1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1
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1Cor 1-1,2
(122c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to
keep the Church –
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. His confidence in
Christ was absolute. He offered it to those who would doubt him,
confidence in his experiences with God, not only on the road to Damascus
when he first met the Lord, also on many other occasions when the Lord
dealt with Him, referenced in the book of Acts. These were life-changing
moments for him, but there was something more that gave him confidence as an apostle, the stripes on his back. In Gal 6-17 he said
they were
the brand-marks of Jesus resulting from persecution as a Christian,
evangelist and missionary. Many people have had experiences, but
they cannot offer their experiences to people as proof of their apostleship or
of any other aspect of their relationship with God, but Paul could take off
his shirt and show the physical evidence of his faith. These brand-marks that the
enemies of the gospel placed on him
were proof of his apostleship. He didn’t point out the number of churches he
established or rattle off the number of people he led to Christ or list the
number of cities he visited with the gospel as proof of his apostleship, but
displayed his identifying marks that separated him from anybody who would pretend to be an
apostle. Some impersonators are willing to endure a certain level of hardship to deceive the Church, but to be flogged five times with 39 lashes
using a cat-o-nine tails is not something any charlatan is willing to
endure.
1Cor 1-1
(248b) Priorities
>>
God’s priorities >> The will of God >>
God exercises His will
1Cor 1-2
(91l) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> Titles of His calling >>
Called as saints –
Catholics teach that certain people must satisfy a strict set of criteria
before they will be recognized as saints, but Paul is saying that all
born-again Christians are saints of God. We know that everyone in heaven is a
saint, and in this life the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in their
hearts; this is the true criterion of sainthood. If Paul prayed for the saints and Jesus is our intercessor,
then Jesus prays for us in much the same way that Paul did in 2The 1-11,
"That our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with
power." This means we should have as our goal to live as saints. By this
will, God works with us to fulfill every desire for goodness that He placed in
us. We possess nothing that we did not receive. This is the rhetoric that Paul posited
to the Corinthians (1Cor 4-7), questioning them in anger because they were inconsistently
living as saints.
(135n) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Similarity in the body >>
The things we have in common >> Common Lord
(191h) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >>
God sanctifies us through His calling –
God sanctifies us through His calling, but if we don’t answer His call, then
His calling is nullified. Answering His call is what makes us chosen, an aspect of predestination,
according to Jesus’ word in Mat 22-14, “Many are called, but few are
chosen.” God calls many people to become His saints, but only those who
answer His call are chosen. Everyone
who is a Christian has answered the call and was predestined to do so.
Christ has sanctified us through His calling to fill the position that He has
named over us to become a specific brick in His temple, that there
be no missing bricks, which would weaken the Church; if too many bricks were
missing, the structure would collapse. So each person has an obligation to
fulfill his purpose and calling from God, and by doing so will set us apart
from the world to become a unique child of God.
1Cor 1-3
(12j) Servant
>>
Bond servant >> Salutations –
“Grace and peace”; this is how Paul greeted his fellow brethren; it
is a wonderful greeting. When any one of the fruits of the Spirit is mentioned,
it implies them all in the way James said that if we break one commandment
we have violated the Law as a whole (Jm 2-10), so if someone is capable of bearing one
spiritual fruit, he can bear them
all. Grace is how we get to heaven; it is how we come to know God; we offer them
His blessing, who has given us eternal life in paradise. To all
those who would receive it, there is no greater blessing of salutation than the grace of God and the fruits of the Spirit. Jesus said, “As
you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your
blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace”
(Mat 10-12,13). We are not to let others who reject the gospel of Christ
dissuade us of our own grace and peace. We are not to surrender it to anyone,
but to share it. This greeting means that if anyone spends time with us, this is
what they can expect, the goodness of God and the righteousness of
heaven.
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1Cor 1,4-8
(122d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to
keep you
–
Jesus said in Lk 13-24, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” Hard as
we strive, what we do is miniscule compared to what is being done on our behalf to
secure our eternal salvation in heaven, for the Lord is doing most of the work
through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. If it weren’t for Him we couldn’t
be saved or even have an interest in God. Both Paul and Jesus warned, “the
one who endures to the end, he will be saved,” yet when we get to
heaven, we will realize that hard as we tried to maintain the faith,
God stood alongside us and did most of the work, so that most of our effort
was simply letting Him. For example, the poem, Footsteps in the Sand, is
about a person who didn’t think he could continue, but had no choice. He
looked back for a second pair of footsteps and found only one and thought God had
abandoned him, but in heaven when he met God, it was revealed that those
footsteps were the Lord’s, who carried him in times of great difficulty. This is an example of God working in us. When that poem first became popular it was very inspiring, but over
time it became cliché. In fact, many popular Bible verses have become cliché in the
minds of some Christians, while others
hid the meaning in their hearts. See also: God saves us throughout our
lives; Mat 12-20; 32e
1Cor 1,4-7
(34g) Gift of God
>>
God is willing to Give >> He is generous with
His spiritual blessings
1Cor 1-4
(81k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >>
Giving thanks
1Cor 1-5
(80i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word to minister to God >> Know the word to know God
(85h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words that are spoken in faith >> Verbalize your
faith
(249h) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> The infinite and
eternal wealth of God >> Being rich in Jesus
1Cor 1,7-9
(254k)
Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between
Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy
Spirit >> Power of Jesus’ Spirit –
Although the apostle Paul doesn’t speak extensively about the Holy Spirit, he
often refers to Him without using His name, such as in this passage. It is
not actually Jesus who confirms the saints. Jesus can’t; He is in heaven.
