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History has two sides, a divine and a human. On the part of God, it is his revelation in the order of time (as the creation is his revelation in the order of space), and the successive unfolding of a plan of infinite wisdom, justice, and mercy, looking to his glory and the eternal happiness of mankind. On the part of man, history is the biography of the human race, and the gradual development, both normal and abnormal, of all its physical, intellectual, and moral forces to the final consummation at the general judgment, with its eternal rewards and punishments. The idea of universal history presupposes the Christian idea of the unity of God, and the unity and common destiny of men.
From the human agency we may distinguish the Satanic, which enters as a third power into the history of the race. In the temptation of Adam in Paradise, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, and at every great epoch, Satan appears as the antagonist of God, endeavoring to defeat the plan of redemption and the progress of Christ’s kingdom, and using weak and wicked men for his schemes, but is always defeated in the end by the superior wisdom of God.
The central current and ultimate aim of universal history is the Kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ. This is the grandest and most comprehensive institution in the world, as vast as humanity and as enduring as eternity. All other institutions are made subservient to it, and in its interest the whole world is governed. It is no after-thought of God, no subsequent emendation of the plan of creation, but it is the eternal forethought, the controlling idea, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all his ways and works. The first Adam is a type of the second Adam; creation looks to redemption as the solution of its problems. Secular history, far from controlling sacred history, is controlled by it, must directly or indirectly subserve its ends, and can only be fully understood in the central light of Christian truth and the plan of salvation. The Father, who directs the history of the world, "draws to the Son," who rules the history of the church, and the Son leads back to the Father, that "God may be all in all." "All things," says St. Paul, "were created through Christ and unto Christ: and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence." Col 1:16–18. "The Gospel," says John von Müller, summing up the final result of his lifelong studies in history, "is the fulfilment of all hopes, the perfection of all philosophy, the interpreter of all revolutions, the key of all seeming contradictions of the physical and moral worlds; it is life—it is immortality."
The history of the church is the rise and progress of the kingdom of heaven upon earth, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. It begins with the creation of Adam, and with that promise of the serpent-bruiser, which relieved the loss of the paradise of innocence by the hope of future redemption from the curse of sin. It comes down through the preparatory revelations under the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, to the immediate forerunner of the Saviour, who pointed his followers to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. But this part of its course was only introduction. Its proper starting-point is the incarnation of the Eternal Word, who dwelt among us and revealed his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and next to this, the miracle of the first Pentecost, when the Church took her place as a Christian institution, filled with the Spirit of the glorified Redeemer and entrusted with the conversion of all nations. Jesus Christ, the God-Man and Saviour of the world, is the author of the new creation, the soul and the head of the church, which is his body and his bride. In his person and work lies all the fulness of the Godhead and of renewed humanity, the whole plan of redemption, and the key of all history from the creation of man in the image of God to the resurrection of the body unto everlasting life.
This is the objective conception of church history.
--
Church History: A Simple Chronology
Church history is rather complex, but an understanding of the basics is very worthwhile. The following is a simple chronology of church history adapted from Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language:
(30-70 AD) The Time of Jesus and the Apostles
This is the age of the Graeco-Latin church, or of the Christian Fathers. Its field is the countries around the Mediterranean—Western Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe—just the theatre of the old Roman empire and of classic heathendom. This age lays the foundation, in doctrine, government, and worship, for all the subsequent history. It is the common progenitor of all the various confessions.
The Life of Christ and the Apostolic Church are by far the most important sections, and require separate treatment. They form the divine-human groundwork of the church, and inspire, regulate, and correct all subsequent periods.
Then, at the beginning of the fourth century, the accession of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, marks a decisive turn; Christianity rising from a persecuted sect to the prevailing religion of the Graeco-Roman empire. In the history of doctrines, the first oecumenical council of Nicaea, falling in the midst of Constantine’s reign, a.d. 325, has the prominence of an epoch.
Here, then, are three periods within the first or patristic era, which we may severally designate as the period of the Apostles, the period of the Martyrs, and the period of the Christian Emperors and Patriarchs.
II. Medieval Christianity, from Gregory I to the Reformation. a.d. 590–1517.
The middle age is variously reckoned—from Constantine, 306 or 311; from the fall of the West Roman empire, 476; from Gregory the Great, 590; from Charlemagne, 800. But it is very generally regarded as closing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and more precisely, at the outbreak of the Reformation in 1517. Gregory the Great seems to us to form the most proper ecclesiastical point of division. With him, the author of the Anglo-Saxon mission, the last of the church fathers, and the first of the proper popes, begins in earnest, and with decisive success, the conversion of the barbarian tribes, and, at the same time, the development of the absolute papacy, and the alienation of the eastern and western churches.
This suggests the distinctive character of the middle age: the transition of the church from Asia and Africa to Middle and Western Europe, from the Graeco-Roman nationality to that of the Germanic, Celtic, and Slavonic races, and from the culture of the ancient classic world to the modern civilization. The great work of the church then was the conversion and education of the heathen barbarians, who conquered and demolished the Roman empire, indeed, but were themselves conquered and transformed by its Christianity. This work was performed mainly by the Latin church, under a firm hierarchical constitution, culminating in the bishop of Rome. The Greek church though she made some conquests among the Slavic tribes of Eastern Europe, particularly in the Russian empire, since grown so important, was in turn sorely pressed and reduced by Mohammedanism in Asia and Africa, the very seat of primitive Christianity, and at last in Constantinople itself; and in doctrine, worship, and organization, she stopped at the position of the oecumenical councils and the patriarchal constitution of the fifth century.
In the middle age the development of the hierarchy occupies the foreground, so that it may be called the church of the Popes, as distinct from the ancient church of the Fathers, and the modern church of the Reformers.
In the growth and decay of the Roman hierarchy three popes stand out as representatives of as many epochs: Gregory I., or the Great (590), marks the rise of absolute papacy; Gregory VII., or Hildebrand (1049), its summit; and Boniface VIII. (1294), its decline. We thus have again three periods in mediaeval church history. We may briefly distinguish them as the Missionary, the Papal, and the pre- or ante-Reformatory ages of Catholicism.
III. Modern Christianity, from the Reformation of the sixteenth century to the present time. a.d. 1517–1880.
Modern history moves chiefly among the nations of Europe, and from the seventeenth century finds a vast new theatre in North America. Western Christendom now splits into two hostile parts—one remaining on the old path, the other striking out a new one; while the eastern church withdraws still further from the stage of history, and presents a scene of almost undisturbed stagnation, except in modern Russia and Greece. Modern church history is the age of Protestantism in conflict with Romanism, of religious liberty and independence in conflict with the principle of authority and tutelage, of individual and personal Christianity against an objective and traditional church system.
—History of the Christian Church, The The Bible teaches that Mankind entered a whole new age on the Day of Pentecost in approximately 30 AD.24 On that day the Holy Spirit fell upon the Apostles and they were empowered to preach the Gospel (Acts 2:1-4). Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, and the Church was established when three thousand people responded and accepted Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 2:14-41). We have been living in the Church Age ever since.
The Age of the Last Days also began on the Day of Pentecost. The prophet Joel had prophesied that in the "last days" God would pour out His Spirit upon all mankind (Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17). When the three thousand responded to Peter's sermon, they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and all believers have received that gift since that time. The writer of Hebrews referred to his day and time in the First Century as "the last days" (Hebrews 1:2). The Apostle Peter did the same thing in his writings (1 Peter 1:5 & 20). And the Apostle John called his day the "last hour" (1 John 2:18).
Before Jesus died and the Church Age began, He referred to His day as "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). He was referring to the period of time when the Jewish people would live under Gentile domination without a king anointed by God. That period began in 586 BC when Israel was conquered by Babylon, the Davidic monarchy was ended, and the Jewish people were carried away into captivity. This period continues to this day simultaneously with the Church Age because the Jews still suffer from Gentile domination, and their God-anointed monarchy has not been restored.
