In my continued study of Paul's letters in the Bible, I went through the book of 1 Corinthians next. As this study is from the Bible Project, it began with their overview of the book, which is really interesting. I didn't know that Paul actually wrote four letters to the church at Corinth, but two of them are lost to us. Thus, 1 Corinthians is actually his second letter, and it's a distinct teaching about church practices and Christian living that has a lot of applicability to us today. Here are some of my favorite verses and thoughts from the book:
1 Cor 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought."
Obviously, we are all human, and so we will always have differences of opinion. And God did not make robots; He made human beings with opinions and personalities. Our differences can make us stronger, as long as we are unified in love and focused on the important things.
1 Cor 1:27-29 "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him."
I think I'm pretty hot stuff sometimes. I'm fairly intelligent, I can sing, I'm a decent writer. Yet what is any of that in light of my sin? Absolutely nothing! I am worth nothing on my own merit. Yet the love of God and the saving blood of Christ makes me worthy, chosen, and accepted.
1 Cor 2:9-10 (Paraphrasing Isaiah 64 and 65) "However, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived' - the things God has prepared for those who love Him - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit."
We have hope for tomorrow because God has told us what awaits. We can persevere in hope of a future with God.
1 Cor 6:9-11 "... Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
I like how Paul starts this with the "big" sins like theft and sexual immorality, but then he also includes things like greed (we have all been greedy at one time or another) and slander (we have definitely said unkind or untrue things behind someone's back). They are all equal sins; everyone is guilty and separated from God. But then Paul points to the Gospel. We have all sinned, but God makes us righteous.
1 Cor 8:1-3 "... We know that 'We all possess knowledge.' But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they out to know. But whoever loves God is known by God."
I love this wording - "knowledge puffs up while love builds up." Knowledge in and of itself is not bad. It's good to learn and study and grow. But knowing things has a tendency to make us proud and believe that we're better than others. Jesus' greatest command wasn't to know things. It was to love God and people. When we truly love, we will gain knowledge of God and of our fellow Man.
1 Cor 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
The Christian life is not some leisurely sprint that we can casually participate in. It is an endurance race. It is long, and at times it is very hard. But the prize we are racing for is more than we can even truly imagine - eternal life with Jesus. That is a prize worth running for.
I don't want to be lazy. I don't want to look back at my day like I so often do and wonder what in the world happened. I want to approach my life with purpose - my faith with intention, my marriage with intention, my relationship with my daughter with intention, my home with intention, and my friendships with intention. I can't do it on my own, but I want to devote everything to God, Who makes all things new.
1 Cor 10:12-13 "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it."
This passage begins with a warning and ends with a promise. None of us is infallible. It is all too easy to think we're doing so well and that everything is in its place, that we've got it all figured out. And, in our pride, that is where the devil strikes hard. We need a constant spirit of humility that returns us daily to the feet of Jesus.
We will face temptations in this life, but we are no longer slaves to sin. We have the Spirit of God inside us, and that Spirit gives us the power to say, "No." The devil will try to make us think we are all alone in our struggles, that other Christians don't have these issues. He uses this to make me feel like a bad wife and mother sometimes. But the Spirit says that I'm not alone, that God has made a way out, that I don't have to live under that weight. Praise the Lord!
1 Cor 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Cor 12:4-6 "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone is the same God at work."
I think God smiles at variety. Just look at Creation: the different animals, incredible scenery and crazy plants all speak to His love of variety. And then there are humans, different in so many ways from each other. God doesn't desire sameness; He created us for unity in our differences. Thus, we each have different gifts, skills and interests. And that's a good thing as long as we use them in love. Not every believer we meet will be our best friend, but we should experience a kinship, a unity of spirit, because the same Spirit lives within us.
1 Cor 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
I kept wanting to write down everything as I read this chapter. It's all so good! There's a reason we had the entire chapter read at our wedding. Even with that, though, I did not have a full understanding. It's incredible to read this in context of the previous chapters. Paul talks about the spiritual gifts and their equality with each other, and then he says it's all pointless without love. Without God's holy, perfect love, all our gifts mean absolutely nothing. We become a "resounding gong or a clanging symbol," annoying and loud and unedifying.
My study note says, "Faith is the foundation and content of God's message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is action." These are the things we should desire above all gifts, because without them gifts mean nothing.
1 Cor 14:15 "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding."
Worship should unite all parts of me - body, mind, heart, and spirit. If I am just blindly singing because it makes me feel good, then my mind isn't engaged, and I'm not really being edified. But a faith that is purely intellectual is barren of warmth. Neither extreme is good, especially in corporate worship.
1 Cor 15:51, 52, 55 "Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed... 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'"
1 Cor 16:13-14 "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love."
Paul has this tendency to stick these dense nuggets of wisdom in places like his final greetings. In this case, these words act as a coda to the book as a whole. 1 Corinthians itself is a remarkably dense book, full of all kinds of practical information for the church. And, for the most part, it flows very logically from one concept to another, building on and affirming each one.
First, Paul affirms the supremacy of Christ and the Gospel and chastises the Corinthians for letting petty divisions make them lose sight of that. He urges them to seek unity in the church: unity of purpose, unity in worship. He explains that everyone's gifts work in concert with each other for the edification of the church. He then explains that it's all pointless without true, godly love. This love should promote order in worship, and our hope flows from the resurrection of the dead.
This verse, then, warns us to be on our guard against temptation, to stand firm on the Truth, to embrace counter-cultural living and the power of the Holy Spirit, and to live every moment in love.