Courting Humility

1 Corinthians 6:7-11   
7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

We fail God and our brothers, breaking the two greatest commandments, when we go to court without going to each other or through the church leadership to reconcile with each other.  Here we learn it is better to accept mistreatment, but instead often join those doing so to us, as in cheating and doing wrong to them or in retribution.  We need to remember that we were like others in the world before Christ, unrighteous and sinful, falling ever short of the kingdom of God.  The only difference now is that we were rescued and reconciled by His righteousness and made holy in Him alone.  We are not better, so humility should see our salvation of grace to show those who spitefully misuse us.  And not sue each other. 

Dare You?

1 Corinthians 6:1-6   
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

The Corinthians seemed to be a litigious bunch.  They would sooner take some fellow believer to civilian court than deal with the situations according to the Scriptures among the elders and each other.  We will sit with Christ to judge the world and fallen angels at the final judgment day, the ones who rebelled against God and who cannot be saved.  Therefore, we who have been saved in grace and mercy should show that reconciling mercy and grace in matters between each other before that time.  It is shameful before God and man to not seek wise elders to judge within the church, instead suing and seeking revenge among those who do not know reconciling grace.  True and loving church discipline can also bear witness to the world of God in and through us. 

Judge Within

1 Corinthians 5:12-13    
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

The church is not here to judge the world and accuse every sinner, but point them to their Savior whose word holds them already as condemned, yet offering freeing forgiveness by grace alone.  We are not to judge each sin, but simply state the state of all men and women.  We bring good news, words of life, to all under God’s judgment; adding our own does nothing good.  However, within the church we are to judge the actions of His people, not them to condemn, and so expose sin to be dealt with in restorative love.  This may include putting them out of the fellowship if they refuse to turn and continue in sinning.  But we condemn no one.  That is for God alone to do.  Therefore, we judge sin among the redeemed, not the lost. 

The Company We Keep

1 Corinthians 5:9-11   
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

The issue for church discipline here in the church at Corinth was sexual immorality.  The principle and command here is to not associate with those living in sin in the church, who profess to be reborn followers of Christ.  We are not to pull out of the world which is rampant with sexually sinful people, for God’s word already holds them and all others as sinners under His just wrath.  No, but we are to shun those within the true church who continue in unrepentant sin, including the sexual as well as drunks and others.  Paul went as far as to specify not even dining with those who refuse to confess and repent.  The goal is to bring them to conviction and restorative repentance.  Of course, this is all to be done in love.

The Yeast of These

1 Corinthians 5:6-8   
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Glorying in our position over others or our knowledge and gifts is never good.  These come from God, and it is our misuse and abuse that turns them to evil to match our carnal nature.  Like yeast, a tiny amount of boasting pride and sinful actions not repented of quickly rise to fill our souls with the stench of festering sin.  Christ gave the example of bread with no yeast as a Passover meal, symbolizing keeping sin out.  Our yeast as here is often ill will, evil wickedness in thought and deed, and insincerity with lies.  We in Christ are or be holy as He is, and to flee sin in imitation of Him as we live truthfully and honestly before God and man.  Glorying in anything besides Christ is folly. 

Deal. With. Sin.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5   
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

When sexual immorality or other ongoing and unrepentant sin is uncovered in the church, it must be dealt with for the soul’s purity and restoration.  This is seen here to be done with mournful sorrow, not anger or hate.  Yet it must be decisively dealt with.  Paul was with the Corinthians from a distance as a shepherd to pray and work through dealing with the unrepentant.  They were to put him out of the congregation until the offender took responsibility for the sin and turned from it.  The goal was restoring the sinner to repentance and holiness before God as one of His.  Sin cannot be winked at while looking away, nor is it to be a hateful attack, for Godly discipline is for our good, not evil. 

Puffing

1 Corinthians 4:18-21    
18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

The proud and boasting ones scoffed at Paul even coming to Corinth to deal with the problems, but he assured them that he was coming.  He also informed them that he was bringing the words of God’s power and authority, not human words of the inflated braggarts.  Therefore, he offered them the choice of who to listen to, choosing to face rebuke or to find gentle and loving correction.  When sin is not dealt with in the church (church discipline), rebuke is needed.  When it is dealt with, restoration in loving and gentle correction can occur.  Unfortunately, many churches want to deal with too much gentleness, too harshly, or not deal at all with issues which leads to eventual severity or to festering of the sin that corrupts the body further.  The goal must be restorative reconciliation by addressing sin. 

