Posts from March 2021 (Page 2)

2 Corinthians, Day 2 2 Corinthians 2 Estrangement Is Strange for Believers “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother,…

2 Corinthians, Day 1 Chapters 1 – 2:11 The central theme of 2 Corinthians is the relationship between suffering and the power of the Spirit in Paul’s apostolic life, ministry, and message. Paul made a decision that it was best to suffer humiliation and leave, without retaliating, in order to extend mercy to the Corinthians. Paul wrote this letter from Macedonia, a year or so after writing 1 Corinthians, and a year before he wrote his letter to the Romans from…

1Corinthians, Day 10 Remember These Five Things I Corinthians 16   “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (I Corinthians 16:13 – 14). In the last chapter of I Corinthians, Paul informs and challenges the church about their role in the collection for the poor in Jerusalem. Then, he commends two of his top leaders for their great work and calls them to be vigilant in the…

1 Corinthians, Day 9 Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have…

1 Corinthians, Day 8 DON’T LET DIFFERENCES CAUSE SCHISMS “Spiritual Gifts” 1 Corinthians 12 – 14  DEFINING SPIRITUAL GIFTS — Chapter 12 One of the issues in the Corinthian church was the misuse of spiritual gifts. Paul found it necessary to go into great detail explaining the origin and use of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts come from the same source: the Holy Spirit. Here are the 18 spiritual gifts that are mentioned in God’s Word in alphabetical order: Administration, being…

1 Corinthians, Day 7 1 Corinthians 11 I used to work as a supervisor for a college cafeteria. At the end of each shift, we had a checklist of tasks to complete after we were done serving meals for the day. We all knew that the faster we completed the tasks, the faster we got to go home. One of the lessons I learned is that when the people I was “in charge of” realized I had their best interest…

1 Corinthians Day 6 1 Corinthians 8 – 11:1 The Dangers of Christian Liberty “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:24). “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). We in the United States relish our constitutional guarantee of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As Christians, we are no longer under the Jewish law, but we walk in…

1 Corinthians, Day 5 I Corinthians Chapter 7 The Love of My Life Who is the Love of your Life? If you are married, you should probably answer, “My lovely wife” or “My wonderful husband.” In I Corinthians Chapter 7, Paul gives extensive instructions on marriage. Likely, these instructions were given to address the low esteem for marriage that was a general problem in the “sin city” of Corinth, and that may have been a problem in the Corinthian church.…

1 Corinthians, Day 4 I Corinthians 6 |“I’m Gonna Sue!”  Two problems are discussed in I Corinthians 6: lawsuits between believers and sexual immorality. As I read this chapter, I am reminded of a story that was shared by a professor back in my undergrad studies. I was a business student in a class that focused on applying theology to work. It was such a time of growth as we developed a biblical ethic of business that would help us…

1 Corinthians, Day 3 The Problems, #3 (1 Corinthians 5) “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians…