1 Corinthians: A Call To Spiritual Maturity

The question I want to start with today and ask everyone is this:When I call someone spiritual what do I mean? How many people have claimed to be “spiritual” people? How many of us look at certain people and say, “Wow, that person is super-spiritual.” Why? What is true spirituality? I believe that above all the issues that are in the Corinthian church, Paul is addressing a core issue of how to be “spiritual” people. You see in a hyped-up spiritual culture like Corinth, the Corinthians have many crazy ideas of what it means to be “spiritual” and have the Holy Spirit’s power. They were letting their culture define what it meant to be spiritual.

It is a pastoral letter. 1 Corinthians is the longest pastoral document in the NT

First and foremost. There have been so many arguments over some of the issues addressed in 1 Cor. But we have to remember that this book was written to correct, edify, and change real people in a real situation.

List out topics that Corinthians covers: ASK THEM to do this

Unity

Sexual Immorality

Holy Spirit Gifts

Division

The Resurrection

Lawsuits

Idolatry

Marriage

Head coverings

Church Discipline

This book is such a foundational book. Even as I was preparing for this book, things that I had once known, but had forgotten came up again. I believe that this book is foundational for all the ministries represented in the room. It’s amazing how God’s word throughout the ages has always been able to be relevant to every culture and generation. The sins and struggles in this book are the same sins and struggles the church faces today. It has been an honor for me to be able to have the opportunity to take the time to study and pray through this book. I hope you are as excited as I am. This first hour we are going to be dealing with the historical setting of 1 Corinthians. I want to first look at Paul, the author.

BRI

Paul

Paul just left Athens the intellectual capital of the world, now going to Corinth the sensual capital of the world. Let’s talk about the sensual capital of the world...Corinth.

Corinth

Corinth was a very important port city.(include map)

Strategic place for the Roman government. Port city, which meant all nations came through, lots of money, etc. Cultural hotbed. Roman colony. A Roman colony enjoyed many freedoms. The cultural aspect of this city with all it’s people make it a perfect place to church plant. Reach the nations through reaching a city.

The main source of wealth came from it’s harbor. The route through the isthmus was faster and less dangerous than the trip through the Strait of Sicily.

Isthmian games also drew many people.

What are some major themes or sins that you see going on in the Corinthian church?

2 Major themes/sins in Corinthian church deal directly with their culture:

Word Repeated

Love: 17x’s

Wisdom 17x’s

Knowledge 11’s

Sexual Immorality-repeated how many times? 12x’s

Idolatry-repeated how many times? 22 x’s

Let’s see what the Roman/Greek culture believed about these things:

Sexuality\

-anything goes. In fact at one time in Corinth the temple of Aphrodite(Venus) had upwards of 1000 temple prostitutes. At Paul’s time it wasn’t as strong, but obviously the temple is still there and so is prostitution. Corinth in this time, as in Greek culture, liberty and freedom were the best ways to express your sexuality. Anything goes. Really anything. I want you to think of Corinth like Vegas on steroids. Corinth became so known for it’s sexual immorality that the Romans actually made up a new slang word called “to Corinthianize”, which basically meant to engage in all sorts of sexual immorality. As we can see from the church they are BOASTING about this sexual immorality. In a culture which prizes freedom and liberty you can see why some in the church would be boasting of this sin. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but for the full effect of the world they are living in, here are some of the things that were going on during that time. One of the main focuses of worship was the temple of Aphrodite.(picture)

Corinth being a harbor coastal town, Aphrodite being born out of the sea, she could protect the sailors and ships on which the city's economy depended. So you can imagine the millions of sailors, captains, merchants all traveling through Corinth would worship at this temple. Again at this time it isn’t as strong as it used to be, but it was still very much in full effect.

Let’s talk about the Aphrodite. She as the greek goddess of “love and desire”. Again it’s not the goddess of ROMANCE but of lust. Completely carnal, everything goes. Just give into the desires of your flesh. Obviously the Corinthians were wrapped up into this thinking. The essence of this worship was sexual pleasure. The worship Aphrodite was pleased with was any type of sexual pleasure. The character of Aphrodite encourages sexual infidelity. Basically loyalty to marriage was bad. In fact it was common knowledge that for men to have “pleasurable sex” greek men went to these prostitutes and young boys. Each night there was a call to worship in the streets. This call was the sound of bell and gong. (1 Cor 13:1) Imagine you are a Greek man or women and you just became a follower of Jesus, and here you are every night hearing this gong! Struggles! Prostitutes were known to have shaved heads, men and women to signify that they were in fact Aphrodite’s prostitutes. There was also an appeal to women in greek culture to become a prostitute. In Greek and Roman culture women didn’t exactly have equal rights, in fact they were often looked down upon. In Greek culture some times women were just viewed as a grown up child. In Greek culture women couldn’t even control their own finances, except these prostitutes. So imagine you were one of these greek men, or prostitutes(man or woman) and you got saved out of this kind of culture. You have no idea what biblical sexuality is! You have no idea why God created sex or sexuality. Or what real love is. Wow massive problems.

Idolatry

Rampant. Think about Taiwan. Idols everywhere. Everything had a god. We mustn’t think of Corinth like the West. In the West, being a product of Christendom we have some sort of moral foundation. These things are right, these things are wrong. Although right now that is changing for the most part this has been true. In Corinth, no. Idolatry and religion had little to do with moral behavior. The bond between belief and morality just wasn’t there. The Roman culture won favor with the gods purely by sacrifice. As we learned in Romans and Ephesians only by manipulating them. They had a pluralistic culture.

other major gods beside Aphrodite

-Poseidon-Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while inCorinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god. Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings andshipwrecks. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice; in this way, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus, and resorted to prayers, "invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves."[8]

Aphrodite Kallipygos- lit. “Aphrodite of the beautiful buttocks”. Again showing the Corinthians sensual pleasure.

Wrong Eschatology

Believed that they were already living in the time to come. This had a bad effect on their lives, as they lived like it is said in 15:32.

Common Philosophies at that time in Greece

Plato-Gnosticism: This world that we live in isn’t a real world, but a copy of the real world. Held closely with gnosticism. The belief that spirit good, body bad, so had two really bad effects:libertinism, and aestheticism.