Imitation of Life

1 Corinthians 4:14-17   
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

Paul demonstrates here the heart of an under-shepherd.  He sees the believers as children; mostly as God’s in Christ, but in a sense as his own due to his concern and care for them.  Unlike Rome, he was not demanding they worship and call him ‘father,” but served them instead.  He witnessed to them the gospel words of life, so he felt responsible to disciple and shepherd them.  Because of these things due to the grace of God in Paul and his working out that sanctification, he urged them to follow in his footsteps.  When he could not visit to minister, he sent a trusted disciple in his place who was so like minded.  All of this is a pattern of ministry for us.  Bear witness to the gospel for God to quicken others into eternal life, follow up, disciple, shepherd, and bring up others to do the same. 

Display Models

1 Corinthians 4:9-13   
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

The apostles ushered in the church from Jesus’ direct teaching, called out and set apart for finalizing the scriptures with the words of the New Testament of Jesus Christ by His blood.  Because of this, they endured much suffering in showing the glory of God from the gospel of the scriptures, hidden in the Old Testament.  They gave all to labor to know Christ and make Him known, no matter how much they were slandered and attacked with word and stone.  They responded in love as they valued the souls of the lost while being treated as dirt.  They loved Jesus and loved others as He does.  Then they spoke and wrote down God’s words and work for us, leaving the example we should learn from to follow. 

Reason as it is Written

1 Corinthians 4:6-8   
6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?    8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!

Since there is no boasting in God’s under shepherds like Paul and Apollos, then there can be no inflation of our own value above others either.  We are no different or better than another, for we all received the same grace and mercy in Christ, and the gifts we each received are His, not our own accomplishments.  We have all we need in Christ; we reign as kings in Him together, rich and complete in Him.  Therefore we do not exalt pastors or teachers, but glory in Christ alone for His gifts and glory. There is no reason to desire another’s gifts or calling, but only contentment in our equal calling and value as being created in His image and called out for His purpose. 

Stewards of Mystery

1 Corinthians 4:1-5   
1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.

If we minister the gospel through preaching or teaching, it must be as servants, not lording over others.  It must also be as good stewards of the gifts and callings in Christ, showing what God said and giving the understanding for us to live by.  This stewardship must be applied conscientiously and humbly, therefore.  We cannot judge ourselves when we fail, but seek forgiveness if needed and perseverance if undeserved.  The best judgement comes from God, so we wait for the final day before Him and not on man’s assessment or accusations before then.  We press on, knowing God will open our books and reveal all the hidden motives and circumstances.  Our praise comes from Him alone. 

All Things are Yours

1 Corinthians 3:21-23    
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

Because all wisdom originates in God, we have nothing to brag about in what we know.  Humility must focus first on the source of our salvation as grace, not our efforts or choices, and then on the mind of Christ that gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.  All that God reveals to us in His word can therefore only be understood by His wisdom given to us.  How can we boast in what we know to others when it is God alone who is wise and not us?   We then understand God, man, sin, salvation, and all other doctrines and our inheritance because they come from His mind to ours, and we belong to Him in Christ. 

Wisdom of Fools

1 Corinthians 3:18-20   
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

When we view apparent wisdom from ourselves over God’s, we only deceive ourselves.  To be wise from God’s view (in truth) means we realize our utter foolishness apart from His word and Spirit to interpret what He means and how it affects us.  He sees our empty plans and catches us by them in time, knowing our ideas lead to nothing of temporal or lasting value.  In Psalm 94:10-12 where verse 20 quotes from, we see the larger context of His instruction of wisdom, His understanding of all our thoughts, and the need for us to be taught wisdom by Him.  

Psalms 94:10-12 10 He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? 11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile. 12 Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, And teach out of Your law,

God’s Temple

1 Corinthians 3:16-17    
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

We are called to be holy temples for the holy God to live in and receive worship.  Our bodies are set apart for His use and glory, not our own pleasure and misuse.  Here we see the gravity of the charge to not corrupt or destroy these vessels made for honor.  If we continue in polluting these, He has the right and loving moral duty to destroy these before we continue to do more damage.  As seen in 1 Corinthians 3:15, however, the destruction is not of our eternal souls, but the temporal bodies we are misusing.  We are called out from sin’s destruction to holiness because He is holy and living in us. 

Foundational Security

1 Corinthians 3:12-15    
12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

We are to build wisely upon Christ as our rock, our soul foundation.  Likening our spiritual construction with valuable building materials, we see that the real value is in things that last in the Architect’s eye.  In the end, He is the inspector of our work.  If we use inferior materials which burn easily, we labor in vain and are not up to the Master’s code; we lose much if we cut corners in our lives.  Yet we have security, but He tests our hearts.  Though the loss would be great, we do not lose the ground our foundation stands upon.  Job 24:23 He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.

