I Corinthians 9, Paul's Apostleship

Paul has handled two controversies, questions on marriage and on food offered to idols.  Now he responds to personal challenges to his leadership.

1 Corinthians 9:1-3, Paul defends his apostleship

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Paul emphasizes the he, himself, saw Jesus.  This is followed with a statement about his personal relationship with the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9: 3-7, More details in Paul's defense
This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don't we have the right to food and drink Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

An appeal to the Old Testament principle that one should benefit from one's task.

1 Corinthians 9: 8-12a, An appeal to the Old Testament
Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." 

Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

The Old Testament command about oxen is recognized as a principle, not just an archaic rule about animals.

The quote in verse 9 is from Deuteronomy 25:4.

1 Corinthians 9: 12b-15a, Yet Paul has been overly generous and submissive
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.  But I have not used any of these rights.

Paul argues that Old Testament principles demonstrate that priests and ministers need to be supported.  But his point is not to boast, but to further the ministry God gave him.

1 Corinthians 9: 15b-18, The Good News, freely offered
And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.

What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.

Paul's driving purpose in life is to preach Jesus (crucified and resurrected) as widely as possible.

1 Corinthians 9: 19-23, Preaching without offense
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

In spreading the gospel, Paul tries to be as inoffensive as possible, to let the Good News of the Jewish Messiah be his message.

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27, An athletic metaphor
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Paul pulls in a metaphor from athletics, comparing his ministry to running a marathon. (Presumably "beat the body" means to apply strenuous, sometimes painful workouts to reach high athletic skills?) Paul exercises strenuously in order to be successful in his race.

In the next chapter, Paul continues his defense of his ministry and continues his concern about divisions in the Corinthian church.

I Corinthians 8, Love and Food

In this chapter, Paul picks up another controversy, responding to a question posed by the Corinthian Christians.  If the cheapest meat could be bought at the local temples, as part of food sacrificed to idols, was it wrong to do so?  The answer is a conditional "No, but..."

1 Corinthians 8: 1-3, The danger of (mere) knowledge
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.

Love is more important than mere knowledge.  (Knowledge, in itself, is not wrong, but merely insufficient.)

1 Corinthians 8:4-6, One God, one Lord Jesus
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Be careful not to mislead an ignorant, naive brother.

1 Corinthians 8: 7-13, Care for the growth of your weaker brother/sister
But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

The principle here is a solid one.  The food offered to idols is irrelevant.  But the reactions of your brothers and sisters may be very important.  Love is much more important than knowledge!

Sadly, like many scriptural principles, this can be abused.  I've seen legalistic church leaders say, "Such-and-such is wrong."  Then when someone says, "No, it is not", they respond with, "Well, we've told LOTS of people that it IS wrong and so if YOU do it, you will 'offend the weaker brother'. So it is still prohibited."  This "weaker brother" argument has been used in prohibiting alcohol,  tobacco, casual dress in church, going to movies, going to dances, reading Harry Potter, subscribing to cable, watching the Simpsons...; the list of legalistic prohibitions in fundamentalist churches can be quite long, driven by abusing this good principle.

In my experience, the "weaker brother" (or sister) is more likely to be hurt by legalistic restrictions, restrictions which give the impression that Christianity is a mere set of rules.  This legalism has destroyed many, replacing the valuable Gospel with a horrible tangle of moral codes.

In the next chapter Paul moves on principles about ministry, including some personal details about his own motives.

I Corinthians 7, On Marriage

After dealing with issues related to a divisive church in Corinth, Paul begins to answer some questions apparently posed in a letter sent him from the Corinthian church.  The questions posed here and in the next chapter are sometimes strongly cultural (eg. eating meat sacrificed to idols) and are phrased in the concepts of that day.  Modern readers focus on the underlying principles provided by Paul.

1 Corinthians 7:1-4, On Marriage
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

From the NIV footnotes: Apparently the sentence in verse 1 is literally, "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman" but in the context is clearly dealing with a man's decision to marry.

The emphasis here, from the unmarried Paul, is on mutual commitment, on "being one". This includes sexual commitment and support.

1 Corinthians 1:5-9
Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Paul is happily single and does not see a need to be married.  But he recognizes the sexual desire of couples and the strength of sexual desire.

Christians should support and encourage men and women who are single, not making them feel left out and ignored.  Long ago, Jan and I helped start a singles ministry in a church in Colorado and were impressed how rapidly it grew.  Some of those participating in the ministry simply said they came because the ministry "admits we exist."  It quickly spun off a support group for those who had gone through divorce.  The needs are even greater today.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11

 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.  But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

Marriage is sacred and is intended to be permanent.

1 Corinthians 7:12-16
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

One of the questions posed to Paul probably asked about couples where one person had become a believer in the Messiah while the other resisted.  What was the believer to do then?

1 Corinthians 1:4-9, Greeting 
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.

Paul does not seek an external, political revolution.  Let people's hearts be changed.

1 Corinthians 17:21-24, On slavery
Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

Again, Paul is not trying to start a revolution.  But he agrees that if a slave can gain freedom, that is a good thing.

