Babes in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Paul spent his ministry trying to elevate the believer into a knowledge of who they were in Christ. When he tells the Philippian church to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6), he was prompting them to think of themselves as Jesus thought of Himself. It is a seemingly endless task to try and bring believers to this place, due to the conflicting reports that the enemy is sending into their minds.

When Paul dealt with the Corinthian church, he was dealing with a people who were saved in the midst of the most hedonistic city in the world. Within this church, Paul had to deal with incest (5:1), legal disputes (6:1), prostitution (6:16) and drunkenness (11:21), and all of this from the believers! When he refers to them, he does not call them sinners or backsliders, but rather he says that they are “carnal”, “babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1).

The word “carnal” in Greek means “fleshly” or “governed by the human nature”. Every believer wishes to be governed by the “divine nature” which Peter spoke that we have (2 Peter 1:4), but oftentimes we find ourselves doing some of the same things that we did when we were unbelievers. Paul not only called this carnal but also said, “are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (verse 3).

Paul felt that when a believer lives with strife and divisions (or any other sin), he is walking beneath their status as children of God. Rather than being “spiritual”, they are being carnal (verse 1). He repeats the thought in Ephesians when he says, “Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). For Paul to see believers living in the manner of sinners, it was not a warning that they were going to suddenly becomes sinners again, but that they were so spiritually immature that they could handle nothing more of the things of God than the milk.

He compares the carnal believer to a sinner, living after their human impulses; and to their development as babies, unable to swallow solid food. Many times in the church, we preachers must go back over the most elementary of foundations for believers because so many of them are unable to go much deeper into the word, due to a Christian life spent in carnality. They are not thinking like believers, thus they are not living like believers.

To experience spiritual growth, and live spiritual and not carnal, you must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ every day. This is more than just reading the Bible. Many people read their Bible and feed on the cold stone of the law, finding no hope in it. Feast on Christ and His finished work and let the living water and the daily bread feed your soul. Concentrate on what Christ did for you, taking your sin and giving you His righteousness. See yourself as forgiven and accepted, and as you begin to believe it, you will see it live out in your life.

You are not carnal, you are spiritual. Walk as mature saints not babes in Christ. Go in Him and grow in Him in Jesus’ lovely name.

It Is No Secret

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

Did you know that God is not trying to keep you in the dark about what is going on in your life? Some have said that God doesn’t show you what He is doing so that you won’t interfere and mess things up, but this has no basis in scripture. He told Noah to build the ark, though He could have floated Noah on driftwood if He so desired. He told Joshua to march around Jericho, though He could easily have just flattened the city with a word. The list goes on and on, and God is in the business of letting His people in on what He is doing.

Granted, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), and it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). However, the very next verse says, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit”. This means that because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we have revelation as to what God is preparing for our next step.

Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD”. Your King James Bible has “good” italicized, showing that it was added by the translators to bring out the meaning of the verse. Perhaps here, they had a hard time believing that EVERY man’s steps were ordered by the LORD, so they just put “good” in front of it. What they wanted and what it says are two different things however. The text tells us that man’s steps are ordered by God. If God is ordering them, and we are the ones actually stepping, doesn’t it make sense that He wants us to know where we are going?

Now the world has little hope of knowing where they are going. This is because the world is walking in darkness, while the saint is walking in the light (John 8:12; 12:35). Since His light is in us and around us, He wishes to reveal to us what His plans are for our life.

Paul states that we have not received the “spirit of the world” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The word ‘world’ is “kosmos” in Greek, or literally, “the world-system”. As believers, we do not function under the same system as the world. They do not know what is coming until it is upon them, but we have it better, for we function in what we have received, “the Spirit which is of God” (verse 12).

Whatever situation that you face, you do not face it alone. You have the identification of the Holy Spirit in your heart and there is nothing off limits to help you on your way. All things have been “freely given to us of God” (verse 12). Need knowledge? Ask for it. Don’t know what to do? Seek His voice. He will always lead us and guide us as His desire is not to carry us to our destination and then show us how He did it, but it is to walk alongside of us all the way there, enjoying the journey with us.

Remember believer that Christ came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He is with you to bring joy to the journey. Consult Him always, and He will always show you where to go.

Eating the Body Unworthily

1 Corinthians 11:27

When I was younger, I was afraid to partake in the communion ceremony until I had spent a considerable amount of time on the altar, “taking care of” any and all sinful deeds and thoughts that I had committed. I believed that if I put the bread in my mouth and drank of the cup without properly purging my heart of all sin then I would get sick or diseased, having dared to put God’s holiness in an unclean vessel. Due to this fear, communion didn’t represent anything lovely to me. In fact, I kind of wondered why we would even bother!

As God began to open up the revelation of His grace and favor to me, communion was one of the first things that took on a whole new meaning. If I was truly made the righteousness of God, independent of my works, then I was ALWAYS the righteousness of God, even when bad thoughts crossed my mind, or I did something wrong. If I am always righteous, then I am always qualified to partake of the body and the blood of Jesus through Holy Communion. Then what does Paul mean when he writes about eating and drinking “unworthily” (1 Corinthians 11:27).

The answer is found within the passage, but in two separate ways. The first way is the most obvious: Paul never says “unworthy”; he says “unworthily”. These are two different words with two entirely different meanings. To partake of communion “unworthy” would mean that we are not worthy to take in His body and blood because of our lifestyle. To partake of communion “unworthily” means that we are eating and drinking without knowing why.

