Milo

2 Corinthians

INTRODUCTION
Paul’s second Letter to the Corinthians was written a short time after the first. Though some of his instructions were followed, many in Corinth still seem to have rejected the apostle’s authority. This most open and revealing of Paul’s letters is an “apology”: a defense of his apostleship and a compelling revelation of his motives in ministry.
Highlights include Paul’s explanation of New Covenant ministry, his expression of confidence in God’s transforming power, his teaching on giving, and his clarification of apostolic authority.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
I.
Personal Items
2 Cor. 1–2
II.
New Covenant Ministry
2 Cor. 3–13
A. Principles
2 Cor. 3–5
B. Practice
2 Cor. 6–7
C. Giving
2 Cor. 8–9
D. Authority
2 Cor. 10–13

GOD AND COMFORT
2 Corinthians 1:1–2:4

“God . . . who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:3–4).

Only the hurting know what it means to be comforted by God.

Overview
Paul praised his God of Comfort (1:1–7), and shared a personal experience (vv. 8–11). He explained his failure to visit, which had been misunderstood (v. 12–2:2), and the reason for his earlier, blunt letter (vv. 3–4).

Understanding the Text
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” 2 Cor. 1:1. This unusual greeting reflects on the background of this letter. Paul’s ministry had been challenged, and the apostle rejected, by many of the Corinthian Christians. This had to hurt Paul. But it did not shake him. His appointment as an apostle did not come from the Corinthians, but from God. It’s not what they wanted, but what God willed that counted.
I’ve known many people who have suffered rejection. I’ve heard pastors weep over being considered—and treated—as nothing more than an employee of the church rather than a minister called by God. I’ve heard moms and dads with rebellious children weep too.
Paul would understand. And his response to the Corinthians’ reaction serves as a guide to all of us in similar situations. Remember first who has appointed you to your role, whether it be pastor or parent, and serve Him. As the rest of this letter shows, keep on loving. Keep on sharing.

“The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” 2 Cor. 1:3–5. God is not only the source of His servants’ authority, He is the source of our comfort as well.
Paul was sure that God understands. He suffers along with us, for as members of Christ’s body we are experiencing the overflow of His suffering.
It’s all right to weep when the pain is great. But never imagine yourself alone. The God of compassion and comfort is right there with you, and if you will, you can sense His loving arm around you.

“If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation” 2 Cor. 1:3–6. This is one of the most powerful ministry principles to be found in the entire Bible. Paul explained in verse 4: God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
What Paul was saying is that people can identify with those who share the same pain. Have you lost a baby? Then those who have lost a child will understand. Have you known the anguish of a divorce? Then those whose marriages have crumbled know you understand them!
Why is this so important? Because the first reaction to any words of comfort is likely to be, “But you don’t understand what I’m going through.” Talk to such folks about God’s comfort, and anything you say will seem empty and foolish. But listen to their pain, share enough so they know you do understand, and then share the comfort God has given you. This the sufferer can hear.
If you’ve ever anguished over the pain in your life, and cried out, “Why?” here is one possible answer. The pain has equipped you to minister to others who suffer now as you have. Without experiencing their pain there is nothing you could say that would be heard.
It is only because you hurt that you can help others heal.

“Just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort” 2 Cor. 1:7. We parents have this terrible weakness. We don’t want our children to go through all the troubles we have had. I find I don’t care about winning Lotto for myself. But I sometimes daydream about what it would mean for my boys.
It’s foolish, I know. God, lacking this kind of weakness, knows what Paul also understood. Only by going through the painful experiences as Paul himself, would the Corinthians become strong in their faith and commitment to God.
We parents need desperately to understand this principle. The overprotective mom and dad, who try to isolate their children from the troubles of life, do them terrible harm.

“We despaired even of life” 2 Cor. 1:8–11. Paul had that most unusual of qualities: moral courage.
What I mean is this. Most of us, if our authority were challenged, would rise to meet the challenge. We’d ready ourselves for war, gather all our strength, and march out to meet the rebels on the field of battle.
But not Paul. He actually humbled himself to meet the challenge! He put off his weapons, and exposed his weaknesses!
Is an apostle supposed to feel at the end of his strength, unable to endure a day longer? (v. 8) Is an apostle supposed to feel despair? (v. 8) Isn’t the dark valley of depression something that only pagans experience, while believers dance on sunlit mountaintops for joy? Some may think so. But Paul knew better. And Paul knew something else too. Only as we minister from weakness, in transparent honesty, will we win others to commitment to Jesus Christ, and to trust in us.
Paul was an apostle. But he was also a human being. Because he suffered, he came to know God’s comfort as a reality in his life. In this letter Paul was about to share all, and expose his humanness. Yet in the process he would reveal something else. God was, and had been, at work in his life.
If we want to touch others’ hearts, we must take the path the apostle trod.