Sophists-

Seekers of “sophia” wisdom. Most concerned with speech and rhetoric. The sophists were people who knew what words and speech could entertain an audience. They loved “high” speech and impressing people with their words. The sophist is not concerned with truth and justice, but instead seeks power. As Paul would say they loved “words of eloquent wisdom”. Try to see them as “speech panhandlers”.(?) They would sell their “skill” of debate and rhetoric for a price. Sometimes a high price. These were probably most of the traveling philosophers that the Corinthians came in contact with. Have you guys ever encountered the smooth talking televangelist, that says you have to get what he has? You need his “anointing” or you need him? This is what these teachers were like. The sophist apparently could find the answer to any question, so they would say. Obviously many people attacked this way of thinking.

Sophistry: a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, method of reasoning.

Mystery Cults-Picture

“ok tell me something you guys remember from the mystery cults from other lectures.” Those are all good and in Corinthians we are going to add a special characteristic to those.”

"The mystery-cults of the empire were designed to induce both higher and lower forms of ecstatic feeling."

The expression of the ecstatic state took various forms, such as gashing one's flesh, dancing nude in a frenzy, and speaking in ecstatic utterance.

It was all about secret knowledge. The initiates were sworn to take a vow never to reveal what they learned, hence the name, mystery. It was all about who’s in and who’s out.

The mystery religions included many rites and rituals, but they are best characterized by their indulgence of "ecstasy".

By "ecstasy" the believers in these mystery religions meant the cultivating of a magical, sensuous communion with deity.

They would do almost anything to get themselves into a semi- conscious hypnotic-like spell in which they believed they were sensually in contact with deity.

c. His mind would go into neutral and his emotions would take over

Self-centered worship. Ecstatic religion by its very nature is self-oriented. Christians were to use their Christian charismata for the common good, but the pagans were totally concerned about their own personal experience, an attitude also prevalent among Corinthian Christians.

All about feeling.

Most public cults centered on temples.

DUALISM(Greek philosophy)

In the final section of this letter, Paul dealt with an important doctrinal issue that emerged as a result of a popular understanding of the future of bodily existence in the life to come. Just as those at Athens who heard Paul preach about the resurrection of the dead scoffed at his message (Acts 17:32), there were some who became Christians at Corinth who continued to stumble over the notion of a resurrection from the dead (15:12). The notion of a resurrection of the body from the grave was at odds with the popular Hellenistic thinking held among the Greeks that the body was a prison that enslaved the soul and that the goal of humanity was to be freed from this prison (body) of the soul. When the Christians argued for the Jewish notion of a future bodily existence beyond the grave claiming that the future hope of the believer was in a transformed bodily existence in the presence of God, they were challenging popular Greek notions of life after death. Those persons in the church who were more persuaded by the notions of immortality of the soul and not the body challenged the recent message that Paul preached on Christian views of life after death and the resurrection of the dead.

PAUL-the Author

Acts 18. If we read this account of Acts we see Paul goes to this city. As of that time no church is present there. He spends an unknown amount of time every Saturday reasoning in the synagogues with the Jews and Greeks. Every Saturday! He worked a job. After some time, some of the Corinthians believed. Paul stayed there for a year and 6 months discipling and teaching them the ways of Christ. Then he get’s Chloe’s report and their list of questions(which aren’t encouraging either). Can you imagine this? How many of you have been in the same place for a year and 6 months pouring into the same people? Working on the side so he wouldn’t be a financial burden to them. Being beaten?) How would you feel? Angry, ashamed, hopeless, like a failure.(Talk about Alan, church). Think about how Paul must have felt to have seen Gentile sinners and not his own Jews come to Christ. Also think about how he felt when he did see Jews come to Christ. Church planting is not easy. Paul’s heart is for this church. When he sees the defects he doesn’t just say, “well they screwed up,” but at least my church plants in Ephesus and Philipi are rocking. His heart is for the church. He became a father to them in the gospel. Just like Jesus’ heart. So many of us are judgmental towards the church. Maybe it’s because things have been done to us that are inconsistent with what we believe that bible teaches. But here’s news for all of us, there is no perfect church. There isn’t going to be a perfect church. Even if you plant a church it will not be a perfect church. So I want to challenge us just like Paul challenges me, to be a blessing to the church and not just a spectator who criticizes but doesn’t want to do anything. I believe you are here in SBS to be a blessing to the worldwide body of Christ. With that said let’s look at Corinth.

I think from this book and other books we can see how Paul lived his life. I want to write this on the board for us so we can remember. The way Paul lived was this:

1st-God

2nd-Others

Finally- Himself.

Different letters? Leave it for 2 Corinthians teacher

What do you guys know about the Corinthian church?

CHURCH(show powerpoint) ask them to add as well(give 10 min)

(GIVE THEM EXAMPLES!)

Made of Jews but mostly Greeks! Acts 18

quarreling 1:11

not baptized by Paul 1:14

not many were wise,powerful, or noble according to worldly standards 1:26

not ready for solid food(spiritually speaking)3:2

jealousy strife 3:3

some possibly rich 4:8, 9:11-12

Paul is their father in the gospel 4:15

arrogant 4:18

Sexual immorality in the church and they are proud of it 5:1-2

suing one another 6:1

wrong and defraud their own brothers 6:8

some sleeping with prostitutes 6:15-16

Some married 7

had some aesthetic teaching 7:1

also single and widows in church 7

non-believers married to believers 7

Jew and Greek-7

slaves-7

freedmen-7

Idol worship-8:4,10

ruining the Lord’s supper-11:2 ff

judged by God-11:30

Spiritual gifts present- 12-14

Some saying no resurrection of the dead-15:12

When it was written?

Paul visited Corinth during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1–18). We can date Paul’s arrival in the city on the basis of a letter of the Roman emperor Claudius, which relates to the accession of the proconsul L. Iunius Gallio, who was the brother of the famous Stoic Seneca. To say that Gallio was the proconsul means that he served as the governor of the province of Achaia, of which the city of Corinth was part. Paul faced charges from the Jews before Gallio (Acts 18:12–17), and thus we know he was in Corinth while Gallio served as the proconsul. Absolute certainty about the date is precluded, but Paul probably first evangelized Corinth in the spring of AD 50, staying for a year and a half until the autumn of AD 51 (see Table 1).