The second way to find the answer is to read on just a bit further. Paul says in verse 29, “For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body”. The definition of “unworthily” is found in the last part of that verse: “not discerning the Lord’s body”. When we do not realize that Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases in His body on the tree; and we do not know that we are eating into us His health and wholeness, then we are partaking “unworthily”.

This does not mean that God then puts cancer and disease on us to teach us a lesson. The “damnation” that we eat and drink to ourselves (verse 29) is what is already in the earth as a result of the curse. Anytime that you think that God is in the business of putting disease and pain onto people, just remember how many people that Jesus touched and GAVE leprosy to. NONE! Jesus was not in the business of taking men’s lives, but saving them.

The broken body of Jesus and His shed blood has been given to all believers through the finished work of the cross. The communion ceremony is ours, whenever we need it, to observe that broken body and shed blood. Just as Israel ate all of the lamb and there were none feeble among their tribes (Psalms 105:37), we have His body, broken for us (Mark 14:22). We have His blood as our justification (Romans 5:9) and it is the seal of the New Covenant. Partake of Holy Communion as often as you like, observing that Jesus bore your suffering so that you could bear His health.

One Bread, One Body

1 Corinthians 10:16:17

This verse by Paul to the Corinthian church is a lead-in to the instructions on communion to be found in the next chapter. Here, we see that Paul calls the taking of the body and the blood of Jesus “communion”, which by its very definition denotes a deep communication between the giver of the bread and the eater.

By partaking of the cup and the bread, we are communing with what Christ did for us upon the cross. We drink of the wine which is the blood, shed for the remission of our sins. This blood provides our redemption from sin; our justification in God’s eyes; our sanctification for the service of the Lord and it protects our heart from the curses of this world, much like the blood on the houses of the Israelites protected them from the angel of death.

When we break the bread, we are symbolically showing the brokenness of Jesus on the cross, where His body was torn apart so that ours could be whole. He suffered all cancers and tumors and diseases in Him so that we would never have to suffer them in us. We eat the bread, not partaking of death, but eating His wholeness; His health and His perfect body.

Paul is also using the idea of communion to portray an important fact about the church of Jesus Christ. He says, “For we being many are one bread, one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17). The word used for “bread” implies a “loaf”, meaning that we are one entire piece, not fragmented segments of bread. One particular offering of the Old Testament had the priest bring a loaf of bread before the Lord, mingled with leaven, meaning that the loaf was to rise. This loaf was a type of the church, mingled together and unified.

At Pentecost, this “loaf” was mobilized. Born at Calvary, the church took her shape on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on those assembled at Jerusalem. From that day forward, the fragmented, individual lives of those present were molded into one cohesive unit called the church. Though we are not all the same, we share one common passion and that is to be a part of the body of Christ. Each ingredient brings a unique perspective to the loaf, none more important than the other.

The great unifier of the church; that which jumps across denominational and cultural boundaries is that we are all partakers of “that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Our constant consumption of the finished work of Christ is what makes the church a true body. When we major on minors and put our focus on the inessentials we take the beautiful taste out of the loaf. As long as our hearts “look unto Jesus”, we remain the unbreakable body of Christ.

Go in the grace and favor of the head of the church. You are His body; thus you are His hands and feet; His mouth and His voice. Say what He would say, and spread His love to those around you.

All Things to All Men

1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Paul considered himself free from all men, but he voluntarily placed himself in a position of servitude as it regarded how he treated people. His belief was that we are all in debt to the world to show them the wonderful love of God (Romans 1:14). By placing himself in the position of servant to his fellow man, he was aiming to gain more converts to the cause of Christ.

He tells us of four different kinds of people that he is going after, having found a way to live without offence in front of each one: Jews; those under law; those not under law; and the weak. In no way does Paul advocate hypocrisy, or acting like you are something that you are not. Each one of these is an example of the way people lived, and Paul was determined to live in a way in front of them that would give him credibility when speaking to them.

Paul was a natural Jew, meaning that he was born into a Jewish family, but he did not believe that that was what made you a Jew. His letter to Rome stated that “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6) which indicates that to be a true Jew you had to be one of faith, not blood. When around Jewish people, he maintained their customs, going so far as to circumcise Timothy to appease them (Acts 16:3). By showing his Jewish heritage in front of Jews he knew that he kept from offending them and he opened the door for the gospel of grace.

When around those under the law, Paul acted as if he were under the law. This did not mean that Paul became legalistic around them, but that he observed law and custom when he was with people who did the same. In context, due to the writings of chapter 8, Paul was able to observe dietary laws with men who were convicted of such things, careful not to bring offence to anyone.

If he found himself around those who were without law, he lived without it as well. Again, this is no indicator that Paul acted like a sinner when he was with sinners; for that has nothing to do with living without the law. Instead, Paul was able to show forth the message of grace and goodness to those who knew nothing about the law without offending them by bringing the law into the message.

To those who are weak, he could become as though he were weak. Using the context to give us the definition, he is obviously referring back to a statement that he made in chapter 8, “Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge…their conscience being weak is defiled” (1 Corinthians 8:7). This chapter refers to eating meats that had been offered to idols. Some people felt that it was wrong and their conscience was weak regarding these issues. When Paul was around people who had weak conscience regarding different things, he would not dare do those things that might offend them lest he wound their weak conscience and sin against Christ (1 Corinthians 8:12).

Paul had no delusions that he would see everyone saved, so we should rid ourselves of this as well, but he was also not going to be found guilty of closing the door of evangelism to any single group of people because he refused to see things from their point of view (1 Corinthians 9:22). Might we keep this in mind as we share the glorious good news with those around us?