Rather, the confirmation of the saints is the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the
person of the trinity who has direct access with us in that He lives in our
hearts. When Paul said we are “called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord,” we are not actually fellowshipping with Jesus, but with the
Holy Spirit. However, the fact that the Holy Spirit and Christ are one suggests that Paul knew exactly what he was saying. In other words,
Jesus has all the experiences of the Holy Spirit, and reports them to His
Father. These transitions within the trinity are seamless so that there is nothing lost in
translation. The
members of the trinity are all one, making their differences irrelevant in that
fellowshipping with one is equivalent to fellowshipping with all. Since Christ and the Holy Spirit are one, to be one with
the Spirit is to be one with Christ. In this way Paul is right in saying
that we have fellow with His Son, but to be specific, we are fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit.
1Cor 1-7,8
(236l) Kingdom of God >>
Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >>
The Rapture >> The day of the Lord
–
The day of our Lord Jesus Christ is unfortunately a controversial subject to
some people in the
Church today. The day of Christ ultimately refers to His second coming,
though there are some who would argue even about that. What does the return of
Christ mean? We can be specific in that he called it a single day as it were a
moment. Paul also spoke about Christ’s appearing (1Tim 6-14; 2Tim
1-10;4-1,8; Tit 2-13), but what does that mean? Paul didn’t write to
unbelievers, so His appearing is in reference to believers, which would
indicate the First Resurrection/Rapture, these two being a single event. Paul’s interest is in Christ
confirming us to the end, blameless in the day of His appearing, writing to
people who are still alive in the flesh. He is not referring to the First Resurrection or
to those
who have already died in the Lord; he is referring to the Rapture.
Paul’s interest in the Church was for the people to let Christ through the
Holy Spirit confirm them blameless until that day. If we put our salvation in
His hand, He will lead us in the faith. We may backslide
occasionally, but so long as we pay attention to He who is working in us to
establish His kingdom in our hearts, our salvation is secure.
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1Cor 1-7
(24e) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Waiting creates
anxiety
(44g) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Transformed >>
Complete >> Lacking in nothing
(108ha) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith
>> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation >> Revelation of
His return
(126k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Patience >>
Have patience for the return of Christ >> The physical return of Christ
1Cor 1-8
(42a) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >>
Blameless before God >> Prepare for His return – The Book of Revelation is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the
culmination of His
revelation is the Rapture. The Book of Revelation is about endtimes in that Jesus is returning at the end of the
age, so when Paul says that
he wants the Corinthian church to be waiting eagerly for His revelation, he
was talking about looking for the things that are in the book of
Revelation to be fulfilled, up to and especially the Rapture. Jesus promised
His disciples that he would return, but never said when. He especially
didn’t want the early Church to know that it would be thousands of years
later, because they never would have waited for Him.
(228h) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> God works in you to keep you
in His will –
It is very comforting to know that God is working in us. This verse correlates with Phi 1-6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He
who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus,” being the key verse for the subject: God Working in You. We have
been charged to do many things, such as preach the gospel of the kingdom,
maintain unity in the Church, help the weak, be students of the word and
disciples of prayer, daily repent of our sins and be constantly vigil and
alert, prepared for every good work. It is good to know that when we grow
weary, when we just don’t have any strength left in us, we can throw
ourselves on the mercies of God and trust in His promises and depend on his
grace, not only to get us through the day but through this life, who will
faithfully lead us victoriously into his heavenly kingdom, where we will spend
eternity with Him in joy and gladness of heart. All the things we do for the
sake of the gospel of Christ is the result of God working in us as Jesus said in Jn 15-5, “Apart
from Me you can do nothing.”
1Cor 1-9
(91f) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> Walking along the narrow way >>
Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose
(102b) Faithfulness
(Key
verse)
(102d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Faithfulness is
dependable >> God is dependable –
God is faithful, and He has called us to be the same. There are subtle
differences between faithfulness and loyalty; they are synonyms. Jesus came from
heaven, clothed in human flesh, whose actions and behaviors corresponded with
the will of His Father; that is loyal. A person who is loyal is
faithful from the heart, but faithfulness alone does not guarantee loyalty. It says we were called into fellowship with His Son.
There are other passages in the New Testament that speak of having fellowship
with one another; John writes about this in his first epistle, and the
prerequisite of having spiritual fellowship is having
fellowship with God. If we are conducting a relationship with
God through the knowledge of His word and through prayer, then we also have fellowship with one
another, but if we have neglected the word of God and prayer, then our
fellowship with one another will suffer.
(208i) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >>
Being the friend of God >> Having fellowship with
God
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1Cor 1-10
(44f) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Transformed >>
Completing the will of God
(69f) Authority
>>
Righteous judgment >> Meditate on discernment >>
Judging what is true –
We live in a society that teaches we should not judge anyone under any
circumstances. Consequently, we should not use the word judgment, yet Paul just
did. Judgment is synonymous with the word “discernment”; the way
Paul was using it, we discern the truth from God. Paul wanted
the Corinthians to have a greater affinity for the truth than a lie.
