It is helpful to know something of the occasion of this letter in order to understand the letter itself. Everything, however, is not so clear. I suspect that Paul had no idea that his letters would be studied for hundreds of years by future Christians, otherwise he would have worked harder at making them easier to understand by those of us who were not part of his intended readership.

After his three-year sojourn in Ephesus, where he penned 1 Corinthians, Paul traveled along the coast of the Aegean Sea back to Macedonia and Greece. At some point he briefly visited the Corinthian believers. That visit didn’t go as well as he had hoped, and after his departure, he wrote a letter to the Corinthians that was quite severe, penned “with many tears” (2:3-4). Fearing that his severe letter may have done more damage than good, Paul headed back towards Corinth. On the way there, he eventually met up with Titus who informed him that his letter had, for the most part, accomplished the intended result. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians after receiving Titus’ encouraging report (2:12-13; 7:6, 13). This means, of course, that 2 Corinthians is actually 3 Corinthians! (Actually, 2 Corinthians is at least 4 Corinthians, because Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians that predated 1 Corinthians; see 1 Cor. 5:9).

Paul began this letter by focusing on God’s mercy and comfort. Because of Titus’ good report, he had been comforted, and he wanted to comfort the Corinthians who were no doubt troubled about their relationship with him. In keeping with that theme, Paul related his experience with God’s comfort when he was recently in Asia, where he and his band “despaired even of life” (1:8). Paul must have been referring to the uproar and riot in Ephesus, of which his ministry was the cause, that we read about in Acts 19:23-40. Apparently there was more danger that surrounded that incident than Luke’s account in Acts reveals. Regardless, Paul enjoyed “the peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7) in the midst of a very stressful situation. That comfort is available to you, but faith is what activates it.

Paul credited the Lord with his deliverance from those who would have killed him, but he also credited the prayers of the Corinthian believers (1:9-11). It is encouraging to know that our prayers help keep God’s front-line servants safe from harm.

There was apparently some misunderstanding on the part of the Corinthians regarding Paul’s intended traveling schedule as it related to his coming to visit them. We don’t know all the details so it isn’t easy for us to sort out. We do know that when Paul was in Ephesus, he “purposed in the spirit” to journey to Macedonia and Achaia and then on to Jerusalem and Rome (Acts 19:21). That is the exact course he ultimately followed. According to what we read today, he intended to go through Corinth twice, but the second visit never occurred, and so Paul explained why.

He did not want the Corinthian believers to think that he was charting his own course or vacillating in his intentions, an indication that he was “purposing according the flesh” (1:17). It seems Paul was even more concerned that his loss of credibility regarding his traveling intentions might cause the Corinthian believers to doubt his message about Christ. So he first addressed that issue, affirming that the message preached by himself, Silvanus and Timothy was fully trustworthy. And then—without resorting to swearing with an oath, but calling on God as a “witness to his soul” (1:23)—Paul explained why he didn’t visit Corinth the second time as he had intended. It was to spare them. Rather than visit, he decided to send a letter instead.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, when writing a letter to someone seemed like a better thing to do than speaking to them face-to-face. A letter gives them time to think about their reaction before they respond. A letter rather than a face-to-face encounter can be an act of wisdom and love. But not always! Every situation requires its own evaluation.

It is going to be difficult to restrain myself from writing the truth today, so I think I will just throw caution to the wind. If you’ve stayed with me four-and-a-half months, there is probably little danger of losing you now! So here goes!

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen 1 Corinthians 16:2 quoted on church offering envelopes: “On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper…” This verse is used to motivate churchgoers to give to the church on a weekly basis, and it is a classic example of ripping a verse from its context.

Notice that Paul was not referring to receiving collections for churches. He was writing about a “collection for the saints,” namely the very poor among the believers in Jerusalem (16:1-3). Why there were so many poor Christians in Jerusalem we are not told, but I suspect it was due to the high degree of persecution leveled against them by the Jews.