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus before the feast of Pentecost (1 Cor. 16:8), and he probably wrote it in the spring of AD 54, though AD 55 is also possible.

19:1 Apollos at Corinth. Aquilla and Prisca-Aquilla and Priscilla. ofActs 18. in Tyrannus for 2 years! plenty of time to get report, write letter. 1 Cor 4:17, probably sent the letter by Timothy.

Why?

Chloes report, address questions.

The Corinthian church was a very messed up church as we can see, but the Holy Spirit was still moving there. The Corinthians had giftedness but lacked maturity. It’s not all about giftedness, it’s also about the maturity of your character so you don’t abuse the gifts God has given us. Remember the Corinthian church may very well be the ONLY christian influence in this city of probably 750,000.....! What’s at stake here?

The background for Corinthians is so important for our understanding of the issues that Paul addresses in this book. Let’s move to Chapter 1.

Spiritual mature people seek after unity.

How many of us have seen a church split? Ask some reasons? Talk about some of the “bad-splits” that I have heard about. How many denominations are in America.

Right now we equate popularity with truth. If we see a YouTuber with 100M views or subscriber we immediately equate that with truth, which is such a dangerous place to be. Corinthians were doing this same thing.

1:2-”church” Acts 2:46, 1 Cor. 16:19-different houses, but all in Corinth. So the issues of division may not just be about certain people claiming loyalty to a person, but maybe even whole house groups doing this.

Again it’s “church” not churches. Paul’s plea for unity.

1:12- First start here because I believe everything Paul says in this chapter and most of the book will deal with this surface issue of division.

-I follow Paul- he is the one who planted our church

-I follow Apollos- he is more educated in greek than Paul, fit’s our “intellectual” desires.(Look at Acts 18).

-I follow Cephas- Not really sure when he came through Corinth, but as the leader of the apostles, these people could say we are the best because we are loyal to the leader of the apostles.

-I follow Christ- I’m sure some of us would say, “Yeah that’s me, that’s what I would say...” But I am not so sure that this is a good slogan to have. This could be mean that they are following the gnostic Christ, which basically believes that Christ was only a spirit not really human or flesh, which would go well with the Corinthian culture of spirit good, body bad mindset. Or this “I follow Christ”, could also mean that these people believed that out of the WHOLE church they were the only one’s REALLY following Christ. Riiiight. Don’t think so.

So what is really going on here? As you can see the Corinthians are divided over people. More loyal to people than to Christ. More about people or teachers than the gospel. More about us and our likes, than the advancement of the gospel. What about us? When loyalty in our hearts just like the Corinthians is given to men and not to Christ, division will be there. I know many of us will say this probably isn’t us. But my story is.......Also here are some things that might give you some hints if you are going down this path. When you can quote someone’s opinions more than you can quote the bible. If you find yourself getting really defensive over teacher. Taking disagreements personal. If you find yourself reading this persons blog everyday all day, no diversity.. These things can be a blessing. (James 3:16) This is true because we will be so “sold out” to this person’s teaching(which isn’t perfect), that when people disagree with us we will take it personally, and then think that that person isn’t worthy of us working together. BUT when are hearts and our minds are loyal to Christ 1st and the gospel, we can disagree on certain things and talk because our loyalty is to Christ and the gospel. The Corinthians were acting just like the rest of culture. Choosing their favorite teacher or philosopher.

In this verse Paul says that there is division. The word division literally means “ripping or splitting”.

So does this mean that Paul is saying God wants just one church like the Mormons? No! There can be unity within the church but also a uniqueness to how the church lives out the gospel in their area. So it’s not that Paul is saying that every church should be a Presbyterian church, but that there should be unity around the gospel.

“Same mind and judgment) “Mind”b) reason in the narrower sense, as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of perceiving divine things, of recognising goodness and of hating evil.(G3563-nous) In Corinthians, what I can see, and you can totally disagree with me, is that Paul’s plea for unity to the Corinthians is fairly simple. It revolves around the gospel, killing sin, and walking in love. This is pretty basic.

WHO IS IT REALLY ABOUT?

How many times is Jesus or God repeated in this first chapter?

40 x’s! That averages out to more than 1 time in each verse. Why do you think Paul does this?

When Paul is addressing a church that is divided over their loyalties to men, Paul exalts Jesus as the only one who deserves our loyalty. See what Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus does just in the first 9 verses.

-God’s church

-Jesus sanctifies them-still needed, not perfect-over realized eschatology.

-Giver of grace and peace

-Enriched in EVERY WAY in all speech and knowledge-which would appeal to their culture and the “sophist” who sought these things.

-Not lacking in any spiritual gift-In comparison to the mystery cults.

-Sustain them until the day when He returns, they will be GUILTLESS!-basically it hasn’t happened yet! You’re not there.(What if I was a temple prostitute?Converted adulterer, converted(6:9-10) one of them? Think about the guilt the shame the regret you would feel! These verses would be amazing!)

-Faithful

-Called into His fellowship unlike the sinful fellowship of the pagans.

Progression is

Called by God into God’s church-Blessed and given everything by Christ-held and sustained by Christ- Faithful and guard them until He returns.

Basically your ‘new birth, sanctification, and the hope of Christ returning” are all in Christ, not in men!

Our unity is so important to Christ that HE died for it.

Jesus doesn’t have a plurality of brides. Jesus has one bride! His church.

Paul right from the get go, wants to point the Corinthians to Christ. He wants to, before He says anything about sin and the issues, remind them of who they are in CHRIST.

However we do know there is still false teaching in the church? A lot of it. There is a book that came out recently titled ‘Finding The Right Hills To Die On” and he lists four categories that I think are biblical and helpful as we wade through these kinds of issues in the church:

First-rank doctrines are those that are essential to the gospel itself.

Second-rank doctrines are urgent for the health and practice of the church to such a degree that they tend to be the cause of separation at the level of local church, denomination, and/or ministry.

Third-rank doctrines are important to Christian theology, but not important enough to be the basis for separation.

Fourth-rank doctrines are unimportant to our gospel witness and ministry collaboration.

vs. 13-17: What’s wrong with baptism?

What do you guys think Paul’s point is here? Seems like Paul is hatin’ on baptism.