We Christians all have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and Jesus said, He will lead us
into all the truth (Jn 16-13). That is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus called Him
the Spirit of truth in Jn 14-17.
(78h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Renewing your mind by the word of God >> Be of
one mind, His mind – Paul was very bold with the Thessalonians and said in 1The 2-13, “For
this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of
God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for
what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who
believe.” Paul did not risk his life establishing churches based on his
opinions. Anybody could write letters to churches, but it was the fact that
Paul’s ministry was the work of God that allowed his letters to remain in
social consciousness for thousands of years. Therefore, Paul told them to
focus their attention and center their agreement on the words that he wrote to
them, not on mere opinions, and “be made
complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
(129n) Thy kingdom come
>> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord
>> Having one mind – God wants us
all to agree on the truth, and the ultimate goal
of truth is unity, which can be realized only through the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit of
truth dwells in each believer, and if the saints all seek the truth, then we
will arrive at the truth together. Through our
agreement on the truth, knowledge and obedience will be made complete. This
verse uses many of the same words of Phi 2-1,2. The Philippians were a mature
church, whereas the Corinthians were immature, yet Paul didn’t lower his
standard for the Corinthians because they were spiritually callow but maintained the same
expectations in both churches, and Paul worked very hard to raise their
development to a proper standard of maturity, and unity is that standard. Signs and
wonders are nothing compared to unity as evidence of spiritual maturity; in
fact unity is a prerequisite to signs and wonders and to all the gifts of the
spirit. Unity is the ultimate goal of Christianity according to Jesus (John
chapter 17), nor can
we have true unity in a church without unity between other
churches. We are not islands unto ourselves; nor are we independent of each
other; we are all one in Christ. Each person represents a member of His
body, and we could say the same about churches; they too are members of His
body.
(138i) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >>
Exhorting the people to work together
(158d) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >>
Strife >> Disagreements –
Paul encourages the Corinthians to agree with one another, for having a
contentious spirit
under the pretext of debate is unprofitable. Nothing good comes from
being argumentative. The Spirit of God is not argumentative or
competitive but seeks peace, but He does not compromise the truth. So how do we agree on the truth without arguing about it. If we start with the word of God and end
with the word of God, continually taking the Scriptures into prayer, God will reveal
whatever He wants us to know. Since
Paul was an apostle to the Corinthians, he was telling them to come into
agreement with his teaching, but to erroneously agree on deception is useless.
If we have settled on something other than the truth, our agreement on
deception is actually more ruinous than division. In fact, to be united in satanic
delusion is what endtime prophecy promises will be the condition of the last
days' Church. The false church at that time will fall under a spell that will mimic
unity (2The 2,7-12), but it will not be divine because it will not have its
foundations in the truth. See also: Deception (Satanic delusion);
2Jn-7,8; 183k
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1Cor 1,11-16
(9d)
Responsibility >> Prevent disunity within the body of Christ >>
Prevent division –
The Corinthian church was very worldly and hedonistic, and Paul had to harshly
rebuke them for their fleshly ways. For them to argue with one another about
whether they had been baptized in the name of Paul gives the impression just how
off the mark they had become, and they were the early Church, supposedly the
most spiritual of all Christians. They
were basically making up the truth and stationed Paul as the centerpiece of
their new religion, but he would have none of it. They were not going to make up
a religion about him so long as he was alive and could do something about
it. The Church never did build a religion around Paul throughout the millennia,
because he was not exactly an adorable fellow. There are some in the Church today based on his letters who despise Paul, but
it was probably his intension
to inhibit people from worshipping him. For someone
to not like him is similar to not liking his own father, because that is what
he was to the Church, and his influence with us today is the same through his
writings. He probably had the greatest zeal of anyone and loved God with all his
heart and loved the Church just as much, but to build a religion around Paul
never happened, because he offended everyone. He knew the truth, not
only about God, but also about man, that people have a tendency to worship
anything that breaths, all the more when they quit breathing.
1Cor 1,11-13
(166l) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism
(mindset of the world)
>>
The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >>
The old mind –
The Corinthian Church was not ready to settle down and receive from Paul in a
relaxed manner, but had issues with carnality and doctrine. They
wanted to indulge their flesh, being unwilling to release this life to embrace
the one to come, busily finding doctrines that would
condone their hedonistic pursuits, which created a negative environment that Paul
had to resolve in them. He often could not teach them the deeper things of
God, but had to regularly stop and correct them.
(169l) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory
of man >> Stepping on people to get to the
bottom >> Those who seek their own glory idolize
men
1Cor 1,17-25
(166f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >> Nature of man’s wisdom >>
Man’s wisdom does not know God – The goal of the world is to make God as small
as possible, like astrophysicists have done to His universe with their math
wizardry. They developed formulas to explain the universe
prior to the “Big Bang”, saying that all matter was gathered into a single
point, small enough to fit on the head of a pin, thus minimizing the creation.
After doing this to His
universe, His star witness, they can now take that little dot and throw
it in the
wastebasket, but the only thing that plinked in the trash can was their
future.