The Big Head

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

I have had many people say to me “I would compliment you, but I don’t want to give you the big head”. They mean that they wish to say good things about you but they fear that you can’t handle it without getting a bit too full of yourself. In most cases, they are just being humorous, but underlying that statement is the mentality that we should police one another as it regards pride and humility.

I encourage people to uplift and edify those around them. You should be known as someone who compliments and blesses, for this marks you as someone who cares. If the people around you seem to be “getting the big head”, don’t worry about it; and certainly don’t stop complimenting. God is able to pop the big head so to speak. He can take care of their issues without your help!

Paul saw the propensity for a swelled sense of self-confidence when he wrote the church at Corinth. Regarding the various dietary laws that many Jews were still hanging on to, Paul was preaching freedom through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and was allowing the newly saved to eat whatever they wanted. However, this message was not easily received among the Jews, many of whom were saved, but could still not eat pig for instance, without a guilty conscience.

Paul said that “Knowledge puffeth up” (1 Corinthians 8:1), meaning that if we are not careful, our knowledge of grace and liberty can make us think that we are mentally superior to those around us who seem to be trapped in various forms of law. The better approach is to love them, for “charity edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Notice that Paul was concerned with the edification of those who were living under law more than he was with the correction. This is a good lesson for us to learn when we encounter those in our lives who are walking under the burden of the law. Rather than spend all of our time trying to “educate” them, let us love them and show them just how loved that they are by their heavenly Father.

There will always be saints who are weak in conscience and who are strong in conscience (8:7). If you feel that something is wrong for you to do, whether you have biblical basis for that feeling or not, it remains wrong for you to do it, for you cannot do it with faith. Paul said that, “He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). It was not what he was eating that was wrong; it was HOW he was eating it. With limited knowledge as to how free that he is, the saint can live under a weak conscience which will always condemn him.

If you know that an activity that you are involved in will cause another brother or sister to stumble, distance yourself from that activity while in their presence. This is not hypocrisy, it is wisdom, as Paul said, “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (1 Corinthians 8:13). It is far more important that we be without offense to our family in Christ that that we boast of our liberties in the Lord. Be free, but be encouraging!

All Things Are Lawful

1 Corinthians 6:12

This was a watershed scripture for me so to speak. When I began to be shown the revelation of God’s grace and mercy, this verse was one of the first verses to jump off of the page at me and force me to reevaluate my beliefs about the usage of the law in both preaching and in living.

When Paul wrote the 6th chapter of 1 Corinthians, he addressed two major problems in the Corinthian church. First was the issue of Christians taking one another to court over civil matters (6:1-8), and the second was believers committing fornication with harlots (6:13-20). Sandwiched between these two important matters are four very interesting verses that show us the preaching style of the Apostle Paul.

When dealing with the first issue, Paul reminds the church of who they are in Christ, asking them, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (verse 2). This appeal to who they are, not a diatribe on what they have done, is classic Apostle Paul. He states the problem, shows them that they are better than to act as they have acted and then moves on.

What he moves on to is another appeal to knowledge, asking them if they realize that unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 9). Many have preached this passage to mean that Paul was warning them that if they continued in this pattern that they were going to miss heaven, but within context it is not what Paul is saying at all. He is reminding them of the class of people that they are going to court in front of and wondering why they would accept the civil decisions over spiritual matters from people who are not part of heaven’s inheritance (verse 10). To further the argument he reminds them, “Such were some of you”. Notice that they used to be like those sinners but now they “are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). These are present states, having remained that way in spite of some pitiful living.

Paul’s statement of “All things are lawful unto me” is his way of showing the church that they have been set free from the letter of the law. There is no law that binds the believer to live a certain way, for Jesus has fulfilled that law through His perfect lifestyle (Matthew 5:17), and then He took it out of our way, freeing us to live (Colossians 2:14). A “good, old-fashioned preacher” should have said “THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY” in this passage to set up the forthcoming passage on fornication, but Paul steers clear of the 7th Commandment, opting instead to introduce freedom from the law, and a new way to live right. By declaring us free from the law, Paul puts the believer on the path of God’s grace which will teach them how to live right (Titus 2:11, 12).

Notice that just because all things are lawful does not mean that Paul encourages all things. Some things “are not expedient”, meaning that they are not profitable. Other things are so binding that Paul knows that if he starts doing them, he will be brought underneath their power. Though he is free to live how he chooses, he wants that life to reflect the change that has taken place in his heart, so many things will be avoided because of this fact.

This appeal is used to keep the Corinthian church from fornication, reminding them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost (6:19). Though they are under no trappings of the law, why would they want to fornicate knowing that they are God’s purchased possession and that they are sons and daughters of God? Grace appeals to the better angels of our nature, and truly makes us free.

Such Were Some of You

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul’s address in the sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians deals with two major issues facing the church in Corinth. First, the believers in that church were suing one another over various matters, going before secular courts to solve problems better solved within the confines of the church. Paul speaks this to their shame (6:5). They were also committing fornication, specifically with harlots that hung out near the temple. Paul reminds them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and that they are better than they have been living (6:19, 20).

Sandwiched in between these two admonitions is Paul’s statement about those who will not be going to heaven. He includes fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate (which is translated “soft” meaning one who is a feminine male), abusers of themselves with mankind (homosexuals), thieves, those full of lust, drunks, extortioners, etc (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10). He does not say that if you commit one of these acts that you are going to hell; rather he is describing someone who IS one of these persons. This is their lifestyle, and they can be identified by what they do.