“In the holiness and sincerity that are from God” 2 Cor. 1:12–14. Today we call it transparency and honesty. Or we say, so and so is “real.” Paul used theological terms instead of psychological and ethical ones. But the essential meaning is the same. The holy and sincere among us live without masks. They let us know them and their hearts. They are not perfect, but they are growing. We come to understand them even as we understand what they teach.
In a world when men and women wear masks, the person who wears his real face is often misunderstood. The face he presents is assumed to be a mask too. But keep on living that life of holiness and sincerity. In time everyone will know who you are.
And through you they will come to know God.

“It was in order to spare you that I did not return” 2 Cor. 1:15–2:4. Paul had heard that some in Corinth scoffed at the idea that Paul loved them. And they pointed to the fact that instead of coming himself, Paul wrote them a blunt and (to them) insensitive epistle. “Holy and sincere? Paul? Ha!”
Holiness and sincerity do imply being a person of one’s word. Paul fully intended to carry out his promise to visit Corinth again. So he explained why he hadn’t been able to do so yet—and why he hadn’t wanted to! Rather than hurt his beloved Corinthians, he wrote so they would have an opportunity to correct what was wrong in their fellowship! It’s not unusual for a “holy and sincere” individual to be misunderstood. People are likely to impute shameful motives to the best intended actions. People are also likely to criticize actions they don’t understand. When that happens to you, it’s best to follow Paul’s example. Keep on affirming your love. Explain the motives and feelings that lie behind what you have done. Don’t take personal offense. And don’t quit.
Most of all, don’t quit living that holy and sincere life.
You and I can’t help what others say about us. But we can make sure that what they say isn’t true.

DEVOTIONAL
Caring Enough
(2 Cor. 2:1–4)
Sometime ago David Augsburger wrote an excellent book called Caring Enough to Confront. In it he showed that if we really care about others, we will be willing to confront them when their actions call for it.
Paul, who cared enough to confront the Corinthians in his first letter, shows us here just how to go about confronting.
First, he confronted to avoid a greater grief that would otherwise distort their relationship (v. 1). Confronting is a way to keep relationships strong and warm, for things left unmentioned can bring grief.
Second, his goal was not to hurt but to heal (v. 2). Confrontation works only when your motive is to help the other person. Don’t think you can confront in anger or antagonism. Your hostility will come through more strongly than any of your words.
Third, he expected a positive response. It takes a large dose of trust in others to free us to confront. Paul’s trust had solid roots in his faith in God. He knew God was at work in his brothers and sisters. God would use his blunt words to help them and to heal.
Finally, Paul hurt with the Corinthians as he confronted them. He wrote “out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears” (v. 4). Confrontation must grow out of and be an expression of love. You need to hurt along with the person you confront. Your pain will prove your love, and move the other person to respond.
Do you care enough to confront others when they go wrong? If you do, be sure your confrontation is marked by a desire to deepen the relationship, by love, by positive expections—and by personal grief and pain.

Personal Application
Confronting is one of those gifts we only give if we care enough.

Quotable
“The better friends you are, the straighter you can talk, but while you are only on nodding terms, be slow to scold.”—Francis Xavier

RESURRECTION AHEAD
1 Corinthians 15–16

“So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42–44).

Life for the Christian never ends. New and endless life lies ahead.

Background
Resurrection. A number of Old Testament passages suggest that God intends to resurrect His saints (cf. Job 14:14; Pss. 17:15; 73:23–26; Isa. 25:8; Dan. 12:2). Yet the doctrine takes clear and definite form only in the New Testament, where the resurrection of Jesus serves as history’s great example, and 1 Corinthians 15 provides the exhaustive teaching.
It’s important to realize that incidents in the Old and New Testaments of bringing the dead back to life are not resurrections. They were simply restorations to earthly life, and the persons so restored were doomed to die again.
On the other hand, resurrection involves a transformation of the believer’s body; an infusion of immortality that renders the believer forever free from the powers of sin and death. It is this transformation, which awaits us at Christ’s return, that Paul deals with in 1 Corinthians 15.

Overview
Jesus’ resurrection is a thoroughly attested historical event (15:1–11), essential to Christian faith (vv. 12–34). And the bodily resurrection that awaits us is God’s final victory over death! (vv. 35–58) Paul closed with an exhortation to give (16:1–4), personal remarks (vv. 5–18), and greetings (vv. 19–24).