1Cor 1-17,18
(149fa) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Preaching the word to the world >> The gospel of
the kingdom >> Preach the gospel of salvation
1Cor 1-17
(75c)
Thy kingdom come >> Motives of the heart >>
Being motivated to do the will of God
–
Paul explains his deliberate manner of preaching, not in cleverness of speech
that the gospel of Christ might be maligned, but in simplicity of truth. In
contrast, there are many cleaver
personalities who are
nullifying the gospel and voiding the cross of Christ preaching a false message
of salvation. Paul deliberately made sure not to do this, so no one
could accuse him of ulterior motives. He did not have the sort of personality that
readily lent itself to idolization, for people are seldom tempted to worship a person
they don’t particularly like, and the way to get people to not like you is to tell
them the truth. Tell them even in love they will still hate you. People may
not have liked Paul, but they respected him, which is what he needed.
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1Cor 1,18-31
(151i)
Witness >> Validity of the Father >>
Witnesses of the father >> Creation is evidence
of God >> No other source but God can explain
the creation – Jesus
rebuked the scribes and Pharisees,
who controlled the interpretation of God’s word, and has continued to
nullify the
wisdom of the world to this present day. There is one obstacle the world will
never hurtle, the creation itself, which is not just evidence of
God, but solid proof that He exists. There
are no other writings but the Bible that come close to describing Him and
His works throughout the ages, written long before science was
established. Science is the world’s alternative to religion, its mouthpiece
to condemn faith. Science is unwilling to believe
anything; rather, its aim is to prove its assertions. Science looks at the
stars and by its own creed cannot believe in a
creator, but develops it own theories about their existence. The fact that man needs a theory about the universe speaks volumes about
the importance of understanding its origins. Man must have an answer, for he
has learned since childhood that everything has a cause. It is God's riddle to
the unbeliever, and if he doesn't show an interest in solving it, he must concur
that he is no higher than the animals. Man’s
wisdom is leading him to all the wrong conclusions, not led him to know God, and it never will, suggesting that man’s
objectivity has an agenda to exclude God
from his world.
(154d) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Witness that the world is
godless >> Witness that the world does not know
God
1Cor 1,18-29
(16k) Sin >>
Continuing in sin to avoid the light >>
Suppressing the truth they cannot deny
– The world doesn’t understand faith, hence
it does not feel the need to believe in God. Some people, such as atheists,
think God should reveal Himself in order to eliminate the need for faith,
but it wouldn't change anything. Meanwhile, the Church not only believes in
God’s existence, but also believes He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. The world would continue in its disobedience fueled by
unbelief, because God does not abide in their hearts. Doesn’t God have a
right to do what He wants with what is His own? There are many good reasons
God does not reveal Himself to the world. Most importantly, God requires faith from man because
God is the
very substance of faith and man was created in His image. God exists, and for
that reason so does everything. Therefore, it is necessary that His children
also share in the composition of God’s essence by believing in Him. See also: God's substance is faith;
1Tim 3-8,9; 230h
(19g) Sin
>>
Having the mental disease of the world >> Man’s
twisted understanding –
Worldly people think they are clever enough to debate with
God, but of course, they do not actually debate with Him but with His
people. They make giant complaints about God and come to the conclusion that
He is evil, and claim this is the reason they don’t serve Him. Many
actually believe they are better than God, and at the
end of the day it is the mindset of every person in hell. God may be bigger, but
worldly people think they know better than God, and they refuse to serve Him,
picturing Him a fool and an ogre. They find fault with Him, thinking
there is something intrinsically wrong with Him, but God finds fault with
them. Those who would argue
with God, who take offense at Him, express their arrogance. God has
made foolish the wisdom of the world, but the world does not see it
that way. God sent Jesus to us, not only as the Son of God but also as the
son of man, the humblest of all, the youngest and servant of all. He
didn’t come as the big kid on the block and
command everybody to fall down and worship Him. The world may have respected
Him for that, but He came as a humble servant, and the world despised Him, because He
wouldn't relate to their sinful nature. The
world views weakness as weakness and strength as strength, whereas Jesus
taught that the least are greatest and the greatest are least. The world
discounts this; they simply disagree, again because it doesn’t correspond
with the sinful nature in their flesh. Had Jesus come in a form their flesh could appreciate, the whole world would have been converted to Christ.
Instead, He came and taught a gospel that was contrary to their fleshly
nature, and for that reason they murdered Him.
(56c) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Humble yourself to be chosen of
God
(62a) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Being clever >> Responding with wisdom to your
enemies >> Outwit them –
God has undermined the
wisdom of the world through the simplicity of the gospel, through the
weakness of Jesus’ flesh nailed to a cross by wicked men, who
thought they had power over Him, but were merely doing what God had
predestined to occur before the foundation of the earth. This is the
foolishness of the world, that they have undermined themselves in the
crucifixion of Christ. Their judge will one day sentence them to eternal
darkness, unless they repent. Man thinks He can play chess with God, but
man is too predictable to make it a contest.
(159m) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit truth
(199i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Rejecting Christ >> The world rejects God >>
World rejects God because it does not know Him
(202g) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Running from the word of
God >> Running from the gospel
(216j) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> You cannot control God’s desire for you
>>
man is not in control of his own destiny
(221d) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom
hidden behind the veil from the world >> God
hides from the mind of man >> He hides behind
man’s intellect –
Man’s wisdom does not arrive at the knowledge of God; instead, it leads
him in the opposite direction. Man’s wisdom will never come to know
God, and for this reason it is imperative to renew our minds in His word.