1:17-”not to baptize”- Paul didn’t come to gain a following but to preach Christ!look at John 3:25-26;4:1-2.

1:17- “empties of it’s power”. Wow strong statement! The word emptied literally means to make of no use. Basically by preaching with these words of eloquent wisdom he would make the cross of Christ useless. What does Paul mean by these “eloquent words of wisdom?” As we will see in the next verses, he is comparing himself to the traveling philosophers of that day. As we saw earlier they prided themselves not in the message at all, but only in the way they spoke it.

Focus on style rather than substance: church, preaching, worship. When we focus on style we can miss the substance, but if we focus on the Gospel style could matter in how we present it.

Spiritual Mature people rest in the wisdom of the cross

WHAT IS THE SUBSTANCE? THE WORD OF THE CROSS

In this verse Paul uses a word that will be repeated a number of times throughout the next couple of chapters....what is it? Wisdom!

1:17-3:23-

-wisdom/wise- word used 44 x’s in epistles 28 of these times are in 1 Cor. and 26 x’s in Chap 1-3!!

So here we go into the wisdom of God and the foolishness of men.

1:18-25:

The Cross Divides:(vs18)The cross divides those who are saved and those who are not. That humanity is split down the middle not based on race, not based on class, but based upon the cross of Christ. To those who are being saved, the cross is the power of God, but to those who are perishing it is folly. Literally foolishness.

The Cross Destroys(vs.19-23)The cross destroys! The cross of Christ destroys the wisdom of this age.

This word destroys in the greek literally means “render useless, cause its emptiness to be perceived”

Why? By what seems foolish to most people has actually conquered sin and death.

Here’s a quote from a book by Bruce Shelley, “Christianity is the only major religion to have at it’s central event the humiliation of its God.”

So why is folly? The cross makes you say YOU CAN’T SAVE YOURSELVES. That’s what it screams. The cults and all other religions say there is an element of self-work or morality that you can do to save yourself, but the cross say’s you can’t. It’s ironic that is actually shows us how weak we are.

The Cross Saves the power of God (vs24-25)

POWER OF GOD? What is the power of God. Relevant issue to our day and theirs. The cross. The gospel is the power of God. We want the power of God? It’s in the gospel, it’s in the very thing that the world at that time, and the world today find foolish. A crucified Messiah was cursed in Jewish culture, and foolish and weak in Greek. Even in our day there are people who call themselves teachers of the bible, or Christians and yet they are denying what happened on the cross. This foolish act, God becoming weak and dying on our behalf so that in all things He would be victorious, is the most powerful thing. Please remember this. When we look at the cross we see the epitome of God’s love and power. So what happens when we don’t preach the cross? No power. But sometimes we think we will do better if we don’t.

WISDOM OF MEN

vs.18,20,21,23,. Cross=foolishness to the wisdom of this age. BUT vs. 19, and 25.

vs. 26- “Consider your calling”. In the same way that Paul is telling the Corinthians that the weakness and foolishness of God in the cross is the most wise and powerful thing, he also tells the Corinthians that so is His working among you. Look at verses 27, 28. Paul repeats the idea that “God chose”. This would fly in the face of their culture that says you have to be wise and rich by worldly standards.

God chose to do it this way. Paul says “not many”, some were rich. Paul is showing the Corinthians that in God’s kingdom, it’s the first who is actually last, and the last first, the weak who are strong, and poor who are rich. Think about where we were at when God called us? vs. 29(the point). It’s funny because all of us know what we were like when God called us, and when He called us there is a sense of humility. Think about when you got saved. Most of us were probably not in the best place, and we knew that. So we could say it’s all about God, because we know what happens when we do things our way. But then when GOD begins working in our lives and giving us gifts and ministries, we begin to boast like we did all of that, but in reality if it not be for God’s grace, we would still be the same. The Corinthians were boasting of their freedom in Christ, of the gifts in Christ as if they obtained it!(4:7)“Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Do we talk more about us or more about God?

2:1-5:Again showing how in his life he was weak yet demonstrated the power of God by the spirit.

APPLICATION POINT HERE?

Break?

3rd Hour-Where’s the place for wisdom? The Spirit’s wisdom

I’m sure when we read the first chapter some of us might ask the question, ok where is the place for wisdom? In Proverbs God prizes wisdom as something to be sought after like jewels. So I believe in this next section Paul will show what God’s wisdom, the wisdom of the Spirit looks like.

vs. “Yet” he’s beginning to make a contrast to what he has said. Contrast mature vs. immature

2:6-9: Paul makes a contrast between the wisdom of this age and God’s wisdom.

Rulers of the age who operate by the wisdom of that age-doomed to pass away;not understand God’s wisdom

God’s wisdom- eternal,for His and our glory- even the rulers of that age played into God’s eternal plan. vs.8-Christ crucifixion is God’s glorious plan, but the wisdom of the age thought it would be the end. Ironic:)

2:6- “doomed to pass away”- come to nothing. and also 1:19,25. Loaded statement. Voltaire quote on bible- Another century and there will not be a Bible on earth! --Voltaire(1694-1778) Guess who wasn’t here a century later?

vs.7- “secret and hidden” poking fun at mystery cults. In fact God is the one who holds the mysteries of the universe. We are “stewards of the mysteries of God” 4:1.

2:9: context is???

2:10-16- SPIRIT: teaches, reveals, searches, freely gives us things from God.

2:12- “freely gives”! This is huge! Again just like it says in 1:5-7. This is huge to the Corinthians. The mystery cults, pagan cults, sophist, philosophers, they say they have the mystery, but it’s the SPIRIT who knows the thoughts of God then freely gives them to believers. No more “secret message” of Jesus, the secret is out and freely given by the Spirit.

