Chapter 8-10 – Freedom in Love
We can only live
and love like Jesus if we surrender to Him.
Surrender means to give one’s self up to the power of authority. Jesus gives us freedom. With freedom comes responsibility. Paul teaches us how to handle freedom. Paul taught principles about relating to
other Christians who are not strong in their faith. Paul said he knew the Corinthians had
knowledge and that knowledge had made them conceited and proud. He calls attention to their pride and said
that love trumps knowledge. Paul said
that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. (1 Cor.
8:1) Paul’s message is even though
we have freedom in Christ; we are not to do anything that might cause a weaker
Christian to stumble.
The Corinthians
had some questions about eating meat offered to idols. The Christians knew eating such meat was ok,
but some new to the faith thought that eating food sacrificed to idols was a
sin and didn’t want to take any chances. Paul said, “We know an
idol is nothing in the world at all and that there is no God but one” (1 Cor. 1:4). Food does not bring us closer to God. We should not participate in eating such food
so we won’t cause others to stumble. We
should not do anything that might cause them to judge our actions. He also said we should not be conceited about
our knowledge. We should be sensitive to
our fellow brothers and sisters. Love
always supersedes freedom.
Paul set
examples in his life and ministry. He
made sure his actions didn’t cause anyone to sin. He sacrificed his own rights and freedoms and
made himself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. He became like a Jew to the Jews. He became weak to the weak. He met people at their level so he could relate
to them and them to him. He became all
things to all people for the sake of the gospel.
Are you
puffed up in your knowledge and look down on others who are not as
knowledgeable as you?
Paul had the
right to receive financial support from the Corinthians as all people in the
ministry do. He chose not to accept any
pay. He said he was compelled to preach
and does it voluntarily. He didn’t want anything
to hinder the gospel. He only seeks
heavenly rewards.
Do you seek
earthly or heavenly rewards?
We learn many
lessons by Paul example. One being he
reached people with the gospel by being all things to all men. He met them where they are so he could better
relate to them and gain their confidence.
Then they would be more apt to listen when he told them about Jesus and
how they should live.
Paul gave the
Corinthians warnings from Israel’s history.
In Exodus 32, Numbers 16-17, Numbers
21 and other Old Testament scriptures we learn that the Israelites were
idolaters. The Israelites were sexually
immoral, tested the Lord, and continually grumbled. As a result they were killed by the
destroying angel. These things happened
to them as warnings for us. We act the
same way today – grumbling when things don’t go the way we think it
should. Many people test the Lord by
living together outside the covenant of marriage. We as a nation have become sexually
immoral. Just look at the movies and TV
shows we watch. Sexually immorality is
everywhere and we condone it and are tempted every day.
So Paul said if
you think you are standing firm and can’t be tempted, be careful. God’s promise to us is when we are tempted –
and we will be tempted - He will provide an escape. “No temptation has
seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Cor.
10:13)
Our temptations
are not unique; others are having and will face the same temptations. They have found strength in God to
overcome. You too, can fight temptation
through the power of Jesus. God will
limit your temptation and provide a way of escape, but you have to take His
way. He will not force you.
This escape is
available to all, but involves surrender.
Does that describe the reign of God in your life? If you think you are strong enough not to be
tempted – you’re not. If you think you
can’t possible begin to doubt Him – you’re wrong.
So what are
you to do? – recognize your
weaknesses, recognize the dangers around us, be alert to our enemy recognizing
Satan and his demonic forces, run from temptations, be prayerful, study His
Word, listen to the Holy Spirit and keep the right association with fellow
Christians. God is faithful. He loves you and wants what’s best for
you. He will protect you.
Paul gives us
more principles that we can practice today.
“Everything is permissible, but not everything
is beneficial.” (1 Cor. 10:23) We have freedom in Christ, but that
doesn’t mean we should do all things, because it may not be constructive or good
for us. It may even cause others to sin.
We should do everything for the glory of
God.
Have you
accepted Jesus Christ as savior, but not let Him be Lord in your life?
When is the
last time you denied yourself for the sake of others?
Do you do everything
for the glory of God?
Principle: True
freedom is submission to Jesus as Lord.
Chapter 11 – Church Worship
Paul talked
about men not covering their heads and women covering their heads while
worshiping. In Corinth the culture
influences were in the church. Women
went around bared headed which was identified with prostitutes. They were enjoying their freedom to do so,
but Paul said they should cover their heads in order to be a witness. Paul was speaking of traditions in church
worship, but told them to be the judge.
The point Paul
gave here is the “Head” is a part of the body.
It represents the authority. Paul
gave God’s appointed order of authority for husbands and wives. The head of Christ is God.