Man’s wisdom and our fleshly minds are a match, and if we are not careful,
we will become attracted to the knowledge of error and the spirits that
promote deception and embrace darkness. God is not saddened that man’s wisdom leads him in the opposite
direction but is well pleased. If man
and God agreed, that would not be very flattering to God,
because He finds fault with the world. This way, everybody
finds God on Jesus' terms and not according to the world’s wisdom. We must
develop the heart of a servant before we can understand God, because He is
first and foremost a servant to his creation.
(223f) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >>
Missing the point >> Miss the meaning of the
truth
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1Cor 1,18-27
(64j) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Weaknesses of God >>
Foolishness of God – Since man is determined to exclude God from the
world, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save
those who believe. The foolishness of the gospel is a slap in the face to the world's faith in unbelief,
for it
has the power to undermine their wisdom. All we need do is look in the
heavens and see there is a God, and from this we know the world is wrong. Jesus
Christ, the man people would call a fool, is wiser than the world, in that one
day He will be their judge, who will send them to everlasting punishment
for loving evil and rejecting all that is good and right. He came in weakness,
and the world despised Him for it, because it values only strength. He submitted to the cross and allowed people to lay hands on Him,
mistreat and kill Him, but the foolishness of God is wiser than those who
think the Bible is a
fairytale. The weakness of God is stronger than men, who rose from the dead through
the strength of His Father. Those
of His children when this life ends will go to heaven and live
with Him forever, because they have shown their love for His ways, and have
demonstrated their desire for His kingdom more than the kingdoms of this
world.
1Cor 1,18-25
(178d)
Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >>
Presuming the facts about the circumstances >>
Philosophy
(212e) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> He is the creator >>
Evolution (Defaming God) >> The scientific mind
cannot know God
1Cor 1,18-24
(20f)
Sin >> Nature of sin >> Seeking a sign – The wisdom of God is
different from the wisdom of the world, which does not accept God and His faith. The Jews asked
Jesus for a sign to compare with the signs they were anticipating. They could
have asked the people, and they would have told them that He performed many
wonders, but they were not signs they expected to see. They were looking for the
second coming of Christ, who will come in great glory and power, but failed to
see His first coming in the Scriptures as the lowly Lamb of God, and so they
rejected Him. He healed the sick, raised the dead, performed many signs
and had wisdom uncanny to both the Jews and the gentiles, yet these were all of
the wrong type. The signs they sought became stumbling
blocks to the Jews, which blinded their eyes to their Messiah, who stood right
in front of them and they couldn't see Him, just like man’s
wisdom does to the gentiles. This also has application to His second coming! The Church
has a certain criteria
that they are waiting to manifest that will plot their point on the coordinates
of endtime prophecy, but
their signs are skewed, and they will become confused at the time of His return,
proving that false knowledge is worse than ignorance. There
is nothing wrong with a sign, but the problem with them is they require us to know
a little about the future. For this reason signs are as much misleading as they
are leading, which is what happened to the Jews, and will happen to
the Church in the last days.
1Cor 1,18-23
(198b) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Man
withers when he is in control >> Unteachable >>
Too busy being a teacher to learn anything
1Cor 1,18-21
(71b) Authority
>>
Believer’s authority >> We have authority in
the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verses 25-29. These statements are so global in application that it would take a lifetime to
assimilate their full meaning, something we must understand by revelation. The only way we can understand
God's word is to dedicate our lives
to its wisdom, and even then through a course of many years will our
understanding slowly deepen. They are true on a level that
transcends man’s concept of truth, which is merely factual, whereas God’s
truth is infinite and eternal and therefore of a spiritual nature. We can
preach the gospel to people in the world, who will consider us fools for
believing it, “but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
Every believer is being transformed, continually
increasing in the knowledge of God, becoming better people over years of
service. God will help us overcome our weaknesses so we are no longer slaves
of sin, emerging from dark influences and setting our lamp on the table
for all to see the work that God has performed in us.
KJV
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1Cor 1-18
(37j) Judgment
>>
Jesus emptied Himself of all His blood
(38b) Judgment
>>
Blood of Jesus >> God judged man through the
blood of His son
–
Partially
understanding the progression of God setting aside man's wisdom, He mocks the
ungodly man who rejects the gospel of Christ. Of his so-called great wisdom,
man defends himself from the gospel, with all his
arguments unraveling at his death. We are all indebted to the earth for our bodies,
which originated from the earth and will return to the earth when we are done
with it, and all the sinner's wisdom will die with him and be forgotten, and then eternity will bury
him under endless layers of time. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God's
wisdom, who said, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you"
(Lk 12-20). He came in the weakness of
human flesh as the servant of all, submitted to His Father and spoke the oracle of God
to rebellious Israel during His 3½-year ministry,
until those who heard could no longer endure Him and had Him
crucified, that his death might fulfill the requirement of old
covenant temple worship, which they performed through the blood of bulls and
goats for centuries as practice for murdering their Messiah, as instituted by Moses. God raised Him from the dead three days later, never to
die again; He was received in heaven as the King of angels to eventually
become Lord of the earth, in the process of subjecting all things to Himself. Jesus
accomplished all these things as the lowliest of all servants, but man insists
that God's wisdom is impotent.
