“Paul, called by the Will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” Paul, the pioneer of the Christian faith to the Gentile world, writes to the church in Corinth. “Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the lord Jesus Christ.” Church life in Corinth was deficient in both grace and peace. Peace, more than a mood or atmosphere, grows out of a deep conviction of spiritual reserves that have their source in One who is above us, who works through us. “It has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling among you…” The divisions grouped people around the personalities of Paul and of Peter. Paul is troubled, not so much about the factions, but about the bad spirit that was corrupting the life and witness of the church and threatening its unity. “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree,…that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Paul now speaks about the gospel of the word of the cross, not to be approached through Greek philosophy, nor through the theology of the Jews. Rather, the word of the Cross has a wisdom and power of its own. “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Are we that different from the Corinthians?
“Paul, called by the Will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” Paul, the pioneer of the Christian faith to the Gentile world, writes to the church in Corinth. “Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the lord Jesus Christ.” Church life in Corinth was deficient in both grace and peace. Peace, more than a mood or atmosphere, grows out of a deep conviction of spiritual reserves that have their source in One who is above us, who works through us. “It has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling among you…” The divisions grouped people around the personalities of Paul and of Peter. Paul is troubled, not so much about the factions, but about the bad spirit that was corrupting the life and witness of the church and threatening its unity. “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree,…that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Paul now speaks about the gospel of the word of the cross, not to be approached through Greek philosophy, nor through the theology of the Jews. Rather, the word of the Cross has a wisdom and power of its own. “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Are we that different from the Corinthians?
ReplyDelete