Understanding the Text
“This is what we preach, and this is what you believed” 1 Cor. 15:1–11. Ancient mystery religions featured mythical stories of gods who died and were restored to life. These represented the seasons of the year; the deadness of winter, followed by the revitalization of plant life in the spring, in the never-ending, repeated cycles of nature. But such folklore offered no hope to the individual, who when fallen was planted in the ground, never to rise again.
And then God broke into history in the person of Jesus Christ. It is no myth that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day as predicted in the Scriptures. It is no myth that the risen Jesus, who appeared to many witnesses, dies no more. And this, Paul says, is “of first importance” (v. 3). The endless, hopeless cycle represented in ancient nature and mystery religions was broken by a real, historical event: an event that displays the power of the true God—and offers mankind hope.
The literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus is central to the Christian faith. It took place in history—in real space and time. And as Jesus was raised from the dead in this fashion, you and I will be too!

“If Christ has not been raised” 1 Cor. 15:12–19. The notion that the soul persists after death was common in Greek thought. But the idea of a bodily resurrection was not. So some in Corinth spiritualized the resurrection, as some do even today. It was Jesus’ “spiritual presence” that the disciples sensed after the Crucifixion. And it was the awareness that what Jesus stood for would never die that transformed the disciples into bold missionaries of a new, positive faith.
To Paul, this was utter nonsense. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (v. 14). “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (v. 17).
What God did for us in Jesus was real. Christ became a real human being, lived a real human life, died a real human death. He was actually raised from the dead in a transformed body, and now lives an endless life. Because the historical Jesus experienced a historical death and resurrection, and only because of this, our salvation is secure.

“So in Christ all will be made alive” 1 Cor. 15:20–29. I enjoy science fiction. The imagination that creates new worlds and strange beings delights me. But when I read I’m always aware of the difference between science fiction and truth. One exists only in the realm of the mind. The other exists in the realm of space and time. The one is fantasy, the other historical, solid, real.
True Christianity is firmly rooted in history. It is touchable stuff. Jesus told Thomas to: “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side” (John 20:27). This reminds us all that what we believe is historical, solid, real.
If the past that Scripture describes is real, so is the future! We can look forward to the flowering of the new era Christ introduced in His resurrection. We can know that the day is coming when it will be our turn to rise. To rise, and share in the ultimate reign of God over all.

“Baptized for the dead” 1 Cor. 15:29–34. This is the only reference in Scripture to this practice. Apparently some in Corinth were baptized for dead loved ones, assuming that somehow this rite, that symbolized participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus, might assure their resurrection too. Paul didn’t cite the practice because he approved. He cited it only to show that it is inconsistent to both deny resurrection, and then be baptized for the dead in hopes of winning resurrection for them.
Paul believed totally in resurrection, and his life demonstrated it. Knowing and valuing what lies ahead more than present pain or pleasure, Paul “endangers” himself “every hour.”
What Paul said makes sense. Our lives should be consistent with our beliefs. How is your life different from that of others because you know resurrection lies ahead?

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable” 1 Cor. 15:35–39. We can’t know what our resurrection bodies will be like. Paul himself could only draw analogies.
Our present body is like a seed. When placed in the ground a seed is transformed and becomes a vital, living plant. Resurrection is something like this.
Adam and Christ provide another analogy. The body we inherit from Adam is flesh and blood, driven by its material (“earthy”) character. The body we will receive through our relationship with Jesus is spiritual, and like His, will be driven by its spiritual character.
The analogies are insufficient. One thing we do know, however. We who die in weakness will be raised in power, to be forever like our Lord (see DEVOTIONAL).

“Your labor in the Lord is not in vain” 1 Cor. 15:50–58. The author of Ecclesiastes looked back over a busy and successful life, and declared it meaningless. All he had accomplished meant nothing, he complained, for he would die. And what he had built would be left to another (Ecc. 2:17–23).
Paul, however, shouted out in triumph. What we accomplish for Jesus is never in vain. Death is not the end! Death is a defeated enemy, to be swallowed up in victory when God clothes us with immortality. All that we accomplish for the Lord will reflect His glory for eternity.

“Now about the collection” 1 Cor. 16:1–4. After the theological “high” of chapter 15 Paul now brings us down to earth with talk about money. Right?
Not at all. There’s a logical bridge here. Because resurrection lies ahead, and what we do for the Lord on earth is not in vain, money has heavenly significance. We use it now with eternity in view.
Paul suggested we give systematically, weekly, “in keeping” with our income. (He had more to say on this in 2 Cor.)
Do keep resurrection in mind as you reconsider your giving. What you spend is gone. What you give is yours forever.

“Do everything in love” 1 Cor. 16:5–24. The close of this letter is warm with love. Here as at the end of Romans Paul mentions person after person—people he knew and cared about—people he wanted the Corinthians to care about too.
“Love” can’t be an abstract concept for us Christians. It’s a people concept, and only becomes real as we spend time with others.