Believers fail frequently, in fact, this sixth chapter bears that out, but believers are not known by their failures but rather by their Savior. Paul’s description of those who are going to miss heaven is to show the church at Corinth that when they take one another to court for lawsuits, they are allowing this sort of person to be their judge. Also, when they fornicate, they are living like this group of people lives.

“And such were some of you” is Paul placing the believer beyond this lifestyle. You “were” this way when you were a sinner, so why would you go back to living this way now? “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Notice Paul’s insistence in using the phrase, “but ye are” each time? He could have left that out, but he wants to emphasize each area of a believer that has been changed by Christ’s finished work.

Look at the three things that Paul says is different about you now that you are a Christian. You are washed, meaning that you have been placed beneath the waterfall of God’s forgiveness due to what Jesus accomplished at the cross. All of your sins and your sinful ways are gone for His blood has washed them away, freeing you from being identified as those in verses 9 and 10. You are also sanctified, which means that you have been set aside for the use of the Holy Spirit. You are not “being” sanctified every day, for His finished work is a truly finished work! Finally, you are justified, which means that God views you as if you have never even sinned. You are made just because God honors the sacrifice of His Son and sees you as He sees Jesus! (Romans 3:26)

When you fail, please do not view yourself as a sinner. You have been washed, sanctified and justified. The quicker that you come to terms with this news, the quicker that you live free from the shackles of sin and failure.

What Kind of House are you Building?

1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Jesus Christ and His finished work at Calvary are the foundation upon which all of the New Covenant is built. A wise master builder would never dare build a house without a firm foundation, and Paul considered himself such a wise man, “according to the grace of God” (1 Corinthians 3:10). Thus, Paul built his doctrine of the New Covenant on Jesus Christ (3:11).

You and I are building upon the Apostle Paul’s original work in our own lives. Some build using gold, silver and precious stones, while others build using wood, hay and stubble (3:12). Obviously, to build using gold, silver and precious stones, one must take special care and invest heavily in the outcome, while constructing with wood, hay and stubble takes far less attention and investment.

The metaphor of the houses being built does not insinuate that some are more saved than others or that some are building houses in Christianity and are not saved at all. In the New Testament, salvation is always characterized as a free gift, thus there is no way to earn what Jesus paid for. However, the redeemed receive rewards for their labor in the Lord. The reward is not greater righteousness or more justification, for these are complete and cannot be added to. Instead, the rewards are yet to come, and are waiting for us in eternity (Matthew 16:7; 2 Timothy 4:8)

What we do with Jesus and His finished work while here on this earth help determine what kind of house that we are building. Put more plainly, some Christians do next to nothing with the righteousness that they have, hardly even functioning in God’s grace as a victor or a conqueror. They are saved, for their foundation is Jesus Christ, but their spiritual house is weak and shapeless. Other believers have invested in the kingdom of God in many different ways and they are a shining example of faith and victory. These bring great glory to the Father, not because they are better people, or “more saved”, but because they make the temple of God appear beautiful before the world.

Paul says that all of our works will be tested and burned. If they are of the first variety, they will last, for they are built with Christ’s glory. If they be of wood, hay and stubble, they “shall be burned” (I Corinthians 3:15), but the individual themselves will not be. There is no hell to fear for the saint for “he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (verse 15).

What kind of house are you building for the kingdom of God? Only you know for sure, and only you can change it. If you are bringing honor and glory to the Lord Jesus through your life then there is gold shining in your temple. If you are causing people to see you and not Jesus, or are obscuring His perfection in some way, then you are still saved, just living in a temple of stubble. Shine today as a reflection of His glory, for He is your foundation.

Babes in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Paul spent his ministry trying to elevate the believer into the knowledge of who they were in Christ. When he tells the Philippian church to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6), he was prompting them to think of themselves as Jesus thought of Himself. It is a seemingly endless task to try and bring believers to this place, due to the conflicting reports that the enemy is sending into their minds.

When Paul dealt with the Corinthian church, he was dealing with a people who were saved in the midst of the most hedonistic city in the world. Within this church, Paul had to deal with incest (5:1), legal disputes (6:1), prostitution (6:16) and drunkenness (11:21), and all of this from the believers! When he refers to them, he does not call them sinners or backsliders, but rather he says that they are “carnal”, “babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1).

The word “carnal” in Greek means “fleshly” or “governed by the human nature”. Every believer wishes to be governed by the “divine nature” which Peter spoke that we have (2 Peter 1:4), but oftentimes we find ourselves doing some of the same things that we did when we were unbelievers. Paul not only called this carnal but also said, “Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (verse 3).

Paul felt that when a believer lives with strife and divisions (or any other sin), they are walking beneath their status as children of God. Rather than being “spiritual”, they are being carnal (verse 1). He repeats the idea in Ephesians when he says, “Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). For Paul to see believers living in the manner of sinners, it was not a warning that they were going to suddenly becomes sinners again, but that they were so spiritually immature that they could handle nothing more of the things of God than the milk.

He compares the carnal believer to a sinner, living after their human impulses; and to their development as babies, unable to swallow solid food. Many times in the church, we preachers must go back over the most elementary of foundations for believers because so many of them are unable to go much deeper into the word, due to a Christian life spent in carnality. They are not thinking like believers, thus they are not living like believers.

To experience spiritual growth, and live spiritual and not carnal, you must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ every day. This is more than just reading the Bible. Many people read their Bible and feed on the cold stone of the law, finding no hope in it. Feast on Christ and His finished work and let the living water and the daily bread feed your soul. Concentrate on what Christ did for you, taking your sin and giving you His righteousness. See yourself as forgiven and accepted, and as you begin to believe it, you will see it live out in your life.

