Monthly Archive for July, 2002

1 Corinthians 3:20

Published on July 31, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:20 …and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”


and again,

Paul quotes another Scripture from Psalm 94:11. In speaking of divine wisdom, Paul shows his knowledge of Scripture by quoting Scripture.

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

God knows the “thoughts” (reckoning) of men and they are “futile.” The word “thoughts” is a word that conveys the idea of to think through, to dialogue. Through dialogue man wants to give his input into understanding, but man can give no input into eternal truth. The word “futile” means without result, fruitless, empty. Human wisdom is unable to grasp transcendent truth because it is finite and limited. It is void of true content.  


PRINCIPLE: It is of no use to appeal to human wisdom to prove divine wisdom because human wisdom cannot grasp divine wisdom.


APPLICATION: Human wisdom is totally inadequate to orient us to eternal truth. Human wisdom cannot bring us to salvation or to an understanding of an infinite God.

1 Corinthians 3:19

Published on July 30, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness…”


In summing up, Paul comes to important conclusions in verses 20 through 23.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

God’s wisdom and man’s wisdom stand as polar opposites. God’s infinite wisdom so transcends human wisdom that human wisdom is “foolishness.”

For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness…”

Paul quotes from Job 5:13 in this verse and from Psalm 94:11 in verse 20. Both quotes show, from the authority of God’s Word, the foolishness of man’s wisdom.

The word “catches” denotes grasp or grip. God has a firm grasp on what is foolishness and what is not. He understands” craftiness.” The emptiness of human wisdom is vanity from the viewpoint of utility. The very wisdom men use is the trap that catches them in a snare.


PRINCIPLE: Human wisdom is a trap that will catch people in a snare of incomplete, finite wisdom.


APPLICATION: Men without the Word of God are caught in a vicious cycle. They cannot believe in God’s Word because they hold dearly to another belief. Until they let go of human belief systems, they cannot believe in God.

1 Corinthians 3:18

Published on July 29, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.


Paul now draws together his argument that began in 1:18. If the Corinthians insist on dividing the church by lauding certain leaders (Paul, Apollos, Peter), then God will limit blessing on their church. Thus, verses 18 through 23 are a call to change their carnal thinking from man’s viewpoint to God’s viewpoint.

Let no one deceive himself.

A Christian can deceive himself by human wisdom. The word “deceive” means to deceive thoroughly. If a Christian is not knowledgeable about the Wordof God, he is subject to thorough deception. This is a solemn rebuke of the Corinthian church. All spirituality requires realism.

If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age,

The word “seems” carries the idea of thinks. It is not how we appear to others but how we appear to ourselves that is in question.

let him become a fool that he may become wise.

If the Corinthian church continued to follow the natural wisdom of men rather than divine wisdom of revelation, then they needed to reorient their thinking to becoming a “fool” so that they might find divine wisdom. Humility toward God’s Word is always the starting point of spirituality. 


PRINCIPLE: Spirituality requires realism in the Word of God.


APPLICATION: God requires the realism of honestly searching ourselves with the Word of God. One of the most difficult ideas to shake is the delusion that we are wise in the Word when we are truly unwise. If we delude ourselves at the start, we will delude ourselves all along the way. The reason the church is off base in so many areas is that she has long left basing church on the revelation of Scripture. God requires that we search ourselves with the realism of the Word of God. We dare not kid ourselves about things of eternal consequence.

1 Corinthians 3:17

Published on July 28, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.

The words “defiles” and “destroy” are the same Greek word. The word means destroy by corrupting. The idea is that if anyone mars the church, God will mar them. Some Corinthian believers were marring the local church by schism and division.

For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

God sets apart (holy) the local church (the temple of God) as His special possession.  


PRINCIPLE: God views the local church as His special possession, so He protects it by disciplining any Christian that mars it.


APPLICATION: The church is God’s special possession. He guards it carefully. If anyone tears down the local church, he is susceptible to God’s discipline. God will send temporal discipline (5:5) into his life. Schism or division in the local church is subject to discipline from God.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Published on July 27, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?


Do you not know

The phrase “do you not know” implies a rebuke. “You” is plural in the Greek. Evidently the Corinthian church never fully grasped the doctrine of the Holy Spirit collectively indwelling the local church. This doctrine should have been obvious to these believers.

that you are the temple of God

The “temple” in the Old Testament was the earthly dwelling place of God. There are two Greek words for “temple.” One word for “temple” means all the temple precincts. The other word for “temple” (used here) signifies the temple sanctuary – the place of the very presence of God. “Temple” in this passage is the local church – the place where the Holy Spirit indwells a group of people. The local church in Corinth was a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament at other points speaks of the Holy Spirit indwelling individual believers.

and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

The Holy Spirit “dwells” in the local church. The word “dwells” means to live at home. The Holy Spirit continually (present tense) inhabits the people of God. God chose to make the church His home.  


PRINCIPLE: God is protective of the local church.


APPLICATION: There is a difference between the indwelling of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit. The indwelling is permanent but the filling is conditional, based on whether the believer has confessed his or her sin. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and the church. The Spirit fills only those believers who allow Him to control their lives, because spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive.

1 Corinthians 3:15

Published on July 26, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.