This passage does not support slavery.  But it certainly seems to downplay any political activism.  Paul has a more important message....

1 Corinthians 7: 25-28
Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

Paul, single, sees issues and conflicts caused by marriage.  But he admits explicitly, that he has "no command from the Lord" on this.  Much of his thoughts throughout this passage are driven by "the present crisis", which is unclear.

1 Corinthians 7: 29-31, Time is short
What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Paul has a sense of urgency about the gospel message and wants believers to focus on that message, especially in view of his belief that "time is short."

1 Corinthians 7:32-35
I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord.  But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife--and his interests are divided. 

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. 

I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

Paul's focus is on the Jewish Messiah and the gospel message and sees no reason to have family members distract him.  He encourages others to think this way.  (Personally, I have marriage much more comforting, but we are all different.)

1 Corinthians 7: 36-38, Engagement vs. Marriage
 If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.  But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing.  So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

The NIV footnotes offer an alternative translation of this passage, depending on the intended meaning of the Greek word here translated "virgin".  This gives a good example of the cultural difficulties offered by the passage.  The footnotes give: "If anyone thinks he is not treating his daughter properly, and if she is getting along in years, and he feels she ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. He should let her get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind to keep the virgin unmarried--this man also does the right thing. So then, he who gives his virgin in marriage does right, but he who does not give her in marriage does even better."

Just as the word translated "man" or "woman" sometimes means "husband" or "wife", the word translated "virgin" might mean a young woman or daughter.  So the NIV translators offer an alternative.  I think the first translation makes more sense.

1 Corinthians 7: 39-40
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Yes, Paul is happy that he is not married, and he clearly thinks others should be too! This is especially true in "the present crisis" to which he alluded earlier.

In the next chapter Paul takes on another question posed by the Corinthians, on eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods.

I Corinthians 6, Our Own Sacred Temple

Paul continues to discuss various divisions within the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 6: 1-8, Dispute with church members
If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!  I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another--and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

I have all sorts of questions about the practicality of this.  But in general, between true believers, there should be no reason for lawsuits; there should be a way to resolve disputes within the church.

1 Corinthians 6: 9-11, God's Kingdom will be pure, refreshing

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Verse 11: "You were like that once -- but you have been changed!" So ... Continue in your new direction!

1 Corinthians 1:12-14, Our priority
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

"How do we know what is right and what is wrong?"  That's the wrong question.  the question should be, "How can I live for the Lord Jesus?"

1 Corinthians 6:15-18, Living for Christ is especially relevant for our sexuality
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

The quote in verse 16 is from Genesis 2:24, when God ordains marriage.  The point is that marriage is a union of two people into one; this is physical, not just spiritual (these cannot be separated) and so sex is sacred.

I don't understand the last half of the last verse, verse 18.  

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, God's temple is now ... and It is You!

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The old covenant, with its old temple, has been replaced by a new covenant, in which the Holy Spririt resides in the believer and changes his/her heart.  If so, we are to recognize that our bodies are then that temple!  So we are to treat the body as a sacred place!

Paul's letters to Corinth

After reading some of Paul's earliest letters, those to Galatia (Asia Minor) and Thessalonica (in Greece) we continue on to look at Paul's "first letter" to the church in Corinth.  Paul wrote at least four letters to the church(es) in Corinth but only two survive. There is an early letter that is alluded to in I Corinthians 5:9, then the letter we now call 1 Corinthians, the "first letter" to the Corinthians in our New Testament.  A third letter (a "painful letter") was apparently sent later and then a more moderate response that we record as 2 Corinthians.

The "first letter" (I Corinthians) was written from Ephesus, probably around 54-7 CE, about the time of Acts 19.  In this letter Paul expresses concerns about the divisions and practices of the church in Corinth and gives strong practical admonition on living as a Christian in a pagan society.  His advice is especially poignant, as the church in Corinth consisted mostly of pagan converts in a society that had little connection with the Jewish moral code.  Worship of Aphrodite was an excuse to engage in prostitution; sex and pornography were widely available on the internet (whoops, wrong millenium!) and the church struggled with the grace that Jesus offered.  Paul's advice oscillates between concern (morality is important!) and recognition that human beings are quick to rationalize their harmful behavior.  He tells the young church to not judge those "outside the church" but to have genuine moral standards within the church -- advice that is still good today.

A video summary on this "First Letter to the Church in Corinth", well done by Read Scripture Series is available here.  (I highly recommend this series!  It has a nice, simple introduction to almost every book of the Bible.)

There are a variety of study helps for reading Corinthians.  There is a nice introduction to the Corinthian letters at Blue Letter Bible and an introduction from Easton's Bible Dictionary is available here.  A full commentary (Catholic) is available here.  A commentary in "easy English" (for those with English as a second language, made available by a ministry of Wycliffe Associates UK) is available here.  See also a commentary here and a nice overview from Overview Bible.

"Google" search brings a lot of good resources to us (and a few bad ones.)  And, of course, there is always a Wikipedia article on I Corinthians....  

We will look carefully at I Corinthians over the next two weeks before moving on to the second letter and then back to a gospel.