Spiritual vs natural man. The tide has turned, now it’s the natural man who can’t accept the wisdom of God. We who are spiritual understand the things of God because of the Spirit. So when you are reading your bible, or even that you understand and believe that God is good, and He saves you is a supernatural thing!

natural man-psychikosG5591

1)the principal of animal life, which men have in common with the brute

spiritual-G4152-pneumatikos

3) belonging to the Divine Spirit

a) of God the Holy Spirit

one who is filled with and governed by the Spirit of God

I know that some people have used these verses to make a distinction between the more spiritual christian vs the more natural christian, but by the words in greek

first

V14: Since only spiritual people are able to receive spiritual truths, it follows that the man without the Spirit, an unregenerate person, would not and could not receive the message of wisdom regardless of his intellectual abilities or accomplishments (1:20). Like a deaf critic of Bach or a blind critic of Raphael is the unregenerate critic of God’s Word.

vs.15- This is probably a rebuke to the people of that day who want to challenge and judge the Corinthians because they believe in Christ. This doesn’t mean that the spiritual person doesn’t need to be disciplined or is above rebuke, BUT that the spiritual person and spiritual things are not to be judged by the natural man and the wisdom of this age. The wisdom of this age is judged, not us. Paul is saying spiritual things are judged by spiritual people, so if you don’t have the Spirit of God, you don’t get it.. Someone once said it’s like asking a deaf person to critique a piece of music.

THE SPIRIT IS THE DIFFERENCE HERE. WE HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT

Paul’s point is that they do not welcome or receive the message because it strikes them as manifestly untrue. In other words, unbelievers do not grasp the significance of the message proclaimed. Indeed, they are unable to understand the truth and significance of the gospel because such things can be discerned only through the Spirit. Human beings lack the innate capacity to appreciate and receive spiritual truths; only those who have the Holy Spirit can grasp the things of the Spirit.

15. The believer, the person with the Spirit (ho pneumatikos), is able to assess (anakrinei) everything. The latter word is actually picked up from verse 14, which is clearer in the CSB. Unbelievers cannot grasp the truths from the Spirit since they are ‘evaluated’ (anakrinetai) spiritually, but ‘the spiritual person … can evaluate [anakrinei] everything’ (CSB). Paul is scarcely saying that believers are able to comprehend and digest all of reality, which would mean that all believers were geniuses. In context he means that believers can assess and discern spiritual matters. They understand what true wisdom is, especially as it is centred on Christ crucified and risen. Paul proceeds to say that the person of the Spirit, the believer, ‘cannot be evaluated [anakrinetai] by anyone’ (CSB). Paul is not claiming that believers are above criticism, as if they can act any way they wish in the presence of unbelievers. The NIV expresses the meaning well: the believer is not subject to merely human judgments. Since unbelievers do not understand the things of the Spirit, they cannot comprehend the fundamental reality present in the lives of believers. The ultimate commitment which animates believers is a mystery to unbelievers since the latter lack the Holy Spirit

Verse 16: Not share “head space with God” or “think God’s thoughts after Him” but he is making a reference to Isaiah 40:13 The spiritual man can be judged only by God (4:3–5), not by unregenerate people (2:15) or by worldly Christians (3:1–3). To have the mind of Christ is to be obedient to God’s revelation (Phil. 2:5–8), as were the spiritual people in the Corinthian church. Or he could just be referring to he and the apostles in this moment: basically we speak on the authority of Christ. We are a vessel, a steward,ect.

Spiritually mature are humble

CHAPTER 3-Corinthians not mature

3:1-4: Again he is referring to them not as the “spiritually” mature that Paul had just mentioned, but as “infants”. So basically by the Corinthians wanting to be “wise” like the world, they are in fact being immature. The mature in Christ are led by the Spirit.

3:2-”Even now not ready”, if right now puffed up with pride, it would be even more dangerous to go further so they might become more proud and immature.

3:4: Again slogans. In Roman/Greek culture some would deify teachers or philosophers. Think about Taoism. Confucius was only a teacher and never claimed to be a god, but some followers made him into one. Remember in Acts 14:12-13, obviously going on at that time, but more so only being “human” like the rest of their culture, and name-dropping and choosing famous teachers to follow.

Then who are we?

3:5- Now Paul is going to begin to describe to them who they are. The Corinthians have an idea of who they want them to be, but Paul is going to tell them who he, and Apollos are.

3:6-8: Church planter, discipler, all important. It’s God that gives the growth.

3:10-17 Here is an interesting passage. The first thing I want to say is that Paul is here describing the seriousness of what he and Apollos and anyone that builds up God’s church do. They don’t do it lightly or for show, like the traveling philosophers, they do it to receive a reward and will be judged for it.

3:10-”take care”. Warning! Why? vs.16-17.and also vs 13. Do we understand this? There is a fear of God when it comes to being in ministry. We have got to know that we will be held accountable for what we do here. I know a lot of us say that we are leaders or we aspire to do these things, but do we really consider the responsibility of that call? Hebrews 13, James 3:1. This isn't a game. Too many people go into ministry and don’t consider the weight of responsibility that comes with that calling, and that’s how people get hurt. Again Paul doesn’t call us to be perfect, but careful. Paul is saying this to rebuke some in the church who would make light of this call, but also who the Corinthians how seriously he takes what he is doing to show his care for them. There’s the blessing of vs.6-7 that God does it all, but also the burden or weight of vs. 10-17.

3:10- “like a skilled master builder”- literally architect.

3:10-15: the foundation and works being judged. Who thinks this passage is talking about salvation? Why or why not?Talk at your tables

-Follow the progression

-What foundation is laid? Christ vs.11-foundation survives-vs.14- only work being tested-vs.13-15.

What does this mean?

3:12-contrast between precious stones and hay and straw.work that we do here.

3:15-”suffer loss” God will still judge our works: Rom 14:10-12, 2 Cor. 5:10, and we will receive rewards(4:5, 3:8,13,14;9:17). What these rewards will be or what we will do with them, I do not know. Paul again here is not just talking to church leaders, but anyone who contributes to the church. This is our contribution to the church. We all make some contributions of one or another, and Paul is saying will they be good works of gold and precious stones, or false works of hay and straw that will get burned up?

3:17-God’s temple is holy-total contrast to the pagan temples. The pagan temples was a place the advocated sin, was comfortable with sin, what about our temples/hearts?

3:17: destroy God’s temple: means to defile or

3:17- God will destroy him: literally destroy him. Look at the judgement for False Teachers:2Peter 2.

3:21- “all things are yours”Wow. This is amazing.This is why the Corinthians don’t need to find their self-worth or identity in being acceptable to their culture. Amazing to them. Mystery cults, sophists, doesn’t matter in Christ everything is theirs. Do we believe this? If our inheritance is the universe why do we think we NEED the latest tech-toy? Fullness of joy in Christ.

