speaking a language you understand, I am going to send people who speak a language you don’t understand.” This later comes true. The northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, and later the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. Paul is using this example to show that tongues had been used by God as a sign for unbelievers. Israel should have been believing God’s word in their own language.

Paul is using that to help the Corinthian believers understand that if, in their immaturity, all of them are speaking in tongues, the scene will look crazy and confusing to unbelievers and result in them still being unbelievers. But that’s not the objective. We desire unbelievers to become believers.

So, if everyone is prophesying, by the Spirit, the gospel will be explained, and there will be a revelation in the unbelieving person’s heart, leading them to faith. Therefore, prophecy is for believers. It’s a generalization and not an absolute rule.

Consider what happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles, and they spoke in tongues, languages understood by the foreign visitors who heard these men speak. The effect was that it got people’s attention, but it didn’t lead people to faith. It wasn’t until Peter explained what was happening and gave them a clear explanation of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection that the Holy Spirit convicted many to respond in faith.

So, the point of all of this is to have a mature understanding of the value of tongues and prophecy. It’s more important that God’s word be spoken and explained in a way that people can understand it and allow the Holy Spirit to convict people and draw them into faith. Spiritual maturity leads us not to foment an emotional experience for ourselves but to seek how we can be used by the Holy Spirit to speak God’s truth to others leading them to worship God in faith.

Episode 209 - "Love never fails" 1 Corinthians 13:8-12

1 Cor. 13:8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 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 gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

I have a confession. Sometimes, I handle longer passages because I feel what is most important about it necessitates it being handled as a complete unit. Other times I break a section down more because there is so much to take in that it’s best to take it in small bites. But I’m breaking down this section on love into smaller segments simply because I am savoring it. It’s just that beautiful to me.

In our last episode, we looked at a list of things that love is and a list of things that love is not. In these few verses, Paul brings his comparison of the importance of love in contrast to spiritual gifts into vivid clarity. Beginning with the three words, “Love never ends,” Paul explains why love is superior to spiritual gifts. There is a sense in which this can mean that love never fails. That doesn’t mean that people never fail to love. It means that love, when exercised, doesn’t have a limit. It doesn’t run out of gas. The best example of this is God’s love for humanity demonstrated in Christ’s death on the cross for the sins of the human race past, present, and future, appropriated by those who accept the gift of forgiveness of our sins through trust in Jesus Christ. It was a one-time act that occurred 2,000 years ago but is still perceived by people today when they realize this love is available to them. That act of love still has its power upon people today.

It’s also important to understand that love will never end. God’s love will be eternally experienced by those who have received it. I would suggest that in God’s eternal realm, our love toward each other will be made perfect through Christ. The fallen condition in which we endure now will be done away with, and there will be nothing to stop or hinder our love for each other.

But what about the spiritual gifts? Look at verses 8-9. They are temporary and limited. At some point, after Paul writes this, they would cease. When? This is another one of those sticky points between some Christians. People in the church where I grew up liked to say or teach that tongues ceased when the canon of Scripture was completed and that they no longer have a purpose today. Paul’s answer to that question is, “When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” (v. 10) What is the perfect? I think the perfect is when Christ returns, and Christians are given a glorified body. Notice the “Now and then” argument he gives in verse 12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” When will we fully know and be known? When we are made whole and in God’s presence.

I have friends who claim to have certain spiritual gifts, such as speaking in tongues. I also know there are churches at which this “gift” is regularly manifested on Sunday mornings. As a believer who does not possess this gift, I must confess that I question the validity of such programmed manifestation of these gifts. Is that the way the Spirit moves, at 10:30 on Sunday morning? I am more concerned by the insistence of some that the gift of tongues is an indication of one’s salvation. This teaching is clearly in contrast with the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures. Furthermore, Christians aren’t the only ones who claim to speak in tongues. This is why the apostle John writes in 1 John 4:1-3 to “test the spirits to see if they are from God.” This same idea is present here in Paul’s letter when he explains that these gifts are “in part” and will end. Yet, I can’t say they are completely invalid or have ceased. I choose to conclude that God is free to manifest these gifts according to his will and timing. However, they are limited. They will end at some point and will not be necessary in eternity. I believe that we will all be speaking one language or that we will all understand every language.

If it’s not clear enough that Paul understands and upholds the value of these gifts but contrasts them with the importance of love that can and should be demonstrated by every believer, he compares the gifts to “childish” things. (See verse 11) As the Lord is bringing the body of Christ (the Church) to maturity, love is what is to remain and be a chief characteristic of Christians worldwide. That should be our priority in how we treat each other and toward the world as we desire to lead them to God’s love.

Episode 194 - "Flee from idolatry" - 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

1Cor. 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 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. 21 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. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Once again, we have a section that begins with “therefore.” So, I want to review a little bit in order to discuss what it is “there for.” In our last episode, Paul warned the Corinthians about the Israelites during the exodus and how they reverted to idolatry, sexual immorality, and debauchery in general. We concluded that episode with a promise of hope that God will not allow us to be tempted by anything that we cannot possibly bear and that he will “make a way of escape.” (v. 13)

In light of the example of the idolatrous Israelites, and the cultural pressures in and around Corinth, Paul is giving them counsel on how to best live a life honoring to the Lord. He says, therefore . . . “flee from idolatry.” (v. 14) He had previously written about the issue of meat offered to idols and Christian liberty. There’s nothing intrinsically evil about the meat itself, he argued. One has not sinned if they ate meat and later found out that it had been sacrificed to idols. So now in verse 19 he says, “What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?” His answer is “no.”

