Week #32 Insights: August 5-11

Christian Willick writes this week's blurbs (Monday - Saturday).

August 5 – 1 Corinthians 12:31b - 13:13: This chapter occurs in the middle of Paul’s three-chapter discourse on the proper use of the gifts God has given us, and its words are a beautiful exposition of both law and gospel for us. Paul says our gifts are only used properly when used with a preexisting attitude of love toward God and our neighbor, and already we can feel the law’s sting as we read the list of what proper love should look like. Certainly my love does not always measure up to those high standards. And yet we know what true love is, or more accurately, who true Love is. (Read also 1 Peter 4, then try replacing every occurrence of “love” in 1 Cor. 13 with “God.”) Here is the clear exposition of gospel: in all those attributes of love where we fall miserably short, God fits the description perfectly for us, bringing us complete comfort and assurance in his unspeakable love for us. Study question: What are some practical ways you can work at making your love reflect more and more the attributes of love listed in this chapter?
 
August 6 – 1 Corinthians 14:1-25: Paul now illustrates a practical way to make love the guiding principle of how we use our gifts, and the gist of his message was the same for the Corinthians as it is for us: seek to build each other up, for love is not self-seeking (1 Cor. 13:5). We are to communicate the gospel as a clear message with which the Holy Spirit can create and strengthen faith in the hearts of the people in our lives. Verse 16 in particular gives us a clear application in the case of new church members and visitors who are unfamiliar or intimidated by the rituals of worship which we may take for granted. These future family members are in need of a friend to encourage them and explain things to them, to love them as God so loves them, to be the very gospel wrapped in flesh and blood for them. Study question: Who are the people in your life who could benefit from a Christ-centered relationship with you that is filled with 1 Corinthians 13-type love?
 
August 7 – 1 Corinthians 14:26-40: It is interesting to study the Corinthian Christians’ circumstances, which understandably included some differences from ours today. First, speaking in tongues and prophesying were evidently not uncommon features of worship in first-century Corinth. Though these spiritual gifts don’t have nearly as prominent a place in our worship today, they were nevertheless able to be used beneficially according to Paul’s guidelines. Second, while the fundamental spiritual roles of headship for men and submission for women (v. 34) in terms of spiritual leadership have remained as God’s design since Genesis 2, Paul’s call for women’s silence in worship is indeed in connection with changeable cultural practices and is not perpetually binding, as we see in our worship today. In the end, the words with which Paul closes this chapter—“Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way”—serve as a good theme of this entire section and a nice summary of its more difficult parts. Study question: How can you better use your gifts to serve others in love especially when considering our present cultural context?
 
August 8 – 1 Corinthians 15:1-34: So begins the great Resurrection Chapter of the Bible, and Paul holds nothing back in writing it. Particularly striking is the hypothetical situation he sets up starting in verse 13. “If Christ has not been raised…” is a truly hopeless picture that Paul paints. And yet, if we stop and think about it, that hopeless picture is exactly what we deserve. We don’t deserve to have Christ rise for us; in fact, he shouldn’t have even died, let alone been born as a man for us in the first place! There was nothing deserving or lovable about us; rather, our sins made us the exact opposite, so that all we deserve is Paul’s hypothetical as our reality: still in our sins, lost, pitied more than all men… “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…so in Christ all will be made alive!” What greater assurance can there be? Truly this is God’s pure grace! Study question: What do the passages in today’s reading teach you about how to live for Christ with the life he won for you?
 
August 9 – 1 Corinthians 15:35-58: Paul continues dishing out immense gospel comfort in this second half of the great Resurrection Chapter. First he gives us comfort by describing the type of body we can look forward to in heaven. Just as a seed must die in the ground in order to yield up its beautiful plant, so also our imperfect bodies must die physically in order to yield up a perfect spiritual body. And just as there is continuity between a seed and its plant, there is also a continuity of our bodies. We will not be wispy, insubstantial spirits, but we will have our bodies, only more solid, more real, and more glorified than ever before, “when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable.” It is enough to make one shout, “Where, O death, is your victory?” Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Study question: What new things did you learn about life after death from this chapter, and what questions do you still have?
 
August 10 – 1 Corinthians 16: This last chapter gives us a glimpse into the loving pastoral heart Paul has for the church in Corinth. He has spent the entire letter so far addressing concerns he has heard about the congregation from others and questions the congregation has addressed to him directly, and now he is making arrangements to visit them personally and to have other pastors and colleagues visit them for mutual edification. In other words, it is clearly evident that he cares deeply for their spiritual well-being, exactly as a pastor should. This love, which Paul has modeled in his life and written copiously about in this letter, is now the message he leaves the Corinthians with, almost as a fatherly encouragement to his children: “Do everything in love…My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.” Study question: What are some ways your pastors have modeled God’s love for you, for which you can thank God and continue to pray for?
 
August 11 – Introduction to 2 Corinthians: 2 Corinthians illustrates the power of God’s grace in approaching the serious problems at Corinth – also effective in the face of similar situations of the churches of today. Paul’s application of the gospel (rather than a legalistic tone) had a salutary effect. The individual offender (probably the one excommunicated in 1 Corinthians 5) repented and was reinstated in the church. Through the gospel the majority of the members found reconciliation with Paul and with each other. There was a special effort to show their gratitude by joining in the collection for their Christian brethren at Jerusalem. A minority, who had not been completely convinced by Paul’s first letter, was to receive additional application of the gospel when Paul would soon be present in person. Click here for today’s full reading.