The Second Coming of Jesus will mark the end of the Age of the Last Days. It will also mark the end of the Times of the Gentiles.
From the human agency we may distinguish the Satanic, which enters as a third power into the history of the race. In the temptation of Adam in Paradise, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, and at every great epoch, Satan appears as the antagonist of God, endeavoring to defeat the plan of redemption and the progress of Christ’s kingdom, and using weak and wicked men for his schemes, but is always defeated in the end by the superior wisdom of God.
The central current and ultimate aim of universal history is the Kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ. This is the grandest and most comprehensive institution in the world, as vast as humanity and as enduring as eternity. All other institutions are made subservient to it, and in its interest the whole world is governed. It is no after-thought of God, no subsequent emendation of the plan of creation, but it is the eternal forethought, the controlling idea, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all his ways and works. The first Adam is a type of the second Adam; creation looks to redemption as the solution of its problems. Secular history, far from controlling sacred history, is controlled by it, must directly or indirectly subserve its ends, and can only be fully understood in the central light of Christian truth and the plan of salvation. The Father, who directs the history of the world, "draws to the Son," who rules the history of the church, and the Son leads back to the Father, that "God may be all in all." "All things," says St. Paul, "were created through Christ and unto Christ: and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence." Col 1:16–18. "The Gospel," says John von Müller, summing up the final result of his lifelong studies in history, "is the fulfilment of all hopes, the perfection of all philosophy, the interpreter of all revolutions, the key of all seeming contradictions of the physical and moral worlds; it is life—it is immortality."
The history of the church is the rise and progress of the kingdom of heaven upon earth, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. It begins with the creation of Adam, and with that promise of the serpent-bruiser, which relieved the loss of the paradise of innocence by the hope of future redemption from the curse of sin. It comes down through the preparatory revelations under the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, to the immediate forerunner of the Saviour, who pointed his followers to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. But this part of its course was only introduction. Its proper starting-point is the incarnation of the Eternal Word, who dwelt among us and revealed his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and next to this, the miracle of the first Pentecost, when the Church took her place as a Christian institution, filled with the Spirit of the glorified Redeemer and entrusted with the conversion of all nations. Jesus Christ, the God-Man and Saviour of the world, is the author of the new creation, the soul and the head of the church, which is his body and his bride. In his person and work lies all the fulness of the Godhead and of renewed humanity, the whole plan of redemption, and the key of all history from the creation of man in the image of God to the resurrection of the body unto everlasting life.
This is the objective conception of church history.
--
Church History: A Simple Chronology
Church history is rather complex, but an understanding of the basics is very worthwhile. The following is a simple chronology of church history adapted from Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language:
(30-70 AD) The Time of Jesus and the Apostles
- The death and resurrection of Christ.
- The Christian faith is birthed and the gospel of grace is preached. (30-70 AD) The Time of Jesus and the Apostles
- The death and resurrection of Christ.
- The Christian faith is birthed and the gospel of grace is preached.
(70-312) The Age of Catholic Christianity - The spread of the Christian faith; martyrdom of the early believers.
- Early heresies sprouted; first church councils and the canonizing of scripture.
(312-590) The Age of the Christian Empire - Constantine declares Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire; Age of great councils.
- Christianity became a faith for the masses; start of Monasticism.
(590-1517) The Middle Ages - The fall of Rome and the Byzantine empire.
- Benedictine monks deployed as missionaries; the pope becomes the "ruler" of the church.
- The crusades: The church gains the world but looses it soul.
(1517-1648) The Age of Reformation - Martin Luther and the protestant movement.
- The start of denominationalism - Examples: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglican.
- The papacy looses it power and influence.
(1648-1789) The Age of Reason and Revival - Secularism -- The mind becomes god; people begin to ask, "Who needs God?"
- Revivals such as Pietism, Methodism and the Great Awakening seek to restore God to public life.
(1789-1914) The Age of Progress - The message of Christ is carried to distant lands, but the faith continues to leave public life.
- Pluralistic and totalitarian societies see no relevance for Christianity.
(1912-current) The Age of Ideologies
_______________________________________________________________
This is the age of the Graeco-Latin church, or of the Christian Fathers. Its field is the countries around the Mediterranean—Western Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe—just the theatre of the old Roman empire and of classic heathendom. This age lays the foundation, in doctrine, government, and worship, for all the subsequent history. It is the common progenitor of all the various confessions.
The Life of Christ and the Apostolic Church are by far the most important sections, and require separate treatment. They form the divine-human groundwork of the church, and inspire, regulate, and correct all subsequent periods.
Then, at the beginning of the fourth century, the accession of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, marks a decisive turn; Christianity rising from a persecuted sect to the prevailing religion of the Graeco-Roman empire. In the history of doctrines, the first oecumenical council of Nicaea, falling in the midst of Constantine’s reign, a.d. 325, has the prominence of an epoch.
Here, then, are three periods within the first or patristic era, which we may severally designate as the period of the Apostles, the period of the Martyrs, and the period of the Christian Emperors and Patriarchs.
II. Medieval Christianity, from Gregory I to the Reformation. a.d. 590–1517.
The middle age is variously reckoned—from Constantine, 306 or 311; from the fall of the West Roman empire, 476; from Gregory the Great, 590; from Charlemagne, 800. But it is very generally regarded as closing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and more precisely, at the outbreak of the Reformation in 1517. Gregory the Great seems to us to form the most proper ecclesiastical point of division. With him, the author of the Anglo-Saxon mission, the last of the church fathers, and the first of the proper popes, begins in earnest, and with decisive success, the conversion of the barbarian tribes, and, at the same time, the development of the absolute papacy, and the alienation of the eastern and western churches.
This suggests the distinctive character of the middle age: the transition of the church from Asia and Africa to Middle and Western Europe, from the Graeco-Roman nationality to that of the Germanic, Celtic, and Slavonic races, and from the culture of the ancient classic world to the modern civilization. The great work of the church then was the conversion and education of the heathen barbarians, who conquered and demolished the Roman empire, indeed, but were themselves conquered and transformed by its Christianity. This work was performed mainly by the Latin church, under a firm hierarchical constitution, culminating in the bishop of Rome. The Greek church though she made some conquests among the Slavic tribes of Eastern Europe, particularly in the Russian empire, since grown so important, was in turn sorely pressed and reduced by Mohammedanism in Asia and Africa, the very seat of primitive Christianity, and at last in Constantinople itself; and in doctrine, worship, and organization, she stopped at the position of the oecumenical councils and the patriarchal constitution of the fifth century.
In the middle age the development of the hierarchy occupies the foreground, so that it may be called the church of the Popes, as distinct from the ancient church of the Fathers, and the modern church of the Reformers.
In the growth and decay of the Roman hierarchy three popes stand out as representatives of as many epochs: Gregory I., or the Great (590), marks the rise of absolute papacy; Gregory VII., or Hildebrand (1049), its summit; and Boniface VIII. (1294), its decline. We thus have again three periods in mediaeval church history. We may briefly distinguish them as the Missionary, the Papal, and the pre- or ante-Reformatory ages of Catholicism.
III. Modern Christianity, from the Reformation of the sixteenth century to the present time. a.d. 1517–1880.
Modern history moves chiefly among the nations of Europe, and from the seventeenth century finds a vast new theatre in North America. Western Christendom now splits into two hostile parts—one remaining on the old path, the other striking out a new one; while the eastern church withdraws still further from the stage of history, and presents a scene of almost undisturbed stagnation, except in modern Russia and Greece. Modern church history is the age of Protestantism in conflict with Romanism, of religious liberty and independence in conflict with the principle of authority and tutelage, of individual and personal Christianity against an objective and traditional church system.
