Learning to Become Who We Are

Corinth The Backdrop

Initial Story

Today we are looking at a two texts in 1 Corinthians and we are going to be examining what the bible has to about grace. Before we dive into the text I want to share a story with you.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2101 Only Grace Could

2101 Only Grace Could

There is a tradition that Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton and America’s greatest thinker, had a daughter with an ungovernable temper. But, as is so often the case, this infirmity was not known to the outside world.

A worthy young man fell in love with this daughter and sought her hand in marriage. “You can’t have her,” was the abrupt answer of Jonathan Edwards. “But I love her,” the young man replied. “You can’t have her,” said Edwards. “But she loves me,” replied the young man.

Again Edwards said, “You can’t have her.” “Why?” said the young man. “Because she is not worthy of you.” “But,” he asked, “she is a Christian, is she not?” “Yes, she is a Christian, but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live.”

Wow, she must have had quite the temper… Waht a thing to say about your own daughter! but it illustrates the point that we are going to be making here today and that is that the grace of God can live with all sorts of people — even people who have sin in their lives. Grace is not reserved for holy people. If that were the case, it would not be grace at all would it be? Grace is something that is completly unmerited.

And for us to understand the text today, it is going to be helpful for us to take a look at what kind of city Corinth was.

Corinth is located in south central Greece. You can see it on the map here in the middle with Rome to the West and Ephesus to the East.

Because of its central location, Corinth became a hub city for travel and trade between the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire making it both a busy and wealthy city.

Going aroung the penisula was a six-day alternative route around the Southern Cape of the Peloponnese exceedingly dangerous for ships of the time, especially in winter. It was there that Paul experienced the storm which blew his vessel eventually to Malta

SWITCH SLIDE TO 6KM ISTHMUS

For this reason, all travel came through Corinth and the Ships and all their cargo would pass across a 6km Isthmus

SWITCH SLIDE TO CANAL

Emperor Nero attempted to cut a canal accross the Isthmus so that the ships could simply sil through but the project proved too difficult and was abandoned until the 19th century

So instead of using a canal their was a paved roadway called the Diolkos (De Ol KOS) which was a 20 ft wide paved road with parallel grooves that worked sort of like a primitive Railway to transport ships and cargo accross the 6km stretch of land

THE CITY OF CORINTHS REPUTATION

Corinth’s population has been variously estimated anywhere from 150,000 to over 300,000, “plus 460,000 slaves” (McRay, Corinth, 228). The city was recolonized primarily “by those belonging to the freedmen class” who proceeded to make their initial living by robbing ancient graves and selling their finds (see Strabo, Geography, 8.6.23c).

Because of all the trade and travel, it was a very wealthy city with a reputation for being the sin city of its day.

Gordon Fee says that “Pauls corinth was at once the New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas of the Ancient World. The steady stream of sailors and travellers made Corinth a know hub for all sorts of sexual perversion.

The Reputation was so great that Aristophanes coined the verb Korinthiazo which meant to act like a corinthain meaning to be a fornecator.

Corinth also had strong associations with “pagan” religions. There were over 26 sacred places in the city. some were temples devoted to Roman and Greek gods while others were dedicated to some of the newest mystery cults and religions

THE CHURCH OF CORINTHS REPUTATION

The Church, was heavily influenced by its surrounding culture. And as a result, Paul has had to write to the corinthians in the past in regards to sexual immorality and in this current letter he has to tell the congregation to refrain from using prostitues in chapter 6 and chapter 5 he calls out a memebr of the congregation who had taken his fathers wife as his own. They were suing one another in the courts which led to divisions within the church. All in all this was not the picture of a healthy thriving Christian community.

WHO IS PAUL WRITING TO?

Paul is writing to a group of people involved in all sorts of sin and our text today is taking a look at how Paul greets them. Lets take a look at the text.

READ THE TEXT

English Standard Version Chapter 1

4 I fgive thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way gyou were enriched in him in all hspeech and all knowledge— 6 even as ithe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 kwho will sustain you to the end, lguiltless min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 nGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I THANK GOD BECAUSE OF THE GRACE GIVEN TO YOU IN CHRIST JESUS

But it also refers to the the Grace of God in offereing us salvation. It is undeserved favor.

In Verse 8, Paul goes on to say that the Lord Jesus “will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (On the day of judgment)

So, in light of all the debauchery going on in Corinth, Paul doesn’t assume that they are not believers, he doesnt assume that they have rejected the faith but rather he declaeres with a certainty that they will be guiltless. There behavior is anything but blameless.

