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1st Corinthians – Chapter 3
Christianity must ever remain mission-minded, seeking to save souls, lest it lose its saltiness. Clear standards and expectations of progress are necessary and reasonable in order to achieve practical gains. Spreading the Gospel must always come before seeking self-fulfillment and, non-coincidentally, those who lovingly spread the Gospel will experience the most fulfillment. All Christians must…
Read More1st Corinthians – Foundation of the Epistle
After a difficult mission in Athens, Paul comes to the Corinthians not with a lofty intellectual message, but having "decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). Despite suffering from "weakness and in much fear and trembling," he successfully ministered to the Corinthians in "demonstration of the Spirit…
Read More1st Corinthians – Mission
A Christian must strive to achieve worthy goals and remain "mission-minded" if he is to live fully for the Kingdom. Whenever a Christian approaches the First Epistle to the Corinthians as merely a devotional book, like some sort of spiritual fodder, he will miss the entire point. St. Paul was always strategic in his plans…
Read More1st Corinthians – Origins of Corinthian Christianity
Acts 18 describes how Christianity came to Corinth. After a difficult sojourn in Athens, Paul arrived in Corinth alone. Soon he met a Jew named Aquilla and his wife Priscilla, with whom he shared the same trade, and began persuading Jews and Greeks in the synagogues to follow Christ. The Scriptures account that the Jews…
Read More1st Corinthians – Introduction
An industrial hub and commercial center on an Isthmus, the city of Corinth contained many merchants and working-class types; many Roman army veterans retired to Corinth after their tour of duty. A conglomeration of Latins, Greeks, Syrians and Jews, it was the capital of the entire Roman province of the Achaia, roughly the boundary of…
Read MoreGalatians – Conclusion
Paul uses stark language in Galatians 6 to indict both legalists and antinomians: "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (v 7). While all in the Galatian assembly have some concern for honoring God, this verse makes a distinctions between those who "go through…
Read MoreGalatians – Responsibility and Liberty
In Galatians 5:13, Paul begins a pivotal discourse on the life in the Spirit. He writes, "for you were called to freedom; brethren, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for flesh." His discourse aptly begins with exhortations to live in the maturity that is freedom and love; he then makes a statement…
Read MoreGalatians – Freedom and Love
Paul knows that the free gift of Christ is a stumbling block for those who desire a religion of self-justification. He uses excruciatingly strong language against the advocates of such legalism when he says, "I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!" (Gal 5:12b) Paul masterfully indicts the Judaizers as law-breakers who are preoccupied…
Read MoreGalatians – Paul’s Arguments
Paul puts forth several lines of argumentation in Galatians 1-4, including: 1) The Messiah is greater than Israel and is a hope for the whole world; 2) More than a fulfillment of the law, Christ is God’s perfect gift for those who, in their mortal weakness, cannot hope to fulfill all the demands of God…
Read MoreGalatians – Bondage and Freedom
Paul expounds on the adoption of Christians as God’s sons in the beginning of the fourth chapter of Galatians. He focuses on the unique role of the Spirit in this adoption: it is through the Spirit that the Father knows his sons; through the same Spirit, God’s sons come to know the Eternal Son and…
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