But there are a few problems that come with it. One is that a fellow Christian may have a past struggle, and their spiritual immaturity evokes conviction or some internal conflict regarding the food. Paul says it’s best to abstain so as not to cause that weaker person to “stumble.” In our culture, a believer who has no conviction about having a glass of wine with dinner might investigate whether a dinner guest had a problem with alcoholic beverages. Maybe they were a recovering alcoholic. Offering them wine at dinner might create a serious and destructive temptation for them. Paul is advising them (and we can learn from this ourselves) to use discernment in order to do what is good and best for others.

Another problem that Paul brings up in this section is the motives of those who offer food to idols. Paul says that people who do such things are not worshipping the true God. He is basically arguing that in worshipping inanimate things made of stone, wood, and clay, they have been deceived and are actually worshipping demons. Paul’s point is, “Don’t participate in that! Flee from it, and it won’t be a temptation.” (My interpretation)

I could think of things that people do that may not be wrong in and of itself. However, it can become an idol to some. People commit their money, time, energy, attention, and overall devotion to it, and it consumes them and distracts them from dependence upon the Lord. One’s job could become an idol. How people use their time and money for leisure may become an idol. Many other things can have the same effect on our lives as statues that people worship. When we devote ourselves to these things over the Lord, they become idols. We need to identify these things and flee from them.

We need the wisdom to discern what can potentially lead us away from honoring the Lord and flee from it.

Episode 191 - "Don't be an obstacle to the gospel" - 1 Corinthians 9

1Cor. 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.

1Cor. 9:3 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?

1Cor. 9:8 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 speak certainly for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in 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. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

1Cor. 9:15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

1Cor. 9:19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

1Cor. 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I believe this is a first in nearly 200 episodes of our Bible studies. I am covering an entire chapter of Scripture with the intent of minimalizing the volume of my own commentary. There is a beauty in what is revealed in this chapter that I do not want to split into tiny pieces or pollute with my own words.

In verses 1-14, Paul presents his credentials and role given by God and says that it comes with rights that are reasonable, supported by the Law of Moses, and supported by the Lord himself. In other words, it is fair, and it's Biblical for Paul to be supported by those he serves. (Such as the believers at Corinth) No one can offer a reasonable accusation against him concerning this.

In verses 15-23, Paul says that he’s not taken advantage of these rights, and he’s not asking for them even though there’s nothing wrong with it. Why? His answer is so that it could not become an obstacle to leading people to the good news of Jesus Christ. His priority is the gospel, and his reward is to share the blessing of those who receive it. He understands the joy, peace, and hope that people get when they experience God’s grace to them, and that is what Paul desires.

Finally, in verses 24-27, Paul likens his work in the gospel to a race to be won. Like participants in a race, one must be disciplined and have self-control. He’s not racing other people. His race is in the finite amount of time he knows he has in this life. He is not going to live his life worrying about getting his rights or making sure everything is fair. He knows that if the priority and focus turn upon himself, he will not be effective in his race to lead as many people to Jesus as he wants.

Isn’t that awesome?

Prayer: Lord, help us regard others and not ourselves. May our priority be to lead others to Jesus and not become an obstacle to your grace and mercy to others.

Episode 190 "Forgo your rights for the benefit of other believers" - 1 Corinthians 8:4-13

1Cor. 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1Cor. 8:7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

At the beginning of chapter 8, Paul moved to the new topic of “food offered to idols.” It would appear that this was a matter of concern or debate among some of the believers at Corinth. Paul then seemed to divert to a topic of knowledge. However, I suggested that he was likely confronting the source of the debate over this issue of food sacrificed to idols, and that would be people claiming to have superior knowledge and trying to force others to submit to their instruction on the matter. His correction sets the tone for his counsel on the question about this food. He argues that love is more important than knowledge.

In verses 4-6, Paul says matter of factly that idols are nothing; they have no real existence. “There is no God but one,” he says in verse 4. He concedes in verse 5 that people believe in and worship many so-called gods. But from a Christian perspective, “there is one God, the Father, . . . .and one Lord, Jesus Christ.” (v. 6) Don’t miss the fact that while Paul strongly asserts there is one God, he speaks of both God the Father AND Jesus Christ and it’s through both of them that all things exist. This is Scripture that lends support to the doctrine of the Trinity.

So, the implication of this is that food offered to idols is not really an issue because there are no real gods behind the idols. To use a modern expression, “No harm, no foul.” But wait a minute. Paul’s not finished. Paul explains in verses 7-13 that the issue is not the food. The real issue is looking out for your brother/sister in Christ. He points out that some of them have come from a background of worshipping and believing in other gods, and he says in verse 7 that their conscience may be “weak.” (v. 7)

What’s the point? The point is that a person with a background of idol worship who comes to faith in Christ may be spiritually harmed if other Christians are eating with them, knowing the food was sacrificed to idols. For one person, it’s not a big deal. But it may have a detrimental impact on the person who is new in the faith and has come to reject the idols they once worshipped.

The key lesson is in verse 9, “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” Paul is saying to forgo your “right” or liberty to eat the food if this creates a problem for your weaker brother. Paul adds that this is not a suggestion. He argues in verses 11-12 that it is a sin against Christ to act with such disregard for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and act in ways that may spiritually harm them because Christ died for them.

I understand that we might think this doesn’t apply to us because we’re not purchasing food at the market that has been sacrificed to idols. But, that’s not the point. The point is how we act around other believers and to be sensitive to their spiritual edification. We may need to avoid certain activities that are not sinful in and of themselves. But if it could negatively impact their faith, we need to abstain for the good of that person or people.

Love is superior to knowledge! In love, let us build up our brothers and sisters in Christ.