Solid Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:9-11   
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

We are built on the solid foundation that only God can lay, Jesus Christ our rock.  We bear witness to these good words of life while God enacts the change, and we labor with others in His field of souls for Him to build upon.  By His wisdom and word we watch to see how we can help others build on that sure foundation, praying for wisdom as we rely on God’s work in us and them by grace through faith.  So we work on our own building and others’ by relying on the Scriptures and Spirit.

Planting, Watering, Growth

1 Corinthians 3:5-8   
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

The spiritual mind sees God’s ministers as instruments of the gospel, not the ones saving the souls of the lost and perishing.  We can bear witness with His word as we plant seeds for God to germinate, we water by explaining the scriptures for who and what Christ has done, but God gives life and subsequent growth.  He gets the glory and praise, never us.  So we labor to plant seeds of truth and water with prayer and explanation, earning treasures in heaven for God’s glory alone in Christ.

Solid Food

1 Corinthians 3:1-4    
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

When the mind is set on leaders, self, or competition, it is as carnal as a baby.  An infant only desires what entertains itself, and cannot swallow meatier food than the basics.  Paul here used that comparison to show the Corinthians that they were obsessed with such feeding of the flesh nature and not the spiritual.  Along with their spiritual malnourishment came the fleshly arguments and resulting splits from that comparison and cliquish mentality.  We can learn from this to feed our spirit by His word, not aligning with spiritual “giants” or favorite leaders, but with Christ as the head. 

Bankrupt Wisdom

1 Corinthians 2:13-16   
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Knowing the bankruptcy of our wisdom apart from God, we should be speaking what He says as written in the Scriptures and with verity testified to by His Spirit living in us.  We use the context of the Bible to interpret itself, using it as the rule to understand the wisdom God put there for us.  Our fallen natural man of flesh refuses to accept what it cannot grasp, seeing a seemingly foolish set of stories and sayings.  These can only be comprehended by spiritual means from God’s own mind.  Ah, but those of us who are His have that mind opened to ours for spiritual understanding.  We have the mind of Christ Himself! 

To Know Things of God

1 Corinthians 2:11-12    
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

We do not know all that is in another person’s heart unless they reveal it to us truthfully.  This is infinitely more true with God; unless He reveals His thoughts to us, we cannot presume to know or understand what is on His mind.  Yet for those of us who have been reborn by God through faith in Christ alone, we are able to know what He has told us in His word by His interpretive presence as the Holy Spirit living in us.  God Himself interprets what we read and hear from the Scriptures.  There we see the things freely given through His grace in Christ to us sinners. 

Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

1 Corinthians 2:9-10   
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

We are born at odds with God, not knowing Him nor His work that would be done in Christ, though it was set in place before the universe was created.  We are utterly unable to see or hear or feel what God has planned.  But when He opens the eyes of our heart by His Spirit, we are shown these very deep things of God and the Scriptures come alive to burn brightly in our souls.  Only the regenerated who have His Spirit living in them understanding these things and can truly love Him.

Wisdom of the Mature

1 Corinthians 2:6-8    
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Wisdom is not of the world, but is also heard mainly by those more grown in their faith.  The world’s wisdom and its rulers literally do come to nothing for building us up, but God’s wisdom does - yet it must be shown to us by God Himself.  He hid who the Messiah, the Christ, was through all history until He walked among us as Emmanuel.   God kept this wisdom from before creation and time to give us by His Spirit as the Scriptures recorded until the time planned for had arrived.  For if His wisdom and plan were revealed sooner, nobody would want to crucify Christ, and we would have no ransom, remaining dead in our sin.  But the wisdom of God had a plan and executed it.  It was for His glory and ours.

Fear and Trembling

1 Corinthians 2:1-5   
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

To preach, teach, and encourage others is not based on a polished approach of coached words and well thought out ideas, but telling of what God says and what it means so we can live accordingly.  Paul made it a point to lift Jesus Christ up to view on the cross, that is, the person and work of Christ by His words and why He did it all.  So Paul was fearful and careful to acknowledge his weakness and God’s greatness.  He did not use man’s philosophical arguments, but relied on God’s Spirit to explain the word of God.  He did this so others would trust in Jesus and His power, not Paul the preacher and teacher (God’s instrument). 