There are no biblical records of any offerings “for the church.” The reason is because churches had no expenses. They had no special buildings to pay for because small flocks met in homes, just as we read today of a church that met in the house of Aquila and Prisca (16:19). There were no mortgages or utility bills. There were no “building fund drives” to add a “fellowship hall” or “Sunday school annex.” Moreover, there were no staff salaries to pay. There were no “senior pastors,” “associate pastors,” “administrative pastors,” “youth pastors,” “music ministers” and so on, all creations of modern church structure. There were only pastors/elders/overseers, and most of them did not need remuneration due to the part-time nature of their responsibilities to care for and disciple a small group. We will soon be reading, in Acts, Paul’s address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, in which he said:

I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:33-35).

At the most, pastors/elders/overseers who devoted part of their time to shepherd their flocks needed only part-time wages. But many, like Paul, worked to support themselves, thus having something to share with “the weak,” and by so doing, set a good example before their flocks. Paul, typical of traveling ministers in his time, normally relied on free-will offerings from those he served, as well as the shared earnings of his traveling band.

As I survey the great mass of frustrated pastors around the world, I can’t help but think they would all be much happier and more fulfilled if they simply adopted a biblical pattern for their ministry, so I write this out of love for them!

Most churches receive offerings every Sunday, often using envelopes on which 1 Corinthians 16:2 is written. Yet very little, if any, of what is collected is used to support poor Christians who are lacking basic necessities such as food and covering. This is an astonishing fact, and it shows how far we have drifted from the biblical pattern. Think of the millions upon millions of dollars that are collected in wealthy Western churches every Sunday, dollars that are used for things that are never mentioned or recommended in Scripture, while more than half of the Christians in the world live on less than two dollars a day!

Were there any administrative costs related to meeting the pressing needs of the Jerusalem believers? Certainly a small percentage of what was collected in Corinth had to be used to pay for delivering the collected funds to Jerusalem. But no one, I can assure you, was taking $400,000 per year for their administrative work in serving the poor, as are some today who head large Christian humanitarian organizations. May God have mercy on their souls!

The early church gatherings were not characterized by the majority passively listening to a trained clergyman. Rather, there was participation among everyone who shared what the Holy Spirit gave him. Thus it could be said, as Paul did, “When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation” (14:26).

There was, however, some disorder at believers’ gatherings in Corinth. Specifically, there were three groups that were speaking when they should not have been. Some, for example, were publicly speaking in tongues without any interpretation, which provided no benefit to the gathering. Paul instructed such folks to “keep silent in the church” (14:28). They should speak to themselves and God.

Why would God give someone the ability to speak in tongues without the accompanying gift of “the interpretation of tongues” that Paul listed in 12:10, especially since one who spoke publicly in tongues without an interpretation was out of order?

The only possible answer, and one that harmonizes with the experience of millions of Christians, is that the ability to pray in tongues is different than the spontaneous “gift of tongues.” The former is something that the Lord grants believers when they are first baptized in the Spirit. That supernatural ability operates any time they will it from then on, just as Paul indicated in 14:15, while the genuine “gifts of tongues” operates only as the Spirit wills (12:11). The former is for private use by believers in their personal devotions for self-edification, and they do not know what they are praying (14:14), whereas the latter is for the public benefit of the church, and is always accompanied by the “gift of the interpretation of tongues” (otherwise God would be the source of disorder).

All of this is to say that there must be two kinds of speaking in tongues. In Corinth, Spirit-baptized believers were speaking out in tongues, but not because they were suddenly anointed by the Spirit to do so, which would be a manifestation of the “gift of tongues.” Rather, they were publicly speaking out in tongues using their ability to pray in tongues, given to them from the time they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

In this light, Paul’s rhetorical question that we read in chapter 12, “All do not speak with tongues, do they?” (12:30), is easy to harmonize with other scriptures that lead us to believe that speaking in tongues can be experienced and enjoyed by every believer once he or she is baptized in the Spirit. Paul’s question referred to the spontaneous “gift of tongues,” not to the ability to pray in tongues.