DEVOTIONAL
Sown Perishable
(1 Cor. 15:42–57)
Dad didn’t want to go with my sister and me to meet with the doctor. We all knew what the verdict would be. Cancer.
Later Eunice and I told Dad what the doctor had said. The cancer was all through his body. It was just a matter of months.
I moved into my childhood home to take care of Dad those last weeks. At first he sat out in the living room with me and talked or watched TV. As a fighter, Dad overcame many a physical adversary during his 86 years. Now he felt frustrated. This was something he couldn’t fight.
Soon he was unable to sit up, and he stayed in bed. As the pain got worse, I gave him regular shots of morphine. I listened as he ranged over his life in his delirium. And I watched his body shrink.
When the men from the funeral home took his body away, he seemed no larger than a small child, curled up on his side. This wasn’t the father I’d known in my childhood, so big and so strong. It wasn’t my fishing companion of our later years. It couldn’t be. And yet it was. As Paul says, the body is sown perishable. Sown in dishonor. Sown in weakness.
But the glorious message of the Gospel is that the shriveled body that returns to the earth is nothing like the body that will be raised! I’ll see my father again. I’ll share with him in the coming resurrection. And when I do, the body in which he dwells will be imperishable, glorious, bearing no mark of man’s weakness, but only the mark of God’s power.
That’s the vision I have of my dad today. Not the withered frame that lay dead on the bed in my boyhood home. But the vibrant form of the man I knew, vitalized by God’s transforming power.

Personal Application
Thanks be to God who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Quotable
“Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.”—B.F. Westcott

CHURCH PRIORITIES
1 Corinthians 14

“I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified” (1 Cor. 14:5–6).

We gather to worship and build one another up.

Background
More about tongues. Modern exercise of the gift of “speaking in tongues” has become a divisive issue in many churches. A careful study of 1 Corinthians 14 should correct excesses of those on both sides of this issue. On the one hand, the validity of the gift of tongues was not challenged by Paul, nor was its exercise. On the other hand, Paul offered no support to those who held that this gift is “the” test of having received the Holy Spirit. In fact, Paul’s argument hinged on intelligibility. Whatever happens when Christians gather as Christ’s church must be for the building up of believers. Speaking in tongues does not make this contribution, unless the speaker interprets what he or she said.
But perhaps the greatest contribution to settling the controversy was made earlier, in 1 Corinthians 8. There Paul taught that doctrinal disputes do not need to divide Christians if those on each side consider the possibility that they may not have all the answers. Those on each side should constantly express their love for those with whom they differ, seeking to build them up rather than tear them down (8:1–4, see DEVOTIONAL).

Overview
Intelligible speech is to have priority in church meetings (14:1–19), where “tongues” has limited value (vv. 20–25). Participation during services is to be orderly (vv. 26–40).

Understanding the Text
“Especially the gift of prophecy” 1 Cor. 14:1–5. The exact nature of the gift of prophecy as exercised in the first-century church is much debated. Some take 13:8, “prophecies . . . will cease,” to mean that after the New Testament writings were complete, special revelations given through members of local congregations were no longer needed. The original “gift of prophecy” has been transmuted into a gift of preaching the Word.
Others hold that this is a gift of revelation. Not that prophecy replaces the Word of God, but that it somehow supplements, while remaining subordinate to, Scripture.
Paul’s view was clear. “Prophecy” is instruction uttered in plain, ordinary speech so everyone can understand, that builds up believers. Whatever prophecy was, it did the same thing for the church that a mother does when talking about God as she tucks her child in bed at night. It did the same thing for the church that a family does in reading a devotional book and talking about its meaning. It did the same thing for the church that a Sunday School teacher does when explaining how a passage of the Bible applies to daily life.
You may not think of yourself as a prophet. But you can have a prophet’s ministry—and reward—as you share your faith with your family and friends.

“Speak intelligible words with your tongue” 1 Cor. 14:6–19. What we do when Christians gather is minister to each other. We need this perspective, not just for setting the gift of tongues in proper perspective, but for everything we do in our services. In prayer, praise, teaching, and sharing, God can and does use what we say to build up His church.

“Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers” 1 Cor. 14:20–25. Here as elsewhere, a “sign” is a visible mark of God’s presence or activity. In saying tongues are not a sign for believers, Paul underlined an earlier point. We’re not to look to this or any spiritual gift as a gauge of spirituality.
Tongues might have served, in first-century culture, as a sign to unbelievers who associated such phenomenon with a work of God (see 1 Cor. 12–13). But even then intelligible speech has priority in church. As Paul noted, if an unbeliever visits a church meeting and finds everyone speaking in tongues, he’ll say, “You are out of your mind” (14:23). But an unbeliever who comes and understands what is being said will be convicted of sin, and converted (vv. 24–25).
Tongues are a valid spiritual gift. But they really weren’t anything for the Corinthians to get so excited about.