You are not carnal; you are spiritual. Walk as mature saints, not babes in Christ. Go in Him and grow in Him in Jesus’ lovely name.

It Is No Secret

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

Did you know that God is not trying to keep you in the dark about what is going on in your life? Some have said that God doesn’t show you what He is doing so that you won’t interfere and mess things up, but this has no basis in scripture. He told Noah to build the ark, though He could have floated Noah on driftwood if He so desired. He told Joshua to march around Jericho, though He could easily have just flattened the city with a word. The list goes on and on, and God is in the business of letting His people in on what He is doing.

Granted, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), and it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). However, the very next verse says, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit”. This means that because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we have revelation as to what God is preparing for our next step.

Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD”. Your King James Bible has “good” italicized, showing that it was added by the translators to bring out the meaning of the verse. Perhaps here, they had a hard time believing that EVERY man’s steps were ordered by the LORD, so they just put “good” in front of it. What they wanted and what it says are two different things however. The text tells us that man’s steps are ordered by God. If God is ordering them, and we are the ones actually stepping, doesn’t it make sense that He wants us to know where we are going?

Now the world has little hope of knowing where they are going. This is because the world is walking in darkness, while the saint is walking in the light (John 8:12; 12:35). Since His light is in us and around us, He wishes to reveal to us what His plans are for our life.

Paul states that we have not received the “spirit of the world” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The word ‘world’ is “kosmos” in Greek, or literally, “the world-system”. As believers, we do not function under the same system as the world. They do not know what is coming until it is upon them, but we have it better, for we function in what we have received, “the Spirit which is of God” (verse 12).

Whatever situation that you face, you do not face it alone. You have the identification of the Holy Spirit in your heart and there is nothing off limits to help you on your way. All things have been “freely given to us of God” (verse 12). Need knowledge? Ask for it. Don’t know what to do? Seek His voice. He will always lead us and guide us as His desire is not to carry us to our destination and then show us how He did it, but it is to walk alongside of us all the way there, enjoying the journey with us.

Remember believer that Christ came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He is with you to bring joy to the journey. Consult Him always, and He will always show you where to go.

Eating the Body Unworthily

1 Corinthians 11:27

When I was younger, I was afraid to partake in the communion ceremony until I had spent a considerable amount of time on the altar, “taking care of” any and all sinful deeds and thoughts that I had committed. I believed that if I put the bread in my mouth and drank of the cup without properly purging my heart of all sin then I would get sick or diseased, having dared to put God’s holiness in an unclean vessel. Due to this fear, communion didn’t represent anything lovely to me. In fact, I kind of wondered why we would even bother!

As God began to open up the revelation of His grace and favor to me, communion was one of the first things that took on a whole new meaning. If I was truly made the righteousness of God, independent of my works, then I was ALWAYS the righteousness of God, even when bad thoughts crossed my mind, or I did something wrong. If I am always righteous, then I am always qualified to partake of the body and the blood of Jesus through Holy Communion. Then what does Paul mean when he writes about eating and drinking “unworthily” (1 Corinthians 11:27).

The answer is found within the passage, but in two separate ways. The first way is the most obvious: Paul never says “unworthy”; he says “unworthily”. These are two different words with two entirely different meanings. To partake of communion “unworthy” would mean that we are not worthy to take in His body and blood because of our lifestyle. To partake of communion “unworthily” means that we are eating and drinking without knowing why.

The second way to find the answer is to read on just a bit further. Paul says in verse 29, “For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body”. The definition of “unworthily” is found in the last part of that verse: “not discerning the Lord’s body”. When we do not realize that Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases in His body on the tree; and we do not know that we are eating into us His health and wholeness, then we are partaking “unworthily”.

This does not mean that God then puts cancer and disease on us to teach us a lesson. The “damnation” that we eat and drink to ourselves (verse 29) is what is already in the earth as a result of the curse. Anytime that you think that God is in the business of putting disease and pain onto people, just remember how many people that Jesus touched and GAVE leprosy to. NONE! Jesus was not in the business of taking men’s lives, but saving them.

The broken body of Jesus and His shed blood has been given to all believers through the finished work of the cross. The communion ceremony is ours, whenever we need it, to observe that broken body and shed blood. Just as Israel ate all of the lamb and there were none feeble among their tribes (Psalms 105:37), we have His body, broken for us (Mark 14:22). We have His blood as our justification (Romans 5:9) and it is the seal of the New Covenant. Partake of Holy Communion as often as you like, observing that Jesus bore your suffering so that you could bear His health.

One Bread, One Body

1 Corinthians 10:16:17

This verse by Paul to the Corinthian church is a lead-in to the instructions on communion to be found in the next chapter. Here, we see that Paul calls the taking of the body and the blood of Jesus “communion”, which by its very definition denotes a deep communication between the giver of the bread and the eater.

By partaking of the cup and the bread, we are communing with what Christ did for us upon the cross. We drink of the wine which is the blood, shed for the remission of our sins. This blood provides our redemption from sin; our justification in God’s eyes; our sanctification for the service of the Lord and it protects our heart from the curses of this world, much like the blood on the houses of the Israelites protected them from the angel of death.

When we break the bread, we are symbolically showing the brokenness of Jesus on the cross, where His body was torn apart so that ours could be whole. He suffered all cancers and tumors and diseases in Him so that we would never have to suffer them in us. We eat the bread, not partaking of death, but eating His wholeness; His health and His perfect body.