—History of the Christian Church, The The Bible teaches that Mankind entered a whole new age on the Day of Pentecost in approximately 30 AD.24 On that day the Holy Spirit fell upon the Apostles and they were empowered to preach the Gospel (Acts 2:1-4). Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, and the Church was established when three thousand people responded and accepted Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 2:14-41). We have been living in the Church Age ever since.
The Age of the Last Days also began on the Day of Pentecost. The prophet Joel had prophesied that in the "last days" God would pour out His Spirit upon all mankind (Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17). When the three thousand responded to Peter's sermon, they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and all believers have received that gift since that time. The writer of Hebrews referred to his day and time in the First Century as "the last days" (Hebrews 1:2). The Apostle Peter did the same thing in his writings (1 Peter 1:5 & 20). And the Apostle John called his day the "last hour" (1 John 2:18).
Before Jesus died and the Church Age began, He referred to His day as "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). He was referring to the period of time when the Jewish people would live under Gentile domination without a king anointed by God. That period began in 586 BC when Israel was conquered by Babylon, the Davidic monarchy was ended, and the Jewish people were carried away into captivity. This period continues to this day simultaneously with the Church Age because the Jews still suffer from Gentile domination, and their God-anointed monarchy has not been restored.
The Second Coming of Jesus will mark the end of the Age of the Last Days. It will also mark the end of the Times of the Gentiles.
THE CHURCH- GOD'S PLAN
A BRIEF JOURNEY THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
Beginning with a brief summary of Jesus’ last days on earth, with his disciples, his ascension, and the selection of a replacement for Judas Iscariot, Luke moves quickly to his subject; the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. Pentecost, highlighted by the filling of the Holy Spirit (2:1-13) and Peter’s powerful sermon (2:14-42), was the beginning. Then the Jerusalem church grew daily through the bold witness of Peter and John and the love of the believers (2:43-4:37). The infant church was not without problems, however, with external opposition (resulting in imprisonment, beatings, and death) and internal deceit and complaining. Greek speaking Jewish believers were appointed to help with the administration of the church to free the apostles to preach. Stephen and Phillip were among the first deacons, and Stephen became the church’s first martyr (5:1-8:3)
Instead of stopping Christianity, opposition and persecution served as catalysts for its spread because the believers took the message with them wherever the fled (8:4). Soon there were converts throughout Samaria and even in Ethiopia (8:5-40).
At this point, Luke introduces us to a bright young Jew, zealous for the law and intent on ridding Judaism of the Jesus heresy. But on the way to Damascus to capture believers, Saul was converted when he was confronted in person by the risen Christ (9:1-9). Through the ministry of Ananias and the sponsorship of Barnabas, Saul (Paul) was welcomed into the fellowship and then sent to Tarsus for safety (9:10-30).
Meanwhile, the church continued to thrive throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. Luke recounts Peter’s preaching and how Peter healed Aeneas in Lyda and Dorcas in Joppa. (9:31-43). While in Joppa, Peter learned through a vision that he could take the gospel to the “unclean” Gentiles. Peter understood and he faithfully shared the truth with Cornelius, whose entire household became believers (Chapter 10). This was standing news to the Jerusalem church, but when Peter told his story, the praised God for his plan for all people to hear the Good News (11:1-18). This pushed the church into even wider circles as the message was preached to Greeks in Antioch, where Barnabas went to encourage the believers. Then he went on to Tarsus to find Saul (11:20-26).
To please the Jewish leaders, Herod joined in the persecution of the Jerusalem church, killing James, (John’s brother) and imprisoning Peter. But God freed Peter, and Peter walked from prison to a prayer meeting on his behalf at John Mark’s house (chapter 12).
Here Luke shifts the focus to Paul’s ministry. Commissioned by the Antioch church for a missionary tour (13:1-3) Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to Cyprus and south Galatia with great success (13:4-14:28) But the Jewish-Gentile controversy threatened to divide the church. So a council met in Jerusalem to rule on the relationship of Gentile Christians to the Old Testament laws. After hearing both sides, James (Jesus’brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church), resolved the issue and sent messengers to the churches with the decision. (15:1-31)
After the council, Paul and Silas preached in Antioch. Then they left for Syria and Cilicia as Barnabas and Mark sailed for Cyprus. (15:35-41). On this second missionary journey, Paul and Silas traveled throughout Macedonia and Achaia, establishing churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth, and Ephesus before returning to Antioch (16:1-18:22). Luke also tells of the ministry of Apollos (18:24-28).
On Paul’s third missionary journey he traveled through Galatia, Phrygia, Macedonia, and
Achaia, encouraging and teaching the believers (19:1-21:9) . During this time he felt compelled to go to Jerusalem; and although he was warned by Agabus and others of impending imprisonment (21:10-12), he continued his journey in that direction.
While in Jerusalem Paul was accosted in the Temple by an angry mob and taken into protective custody by the Roman commander (21:17-22:29). Now we see Paul as a prisoner and on trial before the Jewish high council (23:1-9). Governor Felix (23:23-24:27), and Festus and Agrippa (25:1-26:32). In each case, Paul gave a strong and clear witness for his Lord.
Because Paul appealed to Caesar, however, he was sent to Rome for the final hearing of his case. Bon on the way, the ship was destroyed in a storm, and the sailors and prisoners had to swim ashore. Even in this circumstance Paul shared his faith (27:1-28:10). Eventually the journey continued and Paul arrived in Rome, where he was held under house arrest while awaiting trial (28:11-31).
Luke ends Acts abruptly with the encouraging word that Paul had freedom in his captivity as he talked to visitors and guards, “boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him” (28:31).
Beginning with a brief summary of Jesus’ last days on earth, with his disciples, his ascension, and the selection of a replacement for Judas Iscariot, Luke moves quickly to his subject; the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. Pentecost, highlighted by the filling of the Holy Spirit (2:1-13) and Peter’s powerful sermon (2:14-42), was the beginning. Then the Jerusalem church grew daily through the bold witness of Peter and John and the love of the believers (2:43-4:37). The infant church was not without problems, however, with external opposition (resulting in imprisonment, beatings, and death) and internal deceit and complaining. Greek speaking Jewish believers were appointed to help with the administration of the church to free the apostles to preach. Stephen and Phillip were among the first deacons, and Stephen became the church’s first martyr (5:1-8:3)
Instead of stopping Christianity, opposition and persecution served as catalysts for its spread because the believers took the message with them wherever the fled (8:4). Soon there were converts throughout Samaria and even in Ethiopia (8:5-40).
At this point, Luke introduces us to a bright young Jew, zealous for the law and intent on ridding Judaism of the Jesus heresy. But on the way to Damascus to capture believers, Saul was converted when he was confronted in person by the risen Christ (9:1-9). Through the ministry of Ananias and the sponsorship of Barnabas, Saul (Paul) was welcomed into the fellowship and then sent to Tarsus for safety (9:10-30).
Meanwhile, the church continued to thrive throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. Luke recounts Peter’s preaching and how Peter healed Aeneas in Lyda and Dorcas in Joppa. (9:31-43). While in Joppa, Peter learned through a vision that he could take the gospel to the “unclean” Gentiles. Peter understood and he faithfully shared the truth with Cornelius, whose entire household became believers (Chapter 10). This was standing news to the Jerusalem church, but when Peter told his story, the praised God for his plan for all people to hear the Good News (11:1-18). This pushed the church into even wider circles as the message was preached to Greeks in Antioch, where Barnabas went to encourage the believers. Then he went on to Tarsus to find Saul (11:20-26).
To please the Jewish leaders, Herod joined in the persecution of the Jerusalem church, killing James, (John’s brother) and imprisoning Peter. But God freed Peter, and Peter walked from prison to a prayer meeting on his behalf at John Mark’s house (chapter 12).