“Women should remain silent” 1 Cor. 14:34–36. This is one of the most debated passages in the New Testament. Why? Because: (1) It doesn’t seem to fit the context of Paul’s argument. (2) It doesn’t seem to reflect the attitude toward women that Paul displays in other passages, such as Romans 16. (3) It seems to directly contradict what Paul had said in 11:5, 13 about the right of women to “prophesy and pray” in congregational gatherings.
Some have argued, and on strong grounds, that these verses were not written by Paul, but were incorporated from a “gloss”—notes that someone made on an early manuscript. This may be the solution, as surely Scripture does not contradict Scripture, and earlier Paul argued powerfully for the right of women to take an active part in church meetings.
There’s another possibility that some have suggested. Perhaps those who upset the orderliness of church meetings in Corinth were women, whose obsessive emphasis on tongues led to outbursts and loud demands. In that case, Paul might not contradict himself at all. First Corinthians 11 would teach that women can participate with men, while 1 Corinthians 14 would correct the abuse of that participation.
I don’t think anyone really knows the answer. But we do know, for sure, that when the text says, “It is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church,” it is not saying, “Shut up!” to women who have a testimony to share, a prayer to offer, or a truth to relate.
Women have spiritual gifts too. And a church needs the exercise of those gifts to be healthy and whole.

DEVOTIONAL
Come on In!
(1 Cor. 14:26–40)
We knock. The door’s thrown open wide, and we’re welcomed by a smiling slave. One of the brothers. This is “going to church” in the first century, and we know it’s going to be, well, different.
Inside we sit down in the largest room with some 15 or 20 others. The meeting starts with singing, and everybody seems to want to start a hymn. The singing is interrupted now and then as one person or another speaks—contributing “a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” We can’t make out just who the pastor is. No one gets up in front and talks 30 or 40 minutes. Instead, almost everyone speaks; some just a word or two, others saying more. There’s prayer too. And, even though we can’t understand the Greek they speak, we sense their warmth and sincerity.
This is the picture Paul gives us of a church meeting in 1 Corinthians 14. One that fits perfectly with other New Testament references to Christian gatherings, found in Colossians 3:15–16 and Hebrews 10:24–25. What strikes us most of all is the informality, and the fact that everyone participates. These folks seem to take the teaching that everyone has a spiritual gift seriously! So everyone is given the opportunity to share.
Somehow in the nearly 2,000 years that have passed since Paul wrote these words, church meetings have changed. They’re more formal now. Usually only one person, a professional, selects the hymns, prays, and speaks. The rest of us sit there, dressed up, worshiping. Even learning. But not using our gift, and not being ministered to by others.
I don’t suppose any of us seriously imagine that we can go back to the first-century church. Or even that we should. But somewhere in your Christian experience and in mine we have to make room for that same kind of quiet gathering of believers who know, love, and minister to each other.
Maybe this is happening in your Sunday School class. Maybe in a prayer cell. Maybe even in your own living room, in a home Bible study. But it does need to be happening somewhere. You do have a spiritual gift. Others need your ministry to them. And you need theirs.

Personal Application
You don’t have to go to church to be in church.

Quotable
“What matters in the church is not religion but the form of Christ, and its taking form amidst a band of men.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

TRUE SPIRITUALITY
1 Corinthians 12–13

“Love is patient, love is kind. . . . It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor. 13:4, 7).

Love is the true test of spirituality.

Background
Tongues in Corinth. In first-century pagan culture, ecstatic expression and trances had long been associated with religion. Oracles, such as the famous one at Delphi, featured young women who breathed fumes, and whose mutterings were then interpreted by priests. Epilepsy, which threw its victims into seizures, was called the “divine disease,” and a god was thought to struggle for control of the individual at such times.
It’s not surprising that the spiritual gift of tongues, here speaking by the Holy Spirit in an unknown, spiritual language, was highly valued by believers saved out of paganism. In Corinth tongues was viewed as the true test of one’s spirituality, and those with the gift were considered special.
So in 1 Corinthians 12–14 Paul addressed this issue. He never denied that tongues were a valid spiritual gift. In fact, Paul claimed the gift for himself (14:18). Instead Paul affirmed all the gifts of the Holy Spirit as vital to the body of Christ, held up love as the test of true spirituality, and then went on to correct abuses of the gift of tongues by the Corinthians.

Overview
The Holy Spirit’s gifts enable each believer to minister to others (12:1–11). As a human body’s parts differ, so do members of the body of Christ, which we are (vv. 12–31). Yet the truest expression of the Spirit’s work in our life is love (13:1–13).