Paul really encouraged the practice of prophecy and then he corrected two other groups who were speaking out of order—certain prophets and certain wives. I don’t believe that Paul’s instruction to women to “keep silent in the churches” (14:34) was intended to keep them completely and continually silent any time the churches gathered. He had already written in this very letter about women publicly praying and prophesying (11:5). Paul was specifically addressing wives who were interrupting the flow of the gathering by conversing with their husbands.

Keep in mind that in this same chapter, Paul also told two other groups to be “silent”—out-of—order tongues speakers (14:28) and certain prophets (14:30). In neither case did he mean that they were to remain completely and continually silent any time the churches gathered.

Granted, this chapter in Corinthians raises as many questions as it answers. Some statements within it seem so contradictory from one verse to the next that some commentators think Paul was quoting from the letter that the Corinthians had written to him, and then immediately correcting what they wrote. For example, they believe that the words about women in 14:34-35 are a quote from the Corinthians’ letter, and the verse immediately following is Paul’s rebuttal: “Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?” (14:36). That is, “Who are you to be making up such regulations about women not speaking? Are you the final authority from God on the matter?” Many women approve of that interpretation!

Note that Paul’s gospel was something by which one could be saved if one “held fast” to it (15:2). Paul did not believe in an unconditional eternal security.

Notice also that the part of Paul’s gospel that was “of first importance” was that “Christ died for our sins” (15:3). Unless humanity is sinful and God is wrathful, then there was no need for Christ to die for our sins. These twin truths are the foundation of the gospel.

Not only is Christ’s death for our sins an essential part of the gospel, but so is His resurrection from the dead. If this chapter teaches us anything, it teaches us that the concept of resurrection is a major tenet of Christian doctrine. Some in Corinth, however, like the Sadducees who once challenged Jesus (Matt. 22:23), denied it. Yet to deny the possibility of resurrection is to deny Christ’s resurrection and to make false witnesses out of hundreds of Jesus’ contemporaries, including the eleven apostles. If Jesus didn’t come back to life, we would have to wonder why at least 10 of 11 were willing to die for something they knew was a lie.

If Jesus was not resurrected, then He was a liar, because He promised He would rise from the dead; He was not the Son of God; our sins have not been forgiven; and the Holy Spirit does not live in us. “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). You might as well throw your Bible in the trash (and unsubscribe to HeavenWord Daily, by the way).

According to Paul, if Christ has not been raised, we might as well go on sinning, because holiness is unimportant. This indicates that if one believes that Christ has been raised, it is vital that he or she lives obediently. Note that among all Paul’s words about the doctrine of the resurrection that he plugs holiness: “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning” (15:34). His concluding statement at the end of this long chapter about the resurrection is also an admonition to obedience: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (15:58).

Thank God Jesus has been raised from the dead! And the risen one promised a resurrection for the righteous and the wicked.

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).

The resurrection of the righteous will take place when Jesus returns, but the resurrection of the unrighteous will not take place until 1,000 later (Rev. 20:4-5, 13).

Believers who are alive when Jesus returns will also receive new bodies “in a twinkling of an eye” (15:52). What will those new, resurrected bodies be like? They will not be “flesh and blood,” but will be “spiritual,” “heavenly,” “glorious,” “powerful,” “imperishable” and “immortal.” Those bodies will never grow old or die. Eternal youth! Great news for the over-thirty crowd!

The only verse in the entire Bible that speaks of people being “baptized for the dead” is the one we just read today in 15:29, so it is difficult to interpret what Paul meant. I’ve never read a satisfying explanation. But surely the practice of Mormons, who search genealogical records in order to be baptized on behalf of their deceased ancestors to gain them some spiritual status is not what Paul had in mind. Such a doctrine denigrates Jesus’ sacrifice, superseding it by a relatives’ quick dip, which becomes one’s ticket to heaven. Can you imagine someone suffering in hell who one day is tapped on the shoulder by a demon who says, “Lucky for you that your grand nephew just took a little dip under the water and repeated your name…now you can get out of here and go to heaven with the saints and angels!” Seems somewhat unlikely, doesn’t it?