Here Luke shifts the focus to Paul’s ministry. Commissioned by the Antioch church for a missionary tour (13:1-3) Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to Cyprus and south Galatia with great success (13:4-14:28) But the Jewish-Gentile controversy threatened to divide the church. So a council met in Jerusalem to rule on the relationship of Gentile Christians to the Old Testament laws. After hearing both sides, James (Jesus’brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church), resolved the issue and sent messengers to the churches with the decision. (15:1-31)
After the council, Paul and Silas preached in Antioch. Then they left for Syria and Cilicia as Barnabas and Mark sailed for Cyprus. (15:35-41). On this second missionary journey, Paul and Silas traveled throughout Macedonia and Achaia, establishing churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth, and Ephesus before returning to Antioch (16:1-18:22). Luke also tells of the ministry of Apollos (18:24-28).
On Paul’s third missionary journey he traveled through Galatia, Phrygia, Macedonia, and
Achaia, encouraging and teaching the believers (19:1-21:9) . During this time he felt compelled to go to Jerusalem; and although he was warned by Agabus and others of impending imprisonment (21:10-12), he continued his journey in that direction.
While in Jerusalem Paul was accosted in the Temple by an angry mob and taken into protective custody by the Roman commander (21:17-22:29). Now we see Paul as a prisoner and on trial before the Jewish high council (23:1-9). Governor Felix (23:23-24:27), and Festus and Agrippa (25:1-26:32). In each case, Paul gave a strong and clear witness for his Lord.
Because Paul appealed to Caesar, however, he was sent to Rome for the final hearing of his case. Bon on the way, the ship was destroyed in a storm, and the sailors and prisoners had to swim ashore. Even in this circumstance Paul shared his faith (27:1-28:10). Eventually the journey continued and Paul arrived in Rome, where he was held under house arrest while awaiting trial (28:11-31).
Luke ends Acts abruptly with the encouraging word that Paul had freedom in his captivity as he talked to visitors and guards, “boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him” (28:31).
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For further research on church history check out this site:
http://www.studylight.org/his/
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Center of Christianity
The term Christian has been around for a long time. What are we referring to when we say someone is a Christian? Who are Christians?
In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul gives us a look at church life in the early center of Christianity, a place where Jewish and Gentile believers came together. It became the base of the early church as a result of the persecution, which forced followers of Jesus to flee there from Judea during the first century. (Acts 11:19)
There are two cities in the New Testament by name of Antioch. The one in Pisidia, Asia Minor and one in Syria. The early church came from Antioch in Syria and was the center of Christianity. It was only 15 miles from the Mediterranean Ocean and was a major commercial center at the junction of trade routes running eastward to Mesopotamia, westward to the Aegean and south to Damascus, Palestine and Egypt. It was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. Today it is in southern Turkey near the Syrian border.
Paul and Barnabas did much teaching and preaching in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26; 15:35;)
The beginning of the body of Christ was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. The term Christian was not only for the Gentile believers as it seems to be today. There are not Jew and Gentiles, two bodies under Messiah. There is one body and that God made out of all believers. In the Scriptures there is a close relationship between a person and his or her name, the two being practically equivalent. The central Christian confession “Jesus is Lord”, was a particular problem in the Roman society. The affirmation of the sovereignty of Christ was a direct challenge to the claim of absolute rule on the part of the Roman emperor. Corinthian society was full of competitive individualism, an attitude that spilled over to the church. Paul was writing to them about divisions in the church and many other issues that had crept up. One followed Paul and another followed Apollo,:
10 Now I make request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all say the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, so that you may be in complete agreement, in the same mind and in the same opinion. 11 Because it has come to my knowledge, through those of the house of Chloe, that there are divisions among you, my brothers. 12 That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's. 13 Is there a division in Christ? was Paul nailed to the cross for you? or were you given baptism in the name of Paul? 14 I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name. 16 And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me. 17 For Christ sent me, not to give baptism, but to be a preacher of the good news: not with wise words, for fear that the cross of Christ might be made of no value. 18 For the word of the cross seems foolish to those who are on the way to destruction; but to us who are on the way to salvation it is the power of God. 19 As it says in the holy Writings, I will put an end to the wisdom of the wise, and will put on one side the designs of those who have knowledge. 20 Where is the wise?, where is he who has knowledge of the law?, where is the man of this world who has a love of discussion? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him. 22 Seeing that the Jews make request for signs, and the Greeks are looking for knowledge: 23 But we give the good news of Christ on the cross, a hard thing to the Jews, and a foolish thing to the Gentiles; 24 But to those of God's selection, Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God. 25 Because what seems foolish in God is wiser than men; and what seems feeble in God is stronger than men. 26 For you see God's design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble: 27 But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong; 28 And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are: 29 So that no flesh might have glory before God. 30 But God has given you a place in Christ Jesus, through whom God has given us wisdom and righteousness and salvation, and made us holy: 31 So that, as it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord. 1 Cor 1:10-31 (BBE)
Today there are some believers who do follow a specific pastor or rabbi. Perhaps they believe he has the corner on truth or maybe they just like his messages. This can either be a good or bad thing. It was not wisdom, nor any other human distinction that secured the salvation of men. Human wisdom could neither discover the method of salvation, nor secure compliance with its terms when revealed. Paul warned believers in the Gospel that they were in Christ (that is, converted), not because they were wiser, better, or more distinguished than others, but simply because God had chosen to called them (verses 26–30). God's plan in all this was to humble people so that whoever glories should glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). Christians are those who follow Christ. In 1 Corinthians Paul addressed the divisions of the church. He says that he was sent to preach Christ crucified, to preach the gospel message and not to baptize. The Corinthians believed that they should follow the man who baptized them. Even today baptism is used for church membership. Has anything really changed? We must be careful not to set up any idols in our hearts and minds lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. False doctrines can readily be found among congregations across the nation. Any teaching that is from human wisdom is false. It would lose its divine element and become nothing more than human wisdom. Whatever obscures the cross deprives the Gospel of its power.
How we view the body of Christ is important to God. Are we using human wisdom instead of God’s Word? Have we set up some false doctrines based off of a few passages and some intelligent men?
12 But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God. 13 And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit. 14 For the natural man is not able to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through the Spirit. 15 But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one. 16 For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Cor 2:12-16 (BBE)
1 And the teaching I gave you, my brothers, was such as I was able to give, not to those who have the Spirit, but to those who are still in the flesh, even to children in Christ. 2 I gave you milk and not meat, because you were, then, unable to take it, and even now you are not able; 3 Because you are still in the flesh: for when there is envy and division among you, are you not still walking after the way of the flesh, even as natural men? 4 For when one says, I am of Paul; and another says, I am of Apollos; are you not talking like natural men? 5 What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? They are but servants who gave you the good news as God gave it to them. 6 I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the increase. 7 So then the planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing; but God who gives the increase. 8 Now the planter and the waterer are working for the same end: but they will have their separate rewards in the measure of their work. 9 For we are workers with God: you are God's planting, God's building. 10 In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it. 11 For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But on the base a man may put gold, silver, stones of great price, wood, dry grass, cut stems; 13 Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work. 14 If any man's work comes through the test, he will have a reward. 15 If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire. 16 Do you not see that you are God's holy house, and that the Spirit of God has his place in you? 17 If anyone makes the house of God unclean, God will put an end to him; for the house of God is holy, and you are his house. 18 Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God. As it is said in the holy Writings, He who takes the wise in their secret designs: 20 And again, The Lord has knowledge of the reasonings of the wise, that they are nothing. 21 So let no one take pride in men. For all things are yours; 22 Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
1 Cor 3:1-23 (BBE)
The apostle resumes the subject of the quarrels in the Corinthian church. He passes to that subject from the defence of his way of preaching by a natural association. One of the objections against him was that his preaching was too simple. He answers that he could not make it otherwise, because they were mere infants in Christ. The proof of their being in this infantile or carnal state was that quarrels and divisions existed among them; one saying, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos' (verses 1–4).