Paul is also using the idea of communion to portray an important fact about the church of Jesus Christ. He says, “For we being many are one bread, one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17). The word used for “bread” implies a “loaf”, meaning that we are one entire piece, not fragmented segments of bread. One particular offering of the Old Testament had the priest bring a loaf of bread before the Lord, mingled with leaven, meaning that the loaf was to rise. This loaf was a type of the church, mingled together and unified.

At Pentecost, this “loaf” was mobilized. Born at Calvary, the church took her shape on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on those assembled at Jerusalem. From that day forward, the fragmented, individual lives of those present were molded into one cohesive unit called the church. Though we are not all the same, we share one common passion and that is to be a part of the body of Christ. Each ingredient brings a unique perspective to the loaf, none more important than the other.

The great unifier of the church; that which jumps across denominational and cultural boundaries is that we are all partakers of “that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Our constant consumption of the finished work of Christ is what makes the church a true body. When we major on minors and put our focus on the inessentials we take the beautiful taste out of the loaf. As long as our hearts “look unto Jesus”, we remain the unbreakable body of Christ.

Go in the grace and favor of the head of the church. You are His body; thus you are His hands and feet; His mouth and His voice. Say what He would say, and spread His love to those around you.

All Things to All Men

1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Paul considered himself free from all men, but he voluntarily placed himself in a position of servitude as it regarded how he treated people. His belief was that we are all in debt to the world to show them the wonderful love of God (Romans 1:14). By placing himself in the position of servant to his fellow man, he was aiming to gain more converts to the cause of Christ.

He tells us of four different kinds of people that he is going after, having found a way to live without offence in front of each one: Jews; those under law; those not under law; and the weak. In no way does Paul advocate hypocrisy, or acting like you are something that you are not. Each one of these is an example of the way people lived, and Paul was determined to live in a way in front of them that would give him credibility when speaking to them.

Paul was a natural Jew, meaning that he was born into a Jewish family, but he did not believe that that was what made you a Jew. His letter to Rome stated that “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6) which indicates that to be a true Jew you had to be one of faith, not blood. When around Jewish people, he maintained their customs, going so far as to circumcise Timothy to appease them (Acts 16:3). By showing his Jewish heritage in front of Jews he knew that he kept from offending them and he opened the door for the gospel of grace.

When around those under the law, Paul acted as if he were under the law. This did not mean that Paul became legalistic around them, but that he observed law and custom when he was with people who did the same. In context, due to the writings of chapter 8, Paul was able to observe dietary laws with men who were convicted of such things, careful not to bring offence to anyone.

If he found himself around those who were without law, he lived without it as well. Again, this is no indicator that Paul acted like a sinner when he was with sinners; for that has nothing to do with living without the law. Instead, Paul was able to show forth the message of grace and goodness to those who knew nothing about the law without offending them by bringing the law into the message.

To those who are weak, he could become as though he were weak. Using the context to give us the definition, he is obviously referring back to a statement that he made in chapter 8, “Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge…their conscience being weak is defiled” (1 Corinthians 8:7). This chapter refers to eating meats that had been offered to idols. Some people felt that it was wrong and their conscience was weak regarding these issues. When Paul was around people who had weak conscience regarding different things, he would not dare do those things that might offend them lest he wound their weak conscience and sin against Christ (1 Corinthians 8:12).

Paul had no delusions that he would see everyone saved, so we should rid ourselves of this as well, but he was also not going to be found guilty of closing the door of evangelism to any single group of people because he refused to see things from their point of view (1 Corinthians 9:22). Might we keep this in mind as we share the glorious good news with those around us?

The Big Head

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

I have had many people say to me “I would compliment you, but I don’t want to give you the big head”. They mean that they wish to say good things about you but they fear that you can’t handle it without getting a bit too full of yourself. In most cases, they are just being humorous, but underlying that statement is the mentality that we should police one another as it regards pride and humility.

I encourage people to uplift and edify those around them. You should be known as someone who compliments and blesses, for this marks you as someone who cares. If the people around you seem to be “getting the big head”, don’t worry about it; and certainly don’t stop complimenting. God is able to pop the big head so to speak. He can take care of their issues without your help!

Paul saw the propensity for a swelled sense of self-confidence when he wrote the church at Corinth. Regarding the various dietary laws that many Jews were still hanging on to, Paul was preaching freedom through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and was allowing the newly saved to eat whatever they wanted. However, this message was not easily received among the Jews, many of whom were saved, but could still not eat pig for instance, without a guilty conscience.

Paul said that “Knowledge puffeth up” (1 Corinthians 8:1), meaning that if we are not careful, our knowledge of grace and liberty can make us think that we are mentally superior to those around us who seem to be trapped in various forms of law. The better approach is to love them, for “charity edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Notice that Paul was concerned with the edification of those who were living under law more than he was with the correction. This is a good lesson for us to learn when we encounter those in our lives who are walking under the burden of the law. Rather than spend all of our time trying to “educate” them, let us love them and show them just how loved that they are by their heavenly Father.

There will always be saints who are weak in conscience and who are strong in conscience (8:7). If you feel that something is wrong for you to do, whether you have biblical basis for that feeling or not, it remains wrong for you to do it, for you cannot do it with faith. Paul said that, “He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). It was not what he was eating that was wrong; it was HOW he was eating it. With limited knowledge as to how free that he is, the saint can live under a weak conscience which will always condemn him.

If you know that an activity that you are involved in will cause another brother or sister to stumble, distance yourself from that activity while in their presence. This is not hypocrisy, it is wisdom, as Paul said, “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (1 Corinthians 8:13). It is far more important that we be without offense to our family in Christ that that we boast of our liberties in the Lord. Be free, but be encouraging!