It is fun to read this famous chapter, so often recited in sermons about love, within its context of the entire Corinthian letter. It appears that everything that Paul wrote to define love has some direct application to a situation in Corinth, where love was definitely lacking.

For example, when we read the very next chapter in 1 Corinthians, we’ll learn that speaking in tongues had superseded love in the Corinthian church. Some were speaking with other tongues in a selfish manner. Paul’s lovely and poetic words that are often read at wedding ceremonies—“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”—were a stinging rebuke to the Corinthians. Truly, there is little that is more obnoxious than a Pentecostal gong or Charismatic clanger! All noise, no love!

Similarly, Paul puts spiritual gifts, with which the Corinthian believers were so enamored, into their proper perspective. One might possess the gift of prophecy, amazing revelation, and even mountain-moving faith, but without love, he amounts to absolutely nothing (13:2). Such words no doubt deflated many Corinthian egos as they were first read. Love is the important thing.

Paul also points out the fact that not all that appears to be loving is love. One can do “unselfish” things for selfish reasons, including giving to the poor and making great personal sacrifices, if such things are done for the praise of others. Paul reiterates what Jesus taught; there will be no reward for such “good deeds.” The selfish “lover” profits nothing (13:3).

Let’s imagine we are Corinthians as we read Paul’s definition of love. Here is more of what we might hear:

“Love is patient, so it waits for everyone to show up at the Lord’s Supper before eating. Love does not brag, and it is not arrogant about favorite Christian leaders, saying, ‘I am of Paul’ and, ‘I am of Peter.’ Love does not seek its own, and so it is willing to forgo eating meats sacrificed to idols if a fellow saint with a weak conscience might be caused to stumble. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, such as when it knows that a man in the church is living in an immoral relationship with his stepmother. Rather, love rejoices in the truth. Love also bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, so those of you who are always complaining about each other need to stop grumbling!”

Some say that Paul’s foretelling that tongues would cease, along with the other spiritual gifts that he mentions such as the word of knowledge and prophecy, was fulfilled when the last book of the Bible was written, because Paul wrote, “we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away” (13:8-10). Supposedly, we no longer need spiritual gifts since we have the complete Bible.

The truth is, however, that even with the complete Bible, we still “know in part,” and we continue to “see in a mirror dimly” (13:9, 12). Only when Jesus is reigning on this earth will that no longer be true. And that is comforting to those of us, like me, who are perplexed about so many things now. Think of how different your understanding was when you were a child compared to how it is now as an adult. Similarly, when you are in the future kingdom, you will look back at your earthly life and say to yourself, “How very little I understood!” Now it is as if we are looking at everything in a mirror’s reflection, and under dim light! Everything is backwards and indistinct, and we’re only seeing a small fragment of the entire picture. We know so very little that there is no room for pride, as Paul wrote a few chapters earlier, “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know” (1 Cor. 8:3).

I know so little. I am D—U—M dum! But don’t laugh at me! You’re a dummy reading a commentary written by another dummy!

This really isn’t a chapter about spiritual gifts and various ministries. It is a chapter about preserving unity among all the diversity in the church, a chapter about love! The manifold work of the Spirit should not divide us, but be appreciated as being from one source, unifying us. Similarly, even though the church consists of many ethnicities and cultures, one Spirit has baptized us into one body, and one Spirit indwells us all. Paul emphasizes this truth to the point of redundancy in this chapter, hoping we don’t miss it!

Paul lists nine spiritual gifts that the Spirit distributes, but notice that his emphasis is not on the gifts, but on the one Spirit who gives all the gifts. Also take note that the spiritual gifts are given as the Spirit wills (12:11), so no one possesses them or can turn them on or off at will.