As their quarrels had no reference to their religious teachers, the apostle endeavours to correct the evil by presenting the ministerial office in its true light.
1.Ministers were not head of schools or rival sects as were the Greek philosophers, but mere servants, without any authority or power of their own. One may plant, and another water, but the whole growth is from God (verses 5–7).
2.Ministers are one. They have one master and one work. They may have different departments in that great work, but they are like fellow-labourers on the same farm, or fellow- builders on the same temple (verses 8–9).
3.In performing their respective duties they incur a great responsibility. If they attempt to build up the temple of God with the rubbish of their own wisdom, they will be severely punished. If they employ the materials which God has provided, they will be rewarded (verses 10–15).
4.It is because the church is the temple of God that ministers will be held to this strict account for the doctrines which they preach, and for the way in which they execute their office (verses 16–17).
5.No minister need deceive himself in this matter. He cannot preach a higher wisdom than the wisdom of God; and to learn that wisdom he must renounce his own (verses 18–20).
6.Therefore the people should not place their confidence in ministers, who belong to the church, and not the church to them. To the interests and consummation of the church, all things, visible and invisible, are made subservient (verses 21–23).
3:1. There were two kinds of opponents of the apostle in Corinth. The false teachers, some of whom he denounces as anti-Christian; and secondly, those members of the church who had been taken in by these false teachers.
3:2. As they were children, he had treated them accordingly. He had given them milk; literally, 'I gave you milk to drink and not meat' – a concise form of expression. What is this distinction between milk and meat? The true nature of the distinction is to be learnt partly from the meaning of the imagery, and partly from parallel passages. The meaning of the image leads to the conclusion that the difference is in the teaching method rather than in the things taught. The same truth in one form is milk, in another form strong meat. 'Christ,' says Calvin, 'is milk for infants, and strong meat for men.' Every doctrine which can be taught to theologians is taught to children. The important truth is that there are not two sets of doctrine, a higher and a lower form of faith, one for the learned and the other for the unlearned; there is no part of the Gospel which we are authorized to keep back from the people. Everything which God has revealed is to be taught to everyone just so fast and so far as he has the capacity to receive it.
3:3. You are still of the flesh. That is, you are under the influence of the corrupt nature. They were imperfectly sanctified. Even Paul said of himself, 'I am of the flesh' (Romans 7:14). This term, therefore, may be applied even to the most advanced Christians. Its definite meaning depends on the context.
3:4. This confirms the fact that there were such divisions among them as proved them to be governed by unholy feelings, and also explains the nature of those divisions. There were in Corinth, as appears from 1:12, more than two parties; but the apostle confines himself to those mentioned here, because throughout the whole discussion he has referred to the opposition of the Greek element in the church; and because he could speak as freely of Apollos as of himself because of their intimacy. As the party spirit which disturbed the peace of the Corinthian church arose from wrong views of the relationship of ministers to the church, the apostle endeavours to correct the evil by presenting that relationship in its true light.
3:5. This passage may read, 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? Ministers by whom you believed. …' Ministers are mere instruments in God's hands. The doctrines which they preach are not their own discoveries, and the power which makes their preaching successful is not in them. They are nothing; and therefore it is an entire perversion of their relationship to the church to make them party leaders.
Paul and Apollos, men of the highest office and of the highest gifts, are servants, waiters, attendants – so called not just from their relationship to God, as those who serve him, but also because of their relationship to the church, whose they are, to whom they belong, and whom they serve.
3:6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. This illustrates two points. First, the diversity of service on the part of ministers, spoken of in verse 5 – one plants and another waters. Secondly, the entirely subordinate and instrumental nature of their service. As in nature, planting and watering are not what makes plants grow, so in the church, ministerial acts are not what causes grace. In both cases God brings everything about. And as humans do not have to plant and water if plants are to grow, so in the church ministerial acts are not necessary for faith. On the other hand, however, as the farmer's work is the ordinary and appointed means of securing a harvest, so the work of the ministry is the ordinary means of conversion.
3:7. This is the conclusion. Ministers are nothing. They are the instruments in God's hands.
3:8. Have a common purpose. Ministers have the same job; they have the same work, they stand in the same relationship to God and to his church. They are fellow-labourers. To set one against another, therefore, is inconsistent with their relationship to each other and to the people they serve.
3:9. For we are God's servants. This is at once the reason why ministers are one, and why they are to be rewarded according to their labours. They are one because they are all co-workers with God in the same great enterprise; and they are to be rewarded according to their labour, because that is the rule according to which labourers are rewarded. The propriety of this representation is apparent, because the church is God's field, or farm, which he makes fruitful by the light of truth and the dew of his grace, and on which his servants labour.
3:10. According to the grace God given to me. Paul often speaks of his apostolic office as a grace or favour which he had received from God, but here, as in 15:10, the reference is more general. By the grace he means all the gifts and influences of the Spirit, which not only qualified him for his work, but made him so labourious and faithful. Here, as elsewhere, he attributes to God all he was, and all that he was enabled to do.
A skilled master builder. That is, skilful. The word is often used of craftsmen. Paul was not only a labourer, but an architect. The whole plan of the building was revealed to him, and he was inspired to develop that plan, and to prescribe the way in which it should be carried out. He laid the foundation. The same idea was expressed above by saying 'I planted, Apollos watered.' He began the work in Corinth. Those who came after him were to carry on the building which he had commenced. The building must be erected on the foundation and according to it. Therefore he adds, Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. In the whole context he is speaking about ministers, and therefore this clause must be considered as warning addressed to them. They are to take heed how, that is, with what materials, they carried on the building of this holy temple. Faithfulness as well as diligence is required in a minister.
3:11. For others can only carry on the work already begun, for the foundation cannot be changed. The foundation of the church is Christ (see Isaiah 28:16; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6). This may be understood either of the person or of the doctrine of Christ. In either way the sense is good.
3:12–13. The work of each builder will become visible. In this life it may be disputed whether a person's doctrines are true or false. He may have great confidence in their truth, and set himself above his brothers and even above the Bible. But his work hereafter will appear in its true character.
And the fire will test what sort of work each has done. The image is that of a building on which many workmen are engaged. Some use proper materials, others wood, hay, and straw. The building is to be subjected to the test of fire. The wood, hay, and straw will be burnt up; only the solid materials will stand. False doctrine can no more stand the test of the day of judgment than hay or straw can stand a raging conflagration.
3:14–15. This amplifies what precedes. If the materials used by a spiritual builder stand the test of the day of judgment, he will receive the reward of a faithful servant.
If the work is burned. That is, if the materials used by any builder do not stand the test of that day.
The builder will suffer loss. That is, he will lose his reward.
The builder will be saved. Just as someone who has built his house of combustible materials may escape when the fire comes, yet his property is lost, and all his labour comes to nothing. The apostle is speaking here about those teachers who, although they retain the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, combine them with error. This is clear from verse 12: 'If anyone builds on the foundation.' It is not enough, therefore, for a minister to hold fast to fundamental truth; he must take heed what he teaches in connection with that truth.
3:17. And you are that temple. As the word for temple is not in the text, the reference may be to the word sacred. 'The temple is sacred, which you also are.' The same reason exists why the church cannot be defiled or injured, that there is that the temple could not be profaned. Both are sacred.
3:18. Do not deceive yourselves. 'Let no one doubt the truth of what I have said about the worthlessness of human wisdom, and of the danger of substituting it for God's wisdom. If he does, he will find himself mistaken.'
3:19–20. We must renounce our own wisdom because it is folly. The infinite mind sees that to be folly which we children think to be wisdom. To prove the assertion that human wisdom is foolishness with God, he quotes two passages of Scripture. The first is from Job 5:13, the second is from Psalm 94:11. The former is a fragment of a sentence containing no verb in the Greek. Our translation treats the particle as if it were a verb. Those passages clearly express the same sentiment which the apostle had uttered. They declare the impotency and insufficiency of human wisdom.