If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss;

If Jesus burns up our service at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will suffer loss of reward. We will lose reward because we served with poor building materials such as a carnal life or manipulation of people.

but he himself will be saved,

Although a believer may lose reward, he himself will retain eternal life. “He himself” is emphatic, contrasting the person from his work. There is a patent contrast between losing reward and losing eternal life.

yet so as through fire.

The “fire” here is not the eternal fire of hell but the “fire” of verse 13 – “the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” The believer’s service in this case burns down like a house but he escapes with his life, his eternal life.


PRINCIPLE: Our ministry needs to be fireproof.


APPLICATION: Loss of reward does not denote loss of salvation.

Many attempt to serve the Lord through pop psychology, manipulation of people, and other distorted means of service. God does not reward these techniques. They serve no eternal purpose. That is why this kind of service is combustible. The losing team always walks off the field with their heads hanging.

1 Corinthians 3:14

Published on July 25, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 2 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.


If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures,

The word “endures” refers back to the testing of fire in the previous verse.

he will receive a reward.

God rewards us for the kind of materials with which we build our lives. The word “reward” conveys the idea of wages. God gives adequate pay for effort in service. The idea is not reward for merit but for integrity in service. 


PRINCIPLE: Some Christians will have permanent production because its integrity will stand in eternal reward.


APPLICATION: Some believers will suffer losses – those who seek to build the church with activities that will not sustain God’s criterion for doing ministry. Carnal Christians will receive no lasting reward for ministry. They lose occasions to glorify God by serving Him improperly.

It should be our aim to make a lasting contribution to ministry. We need to keep as our aim the idea that Jesus will evaluate our ministry at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Co 5: 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (not sin or evil but worthless in value).

1 Corinthians 3:13

Published on July 24, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:13 …each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.


each one’s work will become clear;

God will bring our work out into the open at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Lord will evaluate each and every believer separately. Each of us will give account for our life’s work. This is a review of performance.

for the Day will declare it,

The “day” here is the Judgment Seat of Christ where the Lord will evaluate each believer for what quality of work he did for the kingdom.

The word “declare” is literally to prove. God tests our service for approval to see whether it is genuine.

because it will be revealed by fire;

The “fire” will clearly distinguish genuine from phony. It is of the character of fire to part the destructible from the indestructible. There is no doubt that day will come.

and the fire will test each one’s work,

There is no discipline in this testing. There is no punishment for the Christian at the Judgment Seat of Christ because Christ took all our judgment at the cross (Ro 8:1). The test is simply to distinguish what God can reward from what He cannot reward.

of what sort it is.

The word “sort” indicates quality, not quantity. It is the nature of our work that counts, not the volume of our work. God will test everything we do in the light of His own standards. 


PRINCIPLE: Every believer will receive an efficiency report at the Judgment Seat of Christ.


APPLICATION: Every believer will give account of himself to the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ. What he has done will be patently clear to God. God will not reward on the basis of popularity but faithfulness. This is our efficiency rating. God will measure this rating strictly on our performance. Quality of workmanship in our service glorifies our Lord, so God will reward everything we have done in the fullness of the Spirit. God will bring up no sin at the Judgment Seat. God will bring up the rejection of Christ at the Great White Throne judgment for the unbeliever because the non-Christian rejected the finished work of Christ for his sin.

He 4: 13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

1 Corinthians 3:12

Published on July 23, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw…


Having dealt with the foundation, Paul now turns to the superstructure.

Now if anyone builds on this foundation

The “if” in the Greek assumes that everyone is building something in God’s church, whether to God’s glory or to some other end.

We can build on the foundation of Christ and His work with durable materials or flammable materials. Durable ministry rests on the person and work of Christ. Combustible ministry rests on anything else, like the Corinthians who had a penchant to rest their beliefs on the philosophy of Greece.

There are six materials by which we may build the church – three combustible and three permanent. We have a choice to build the church with either of these two categories.

with gold, silver, precious stones,

The three permanent materials are “gold, silver, precious stones.” These are materials of quality and meet with God’s sanction and are subject to reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

wood, hay, straw

The three combustible materials are “wood, hay, straw.” Using these materials in ministry will not meet with God’s approval so they are not subject to reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ; they are temporary and will quickly pass away.  


PRINCIPLE: We must take care in building the church with permanent materials.


APPLICATION: If we want to build a church with lasting results, we need to be careful how we build it. We must build the church with materials that will withstand the fire of God’s testing. The materials with which we build the church must be in line with the church’s foundation. Are we using inferior materials or superior materials in our ministry?

1 Corinthians 3:11

Published on July 22, 2002 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.


For

The word “for” explains the warning in 3:10.

no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid,

The only foundation adequate for ministry is the foundation already laid. God through Paul laid a foundation designed by God – salvation in Christ.

which is Jesus Christ.

The most basic place for any ministry is the person of Christ. 


PRINCIPLE: True ministry places the person and work of Christ central to all its goals and strategy.


APPLICATION: True spiritual production comes from the foundation of salvation in Christ. First we understand the nature of our salvation, then we minister on the basis of that salvation. Our salvation and ministry pivot around the person and work of Christ. Any church that departs from this essential foundation will drift off its base and will attract aberrant teaching.