The names Paul gives to each gift help us, to some degree, to define them. Three are gifts of revelation. When God reveals to one of us information about the future, that is a “word of wisdom,” whereas a “word of knowledge” would be a supernatural revelation of current or past facts. “Discerning of spirits” is God-given insight into the spiritual world, so that one might see an angel, Jesus, or a demon. People who claim to know everyone’s motives through the “gift of discernment” actually have the “gift of suspicion,” a gift not given by the Holy Spirit!

Three are gifts that display God’s power. If God gives you a “gift of healing” for someone else, you can heal them, even if they have no faith. The “gift of faith” is a supernatural impartation of faith to receive a miracle, whereas the “effecting of miracles” is simply an ability to do something miraculous.

Three are gifts of utterance, and they were quite prevalent in the Corinthian church. Prophecy is Spirit-inspired utterance in a known language, whereas “various kinds of tongues” is Spirit-inspired utterance in an unknown language. The “interpretation of tongues” is self-explanatory!

Speaking of speaking in other tongues, the obvious answer to Paul’s rhetorical question in 12:30, “All do not speak with tongues, do they?” is “no.” We will see clearly, however, when we read chapter 14, that the ability to pray in tongues, given when one is baptized in the Spirit, is somewhat different than the spontaneous “gift of tongues” that is only granted to some. That spontaneous gift is what Paul must have been referring to in 12:30.

The problem in today’s church with trying to apply Paul’s words about preserving unity among the many diverse members of Christ’s body is that so much of today’s church is not part of Christ’s body! Pastors whose congregations consist of sheep mixed with goats who think they are sheep can find little application from this chapter for their churches. God doesn’t give spiritual gifts to goats. Goats don’t have the Spirit in them. When another member of the body suffers, goats don’t care. Goats only care about themselves. Goats are inclined towards division. In reality, they hate Bible Jesus, and so they also hate anyone who truly loves Bible Jesus. A recipe for division!

Paul’s words in this chapter only have application among true followers of Christ. They consider their relationships with each other to be sacred. They genuinely care for one another.

In the church, God has appointed “first apostles, second prophets, [and] third teachers”(12:28). There is no biblical evidence that has ever changed. Apostles plant churches by the power of the Holy Spirit. Prophets are frequently granted the gifts of revelation and prophecy. Teachers instruct the church to obey Christ’s commandments.

Scripture, of course, also warns against false apostles, prophets and teachers, of which there is no shortage today. False apostles aren’t planting churches; they are elevating themselves over existing churches to gain wealth and power. False prophets are prophesying to people what they want to hear in order to enrich themselves. And false teachers also tickle people’s ears, downplaying or ignoring any teaching on holiness, again, in order to make money. Money is indeed the driving force behind every wolf in sheep’s clothing. Beware!

It is sometimes debated what Paul meant in the last verses of chapter nine regarding his fear of being “disqualified” if he failed to “discipline his body and make it his slave” (9:27). Reading those words within their context of the first part of chapter 10, however, makes it obvious that Paul was fearful, not just of forfeiting some heavenly rewards, as some say. Rather, he was fearful of forfeiting heaven. Citing the Israelites as an example, Paul reminds us that, although they were delivered from Egypt, were “baptized” when they crossed the Red Sea, ate God-given food and drank God-given water that was representative of Christ, in the end, “God was not well-pleased with most of them,” and “they were laid low in the wilderness” (10:5). They never entered the promised land.

This serves as a warning to us that greed, idolatry and immorality—three sins that Paul already warned of in this letter that will exclude one from inheriting God’s kingdom (6:9-10)—as well as grumbling and rebellion, could result in our forfeiting our relationship with God. Paul reminds us that immorality, for example, resulted in the deaths of 23,000 Israelites on a single day! We are not to suppose that those immoral people inherited eternal life!