Verse 22: Where before they saids “they belonged to Paul, Appollos” Paul just showed them that the Christian community does not belong to individual teachers, but the teachers belong to the community. Everything in life belongs to them, including the present and future.

23 They belong not to the teachers, but to the Messiah who belongs to God. Paul never says this is ‘my church’ even though he is the founding apostle

CHAPTER 4

Paul continues to describe to the Corinthians who he is. A trustworthy steward is. Tons of people in the Corinthians ear saying “follow me, follow me” but here is who they should trust.

4:1- look at the contrast how Paul describes himself and how the Corinthians-

Paul and Apollos

-servants-3:5

-stewards-4:1

-description of 4:9-13; last of all, spectacle, scum of the earth, fools for Christ etc.

Corinthians

-boastful-4:7

-kings,rich-4:8

STEWARDS:

-Represent their master

-Don’t OWN, but steward

-Under the command of the master

-constantly having to give account

-Enacts the master’s orders

Charles Spurgeon says: “If not today, yet in the long run, obedience is better than originality, and teachableness is more to be desired than genius. The revelation of Jesus Christ will outlive the speculation of man”

4:3-5: use of the word “judge”. Does this mean that church leaders shouldn’t be held accountable? Has anyone ever heard anyone use these verses to say that they can’t be “judged” by anyone? This word judge in comparison to the other uses of judge in the book are different. We will cover the other uses when we get there but right now the word judge in these verses mean: G350-scrutinize, investigate, examine, discern.

Many of the Corinthians like the people in 4:18-20 could be judging Paul’s spiritual maturity based on his speaking ability. The word speech or talk is repeated 6 x’s in the book, usually in contrast to the power of God. Paul’s meaning is that same as in 2:15. Do we do this? Judge people’s spiritual maturity based on worldly standards?

4:6- Good leader. Applies all that he asking, basically his warning that he just gave to the Corinthians. to himself. Look at this book, Paul has been a living example of all that he is calling the Corinthians to do.

4:6-”not go beyond what is written”- what does he mean.

-4:6-”KJV” “above what is written” wisdom of God in the Scriptures. Obviously in Corinth had Synagogues, O.T. Scriptures, Jews in church-15:4- “scriptures” they knew. Also he wants there to be mutual humility.

4:9-13-sign of a trustworthy servant! Just like Jesus looked “weak” to the world. Just like some of the Corinthians are. Contrast to the false teachers. What about us? Again faithful or famous?

The world hated Jesus, it probably won’t like us too much either. True Spiritual people will be faithful to the gospel.

I want you to see something that is happening in our current culture: back in the late 80's if you were a marketing major in college, they would teach you that you have to create a brand, create something, that stood out, that rose above the clutter. That was advice given to students who would apply that to companies they were working for, now however, that advice is given to us all as individuals. Therefore we begin to believe that our growth in our platform equals our growth in our love and understanding of Jesus. So now you have men and women who's platform growth is massive, yet, because of the recent evidence of some of these people falling, it didn't equate to their growth spiritually. This is my warning to all of you. Be careful. As a leader it can easily becoming about maintaining a public persona before people, rather than maintaining a contrite and humble heart before the Lord. Mark Sayers in his book "Facing Leviathan" says this: Are we happy to let God be our PR agent even if it means a life of unrecognized(before men) service?"

Be careful when it becomes more about being known before men rather than being known by God. Paul planted the church, has witnessed them coming to Christ, has had fruit in their ministry, is writing letters of spiritual formation to the church among others and he tells the church to stop thinking that he is more than he really is. He calls himself here a servant, he says in 4:1, he is a steward(commonly a superior slave of tried character, who looked after the accounts of a household)

Spiritually mature pursue holiness

With that said let’s get going!

4:14 Hear Paul’s heart.”admonish”-warn.

5- IN this chapter alone 5 references to sexual immorality.

5:1-We don’t have to be genius’ to understand what’s going on here.

5:1-”not even tolerated among the pagans”. Sin in church worse than sin in the world! Here’s a quote from a first century philosopher about this certain sin, “Oh! To think of a woman’s sin, unbelievable, UNHEARD of in all experience save for this single instance!”. Wow. Not mom but wife, if it was his mom Paul would have just said this straight up.

5:2-5: Let’s take a look at these verses. Does anyone have a problem or question with these verses? If not we will just move right along;)

5:2: ARROGANT about this sin! What about us? Do we brag about sin? Do we brag about, “Oh we’ve done this and we’ve done that, as if it were a “one-up” contest with each other? Shouldn’t we mourn?!

5:2: “you”- these are all plural uses of the word you. So his beef is with the church, not just the man who did this but with the church.

5:2-5: Paul pronounces judgement on this man 3x’s. Is this love? Especially vs. 5. I thought this was the “love” book? In 1 Corinthians the word “judge” as in judge sin is repeated 14x’s, the word love repeated-15x’s. In the same book that has Chapter 13 the love chapter has this verse about handing someone over to Satan! Is this challenging? AND THIS IS LOVE! This is the most loving thing to do. The Corinthians had such a messed up view of love and didn’t understand that God wanted holiness and not just “happiness”. Pride is the opposite of love because it produces self-concern, while love responds to the needs of others. Corinthian pride had produced not only disunity but also indifference and an unwillingness to exercise discipline within the church.They had to judge sin and the sinning believer among them. What about us? Do we understand that the Lord’s discipline is a gracious thing? Do we understand and live out this aspect of love? Paul Tripp says, “When we don’t confront someone we love about sin in their lives, we are really only loving ourselves and not them at all.” Because we are more worried about protecting ourselves then maybe getting into an awkward situation with someone we love. This will result in immaturity. If there’s no confrontation of sin, there’s no growth, which means the church and us will stay in our immaturity.

It is noteworthy that Paul does not call upon the leaders of the church to make the decision about excommunicating the offender. Instead, the entire church is to render a judgment to exclude him.

5:5- “so that” such an important connective. This is the goal. That his spirit be saved. Other references to this in Paul’s epistles?1 Tim 1:20. Ok so what does this mean?