3:21. All things are yours. The amplification of these words, given in the next verse, shows that they are to be taken in their widest sense. The universe is yours. How unworthy it is, then, for you to boast about men. Paul often appeals to the dignity and destiny of the church as a motive to right action. 'Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?' (6:2).
3:23. Christ belongs to God. As the church is subject only to Christ, so Christ is subject only to God. The Scriptures speak about a threefold subordination of Christ:
1.A subordination of the second person of the Trinity to the first in mode of subsistence and operation. This is perfectly consistent with their identity of substance, and equality in power and glory.
2.The voluntary subordination of the Son in his humbling himself to be found in appearance as a man, and becoming obedient to death, and therefore subject to the limitations and infirmities of our nature.
3.The subordination of the incarnate Son of God, in the work of redemption and as the head of the church. He who is by nature equal with God becomes, as it were, subject to him.
The passages most directly parallel with this one are 11:3 and 15:28, but the same truth is taught in Philippians 2:5–11 and Hebrews 1:3, and in many other passages.
—Commentary on 1 Corinthians, A
Chapter 4
1 Let us be judged as servants of Christ, and as those who are responsible for the secret things of God. 2 And it is right for such servants to be safe persons. 3 But it is a small thing to me that I am judged by you or by man's judging; I am not even a judge of myself. 4 For I am not conscious of any wrong in myself; but this does not make me clear, for it is the Lord who is my judge. 5 For this reason let there be no judging before the time, till the Lord comes, who will make clear the secret things of the dark, and the designs of the heart; and then will every man have his praise from God. 6 My brothers, it is because of you that I have taken Apollos and myself as examples of these things, so that in us you might see that it is not wise to go farther than what is in the holy Writings, so that no one of you may be lifted up against his brother. 7 For who made you better than your brother? or what have you that has not been given to you? but if it has been given to you, what cause have you for pride, as if it had not been given to you? 8 For even now you are full, even now you have wealth, you have been made kings without us: truly, I would be glad if you were kings, so that we might be kings with you. 9 For it seems to me that God has put us the Apostles last of all, as men whose fate is death: for we are put on view to the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are made to seem foolish for Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are feeble, but you are strong; you have glory, but we have shame. 11 Even to this hour we are without food, drink, and clothing, we are given blows and have no certain resting-place; 12 And with our hands we do the hardest work: when they give us curses we give blessings, when we undergo punishment we take it quietly; 13 When evil things are said about us we give gentle answers: we are made as the unclean things of the world, as that for which no one has any use, even till now. 14 I am not saying these things to put you to shame, but so that, as my dear children, you may see what is right. 15 For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news. 16 So my desire is that you take me as your example. 17 For this cause I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and true child in the Lord; he will make clear to you my ways in Christ, even as I am teaching everywhere in every church. 18 Now some are full of pride, as if I was not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you in a short time, if it is pleasing to the Lord, and I will take note, not of the word of those who are full of pride, but of the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What is your desire? is my coming to be with punishment, or is it to be in love and a gentle spirit?
1 Cor 4:1-21 (BBE)
Chapter 5
1 It is said, in fact, that there is among you a sin of the flesh, such as is not seen even among the Gentiles, that one of you has his father's wife. 2 And in place of feeling sorrow, you are pleased with yourselves, so that he who has done this thing has not been sent away from among you. 3 For I myself, being present in spirit though not in body, have come to a decision about him who has done this thing; 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you have come together with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 That this man is to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may have forgiveness in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 This pride of yours is not good. Do you not see that a little leaven makes a change in all the mass? 7 Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover. 8 Let us then keep the feast, not with old leaven, and not with the leaven of evil thoughts and acts, but with the unleavened bread of true thoughts and right feelings. 9 In my letter I said to you that you were not to keep company with those who go after the desires of the flesh; 10 But I had not in mind the sinners who are outside the church, or those who have a desire for and take the property of others, or those who give worship to images; for it is not possible to keep away from such people without going out of the world completely: 11 But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him. 12 For it is no business of mine to be judging those who are outside; but it is yours to be judging those who are among you; 13 As for those who are outside, God is their judge. So put away the evil man from among you.
1 Cor 5:1-13 (BBE)
Chapter 5
The case of the incestuous member of the church (verses 1–5).
Exhortation to purity, and to faithfulness in discipline (verses 6–13).
Reproof for retaining an unworthy member in the church (verses 1–13).
The second evil in the Corinthian church to which Paul directs his attention is allowing a man guilty of incest to remain in its communion. He says it was generally reported that fornication was tolerated among them, and even such fornication and was not heard of among the heathen (1 Corinthians 5:1).
He reproves them for being inflated, instead of being humbled and penitent, and excommunicating the offender (1 Corinthians 5:2). As they had neglected their duty, he determined, in the name of Christ, and as spiritually present in their assembly, to deliver the man guilty of incest to Satan (verses 3–5). He exhorts to purity, in language borrowed from the Mosaic law respecting the Passover. As during the feast of the Passover all leaven was to be removed from the Hebrews' homes, so that Christian's life should be a perpetual paschal feast, all malice and hypocrisy being banished from the hearts and from the assemblies of believers (verses 6–8). He corrects or guards against a misapprehension of his command not to associate with the immoral. He shows that the command referred to church communion, and not to social relationships; and therefore was limited in its application to members of the church. Those out of the church, it was neither his nor their prerogative to judge. They must be left to the judgment of God (verses 9–13).
5:1. Having dismissed the subject of the divisions in the Corinthian church, he takes up the case of the incestuous member of that church.
The term sexual immorality is used in a comprehensive sense, including all violations of the seventh commandment. Here, a particular case is distinguished as especially atrocious. The offense was that a man had married his step-mother. His father's wife is a scriptural periphrase for step-mother (see Leviticus 18:8). That it was a case of marriage is to be inferred from the uniform use of the phrase 'to have a woman' in the New Testament, which always means to marry (see Matthew 14:4; 22:28; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 29). Besides, although the connection continued, the offense is spoken of as past (verses 2–3). Such a marriage Paul says was unheard of among the Gentiles, that is, it was regarded by them with abhorrence. Cicero speaks of such a connection as an incredible crime, and as, with one exception, unheard of. It is probable from 2 Corinthians 7:12 that the father of the offender was still alive. The crime, however, was not adultery, but incest; for otherwise the apostle would not have spoken of it as an unheard of offense, and made the atrocity of it to arise out of the relationship between the woman and the offender's father.
5:2. Should you not rather have mourned, that is, grieved for yourselves. Your condition, instead of filling you with pride, should humble you and make you sad.
5:3–5. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit. Neither Paul's capacity nor his authority to judge, nor his power to execute his judgment, depended on his bodily presence. He was present in spirit. This does not mean simply that he was present in mind, thinking of them and interested in their welfare; but it was a presence of knowledge, authority, and power.
Hand this man over to Satan. From the earliest times, there have been two prevalent interpretations of this expression. According to one view, it means simple excommunication; according to the other, it includes a miraculous subjection of the person to the power of Satan. Those who regard it as merely excommunication say that 'to deliver to Satan' corresponds to 'removed from among you' in verse 2, and therefore means the same thing. The Corinthians had neglected to excommunicate this offender, and Paul says he had determined to do it. Besides, it is argued that excommunication is properly expressed by the phrase 'to deliver to Satan' because, as the world is the kingdom of Satan, to cast someone out of the church was to cast him from the kingdom of Christ into the kingdom of Satan. Compare Colossians 1:13. In favour of the idea of something more than excommunication, it may be argued:
1.It is clearly revealed in Scripture that bodily evils are often inflicted on people by the agency of Satan.