So we must “take heed” that we don’t similarly fall, disciplining our bodies, lest we be “disqualified.” Clearly, the temptation to commit sexually immoral acts exists for believers, and we are capable of yielding. Thankfully, however, God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist, and He always provides a way of escape (10:13). None of us are forced to sin. Moreover, there is grace offered after sin to those who repent.

Obviously, even though Paul listed idolatry as a sin that angers God, will exclude one from heaven, and is a form of demon-worship, he did not believe that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols was idolatrous. There is, however, sometimes a valid reason to avoid eating such meat. That reason is love for a fellow believer who is persuaded that doing so is wrong. Although eating meat that is sacrificed to idols is not an issue that most of us face, we can certainly apply the concepts that Paul advocates, being sensitive to the peculiarities that exist within the body of Christ. Love is the important thing.

Again we read very similar words that Paul had written earlier in this same letter: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify” (10:23). It goes without saying that Paul did not mean that greed, idolatry and immorality, for example, are lawful in God’s eyes, but to be avoided only because they are not profitable or edifying. That would make Paul contradict himself within this very chapter. Considering the context, we note that Paul was speaking of eating meats sacrificed to idols. It was lawful, but not always profitable or edifying to do so. That makes sense.

Therefore, even if we know that something is not wrong, we should strive not to offend those who are persuaded otherwise, lest we hinder them from inheriting eternal life. Paul specifically lists Jews, Greeks and the church, all of whom possess their various scruples. I suspect that it was the Jews in the Corinthian church, because of their previous devotion to the Mosaic Law and the many fence laws surrounding it, who objected to eating meat sacrificed to idols. So Paul’s words, “All things are lawful,” were a reference to our freedom from the law of Moses. (But we are all under the law of Christ.)

Finally, notice that Paul admonished those who thought it was wrong to eat meat sacrificed to idols to also walk in love towards those who were persuaded otherwise. He wrote, “For why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?” (10:29-30). Those who pointed their fingers at Paul for eating meat sacrificed to idols should think again about holding him to their personal convictions, especially in the light that he ate with thankfulness to God!

Unlike most other days, today I’m glad I’m limited to 700 words, which will be my excuse for not engaging in a lengthy commentary on women’s head coverings! Paul’s words are not as clear as I wish they were on this subject. So I will limit myself to a few observations.

First, there are no unique Greek words for husband and wife, and so clearly the words translated man and woman in parts of this passage would be better translated husband and wife. Otherwise we might conclude that every man is the head of every woman. The truth is, only husbands are heads of their wives (Eph. 5:23).

Second, it seems to me that the underlying spiritual principles of which Paul wrote are more important than the “symbols” of those principles. A wife can wear a head covering, “a symbol” of her husband’s authority over her (11:10), yet continually “disgrace her head” (11:5), her husband, in many other ways. So the important thing is that she always honors her husband, and this is contained in Scripture (Eph. 5:33).

Third, I chuckle when someone says that Paul’s words about head coverings have nothing to do with cultural practices in the ancient world, and thus they should be implicitly obeyed by all generations of Christians in all cultures. Paul wrote, for example, that the woman who prays with her head uncovered is “one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved” (11:5). How many women in your culture shave their heads? In how many cultures of the world, old and more recent, would Paul’s example have any relevance?

If head coverings were a God-ordained “symbol” (11:10), one required by God to be worn by all wives during prayer, you would think that would have been mentioned a few other places in Scripture.

Finally, if you are a woman who is persuaded that God wants you to cover your head when you pray, then do it. But don’t throw a little napkin on top of your head or wear a fancy little hat to church! Cover your entire head! And remember that wearing a head covering does not exempt one from the obligation to obey the second greatest commandment.