All Things Are Lawful

1 Corinthians 6:12

This was a watershed scripture for me so to speak. When I began to be shown the revelation of God’s grace and mercy, this verse was one of the first verses to jump off of the page at me and force me to reevaluate my beliefs about the usage of the law in both preaching and in living.

When Paul wrote the 6th chapter of 1 Corinthians, he addressed to major problems in the Corinthian church. First was the issue of Christians taking one another to court over civil matters (6:1-8), and the second was believers committing fornication with harlots (6:13-20). Sandwiched between these two important matters are four very interesting verses that show us the preaching style of the Apostle Paul.

When dealing with the first issue, Paul reminds the church of who they are in Christ, asking them, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (verse 2). This appeal to who they are, not a diatribe on what they have done, is classic Apostle Paul. He states the problem, shows them that they are better than to act as they have acted and then moves on.

What he moves on to is another appeal to knowledge, asking them if they realize that unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 9). Many have preached this passage to mean that Paul was warning them that if they continued in this pattern that they were going to miss heaven, but within context it is not what Paul is saying at all. He is reminding them of the class of people that they are going to court in front of and wondering why they would accept the civil decisions over spiritual matters from people who are not part of heaven’s inheritance (verse 10). To further the argument he reminds them, “Such were some of you”. Notice that they used to be like those sinners but now they “are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). These are present states, having remained that way in spite of some pitiful living.

Paul’s statement of “All things are lawful unto me” is his way of showing the church that they have been set free from the letter of the law. There is no law that binds the believer to live a certain way, for Jesus has fulfilled that law through His perfect lifestyle (Matthew 5:17), and then He took it out of our way, freeing us to live (Colossians 2:14). A “good, old-fashioned preacher” should have said “THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY” in this passage to set up the forthcoming passage on fornication, but Paul steers clear of the 7th Commandment, opting instead to introduce freedom from the law, and a new way to live right. By declaring us free from the law, Paul puts the believer on the path of God’s grace which will teach them how to live right (Titus 2:11, 12).

Notice that just because all things are lawful does not mean that Paul encourages all things. Some things “are not expedient”, meaning that they are not profitable. Other things are so binding that Paul knows that if he starts doing them, he will be brought underneath their power. Though he is free to live how he chooses, he wants that life to reflect the change that has taken place in his heart, so many things will be avoided because of this fact.

This appeal is used to keep the Corinthian church from fornication, reminding them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost (6:19). Though they are under no trappings of the law, why would they want to fornicate knowing that they are God’s purchased possession and that they are sons and daughters of God? Grace appeals to the better angels of our nature, and truly makes us free.

Such Were Some of You

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul’s address in the sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians deals with two major issues facing the church in Corinth. First, the believers in that church were suing one another over various matters, going before secular courts to solve problems better solved within the confines of the church. Paul speaks this to their shame (6:5). They were also committing fornication, specifically with harlots that hung out near the temple. Paul reminds them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and that they are better than they have been living (6:19, 20).

Sandwiched in between these two admonitions is Paul’s statement about those who will not be going to heaven. He includes fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate (which is translated “soft” meaning one who is a feminine male), abusers of themselves with mankind (homosexuals), thieves, those full of lust, drunks, extortioners, etc (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10). He does not say that if you commit one of these acts that you are going to hell; rather he is describing someone who IS one of these persons. This is their lifestyle, and they can be identified by what they do.

Believers fail frequently, in fact, this sixth chapter bears that out, but believers are not known by their failures but rather by their Savior. Paul’s description of those who are going to miss heaven is to show the church at Corinth that when they take one another to court for lawsuits, they are allowing this sort of person to be their judge. Also, when they fornicate, they are living like this group of people lives.

“And such were some of you” is Paul placing the believer beyond this lifestyle. You “were” this way when you were a sinner, so why would you go back to living this way now? “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Notice Paul’s insistence in using the phrase, “but ye are” each time? He could have left that out, but he wants to emphasize each area of a believer that has been changed by Christ’s finished work.

Look at the three things that Paul says is different about you now that you are a Christian. You are washed, meaning that you have been placed beneath the waterfall of God’s forgiveness due to what Jesus accomplished at the cross. All of your sins and your sinful ways are gone for His blood has washed them away, freeing you from being identified as those in verses 9 and 10. You are also sanctified, which means that you have been set aside for the use of the Holy Spirit. You are not “being” sanctified every day, for His finished work is a truly finished work! Finally, you are justified, which means that God views you as if you have never even sinned. You are made just because God honors the sacrifice of His Son and sees you as He sees Jesus! (Romans 3:26)

When you fail, please do not view yourself as a sinner. You have been washed, sanctified and justified. The quicker that you come to terms with this news, the quicker that you live free from the shackles of sin and failure.

What Kind of House are you Building?

1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Jesus Christ and His finished work at Calvary are the foundation upon which all of the New Covenant is built. A wise master builder would never dare build a house without a firm foundation, and Paul considered himself such a wise man, “according to the grace of God” (1 Corinthians 3:10). Thus, Paul built his doctrine of the New Covenant on Jesus Christ (3:11).

You and I are building upon the Apostle Paul’s original work in our own lives. Some build using gold, silver and precious stones, while others build using wood, hay and stubble (3:12). Obviously, to build using gold, silver and precious stones, one must take special care and invest heavily in the outcome, while constructing with wood, hay and stubble takes far less attention and investment.