5:2,7,11,13-All have to do with kicking this person out of the church.So Paul is basically wanting them to kick him out of the church. Treat him like a pagan. The early church believed the whole world to be under the power of Satan-2 Cor 4- Eph. 2. This follows Jesus’ directions in Matthew 18.

Blatant unrepentant sinning should not be tolerated in the church of Jesus Christ. Paul calls upon the entire church to discipline the offender and does not limit the action of discipline to the leaders. The purpose of discipline is not to take revenge or to pour out anger. Instead, the hope is that the person who is ensnared in sin will turn from sin and repent, and thus be saved on the last day.

5:9-13: Do we live this way? vs. 11- “associate” be mixed up with.

5:5,11-good for the person and the body!-Matthew 18, titus 3:10-11.

5:11-list of names

“reviler”-reviling God.

“swindler”- extortioner. robber.

How many of us have seen people removed from ministry in the church? How many of us have seen it done because of something other than sexual sin? Wow. Think about this. Do we struggle with these? Greed! What if we started calling people for this? Talk about Moses’ sin in the Numbers 20, one time moment and it disqualified him from leadership. That’s the danger of any of these sins. As a church we need to be good brother and sisters and loving lead people back to repentance and faith.

5:12- I think the church in the past has been better with judging outsiders rather than judging the sin in the church. Let’s change this.

So now we see that the church ISN’T judging what they should be and that’s sin, but now we are going to find out what they are judging....each other...

Chapter 6

Paul is going to continue to handle their disunity among themselves.

CONTEXT: Among the elite of first-century society it was quite acceptable to institute civil proceedings before a magistrate and jury on trivial matters in order to establish one’s social and political superiority over others. Furthermore, certain persons were excluded from instituting legal proceedings against others; i.e. a son against his father, a slave against his master, a freedman against his patron, a citizen against the magistrate, and an inferior against his social superior. Judges and juries were regularly bribed by participants in a case.

6:1-2:

“Do you not know” argument(The phrase recurs six times in this chapter alone. (Outside this letter this construction appears only three other times in the NT.))

JUDGE: of Christians as to sit with Christ at the judgment

Authority comes from Christ: John 5:22 and He shares that with us Revelation 3:21

“world”-G2889- where else in the bible it talks of us doing this? Daniel 7:21-22

Rev. 20:4.

“judge angels” ? Really? What does this mean? Any thoughts?

-compares judging things in this life to judging angels: vs.3- obviously an after this life occurrence.

The argument here is from the greater to the lesser. If saints will judge the world, which may mean ‘rule’ the world, they should have the ability to resolve trivial lawsuits cropping up among them. The same kind of argument, an argument from the greater to the lesser, is advanced in verse 3. As in verse 2, the argument is introduced with the words Do you not know? Believers will judge [krinousin] angels, and here the word ‘judge’ does not necessarily mean that believers will assess and mete out rewards and punishments for angels. It probably means that believers will ‘rule’ over angels

“judge”-G2919-condemn, punish, to try, distinguish, same as 5:3,12;6:3,6;10:15;11:13,31,32.

Where else in the bible talk about judging angels?Matthew 19:28;Luke 22:30; Jude vs.6-2 Peter 2:4,9;

They are having trivial disputes among themselves, which really shows what’s most important to them...

Eternal thing vs. things pertaining to this life

6:3-trivial greek word means small in importance.

6:4-8: Paul’s heart is the same as Jesus’ “turn the other cheek” teaching. Look at Philippians 1:27-28:unity is a sign of defeat to our opponents, but this kind of disunity is a sign of our destruction.

$5 vs $500000000? Why not be wronged or defrauded?

Of what avail are laws to be where money rules alone, and the poor suitor can never succeed? The very men who mock at the times by carrying the Cynic’s wallet have sometimes been known to betray the truth for a price. So a lawsuit is nothing more than a public auction, and the knightly juror who sits listening to the case approves, with the record of his vote, something bought

DO YOU NOT KNOW…..things that he had taught them previously.

6:9-11:Paul is describing lifestyles of sin-because they have already been vs 11’d. So some of them did live lifestyles like this.

HOMOSEXUALITY

His list of vices now includes, for the first time, a judgment against homosexuals (Greek, arsenokoitai, literally = “those men who sleep with males”). See later attention given to the issue of homosexuality in 1 Tim. 1:10 (translated “fornicators” by the NRSV). This is followed by “and those effeminate” (Greek = malakoi, literally, “the soft ones”) and refers to passive partners in homosexual activity. In its broad use in antiquity, the term referred to effeminate males who played the sexual role of females, but the term is broadly translated in antiquity. The practice of homosexuality was condemned in the Greek translation (LXX) of Lev. 18:22 and 20:13 where also the Greek words arsenos (Greek for “male”) and koiten (Greek for “bed”) are used in the same sentence, and likely were conflated by the Jews, the likely source of Paul’s use of arsenokoitai. In 146 B.C. a Roman law, called the lex Scantinia, was passed by the Roman tribune Scantinius that limited homosexual behavior and protected Roman citizens from an abuse of its practice. Since Corinth was a Roman colony, this legislation would have applied to Roman citizens there, but not to slaves or those who were not Roman citizens. The Jewish Sibylline Oracles, with perhaps a late Christian addition, (ca. late first or second century A.D.), likewise condemns the practice: “Do not practice homosexuality, do not betray information, do not murder” (Sib. Or. 2.73, OT Pseud. 1:347). Likewise, the third book of Sibylline Oracles (ca. 165 B.C.) reflects an oracle that condemns both practices of homosexuality: namely, adult males with adult males and adult males with boys. “Male will have intercourse with male and they will set up boys in houses of ill-fame and in those days there will be a great affliction among men and it will throw everything into confusion” (Sib. Or. 3.185–88, OT Pseud 1:366). A later oracle tells of the coming time when there will be no “unlawful love of boys” (Sib. Or. 5.430). This coheres with what the Jewish historian, Josephus, a Pharisee (ca. A.D. 37–late first century), wrote on the matter: “What are our marriage laws? The law recognizes no sexual connexions, except the natural union of man and wife, and that only for the procreation of children” (Against Apion 2.199, LCL). Similarly, Philo (ca. 20 B.C.–A.D. 40) condemned the homosexual practice of the Sodomites because “not only in their mad lust for women did they violate the marriages of their neighbors, but also men mounted males without respect for the sex nature which the active partner shares with the passive,” and he adds that ‘little by little they accustomed those who were by nature men to submit to play the part of women’ and eventually God, out of pity for mankind, destroyed the city and its inhabitants” (On Abraham 135, 136, 137–41, LCL). He later adds that the sin of pederasty is one of the gravest sins and effeminate behavior worthy of God’s judgment. He contends that those who transform the male nature to the female and practice it as an art are worthy of God’s judgment and are “worthy of death by those who obey the law, which ordains that the man-woman who debases the sterling coin of nature should perish unavenged, suffered not to live for a day or even an hour, as a disgrace to himself, his house, his native land and the whole human race” (The Special Laws 3.38, LCL).