Selfishness was surfacing in Corinth even when the believers partook of the Lord’s Supper. Keep in mind that the Lord’s Supper was intended to be a supper and not a snack, which is why it is called the Lord’s Supper. It was a full meal in Corinth, and that is very obvious from what Paul wrote. Moreover, the Corinthians didn’t meet in specially-built church buildings, and so most likely, they ate the Lord’s Supper where they ate most of their meals, in their homes. Members came together and shared food.

Some, however, who arrived first, arrived hungry. Not waiting for the others, they started eating and drinking, with the result that some who arrived late and who were too poor to bring food to share found everything consumed! Worse, they found some who were drunk from the wine! This is not what Jesus envisioned for the sacred meal that He gave to His followers!

Paul admonished the Corinthian believers not only to wait for one another, but also to examine themselves before they partook of the bread and cup, lest they partake in an “unworthy manner” (11:27). Otherwise they endangered themselves of being disciplined by the Lord in the form of sickness and even premature death. Such discipline from God ensures that we “will not be condemned along with the world” (11:32). That is, if God didn’t discipline wayward children, the result is that they would be cast into hell with the unsaved. This is not proof of the doctrine of “once-saved-always-saved,” however, as Scripture teaches that we can reject God’s discipline (Prov. 3:11). Rather, it is one more proof that holiness is required for heaven and not just “faith.”

Is it wrong for Christians to drink wine? Since Paul didn’t condemn the Corinthians for drinking wine (with alcoholic content) during the Lord’s Supper, then the answer must be “no.” Drunkenness, however, is a sin that will exclude one from God’s kingdom (6:9-10). Avoiding all alcohol is always a sure way to stay sober.

This chapter continues the theme of the previous one, that of making sacrifices for the sake of others, which is the essence of love. Paul uses himself as an example.

Paul possessed the God-given right to make his living from the gospel, that is, to be paid by the people to whom he preached. Motivated by love, however, he denied himself that right in Corinth in order to “cause no hindrance to the gospel” (9:12). Remember that we already read in the book of Acts that Paul first earned his living in Corinth by making tents (Acts 18:1-3). When evangelists receive money from those to whom they preach, onlookers are apt to question their motives, using their suspicion as an excuse to reject the gospel.

So is Paul’s example the pattern that every minister of the gospel should follow?

First, any minister who serves at his or her own expense so as not to cause hindrance to the gospel deserves our admiration. Sadly, ministers who also work “secular” jobs are often considered lesser ministers, but Paul set that very example before the elders in Ephesus (Acts 20:34-35).

Second, although Paul did make tents when he first came to Corinth, as soon as Silas and Timothy arrived, he “began devoting himself completely to the word” (Acts 18:5). So it seems that from then on, Silas and Timothy provided for Paul’s needs by their labor (and praise God for folks like them in Christ’s body). Obviously, it was better that Paul devote his full time to the gospel, and when he could do so without having to receive an offering in Corinth, he did. Generally, it is always best if ministers can devote their full time to their ministry, as they will naturally be more fruitful then.

Also keep in mind that Paul was an apostle, and much of his ministry was directed toward the unsaved. By publicly receiving offerings, it may have hindered his ministry. Those whose ministries are directed toward the saved, however, don’t have the same concern. Remember that we read Paul’s words to the Galatians, “The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him” (Gal. 6:6).

All of this is to say that any evangelist or apostle who can find a way to keep from asking for money from his audiences will find a less suspicious reception, and he will likely enjoy more fruit. Along those same lines, every evangelist and apostle should avoid any hint of extravagance or the love of money. Otherwise, he will ensure the damnation of many of his listeners who rightfully doubt his sincerity and thus disbelieve his message, which is obviously not powerful enough to deliver him from his own sin. Pity the many modern televangelists who will soon stand before God, after having flaunted their wealth for years while continually manipulating their audiences to send them more money. For every soul that is saved by their efforts, one hundred are damned.

Several verses that we read today leave us with no doubt regarding Paul’s view of his obligation to keep the Mosaic Law. Even though he was Jewish, he did not consider himself to be under the Law of Moses, but rather, only under the law of Christ (9:20-21). Modern Christians err who put themselves under the Mosaic Law.