The metaphor of the houses being built does not insinuate that some are more saved than others or that some are building houses in Christianity and are not saved at all. In the New Testament, salvation is always characterized as a free gift, thus there is no way to earn what Jesus paid for. However, the redeemed receive rewards for their labor in the Lord. The reward is not greater righteousness or more justification, for these are complete and cannot be added to. Instead, the rewards are yet to come, and are waiting for us in eternity (Matthew 16:7; 2 Timothy 4:8)

What we do with Jesus and His finished work while here on this earth help determine what kind of house that we are building. Put more plainly, some Christians do next to nothing with the righteousness that they have, hardly even functioning in God’s grace as a victor or a conqueror. They are saved, for their foundation is Jesus Christ, but their spiritual house is weak and shapeless. Other believers have invested in the kingdom of God in many different ways and they are a shining example of faith and victory. These bring great glory to the Father, not because they are better people, or “more saved”, but because they make the temple of God appear beautiful before the world.

Paul says that all of our works will be tested and burned. If they are of the first variety, they will last, for they are built with Christ’s glory. If they be of wood, hay and stubble, they “shall be burned” (I Corinthians 3:15), but the individual themselves will not be. There is no hell to fear for the saint for “he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (verse 15).

What kind of house are you building for the kingdom of God? Only you know for sure, and only you can change it. If you are bringing honor and glory to the Lord Jesus through your life then there is gold shining in your temple. If you are causing people to see you and not Jesus, or are obscuring His perfection in some way, then you are still saved, just living in a temple of stubble. Shine today as a reflection of His glory, for He is your foundation.

Babes in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Paul spent his ministry trying to elevate the believer into a knowledge of who they were in Christ. When he tells the Philippian church to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6), he was prompting them to think of themselves as Jesus thought of Himself. It is a seemingly endless task to try and bring believers to this place, due to the conflicting reports that the enemy is sending into their minds.

When Paul dealt with the Corinthian church, he was dealing with a people who were saved in the midst of the most hedonistic city in the world. Within this church, Paul had to deal with incest (5:1), legal disputes (6:1), prostitution (6:16) and drunkenness (11:21), and all of this from the believers! When he refers to them, he does not call them sinners or backsliders, but rather he says that they are “carnal”, “babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1).

The word “carnal” in Greek means “fleshly” or “governed by the human nature”. Every believer wishes to be governed by the “divine nature” which Peter spoke that we have (2 Peter 1:4), but oftentimes we find ourselves doing some of the same things that we did when we were unbelievers. Paul not only called this carnal but also said, “are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (verse 3).

Paul felt that when a believer lives with strife and divisions (or any other sin), he is walking beneath their status as children of God. Rather than being “spiritual”, they are being carnal (verse 1). He repeats the thought in Ephesians when he says, “Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). For Paul to see believers living in the manner of sinners, it was not a warning that they were going to suddenly becomes sinners again, but that they were so spiritually immature that they could handle nothing more of the things of God than the milk.

He compares the carnal believer to a sinner, living after their human impulses; and to their development as babies, unable to swallow solid food. Many times in the church, we preachers must go back over the most elementary of foundations for believers because so many of them are unable to go much deeper into the word, due to a Christian life spent in carnality. They are not thinking like believers, thus they are not living like believers.

To experience spiritual growth, and live spiritual and not carnal, you must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ every day. This is more than just reading the Bible. Many people read their Bible and feed on the cold stone of the law, finding no hope in it. Feast on Christ and His finished work and let the living water and the daily bread feed your soul. Concentrate on what Christ did for you, taking your sin and giving you His righteousness. See yourself as forgiven and accepted, and as you begin to believe it, you will see it live out in your life.

You are not carnal, you are spiritual. Walk as mature saints not babes in Christ. Go in Him and grow in Him in Jesus’ lovely name.

It Is No Secret

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

Did you know that God is not trying to keep you in the dark about what is going on in your life? Some have said that God doesn’t show you what He is doing so that you won’t interfere and mess things up, but this has no basis in scripture. He told Noah to build the ark, though He could have floated Noah on driftwood if He so desired. He told Joshua to march around Jericho, though He could easily have just flattened the city with a word. The list goes on and on, and God is in the business of letting His people in on what He is doing.

Granted, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), and it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). However, the very next verse says, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit”. This means that because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we have revelation as to what God is preparing for our next step.

Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD”. Your King James Bible has “good” italicized, showing that it was added by the translators to bring out the meaning of the verse. Perhaps here, they had a hard time believing that EVERY man’s steps were ordered by the LORD, so they just put “good” in front of it. What they wanted and what it says are two different things however. The text tells us that man’s steps are ordered by God. If God is ordering them, and we are the ones actually stepping, doesn’t it make sense that He wants us to know where we are going?

Now the world has little hope of knowing where they are going. This is because the world is walking in darkness, while the saint is walking in the light (John 8:12; 12:35). Since His light is in us and around us, He wishes to reveal to us what His plans are for our life.

Paul states that we have not received the “spirit of the world” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The word ‘world’ is “kosmos” in Greek, or literally, “the world-system”. As believers, we do not function under the same system as the world. They do not know what is coming until it is upon them, but we have it better, for we function in what we have received, “the Spirit which is of God” (verse 12).

Whatever situation that you face, you do not face it alone. You have the identification of the Holy Spirit in your heart and there is nothing off limits to help you on your way. All things have been “freely given to us of God” (verse 12). Need knowledge? Ask for it. Don’t know what to do? Seek His voice. He will always lead us and guide us as His desire is not to carry us to our destination and then show us how He did it, but it is to walk alongside of us all the way there, enjoying the journey with us.

Remember believer that Christ came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He is with you to bring joy to the journey. Consult Him always, and He will always show you where to go.