(47j)
Judgment >> God judges the world
>>
Eternal judgment against unbelief toward Christ –
Those who want heaven must treat their own flesh as their worst enemy, and how
did Jesus tell us to treat our enemies? We must love them and pray for them
but by no means trust them. We must hate sin and love the sinner. That is, we
should love ourselves but hate our sinful nature and seek to suppress it and
keep its ugly influence from rising and taking over our lives. Salvation is all about the Holy Spirit dwelling in the
believer, not in our flesh but in our spirit, so when we meet God at death,
the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, but He cannot dwell in the unbeliever. That would be like
pouring new wine into old wineskins (Mat 9-17). How could God let unbelieving
man into His heaven who will not let the Holy Spirit into his heart, or how
could God trust him to submit to His authority in eternity?
(66h)
Authority >> Jesus’ authority
>>
His cross is the power of God -- This verse goes with verses 25-29
(87m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Obedience >> Committed to the word of God – We believe the
Bible is God's truth, since there are no other competitive writings that come close to explaining
Him. We believe God is the kind of person who would
leave a record of Himself for us to follow, a written testimony of His dealings with man
throughout the ages.
(94f) Thy kingdom come
>>
God’s perspective >> His perspective on the
gift of God -- This verse goes with verse 25
(96e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Positive attitude toward God >>
Good attitude toward Jesus
(111f) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power
(meaning) of God >> Word in obedience cannot
evade the power of God
(201f) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >>
The cross offends the world -- This verse goes with verse 23. God
was well pleased with the foolishness of the gospel that automatically screens
people from heaven through their unbelief. Man rejects the gospel when it
doesn’t fit with their
sinful nature. God is well pleased that He didn’t have to judge the wicked,
in that they have judged themselves unworthy of eternal life (Act 13-46). Those who
believe the gospel modify their lives to accommodate the message, while those
who don’t believe reject it, because it doesn’t fit in their secular,
humanistic worldview, which is conveniently based on the elementary principles
of their sinful nature that allows them to follow the inclinations of their
flesh. Those who follow their sinful nature have no hope of
the afterlife and fade into the eternal darkness and are lost forever. Once
death claims them,
they are unable to change, permanently fixed with no hope of repentance or opportunity to show a change of
heart.
(208a) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
The kindness of God >> The cross
KJV
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1Cor 1,19-31
(84g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Boasting in men is not
needed
1Cor 1,19-29
(22k) Sin
>>
Pride glorifies self >> Being wise in your own
eyes – God made a written record in the Scriptures
of all His words and deeds, detailing the manner in which He has related to
mankind through Israel, and that record is foolishness to the world, yet
the word of God makes it easy for His people to believe in
Him. We not only have evidence of God in His word, we also have proof in
the creation, so the
world is without excuse. God has made foolish the wisdom of the world,
starting with the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who put themselves
in charge of interpreting God's word, and accordingly missed the coming
of their own messiah. Jesus completely undermined their wisdom, showing that they had come to
all the wrong conclusions about virtually everything. God is doing the very
same thing to the Church
today. Are we wiser than the
Pharisees? Maybe we too are wise only in our own eyes.
(207f) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
The Kingdom of God >> Children of God’s
kingdom
1Cor 1,19-24
(95a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perspective >> False perspective in the world
1Cor 1,19-23
(167g) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism
(mindset of the world)
>>
The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >>
It does not understand the word of God
(195f) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >>
Worshipping men >> Idolizing men
1Cor 1,19-21
(246i) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God
demonstrates His glory >> Demonstration of His
words
1Cor 1,21-31
(77h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Tapping into the power of God through humility >>
The high position of a humble servant – Not many important or talented
people come to the Lord, for their giftedness becomes an impediment to
believing in Jesus.
Those who consider themselves wise think they are above Him.
Instead, God has chosen the weak and foolish people of the world to shame the
so-called “wise” and “strong.”
1Cor 1,21-24
(89j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Jesus
is the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verse 30. God filtered His elect from the world by sending Jesus Christ
to save those who would receive Him by subjecting their sinful flesh to
His will in order to serve Him. The wisdom of the world leads people to reject
God, disseminated from the prince of the power of the air, from a spirit that corresponds with their
corrupt nature. People are unwilling to subject their passions and desires and
their addictions and bondages to the will of God, and they are unwilling to subject their philosophies and ideas and their attitudes and values to
the wisdom of God. This is forthcoming when we talk to people about Jesus and
discover their stubbornness, up-close and personal. Some will be honest and say
they have a lifestyle they don’t want to sacrifice for the cause of Christ,
and others will debate and argue according to the wisdom they received from the social malaise of this present
darkness. Either way, to believe in a simple gospel about a loving God who wants to
save them from their sins they consider trite and out-a-step with the world.
Who then can be saved? "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible" (Mat 19-25,26).
KJV
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1Cor 1,21-23
(156l) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >>
Associating with the world
(168f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world listens
to itself >> The world receives itself
1Cor 1-21
(166a) Wisdom Of The World
(Key verse)
(217i) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over
man >> I never knew you >>
Because you never knew Him
(247j) Priorities
>>
God’s priorities >> God’s interests >>
God’s interests are not man’s interests
1Cor 1-22
(132f) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> God gives his spirit as a
pledge >> God pledges His Spirit
1Cor 1-23
(201f) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >>
The cross offends the world -- This verse goes with verse 18
1Cor 1,24-29
(91i) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> God’s calling transcends the
will of man >> We are called by God through His
choice of us
– God’s children are by no means the dregs of
society or a hodgepodge of mentally challenged droolers, who can’t make a
go of this world. On the contrary, many who are born of God never felt they had a place
in this world or felt comfortable in their own skin, and for this reason they
are Christians. Paul is saying that the Church is full of people who are
dissatisfied with life and don’t see true meaning in the world and feel there
is something bigger and better than what the world offers, and they sense that
God is the solution to their quandary.