Glory in the Lord

1 Corinthians 1:30-31    
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

The only thing we have in which to glory is Christ.  Not our sinful selves, not our efforts or accomplishments, not our reason or wisdom.  Jesus Christ came as we are, yet as divine also that His sinless suffering and sacrifice would be counted to us as sinlessness by spiritual and legal proxy.  He died for us to make us acceptable to the Father - without blemish in positional holiness, though we still sin as sinners saved in His grace.  He redeemed us, bought us back as a ransom, from our sin and its due wrath of God.  So we glory in Christ alone, for we had no part in our reconciliation. 

Chosen Calling of Foolish

1 Corinthians 1:26-29   
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

There are some whom God chooses with great minds and wisdom (such as Paul the learned Pharisee and great theologians through the ages), but most are ordinary people with the extraordinary God using them.  He purposefully chooses the weak to show His strength over all others, and the worldly foolish to display His wisdom in us.  He calls out and enables the humble and seemingly insignificant to present to the world as witnesses to His omniscience and glory as the sovereign Lord over all.  He alone then receives the glory, and man’s best accomplishments are seen as shadows in His unapproachable light. 

Signs and Wisdom, or Christ?

1 Corinthians 1:22-25    
22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The chosen people of God, Israel, wanted proof of Christ and the gospel.  Those from the other nations, some of whom would be chosen as promised to Abraham, demanded proof by reason and philosophy.  But God called us as His chosen people to all bear witness to and tell forth the good news of all wisdom and power in Christ’s simple work that is the gospel.  Our wisdom is foolish compared to the Almighty, and the smallest things He does are infinitely greater than all the accomplishments of man through history.  God calls and chooses His people from all nations to look past wisdom and works to see the completed work of Christ and His atoning death, promise of eternal life in the resurrection, and resulting justification in all He already has done for us.  How could we ask for more? 

Foolish Message Crossed

1 Corinthians 1:18-21   
18 For the message 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 bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”  20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

The worldly wisdom of man’s imagination sees Jesus’s crucifixion as utter nonsense.  Yet these are all heading to utter ruin as they charge into God’s wrath and judgment, while those of us being delivered from that as His see the cross as the Almighty’s power to save dead men by putting to death our sin and counting Christ alone as our goodness and righteousness. Therefore God makes human wisdom foolish and our arguments futile.  The message of the gospel and its cross is foolish to those requiring their wisdom and work to improve themselves into seemingly good people worthy of their own salvation.  But God saves the one who trusts that His simple message and work are the only way, no matter how foolish it may appear against our unfounded wisdom. 

Follow the Leader

1 Corinthians 1:12-17   
12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?   14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

The leader we must follow is Jesus Christ, not a man in His place.  Under-shepherds follow the Shepherd of our souls, and serve Him as we also should.  We are crucified in Christ alone and baptized in His name.  The making of disciples is of Christ, not men or churches, and the emphasis here is that gospel of the cross, the crucified one, not on the ordinance of baptism.  When the gospel is preached, the redeemed will be baptized into Christ and then outwardly as a demonstration of that inward work of God, but the message of the gospel’s cross outweighs human wisdom and affections. 

Essentials First

1 Corinthians 1:10-11    
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.

The church must be like minded in the essentials, including doctrine and practice.  Being of the same mind and judgment avoids schisms and arguments, and is what makes the body healthy.  This means we need to be well fed by the pastors and elders, as well as foraging in the word individually.  We are to be built up to build each other up, and that leads to the truths being seen by all before God and thus one another.  Contentions and division result when we do not study diligently to show ourselves approved to God, and result in an unhealthy body that is unresponsive to our head, who is Christ. 

Enriching Grace

1 Corinthians 1:4-9   
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God’s grace richly furnishes us to know and to speak His words, bearing witness to that saving and justifying grace which is our testimony.  He gives gifts to do His work as we look forward to His return as He keeps us until the end - we persevere by God’s work in us by His own righteousness that makes us blameless in the Father’s sight.  Because God called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light of fellowship, so we know that faithfulness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  What thanks can we not then give for all these things, both in ourselves and in others for this grace in which we stand?

1 Corinthians - All Saints Call

1 Corinthians 1:1-3    
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was called and appointed by God’s will to the position in Christ and the role in His body for His glory.  So he writes, along with a coworker in Christ, to the church at Corinth.  He addresses those who are in Christ’s righteousness and therefore saints (holy because they are in Him, not for earning the title by doing good and having men call them saints).  He includes all as saints who call on Jesus’s Christ as Lord, all reborn and saved in Him alone, not just those directly spoken to in this letter.  So he begins with God’s peace and grace already theirs in Jesus, reminding and encouraging these of His call and their election as God’s people.