Understanding the Text
“Now about spiritual gifts” 1 Cor. 12:1. The Greek text simply says, “Now about the spiritual.” Translators have supplied “gifts” because Paul went on to speak about them in verse 4. But it’s best to understand Paul’s subject as the broader issue of spirituality, not just spiritual gifts.
Most Christians are concerned about spirituality. How do I know when I’m living close to the Lord? What makes a person really spiritual? Is it that he or she prays a lot? Is it mastery of Scripture, or power in preaching? Who should be the spiritual leaders in our congregation? How can we recognize them? Can even I live a truly spiritual life? If so, how?
All these questions, and more like them, are answered by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12–14. If you’re hungry for true spirituality, this passage will feed your soul.

“Jesus is Lord” 1 Cor. 12:2–3. Apparently some in Corinth so confused the ecstatic utterance with divine revelation that when such a speaker denied Jesus, some believers began to doubt. Paul said there’s no doubt at all. Only one who affirms Jesus as Lord can be speaking by the Holy Spirit.
The utterance of anyone who denies Jesus as Lord comes from another source.
True spirituality is impossible for anyone who is unwilling to go beyond his or her salvation experience. You can receive God’s gift of life in Jesus, and be saved. But for spiritual growth you must surrender your life to Jesus. Affirming “Jesus is Lord” involves more than uttering words. It involves committing yourself entirely to Him.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit” 1 Cor. 12:4–6. What is important to true spirituality isn’t possession of a particular spiritual gift. It’s possessing the Spirit!
Paul made a vital point here. God’s Spirit works in different ways through different persons. Rather than exalt certain gifts, we should exalt the God who expresses Himself in different ways through all His gifts.
One thing is sure. It is not “spiritual” to focus on the gifts. We are to focus on the Giver!

“To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” 1 Cor. 12:7. You have a spiritual gift. So does every other Christian. And those gifts were given by the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose: “the common good.”
This tells us three things. (1) You and I need to use whatever gifts we may have to contribute to the welfare of others. (2) You and I need to be intimately involved with others so that we can minister to them, and receive their ministry. (3) Whatever spiritual gift I may have, it has not been given to set me apart, but to build others up!
As I write it’s near Christmas, and the decorations have gone up on houses along our street. How bright and beautiful they look. Spiritual gifts are not like a string of Christmas lights, something to decorate and beautify. Spiritual gifts are much more like a hoe, something that serves as a tool to be used while working in a garden.
We’re not to compare spiritual gifts, as if they were given to beautify us. We’re to exercise them, as we work in God’s field.

“There is given through the Spirit” 1 Cor. 12:8–11. Some of these gifts of the Spirit are visible and spectacular—“miraculous powers,” “healing,” even “tongues.” Others seem almost pedestrian. Who gets excited when someone gives a “message of wisdom” or exercises exceptional “faith”?
This list of gifts isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Paul purposely left off many of the more “ordinary” gifts he named in Romans 12:5–8. Why? Because his point was that both the ordinary and the spectacular gifts are given “through the same Spirit.” Any spiritual gift is miraculous in its operation, for the work performed is a work that can only be done by God.
If your gift seems ordinary, don’t be disturbed. And don’t envy those with more visible expressions of the Spirit of God. The contribution you make to the good of others is as completely miraculous, and as much a work of God, as the contribution of anyone else.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts” 1 Cor. 12:12–31. Paul’s powerful analogy was vivid and clear. The church, the body of Christ, is like a human body. Each part is different, yet each part is necessary to create a harmonious whole. Paul even went on to say that “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (v. 22).
Whoever you are, and whatever your spiritual gift, you are “indispensable” to the others in your church, and in the church. So be an active participant in your local congregation.
After all, your left arm wouldn’t do you much good if you were in Toledo, and it was in Detroit. The only way you can function as a part of Christ’s body is to live in close relationship with them. When you’re close to others, you can be their left arm.
And they can be your eyes, ears, and feet!

“Eagerly desire the greater gifts” 1 Cor. 12:31. This verse has been misunderstood by many, who have “tarried” after church to beg God for one of the more spectacular spiritual gifts. But Paul had just spent all of 1 Corinthians 12 arguing that all spiritual gifts are “great,” for each is an expression of the Holy Spirit’s divine power, and each is indispensable in the body.
It seems best to take this verse as an introduction to a theme developed in chapter 12, and interrupted by chapter 13. Paul would say to the Corinthian congregation, “If you want to emphasize any gifts, emphasize those that involve intelligible speech” (cf. 14:1–7).
But should you as an individual desire “the greater gifts”? Yes, if your motivations and understanding are in harmony with the Lord. Yes, if you passionately want a greater spiritual gift so you can better serve others. No, if you passionately want a spiritual gift so you can appear “special” or “spiritual.”