KJV
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1Cor 1,25-31
(23f) Sin >>
Poverty (Oppression) >> Rich are those who are
poor in their own minds
–
The Bible says there will be a new heavens and a new earth, and it says that
the New Jerusalem is a place of great splendor and glory, as Jesus said,
"In my Father's house are many mansions," and so there is much wealth and
glory in heaven, not because God values stuff, but because He is
rich can afford it. Since most Multibillionaires in this world live in nice
palaces, what kind of house does God have, who has only to imagine and speak it
into being? It is unimaginably glorious because He is a great King, though He
proved He doesn't need all that stuff when He came here and lived modestly
among us. God is more than a trillionaire and more
than a gazillionaire; He has nice things to be a good host to us and to mock the
wicked, but He doesn’t personally value being wealthy. When Jesus came and lived among us, He
revealed His true heart as He is also in heaven. He didn’t choose poverty as
though He gravitated to it, but shared in our suffering and at the same time
showed us His value system, revealing that He would rather have us than all
the riches of heaven. The religious leaders considered Him a fool
for having such power and not using it to exploit the people for personal
gain, though they would have
hated Him all the more for becoming rich and famous and stealing their
pageantry.
(64h) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Weaknesses of God >>
God subjects himself to human frailty >> His
weakness is stronger than men –
The religious leaders who so often confronted Jesus considered Him foolish,
because He was a miracle worker and drew large crowds, yet He lived in
poverty. He associated with sinners (as they called them) and cared about the poor. He didn’t focus on things that the world values, such as power and
prestige and has commanded us to live
according to these same principles, which make us also appear foolish; hence,
there are only two conditions that can exist in this world: either we are weak and
foolish, or we are shamed by the weak and foolish, and either way there is no
place for boasting. A result of the curse is that God appears weak and foolish,
and the world is weak and foolish to God. It is only when we receive Him as
Lord and savior and serve Him in Spirit and Truth that we see Him as Mighty God, acting by the principles of His
character that make Him Lord of all creation. He flourished throughout eternity past and will preserve His kingdom
in eternity future, for God is in it for the long haul.
1Cor 1,25-29
(66h) Authority
>> Jesus’ authority
>>
His cross is the power of God -- These verses go with verse 18. Jesus is an example of someone weak and foolish
in the eyes of the world, hanging Him on a cross as though from a lack of
fortitude with natural selection weeding out another wimp. The Pharisees despised
Jesus for having the power of healing in their hands and not using it to
become filthy rich; had God endowed them with this gift, they would have sold His miracles and made a fortune. The people would
have formed a line down the street and around the corner, giving their money
to them, just like the doctors do today. Had Jesus done this, the
Pharisees may have been jealous, but they would have at least respected Him as one of
their own, but to give Himself freely to the people made Him incomprehensible
to them like an alien from another planet, possibly best explaining why they
hung Him on the
cross.
(71b) Authority
>>
Believer’s authority >> We have authority in
the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verses 18-21
(112d) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Light >> Jesus light in us overcomes darkness >>
The light of His power
1Cor 1,25-28
(37i) Judgment
>>
Blood of Jesus >> He emptied Himself >>
From equality with God to human frailty –
Jesus performed His miracles for the poor and healed their bodies and revealed
to everyone that He was no ordinary man. He got everyone’s attention through
His miracles, then opened His mouth and spoke the word of God, so the people
rejected Him in full knowledge, their sin fully defined, proving they
valued the world more than they valued God. The religious
leaders sought honor, posing as the greatest men of their time;
meanwhile, people tried to make Jesus king, and He resisted their efforts (Jn
6-15). He was a fool in the eyes of the world, because He viewed their riches
and glory with contempt. After His 3½-year ministry performing miracles, they figured He
could perform one more and pop off the nails and jump to safety in perfect health, and when He
died, they viewed Him with all the more contempt
as a man who may have performed a few miracles and had a little insight into
the Scriptures, but at His core He was weaker than them. When He rose from the dead, he never presented
Himself alive to His enemies
but showed Himself only to His followers who believed in Him, 500 witnesses at
one time (1Cor 15-6).
(96h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having an attitude of humility
KJV
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1Cor 1-25
(64g) Weakness
of God
(Key verse)
(94f) Thy kingdom come
>>
God’s perspective >> His perspective on the gift
of God -- This verse goes with verse 18. God's foolishness
is wiser than men, and His weakness is stronger
than men. Jesus not only came in the weakness of human flesh, He also came in
the foolishness of the gospel, operating under God’s so-called inferior
principles, appearing weaker than His enemies. When
God invited us to become citizens of a heavenly city, He also called us to be sheep in the midst of wolves. Jesus lived
for thirty-three years as a sheep among wolves, coming in weakness to demonstrate the love of God, and
He has called us to do likewise. This love, appeared weak and foolish compared to the
laws of nature that normally wins in the end. What is stronger, a lion that tears
apart a gazelle, or Jesus who rose from the dead,
never to die again? To us who believe, the gospel of Christ is the power of God,
because it holds promise for the resurrection from the dead, and death is the
one obstacle that man can never hurtle without Christ. Man can solve many
problems, but he cannot solve the problem of his own mortality that has plagued
him since the Garden debacle.