2.The apostles were invested with the power of miraculously inflicting such evils (Acts 5:1–11; 13:9–11; 2 Corinthians 10:8 and 13:10).
3.In 1 Timothy 1:20, the same formula occurs, probably in the same sense. There, Paul says he had delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme.
4.There is no evidence that the Jews of that age ever expressed excommunication by this phrase, and therefore it would not, in all probability, be understood in that sense by Paul's readers.
5.Excommunication would not have the effect of destroying the flesh, in the sense in which that expression is used in the following clause.
Most commentators, therefore, agree in understanding the apostle to threaten the infliction of some bodily evil, when he speaks of delivering this offender to Satan.
5:6. A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. This proverbial expression is not intended here to express the idea that one corrupt member of the church depraves the whole, because, in the following verses, in which the image is continued, the yeast is not a person, but sin. The idea, therefore, is that it is the nature of evil to diffuse itself. This is true with regard to individuals and communities.
5:7. Yeast. Yeast in this context is a figurative expression for sin. To say, therefore, that they were unleavened is to say that they were holy. This was their normal state – as Christians. A Christian is a new or holy person. The argument, therefore, is drawn from the acknowledged fact that Christians, as such, are holy. 'Purge out the yeast of wickedness, that you may be pure, for believers are holy.'
5:8. Sincerity is purity, transparent clearness; something through which the sun may shine without revealing any flaw.
Truth, in Scripture, is far more than veracity. In its subjective sense, it means that inner state which corresponds to the truth – that moral condition which is conformed to the law and character of God.
5:9. Not to associate with sexually immoral persons. Not to be mixed up together with. See 2 Thessalonians 3:14. This may refer either to relating socially or to church communion. Paul explains this indefinite command, first, by stating that he did not mean to forbid social relationships; and then saying he did intend to prohibit Christian fellowship with the wicked.
5:10. The world means mankind as distinguished from the church (Galatians 4:3; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:8). The prohibition, such as it was, was not limited to any one sort of immoral people; it included all sorts. The greedy, those who want more; and especially those who defraud for the sake of gain. In the Scriptures the controlling love of gain is spoken of as a specially heinous sin in God's sight. It is called idolatry in Ephesians 5:5 because wealth becomes the object supremely loved and sought. Therefore someone who sacrifices duty to the acquisition of wealth, who makes gain the great object of his life, is a greedy person. He cannot be a Christian, and should not, according to the apostle, be recognized as such.
5:11. Do not even eat with such a one. This does not refer to the Lord's Supper, which is never designated as a meal. The meaning is that we are not to recognize such a person in any way as a Christian, even by eating with him.
5:13. 'Drive out.' This seems to have been borrowed from Deuteronomy 24:7. It is a simple imperative injunction, or necessary application of the principle of Christian communion just laid down. This passage is not inconsistent with the interpretation given to verses 3–5. In consequence of their neglect of duty, Paul determined to deliver the incestuous member of the Corinthian church to Satan. He calls upon them to recognize the validity of that sentence, and to carry it into effect. The sentence was pronounced; they, so far as it involved their communion, were to execute it.
—Commentary on 1 Corinthians, A
Center of Christianity
The term Christian has been around for a long time. What are we referring to when we say someone is a Christian? Who are Christians?
In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul gives us a look at church life in the early center of Christianity, a place where Jewish and Gentile believers came together. It became the base of the early church as a result of the persecution, which forced followers of Jesus to flee there from Judea during the first century. (Acts 11:19)
There are two cities in the New Testament by name of Antioch. The one in Pisidia, Asia Minor and one in Syria. The early church came from Antioch in Syria and was the center of Christianity. It was only 15 miles from the Mediterranean Ocean and was a major commercial center at the junction of trade routes running eastward to Mesopotamia, westward to the Aegean and south to Damascus, Palestine and Egypt. It was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. Today it is in southern Turkey near the Syrian border.
Paul and Barnabas did much teaching and preaching in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26; 15:35;)
The beginning of the body of Christ was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. The term Christian was not only for the Gentile believers as it seems to be today. There are not Jew and Gentiles, two bodies under Messiah. There is one body and that God made out of all believers. In the Scriptures there is a close relationship between a person and his or her name, the two being practically equivalent. The central Christian confession “Jesus is Lord”, was a particular problem in the Roman society. The affirmation of the sovereignty of Christ was a direct challenge to the claim of absolute rule on the part of the Roman emperor. Corinthian society was full of competitive individualism, an attitude that spilled over to the church. Paul was writing to them about divisions in the church and many other issues that had crept up. One followed Paul and another followed Apollo,:
10 Now I make request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all say the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, so that you may be in complete agreement, in the same mind and in the same opinion. 11 Because it has come to my knowledge, through those of the house of Chloe, that there are divisions among you, my brothers. 12 That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's. 13 Is there a division in Christ? was Paul nailed to the cross for you? or were you given baptism in the name of Paul? 14 I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name. 16 And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me. 17 For Christ sent me, not to give baptism, but to be a preacher of the good news: not with wise words, for fear that the cross of Christ might be made of no value. 18 For the word of the cross seems foolish to those who are on the way to destruction; but to us who are on the way to salvation it is the power of God. 19 As it says in the holy Writings, I will put an end to the wisdom of the wise, and will put on one side the designs of those who have knowledge. 20 Where is the wise?, where is he who has knowledge of the law?, where is the man of this world who has a love of discussion? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him. 22 Seeing that the Jews make request for signs, and the Greeks are looking for knowledge: 23 But we give the good news of Christ on the cross, a hard thing to the Jews, and a foolish thing to the Gentiles; 24 But to those of God's selection, Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God. 25 Because what seems foolish in God is wiser than men; and what seems feeble in God is stronger than men. 26 For you see God's design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble: 27 But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong; 28 And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are: 29 So that no flesh might have glory before God. 30 But God has given you a place in Christ Jesus, through whom God has given us wisdom and righteousness and salvation, and made us holy: 31 So that, as it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord. 1 Cor 1:10-31 (BBE)
Today there are some believers who do follow a specific pastor or rabbi. Perhaps they believe he has the corner on truth or maybe they just like his messages. This can either be a good or bad thing. It was not wisdom, nor any other human distinction that secured the salvation of men. Human wisdom could neither discover the method of salvation, nor secure compliance with its terms when revealed. Paul warned believers in the Gospel that they were in Christ (that is, converted), not because they were wiser, better, or more distinguished than others, but simply because God had chosen to called them (verses 26–30). God's plan in all this was to humble people so that whoever glories should glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). Christians are those who follow Christ. In 1 Corinthians Paul addressed the divisions of the church. He says that he was sent to preach Christ crucified, to preach the gospel message and not to baptize. The Corinthians believed that they should follow the man who baptized them. Even today baptism is used for church membership. Has anything really changed? We must be careful not to set up any idols in our hearts and minds lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. False doctrines can readily be found among congregations across the nation. Any teaching that is from human wisdom is false. It would lose its divine element and become nothing more than human wisdom. Whatever obscures the cross deprives the Gospel of its power.
How we view the body of Christ is important to God. Are we using human wisdom instead of God’s Word? Have we set up some false doctrines based off of a few passages and some intelligent men?