At the back of the stage in the theater in Corinth were empty brass vases. The hollow vases were the first “sound system” used to amplify the voices of actors! Paul’s “resounding gong” (13:1) is literally “sounding brass”—one of the hollow amplifying vases of first-century theater! And what an image! A person may serve as a channel for the Spirit. But without love, that person is himself a spiritual void, a hollow man. Don’t confuse a person’s gifts with his spirituality. First Corinthians 13 teaches that the truly spiritual person is filled with love.

“Love is” 1 Cor. 13:4–13. At last we come to Paul’s description of the marks of true spirituality. And we make the amazing discovery that spirituality has nothing to do with one’s gifts. It has nothing to do with training. It has nothing to do with platform skills. The truly spiritual person is the individual whose attitude and actions express love.
Verses 4–7 are well worth posting on the bathroom mirror, above the kitchen sink, and by your bed. And well worth memorizing. They remind us what we are to value in others. And what others will value most in us. And, above all, what God values in us.

DEVOTIONAL
Without Love
(1 Cor. 13)
One of the most frustrating experiences a Christian can have is to serve faithfully, and feel totally empty inside.
It’s happened to most of us at times. Some Christians live their whole lives feeling that crushing void. And wondering why.
Paul had an answer, in a little phrase found in verse 3. A person can serve selflessly, and if he or she “has not love,” Paul said, “I gain nothing.”
The text doesn’t say that a person who serves “but has not love” is ineffective. Not at all. He or she may have spectacular gifts, and build a giant church where thousands are saved. In Paul’s analogy, “If I give all I possess to the poor,” the poor will certainly benefit. What Paul said was that while others may benefit from service rendered without love, whatever I do “I gain nothing.”
If you’ve been one of those many Christians who work hard at serving, but still are empty, his reminder may be for you. If you or I serve in order to gain recognition, or because we fear we won’t otherwise be accepted, or even because we feel it’s our duty, our service will help others. But not us. We’ll still struggle with dissatisfaction and loneliness. We’ll still feel empty and unfulfilled.
But if we serve others out of love—ah, then we truly are filled! We gain satisfaction. We gain joy. We gain future rewards. And we gain the inner serenity that comes with knowing we have pleased the Lord.

Personal Application
If you lack love, ask Jesus to love others through you.

Quotable
“Tell me how much you know of the sufferings of your fellowmen and I will tell you how much you have loved them.”—Helmut Thielicke

WOMEN AND WORSHIP
1 Corinthians 11

“In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman” (1 Cor. 11:11).

Worship is still too significant to be conducted in an unworthy manner.

Background
Women and social customs. First Corinthians 11 is one of the most difficult biblical passages to interpret—and one of the easiest to twist. This is due in part to a tradition of interpretation that misunderstands several key terms, but mostly to our ignorance about certain first-century social customs and their meanings. Yet as we read carefully, it is clear that Paul carefully guarded against one major misinterpretation of his teaching. He did not want us to misuse this passage to justify the subordination of women to men in the church. He did not want us to think women are somehow less significant, or less able to contribute to mutual ministry, in the local community of faith. Women did “pray and prophesy” in first-century Corinth, and Paul clearly affirmed their right to do so (11:5, 10). So must we.

Overview
Men and women should preserve cultural distinctions between the sexes as both participate in worship (11:2–16). Fellowship meals should exemplify rather than deny Christian unity (vv. 17–22), and a distinction maintained between such meals and the Lord’s Supper (vv. 23–34).

Understanding the Text
“The head of the woman is man” 1 Cor. 11:3. Most modern commentators agree that Paul was not establishing a hierarchy here. He was instead affirming that a distinction exists between men and women, man and Christ, Christ and God. The distinction is proven by the headship of one in relation to the other. “Head” here is not used in the modern sense of “head of state.” It is used in the first-century and biblical sense of “source.” Yes, women and men are different. Genesis 2 pictures Adam as the source of Eve, even as Christ as Creator is the source of mankind, and God as Father, the source of the Son.
But note. Woman is no more inferior to man in their differences than Christ is inferior to God! Difference, and even headship, is no basis for discrimination against one of the sexes.

“Every woman who prays or prophesies” 1 Cor. 11:4–10. Paul assumed that women, like men, should pray and prophesy in meetings of the local church. That was not a problem for Paul. The problem was that in Corinth the women did this with their “head uncovered.”
The Greek word may suggest a head covering, as the NIV. But many believe it indicates loosed or unbraided hair. Just why this was a problem in the first century is something no one can imagine. First-century art showing men and women gives no hint. First-century pagan and Christian literature alike are silent. But clearly something about head covering or hairstyle was significant in that culture. To preserve the reputation of the church, Christian women were not to adopt styles the culture defined as appropriate to men.
Don’t be distracted by what we don’t know. What we do know is that women did “pray and prophesy” along with men in church meetings. And that Paul did not forbid, or even criticize, this practice.

