July 17, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let\u2019s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ\u2019s body!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this chapter Paul continues demonstrating to the Corinthians the error of their arrogance and boasting over one another. He reminds them of the grace of God that they have received, and how apart from that grace they would not have anything at all (v.7)! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is so immensely important for us to always remember that every good thing we have is a gift from the hand of God. Apart from His grace to us through Jesus Christ, all we have earned for ourselves from God is His wrath, judgment, and condemnation. In Christ we have received precisely the opposite of these things, and they are only ever gifts of His grace! We have nothing that we did not receive from Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul then reminds the Corinthians of the true meaning of Christlikeness. Following after Jesus does not involve, as the Corinthians seem to have thought, being the strongest or the wisest or the most respected. On the contrary, Paul uses the example of the apostles to show them that it means becoming weak, foolish, hated and reviled in the eyes of the world, often joining with Christ in His sufferings. It is when we join with Christ in His sufferings and lowliness that we actually experience the power of His resurrection in and through us (Romans 8:17)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n