The head of
every man is Christ. The head of the
woman is man.
To me this also means
that we are to be focused on true worship and honoring God without any physical
distractions. We should not dwell on
male-female attractiveness and should dress modestly not drawing attention to
ourselves. Today women don’t dress
modest enough in church or outside the church.
We may not have to worry about covering our heads like in Paul’s day,
but we should be concerned about how we dress and not dress in revealing
clothing.
Are you
honoring your husband, your church and God in the way you dress?
God created
everyone and everything. We exist to
give praise and honor to God. We all
come from Him and are all equal in His eyes.
No one is more important than another.
He is the head of the church and we are to worship Him.
Paul addresses their
participation in Lord’s Supper. As their
custom they gathered together for a meal and followed it with the Lord’s
Supper. There were cliques in the
church. They ate with friends instead of merging with
others in Christ. They ate to fill their
stomachs. There was a lot of drinking
and by the time they celebrated the Lord Supper, they were drunk. This didn’t look very well to those outside
the church. Was there anything different
from believers and nonbelievers?
Paul says before
taking the Lord Supper we should examine ourselves first making sure we have
confessed our sins and are right with God.
We should not take it in an unholy manner, which is a sin against the
body and the blood of the Lord. We
should remember its purpose – Jesus shed His blood for our sins.
Where is your
focus when you partake in the Lord Supper?
Is it a
mechanical thing for you?
There is nothing
routine in what Jesus did for us. We
should be in awe every time we partake in the Lord Supper.
Principle: Christ
is glorified by true worship.
What’s your
attitude about your church?
Are you
focused on self when you go to church?
Is church
just not working for you? It’s not about you. It’s about God. We all have needs and we want them
fixed. Start serving others and you will
be changed.
Are you
willing to serve even if no one thanks you? Jesus thanks you and
He is the only one that counts.
Chapter 12-14 – Spiritual Gifts
Paul reminds
them that spiritual gifts are used to build up the body of Christ not
individuals. There are varieties of
spiritual gifts like snowflakes or fingerprints are different from every
other. God has gifted you to do what He
wants you to do. Christ not only died to
give you the gift of eternal life, but also so you could serve Him with your
spiritual gifts. Your gift could be service,
wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing
between spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. (1 Cor. 12:4-11) There are other gifts mentioned
throughout scripture.
What is your
spiritual gift?
Are you using
your gift to build up the church body?
Paul talked
about the Holy Spirit. There are many
different gifts, but the same Spirit and the same Lord. Each person is given a gift for the common good. He compared the church body with all its
gifts with the human body and all its parts.
We all have different gifts, but make up 1 body and all the parts work
together.
Every Christian
should be active in some way in the body of Christ. “Now you are the body
of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – 1 Corin. 12:27. We each
have different gifts and we should all work together in unity. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to
strengthen the body and edify believers.
What is love?
We love our children. We love
shopping. We love America. We love chocolate. The word Love is much overused today. We think love is a warm fuzzy feeling, but in
1 Corin. 13 love refers to
action. Love is something we do rather
than something we feel. Love in the
Bible refers to how we treat people. Love
should be evident, because God is love and He commands us to love. Paul says this is the greatest gift of
all. If we have not love, we have
nothing. “Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – (1 Cor. 13:4-8)
Do you love
your elderly neighbor? Then go over and shovel snow off their
sidewalk.
Do you love
your church? Then get involved. Send a get well card to a sick brother or
sister.
Do you love
Jesus? Then lead someone else to love Him.
Paul gave
principles about the use of spiritual gifts:
All spiritual
gifts should be used to build up the church.
The gift of
speaking in tongues – if you speak in tongues, there should be someone to
interpret or you should be quiet. When
speaking in tongues, you’re not speaking to man, but to God. When you speak in tongues, you are edifying
yourself. The gift of tongues is
secondary to the gift of prophesy.
With the gift of
prophesy – if you have the gift of prophesy, you are speaking to men for their
strength, encouragement and comfort. When
you prophesy you are edifying the church.
There should be
order in our worship. There should be no
confusion. If everyone is talking or checking
their cell phone or doing their own thing, no one will know what’s going on. They will not hear or learn instructions from
God and His Word. God is a God of order
and peace. We need to do everything to
honor God.
Do you
contribute to disorder during worship?
Are you
talking and disrupting others as they are worshiping?
Are you on
your cell phone when you should be listening?
Principle: God
is glorified when His people use their spiritual gifts and display His love.
Join me here
next week as we finish our study of 1 Corinthians
-- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
__________________________________________
If
you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or
share this post with the buttons below.
You can follow
this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email", then you will
receive an email every time there is a new post.