“A sign of authority on her head” 1 Cor. 11:10–16. Please note. Paul didn’t say a “sign of submission.” He said a “sign of authority.” Some, impelled by a misuse of “head” and a tad of male chauvinism, have added words lacking in the Greek. They say the hairdo is a “sign of [the man’s] authority on her head.” In fact, it’s just the opposite!
As best as we can reconstruct the situation, some of the Christian women in Corinth were so excited at the freedom they had in Christ to participate in worship that they overreacted. If they could speak out, as men had always been able to, then they were now like men! And they would look and act like men!
Paul’s reaction was one of horror. Didn’t these women realize that God created the race male and female? That He made a distinction that was to be preserved? Even more, didn’t they realize that now, in Christ, women have God’s own authorization to participate as women in the life of the church?
By rejecting female headdress, the women of Corinth were denying the very truth that excited them in the first place! By trying to look and act like men, they obscured the fact that they now had authority to participate in worship as women!
What a wonderful truth this reminds us of. In Christ, none of us have to deny who we are. In Christ, every person counts! Each of us has significance; each has a gift and the authority to use it, and so contribute to others in the body of Christ. Just as we are.

“Woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman” 1 Cor. 11:11–16. Paul added this, to make sure his earlier words would not be twisted. Yes, men and women are different. Yes, man (Adam) was the source of woman (Eve). It’s even true that Eve was created to fill a need in Adam, rather than the other way around (v. 9). But some have drawn from this the notion that women are subordinate creatures.
To make sure that no one so twists his meaning, Paul added this section on interdependence. Life itself tells us that both men and women are necessary to the continuation of the race. Thus the drawing of Eve from Adam does not imply that women as women are subordinate. It implies they are necessary!
What a counterbalance to the teaching of some that women have no significant ministry to perform in the church. Men and women may be different. But as far as praying and prophesying are concerned, the ministry of both sexes isn’t optional. It’s required.

“It is not the Lord’s Supper you eat” 1 Cor. 11:17–22. Social clubs were popular in the first century. These clubs held regular dinners, usually in a sponsor’s home. Within these clubs clear social distinctions were maintained. The host or hostess would not only seat upper-class members above those in the lower classes, but also upper-class members would be given better wines and food, and sometimes would be served two or three times as much to eat as others!
Apparently the Corinthians imported the club dinner into the church, and dubbed it the “Lord’s Supper.” And the hosts and hostesses in Corinth followed normal practice and fed upper-class members well, while giving the poor only scraps!
Two great sins were involved. The one was to deny the unity of the body of Christ by making such distinctions (v. 22). What an opportunity such a meal would have been to affirm the truth that all are equal in Jesus Christ (cf. Gal. 3:26–29).
The other sin was to completely miss the significance of the Lord’s Supper (see DEVOTIONAL). What is intended as one of the Christian’s most solemn acts of worship became a rowdy party. And Paul was not amused.
You and I too need to approach worship with respect and great care. The God we come to honor is worthy of our best. Anything less is unacceptable to Him. And should be to us.

“That is why many among you are weak and sick” 1 Cor. 11:27–32. Worship in Corinth had become so lax that God intervened with judgment. Let’s not let this happen to us.
What Paul called for was self-examination. Let’s examine our hearts as we come to God, renounce any evil we find, and let the service of worship lift our hearts up to God.

DEVOTIONAL
In Remembrance
(1 Cor. 11:23–32)
The Communion service is a unique expression of our faith. And the word “remembrance” is the key to understanding its significance.
The parallel word in the Old Testament is zikkaron, usually translated “memorial.” Passover was a memorial feast. The pillar of stones that marked Israel’s passage through the Jordan River was a memorial too. Like the others, these memorials were a witness to the past—and a call to each believer to enter into his heritage. As the Israelites ate the Passover meal, each family relived the experience of its ancestors. As an Israelite passed the heap of stones by the Jordan, and touched their rough surface, he or she was led back in time, and realized afresh that he was there when God parted the waters.
Communion too is a memorial. It is remembrance. Not of an event covered with the dust of centuries, but of an event that is ever fresh and new. Not of an experience witnessed by men and women long dead, but of an experience we share today as we return, through the elements that represent the body and blood of Jesus, to the foot of the cross.
In the Communion service we stand there again as, united with Christ through faith, we share His death even as we share in His resurrection. “Do this in remembrance” is an invitation to experience the awesome moment when our salvation was won.
“Do this in remembrance” is an invitation to experience the holy and, by coming into the very presence of God, to offer Him our thanks, our worship, and our praise.

Personal Application
Take Communion “in remembrance” of Jesus and His sacrificial love.

Quotable
“The effect of our Communion in the body and blood of Christ is that we are transformed into what we consume, and that He in whom we have died and in whom we have risen from the dead lives and is manifested in every movement of our body and of our spirit.”— Pope Leo I