Today a lot of people are celebrating love and it got me thinking about love in the Bible and how we as Christians need to show love today.
Last week we read about what love looks like in 1 Corinthians 13. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - and it never ends. (v7-8)
1 John 4 tells us why this matters. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (v8) He showed His love for us by sending Jesus to take on our sins and bring salvation, while we as humans had done nothing to deserve it. In turn, we need to show love to one another.
This love is serious business. It's all over the New Testament and in reading 1 Cor. 13, you see that it's not easy - there is a lot involved. We (or at least I) need to work on showing love to fellow Christians and also those in the world, so they might see Christ's love in us.
Showing posts with label 1 Corinthians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1 Corinthians. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Mature Infants
1 Cor. 14:20 says "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature."
I realize he is talking specifically about spiritual gifts in this context, but I think the verse has a broader application as well. It shows how drastically different we are to be regarding evil compared to how we are to be in our knowledge or thinking. Like infants, we ought to be innocent and naive when it comes to the ways of the world. But at the same time we are to be wise and mature in spiritual things. I know there have been times when I have had it backwards, being all too familiar with worldly things and ignorant of spiritual wisdom.
Hopefully meditating on the daily Bible reading will help me resist worldly things and at the same time increase in knowledge, so I will in evil be an infant but in my thinking mature.
I realize he is talking specifically about spiritual gifts in this context, but I think the verse has a broader application as well. It shows how drastically different we are to be regarding evil compared to how we are to be in our knowledge or thinking. Like infants, we ought to be innocent and naive when it comes to the ways of the world. But at the same time we are to be wise and mature in spiritual things. I know there have been times when I have had it backwards, being all too familiar with worldly things and ignorant of spiritual wisdom.
Hopefully meditating on the daily Bible reading will help me resist worldly things and at the same time increase in knowledge, so I will in evil be an infant but in my thinking mature.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Can anyone explain the 1st 16 verses of 1 Cor 11?
I get confused every time I read these verses. I am not sure about why he gives these instructions about the covering and why they do or don't apply today. Also, he goes right in to conduct at the Lord's Supper which does indeed apply today. Perhaps he was talking about how a woman should behave when exercising spiritual gifts? I really don't know.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Edifying One Another
One theme I have noticed in the readings lately is the importance of building each other up.
Going back to Romans, Paul discusses this towards the end of the book. In Rom. 14, when talking about eating meat and observing days, he says "therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way" (14:13). He goes on to say "For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." (14:15) Finally, he says in 14:19, "So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
In Rom. 15, he continues this idea, saying we should focus less on pleasing ourselves and instead follow Christ's example: "Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification." (15:2). In Rom. 16, Paul lists several people who have helped him, helped other Christians, and helped the church in general.
He comes back to this in 1 Cor. 8, where he again stresses that we should not do anything that would make someone else stumble, but instead ought to live in way that edifies others. Today we don't have the problem of eating meat sacrificed to idols, but the same issue arises in other ways. I know there have been times where I was convinced it was okay to do something and could not understand why others did not agree. That is the wrong attitude to have. It would be better to do whatever is necessary to help the other person. As Paul explains, it is more important to have love than to know what's right in every argument. (1 Cor. 8:1-2).
Going back to Romans, Paul discusses this towards the end of the book. In Rom. 14, when talking about eating meat and observing days, he says "therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way" (14:13). He goes on to say "For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." (14:15) Finally, he says in 14:19, "So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
In Rom. 15, he continues this idea, saying we should focus less on pleasing ourselves and instead follow Christ's example: "Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification." (15:2). In Rom. 16, Paul lists several people who have helped him, helped other Christians, and helped the church in general.
He comes back to this in 1 Cor. 8, where he again stresses that we should not do anything that would make someone else stumble, but instead ought to live in way that edifies others. Today we don't have the problem of eating meat sacrificed to idols, but the same issue arises in other ways. I know there have been times where I was convinced it was okay to do something and could not understand why others did not agree. That is the wrong attitude to have. It would be better to do whatever is necessary to help the other person. As Paul explains, it is more important to have love than to know what's right in every argument. (1 Cor. 8:1-2).
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What I don't get...