When I read this, these words really jumped off the page. Is it Grace really that big? Is it that scandelous? How can Paul be so confident? I dont think I apply grace to myself that way. I accept the grace of God — but there is a standard of holiness that one needs to uphold in order to recieve it right?

No! Our behavior, the things that we do, the things that we have done do not make us more or less eligiable for grace. For this reason, there will likely be some surprises when we get to heaven.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2095 Three Wonders in Heaven

John Newton said, “When I get to heaven I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be, to see many people there whom I did not expect to see—the second wonder will be, to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there.”

When we are honest with ourselves about who we are, and how we are unable to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect we realize that is nothing but a miracle that allows us to be right with God.

There are people whose lives, from the outside, look great. They are disciplined, they are in the word, they say and do all the right things but they are living under the law trying to earn themselves favor before a perfect God.

Then there are people, like the church in Corinth, who do not have it together, they are struggling with sexual sins, they are suing one another, they are divided and yet they are not living under the law but they are living under grace and because of this they are set free.

WHERE DOES PAULS CONFIDENCE COME FROM?

It certainly doesnt come from the peoples behaviour but rather at is says in verse 9, his confidence is in the faithfulness of God who will sustain the believers to the end!

There is an unbalance here that we need to take note of. The behavior and the activity of the church in Corinth on the one hand and the confident declaration of paul that these very same people will be found guiltless on the day of judgement.

Fee says it this way, “Gods prior action of Grace, always preceeds their obedience as responce to grace”

Chapter 6

In Chapter 5 and 6 Paul is addressing the congregation about some specific instances of sexual sin and lawsuits and devisions that were happening between the members . When he is finished rebuking them about their current conduct he says:

English Standard Version Chapter 6

do you not know that the unrighteous2 will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,3 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Wow what a warning. He says do not be decieved the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is a stern warning from Paul, for the church is presently acting like the unrighteous and the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom.

But hen he goes on and says

English Standard Version Chapter 6

11 And ysuch were some of you. But zyou were washed, ayou were sanctified, byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

And such were some of you. Wait a second. They are this way — you literally just finished admonishing the church to stop their unrighteous conduct. So why does Paul say such Were some of you. He says they used to be this way But you were washed, BUT you were sanctified, BUT you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Paul Understands Christian ethics in terms of becoming what you are”

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2096 Prayer Prelude of Newton

2096 Prayer Prelude Of Newton

Two or three years before the death of John Newton, when his sight was so dim that he was no longer able to read, a friend and brother in the ministry called to have breakfast with him. Their custom was to read the Word of God following mealtime, after which Newton would make a few short remarks on the Biblical passage, and then appropriate prayer would be offered. That day, however, there was silence after the words of Scripture “by the grace of God I am what I am” were read.

Finally, after several minutes, Newton spoke, “I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality, and with it all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!” Then, after a pause, he said. “Now let us pray!”

Gordon Fee says it this way: “Paul Understands Christian ethics in terms of becoming what you are”

The commands of God, for the Christian, are not put put in front of us like an obstacle course that we must pass in order to recieve the grace of God, but rather the commands of God are put in place as a road map for us to become who we already are in Gods eyes.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT OR RELEVANT?

In Ephesians 6, we are told to put on the full armor of God. On of the things we are to put on is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of course is meant to protect our heads. It is a most important accesory in war as a blow to the head can often be fatal. So when we do not put the helmet of salvation upon our heads, when we do not apply the truth of salvation to our thinking, when we do not correct our internal diologue with the truth of the Gospel we are susceptible to a fatal blow from our enemies.

THE ENEMY

Our enemy wants us to live in guilt, to wallow in defeat and he achieves this by attacking our thinking. He will bring to your mind all of the things that you struggle with. He reminds you of your pride, your arrogance, your secret sins, your lies, your deceptions, your impatience and the list goes on and on.

He brings these memories to the fore of your mind and they are not lies — they in fact are the truth about what you have done, how you have acted, who you have hurt However, these truths are wrapped up in a grand lie — the lie is that your actions determine your status. And because your actions are unworthy you are not eligible for a Holy Status. But this is not the Gospel!

Yes it is true that our failures and shortcomings — our sin are what makes us unrighteous but we do not move from being a sinner to a saint by good behavior we rather become righteous by putting on the righteousness of Jesus

Dont be robbed by the enemy.