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1Cor
1,26-31
(56k) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Least are greatest >> Smallest in the eyes of men are
big to God –
The Pharisees considered Jesus a fool for not converting His miraculous powers into a
money making scheme, which is what they would have done. They had to get rid of
Him, for He was a threat to the persona they expected the people to believe
about them, and He was a threat to their business of religion, but in the end His kingdom will reign
forever, and we will reign with Him in glory. No one can boast before God, not the contrite,
for they have no interest, and not the proud, the opportunity taken from
them.
1Cor 1,26-29
(62o) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Righteous deception >>
God deceives the world –
God puts His Spirit in little people and they do big things. They go unnoticed
like insects that are a world unto themselves, so is the Church a kingdom unto itself,
working under the feet of the mighty and the noble to keep the world from
annihilating itself. The Church is able to accomplish many
things before it is noticed, and the world is better for it, the momentum
having already shifted in our favor before the world has a chance to react.
Jesus is the creator of the universe, Israel’s Messiah,
the Son of God, the greatest man to have ever lived, but while He lived in the
flesh, he went unnoticed, and so the people in His hometown who knew Him
from infancy could not accept that He was able to perform
miracles, though they were eye witnesses of His eloquence and wisdom. They could not fathom where He got His abilities,
because of His anonymity. He was born in a stable and lived in Galilee, having grown into
manhood without anyone noticing Him, unassuming in appearance and behavior. All his relatives and neighbors familiar with Jesus were
offended at Him, thinking they knew Him, but they knew only what they
wanted to know. In that way God deceived them to discount His Son, small and insignificant, and
in this way so is the Church.
Nobody knows the potential of a Christian, except those who know and love God.
We know our potential to be a blessing and our ability to change the world in
ways nobody else can. This age of grace has continued for
2000 years and man has not destroyed himself because of the Church. We are the
salt of the earth, the preservative of the world for those who refuse to have a conscience of their
own.
(94a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perspective on this life >> It
is our investment in the Kingdom of God –
The cross of Jesus Christ undermined the world and poured contempt on all its strength, wisdom and authority that
it uses to prove its greatness.
Man uses his wisdom to explain God's absence, and when He appeared, he
used his violence to hang Him on a cross. All man accomplished was to fulfill God’s predetermined plan, so now anyone who believes
in Jesus’ blood sacrifice may have eternal life. Man’s satanically driven ambition
to lay their hands on Jesus was based on God's permission, which man interpreted as weakness. Man receives his wisdom from Satan,
who attempted
to overpower God by nailing Him to a tree to prove he was greater
than God, but it was a divine trap designed for the Satan's downfall and for
man's salvation. Rom 8-3 says, “As an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”
It was God’s intended plan from the beginning. He knew that giving man free
will would result in rebellion against Him, and He knew that in his
rebellion he would kill His Son, and He determined before creating the heavens
and the earth that anyone who would believe in His blood sacrifice would be grounds for
healing their relationship
with God. In this way God destroyed man's strength through weakness; in His most vulnerable position God made
foolish the wisdom of the world. His eternal purpose was demonstrated that
he should not accept anyone in His kingdom who feels he deserves to be there.
Consequently, to partake of Jesus’ sacrifice, we must divest our pride, confess our sins and
realize that if it weren’t for Jesus no
one would go to heaven.
(219b) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> Man
is not in control of God’s calling
1Cor 1-27
(153k) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Shame >>
Living for Jesus exposes sin >> Your walk with
God puts others to shame
1Cor 1-30
(41g) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >>
God’s righteousness is His doing
(89j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Jesus
is the wisdom of God -- This verse goes with verses 21-24
(117e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith
>>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >>
Let Him work on you
(191g) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >>
God sanctifies us by His doing –
When a person wants to get saved, she asks the Lord in her heart
and is born-again to eternal salvation, and from that moment the process of sanctification
begins, which is defined as salvation in this life. The Bible teaches
that if we are unwilling to let God save us in this life, then neither are we
saved in the life to come. Nevertheless, many Christians these days interpret
salvation as
having permission to live however they want while God sanctifies them, but
this is self-contradictory and some of the worst theology ever devised. We would
hardy find a Christian who would admit they believe this, yet most Christians live this way, meaning they
believe this on some level. God orchestrates our sanctification, but we are the ones following
Him with our feet on the
ground running into the fray. Whatever God commands, we obey, and by that we
are sanctified, set apart from the world to do the Lord's work. In the
process of sanctification Paul said we become wisdom from God, righteousness and
redemption. Eph 2-10, speaks about doing the works that God has prepared for
us, which is the concept of sanctification, possibly the
poorest understood teaching of the Bible, yet the most popular teaching is in Eph 2-8,9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works,
so that no one may boast.” By this we think works are of no use, and so we
discount all teachings that prescribe having good works, but Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of
the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mat
5-20). He didn’t raise the bar very high telling us that we need to be
better than law-breakers who were utterly corrupt. Nevertheless, putting these
two teachings together we get Eph 2,8-10, ‘By the righteousness of God we
obtain heavenly salvation through grace, leading to an earthly salvation
through sanctification.
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