There are a couple of things I don't understand in 1 Corinthians 7. Hopefully someone can help me out.
1. In v10 Paul prefaces his instructions to the married with "not I, but the Lord." Then in v11 he says "I, not the Lord" when talking to everyone else. Any idea why? I mean, it's in the Bible, so I think we need to follow it, but it's interesting that he inserts those phrases.
2. Verse 14 reads: For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. I can see in v16 that he isn't saying the unbelieving spouse is saved, so I don't understand what he's saying.
Thoughts?
1. In v10 Paul prefaces his instructions to the married with "not I, but the Lord." Then in v11 he says "I, not the Lord" when talking to everyone else. Any idea why? I mean, it's in the Bible, so I think we need to follow it, but it's interesting that he inserts those phrases.
2. Verse 14 reads: For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. I can see in v16 that he isn't saying the unbelieving spouse is saved, so I don't understand what he's saying.
Thoughts?
Present Distress
Context is key again when reading 1 Corinthians 7. I think the key to this passage is verse 26. The present distress probably refers to the persecution going on at the time. Paul is probably saying that is best not to be married if you are currently single because of the persecution which was currently being waged on the early church in that city.
Today in our county we are fortunate enough not to be dealing with such persecution. I don't think Paul is giving a rule for all time that it is better to remain single than to be married. I don't think he is telling us that the only reason to be married is to stay away from sexual immorality.
The bible speaks very highly of the marraige relationship and we know that he who finds a wife finds a good thing (Prov 18:22). So, when studying this chapter, don't forget the context.
Today in our county we are fortunate enough not to be dealing with such persecution. I don't think Paul is giving a rule for all time that it is better to remain single than to be married. I don't think he is telling us that the only reason to be married is to stay away from sexual immorality.
The bible speaks very highly of the marraige relationship and we know that he who finds a wife finds a good thing (Prov 18:22). So, when studying this chapter, don't forget the context.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Context
Today's reading showed me that context matters and helps the reader better understand what the author intends. For example, I was aware that verses 9 and 10 say that people that unrighteous people (fornicaters, idolators, etc) will not go to heaven and that verse 11 mentions that some of his the disciples at Corinth had been commiting those exact sins in the past but were now washed.
Today I learned why Paul mentioned this. He was trying to make a point that christians should not take one another to court. Why? Because the courts are filled with unrighteous people that commit all theses sins. Paul's point is that the righteous should not take other righteous people before the unrighteous to be judged.
Context matters and sometimes we can get in to trouble by trying to study with someone by just quoting a few verses and not giving the person the proper context. It is probably better to set up a bible study with someone and sit down together with someone rather than to just quote a verse or two. That way the meaning behind the words can be better understood.
He also talks about the fact that we "shall judge angels". I don't know what that means exactly but it sounds pretty cool! Has anyone done a lesson or research on that?
Today I learned why Paul mentioned this. He was trying to make a point that christians should not take one another to court. Why? Because the courts are filled with unrighteous people that commit all theses sins. Paul's point is that the righteous should not take other righteous people before the unrighteous to be judged.
Context matters and sometimes we can get in to trouble by trying to study with someone by just quoting a few verses and not giving the person the proper context. It is probably better to set up a bible study with someone and sit down together with someone rather than to just quote a verse or two. That way the meaning behind the words can be better understood.
He also talks about the fact that we "shall judge angels". I don't know what that means exactly but it sounds pretty cool! Has anyone done a lesson or research on that?
Monday, January 30, 2012
Accountability
1 Corinthians 5 talks about purging evil from the church (v13). Paul is addressing a situation with sexual immorality, but also mentions other sins in v11. This relates to Mark's lesson on Sunday - letting sin into our lives and tolerating it in other members causes problems to spread in the church.
Bottom line: We need to hold each other accountable for our actions. Not in a nit-picky way, but in love. We need to know each other well enough to feel comfortable asking tough questions when you think someone may be on the wrong path.
Bottom line: We need to hold each other accountable for our actions. Not in a nit-picky way, but in love. We need to know each other well enough to feel comfortable asking tough questions when you think someone may be on the wrong path.
If we commit to this, hopefully we can avoid getting to the point of needing to purge evil from among us.
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