Paul shares in these familiar and well-established Jewish views on the practice of homosexuality. See discussion in Rom. 1:24–27. His opposition to such practices, however, is also paralleled in Plato who is more opposed to the seduction of the act and the inducing of the young and immature into the practice than he is in its illegality. Nevertheless he argues that such activity as homosexuality and pederasty (sexual activity between men and boys where the boys are generally passive) does not produce virtue among those who practice it.

But when we come to the amorous passions of children of both sexes and of men for women and women for men—passions which have been the cause of countless woes both to individuals and to whole states—how is one to guard against these, or what remedy can one apply so as to find a way of escape in all such cases from a danger such as this?… Come then, suppose we grant that this practice is now legalized, and that it is noble and in no way ignoble, how far would it promote virtue? Will it engender in the soul of him who is seduced a courageous character, or the soul of the seducer the quality of temperance? Nobody would ever believe this (Plato, Laws 836 A–C, LCL).

He later says that such actions should be illegal and proposes a law banning same-sex relations and pederasty. “So let this law—whether we ought to call it one law or two—be laid down concerning sexual commerce and love affairs in general, as regards right and wrong conduct in our mutual intercourse due to these desires” (Laws 841 E, LCL). At a later date, Plutarch (ca. A.D. 45–120), contends that, like Paul in regard to keeping holy days (Rom. 14:5), everyone should be persuaded on matters of sexual activity in themselves. He contends: “Let each be persuaded according to his own convictions” (Moralia 12 A, LCL). Sextus Empiricus (ca. A.D. 200) reflects the views in his day about such activity.

… amongst us sodomy is regarded as shameful or rather illegal, but by the Germani, they say, it is not looked on as shameful but as a customary thing. It is said, too, that in Thebes long ago this practice was not held to be shameful, and they say that Meriones the Cretan was so called by way of indicating the Cretan’s custom, and some refer to this the burning love of Achilles for Patroclus. And what wonder, when both the adherents of the Cynic philosophy and followers of Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes and Chrysippus, declare that this practice is indifferent? (Outlines of Pyrrhonism 3.199–200, LCL).

Xenophon (ca. 430–354 B.C.) noted the morality of his day:

I think I ought to say something also about intimacy with boys, since this matter also has a bearing on education. In other Greek states, for instance among Boeotians, man and boy live together, like married people; elsewhere, among the Eleians, for example, consent is won by means of favors. Some, on the other hand, entirely forbid suitors to talk with boys. The customs instituted by Lycurgus [a mythological person mentioned in Homer’s Iliad 6.130–45] were opposed to all of these. If someone, being himself an honest man, admired a boy’s soul and tried to make of him an ideal friend without reproach and to associate with him, he approved, and believed in the excellence of this kind of training. But if it was clear that the attraction lay in the boy’s outward beauty, he banned the connection as an abomination; and thus he purged the relationship of all impurity, so that in Lacedaemon it resembled parental and brotherly love. I am surprised, however, that people refuse to believe this. For in many states the laws are not opposed to indulgence of these appetites (Xenophon, The Lacedaemonians 2.12–14, LCL).

6:9-again Paul doesn’t say tell the Corinthians the “un-spiritual, un-wise” not inherit, but “unrighteous”. True spirituality results in good fruit.

-kingdom of God- about God’s reign in and over our lives, not just a religious spiritual experience.

6:12-20: Slogan- “All things lawful for me”. Libertine spirit. Spirit of that age. Paul directly refutes it.

“All things lawful”- 1)Not all things helpful 2)Not be enslaved to anything

“Food is meant for the stomach and stomach for food”-follow this line of thinking and basically what the Corinthians are saying is that the “body is meant for sex and sex for the body”. Again this reminds us of how the culture at that time had this thinking of spirit=good, body=bad, so do whatever you want with the body it doesn’t matter. They thought they had freedom but Paul makes a statement about slavery, being enslaved to the sin. What about us? I’m free to do this, I’m free to do this, real freedom isn’t only the freedom to do something, but also being free not to do it. Not being controlled by it.

6:16- “joined” Gk word? “glue!” to “cleave” thinking back to Genesis?

-Paul says actually your body is not your own-God is Lord over your body and He’e the creator and Lord of things that you do with your body:vs.13,14.

6:12-20- rep. “body”. Body is a temple of God, it’s a holy thing, created by and in the image of God. It’s not just a tool for sexual pleasure and sinful desires,it’s the dwelling place of God. They are not their own!

6:19,3:16-17: Keep in perspective. Look at Haggai 2:6-9. Big deal to God.

6:12-20: Body- Lord will raise it;vs.14/ Members of Christ-vs.15/Body is temple of the Holy Spirit-vs.19. It’s not ours. Bought with a price Corinthians. We were bought with a price. The very same sins you are committing with your body are the very same sins that put Christ on the cross. Every capacity our body has, use it to glorify God.DUALISM HERE

6:18- basically the seriousness he had just described about what happens when you have sexual intercourse with someone. BUT You’VE BEEN MADE NEW!!! vs. 11

Again Paul isn’t beating them up over past sins, but now that we are believers this can’t happen.

6:20- AGAIN THAT God redeemed the whole person. Not spirit good body bad, over-realized eschatology. God redeemed all of us, for a price.

What about us? It’s not ok to look at porn, it’s not ok to get hammered on Friday night? Paul’s point is that we use our body to glorify God. So when we are hammered and drunk can we really glorify God during that time? It’s not only what am I NOT doing, but also am I doing things that are keeping me from doing what I OUGHT to do.