That being said, there is moral overlap between the Law of Moses and the law of Christ, so one who keeps the law of Christ will automatically keep part of the Mosaic Law. Moreover, Paul kept some of the distinctive regulations of the Mosaic Law whenever not keeping them would cause hindrance to the gospel, namely, when he was ministering to Jews. We will yet read examples of that very thing as we continue our journey through the book of Acts. Once again, Paul was setting the example of sensitivity that he also prescribed for the Corinthians.

I’m sure you noticed that Paul also prescribed disciplined effort, not unlike that of athletes, in our spiritual race and fight. There is no hope of spiritual progress or ultimate reward without it. Self-denial is the essence of following Christ. Let’s not forget that!

Paul turns his attention to a second question from the Corinthians—about the lawfulness of eating meat that had previously been sacrificed to idols. Before he tackles that issue, however, he first warns of a venom that often poisons those who possess knowledge, namely, pride. “Knowledge puffs up,” he says (8:1). The antidote for knowledge-born pride is not ignorance, but love, consisting of humility, forbearance and concern for those who lack the same knowledge. Those who are growing in the true knowledge of the Lord are also growing in their realization of how little they know, and thus humility should proportionately increase with knowledge. Daily Bible readers, take note!

Paul plants himself squarely on the side of those believers in Corinth who believed that it was not sinful to eat meat that had been previously sacrificed to idols. Certainly God is offended by people’s devotion to idols, a devotion that rightfully belongs to Him. The one who eats meat that was sacrificed to an idol by someone else, however, does not participate in his sin. Yet it is quite easy to see how some, who love God with all their hearts, might think otherwise. This is just what had happened at Corinth.

Paul was concerned that some, who like himself, knew that eating meat sacrificed to idols was not wrong, might cause those who believed otherwise to stumble into doing what they considered sinful. He offered an example:

For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? (8:10)

That is, if a believer (who thinks that eating meat sacrificed to idols is wrong) might see a fellow believer (who knows otherwise) eating at a restaurant connected to an idol’s temple, he might be tempted to join his brother, and in so doing, violate his conscience. Although he isn’t actually sinning by his act of eating meat sacrificed to idols, because he thinks he is sinning, he is sinning, because he is making a decision in his heart to do what he thinks is sin. So his heart rightfully condemns him as he eats.

Paul addressed this same issue in his letter to the Romans, writing:

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).

Because of this, not only is the believer with the weak conscience guilty of sin for doing what he thinks is sin, the one who caused him to stumble into violating his conscience is also guilty of sin against his brother and Christ (8:12). For this reason, we should be sensitive towards fellow believers with “weak consciences,” being careful to do nothing to lead them into doing what they might think is sin. There is nothing wrong, however, with trying to help a believer with a weak conscience overcome his doubts by enlightening him with truth, as proven by Paul’s declarations in this very chapter of the lawfulness of eating meat sacrificed to idols.

Sadly, some have twisted what Paul wrote about “Christian liberty,” promoting liberty from God’s commandments. But standards have been set in God’s Word. Although Paul did not condemn Christians eating meats that were sacrificed to idols, he condemned idolatry as an eternally damning sin, according to what he wrote two chapters earlier (6:9-10). Similarly, when professing believers disagree over the lawfulness of viewing sexually-explicit movies, for example, there is no application found in what we read today. Scripture condemns all forms of immorality, including immorality of the mind.

From this chapter we again see how important it was to the early church to obey the Lord and keep a clear conscience, as well as help others in Christ’s body to keep a clear conscience. If we are unsure about the lawfulness of something, we ought to avoid it until we are sure. According to what we read today, one whose weak conscience is “wounded” might end up “ruined” (8:11-12), or alternately interpreted, “destroyed,” another difficult scripture to reconcile with the idea of unconditional eternal security.