12 But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God. 13 And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit. 14 For the natural man is not able to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through the Spirit. 15 But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one. 16 For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Cor 2:12-16 (BBE)
1 And the teaching I gave you, my brothers, was such as I was able to give, not to those who have the Spirit, but to those who are still in the flesh, even to children in Christ. 2 I gave you milk and not meat, because you were, then, unable to take it, and even now you are not able; 3 Because you are still in the flesh: for when there is envy and division among you, are you not still walking after the way of the flesh, even as natural men? 4 For when one says, I am of Paul; and another says, I am of Apollos; are you not talking like natural men? 5 What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? They are but servants who gave you the good news as God gave it to them. 6 I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the increase. 7 So then the planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing; but God who gives the increase. 8 Now the planter and the waterer are working for the same end: but they will have their separate rewards in the measure of their work. 9 For we are workers with God: you are God's planting, God's building. 10 In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it. 11 For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But on the base a man may put gold, silver, stones of great price, wood, dry grass, cut stems; 13 Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work. 14 If any man's work comes through the test, he will have a reward. 15 If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire. 16 Do you not see that you are God's holy house, and that the Spirit of God has his place in you? 17 If anyone makes the house of God unclean, God will put an end to him; for the house of God is holy, and you are his house. 18 Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God. As it is said in the holy Writings, He who takes the wise in their secret designs: 20 And again, The Lord has knowledge of the reasonings of the wise, that they are nothing. 21 So let no one take pride in men. For all things are yours; 22 Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
1 Cor 3:1-23 (BBE)
The apostle resumes the subject of the quarrels in the Corinthian church. He passes to that subject from the defence of his way of preaching by a natural association. One of the objections against him was that his preaching was too simple. He answers that he could not make it otherwise, because they were mere infants in Christ. The proof of their being in this infantile or carnal state was that quarrels and divisions existed among them; one saying, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos' (verses 1–4).
As their quarrels had no reference to their religious teachers, the apostle endeavours to correct the evil by presenting the ministerial office in its true light.
1.Ministers were not head of schools or rival sects as were the Greek philosophers, but mere servants, without any authority or power of their own. One may plant, and another water, but the whole growth is from God (verses 5–7).
2.Ministers are one. They have one master and one work. They may have different departments in that great work, but they are like fellow-labourers on the same farm, or fellow- builders on the same temple (verses 8–9).
3.In performing their respective duties they incur a great responsibility. If they attempt to build up the temple of God with the rubbish of their own wisdom, they will be severely punished. If they employ the materials which God has provided, they will be rewarded (verses 10–15).
4.It is because the church is the temple of God that ministers will be held to this strict account for the doctrines which they preach, and for the way in which they execute their office (verses 16–17).
5.No minister need deceive himself in this matter. He cannot preach a higher wisdom than the wisdom of God; and to learn that wisdom he must renounce his own (verses 18–20).
6.Therefore the people should not place their confidence in ministers, who belong to the church, and not the church to them. To the interests and consummation of the church, all things, visible and invisible, are made subservient (verses 21–23).
3:1. There were two kinds of opponents of the apostle in Corinth. The false teachers, some of whom he denounces as anti-Christian; and secondly, those members of the church who had been taken in by these false teachers.
3:2. As they were children, he had treated them accordingly. He had given them milk; literally, 'I gave you milk to drink and not meat' – a concise form of expression. What is this distinction between milk and meat? The true nature of the distinction is to be learnt partly from the meaning of the imagery, and partly from parallel passages. The meaning of the image leads to the conclusion that the difference is in the teaching method rather than in the things taught. The same truth in one form is milk, in another form strong meat. 'Christ,' says Calvin, 'is milk for infants, and strong meat for men.' Every doctrine which can be taught to theologians is taught to children. The important truth is that there are not two sets of doctrine, a higher and a lower form of faith, one for the learned and the other for the unlearned; there is no part of the Gospel which we are authorized to keep back from the people. Everything which God has revealed is to be taught to everyone just so fast and so far as he has the capacity to receive it.
3:3. You are still of the flesh. That is, you are under the influence of the corrupt nature. They were imperfectly sanctified. Even Paul said of himself, 'I am of the flesh' (Romans 7:14). This term, therefore, may be applied even to the most advanced Christians. Its definite meaning depends on the context.
3:4. This confirms the fact that there were such divisions among them as proved them to be governed by unholy feelings, and also explains the nature of those divisions. There were in Corinth, as appears from 1:12, more than two parties; but the apostle confines himself to those mentioned here, because throughout the whole discussion he has referred to the opposition of the Greek element in the church; and because he could speak as freely of Apollos as of himself because of their intimacy. As the party spirit which disturbed the peace of the Corinthian church arose from wrong views of the relationship of ministers to the church, the apostle endeavours to correct the evil by presenting that relationship in its true light.
3:5. This passage may read, 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? Ministers by whom you believed. …' Ministers are mere instruments in God's hands. The doctrines which they preach are not their own discoveries, and the power which makes their preaching successful is not in them. They are nothing; and therefore it is an entire perversion of their relationship to the church to make them party leaders.
Paul and Apollos, men of the highest office and of the highest gifts, are servants, waiters, attendants – so called not just from their relationship to God, as those who serve him, but also because of their relationship to the church, whose they are, to whom they belong, and whom they serve.
3:6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. This illustrates two points. First, the diversity of service on the part of ministers, spoken of in verse 5 – one plants and another waters. Secondly, the entirely subordinate and instrumental nature of their service. As in nature, planting and watering are not what makes plants grow, so in the church, ministerial acts are not what causes grace. In both cases God brings everything about. And as humans do not have to plant and water if plants are to grow, so in the church ministerial acts are not necessary for faith. On the other hand, however, as the farmer's work is the ordinary and appointed means of securing a harvest, so the work of the ministry is the ordinary means of conversion.
3:7. This is the conclusion. Ministers are nothing. They are the instruments in God's hands.
3:8. Have a common purpose. Ministers have the same job; they have the same work, they stand in the same relationship to God and to his church. They are fellow-labourers. To set one against another, therefore, is inconsistent with their relationship to each other and to the people they serve.
3:9. For we are God's servants. This is at once the reason why ministers are one, and why they are to be rewarded according to their labours. They are one because they are all co-workers with God in the same great enterprise; and they are to be rewarded according to their labour, because that is the rule according to which labourers are rewarded. The propriety of this representation is apparent, because the church is God's field, or farm, which he makes fruitful by the light of truth and the dew of his grace, and on which his servants labour.
3:10. According to the grace God given to me. Paul often speaks of his apostolic office as a grace or favour which he had received from God, but here, as in 15:10, the reference is more general. By the grace he means all the gifts and influences of the Spirit, which not only qualified him for his work, but made him so labourious and faithful. Here, as elsewhere, he attributes to God all he was, and all that he was enabled to do.
A skilled master builder. That is, skilful. The word is often used of craftsmen. Paul was not only a labourer, but an architect. The whole plan of the building was revealed to him, and he was inspired to develop that plan, and to prescribe the way in which it should be carried out. He laid the foundation. The same idea was expressed above by saying 'I planted, Apollos watered.' He began the work in Corinth. Those who came after him were to carry on the building which he had commenced. The building must be erected on the foundation and according to it. Therefore he adds, Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. In the whole context he is speaking about ministers, and therefore this clause must be considered as warning addressed to them. They are to take heed how, that is, with what materials, they carried on the building of this holy temple. Faithfulness as well as diligence is required in a minister.
3:11. For others can only carry on the work already begun, for the foundation cannot be changed. The foundation of the church is Christ (see Isaiah 28:16; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6). This may be understood either of the person or of the doctrine of Christ. In either way the sense is good.
3:12–13. The work of each builder will become visible. In this life it may be disputed whether a person's doctrines are true or false. He may have great confidence in their truth, and set himself above his brothers and even above the Bible. But his work hereafter will appear in its true character.
And the fire will test what sort of work each has done. The image is that of a building on which many workmen are engaged. Some use proper materials, others wood, hay, and straw. The building is to be subjected to the test of fire. The wood, hay, and straw will be burnt up; only the solid materials will stand. False doctrine can no more stand the test of the day of judgment than hay or straw can stand a raging conflagration.
3:14–15. This amplifies what precedes. If the materials used by a spiritual builder stand the test of the day of judgment, he will receive the reward of a faithful servant.
If the work is burned. That is, if the materials used by any builder do not stand the test of that day.
The builder will suffer loss. That is, he will lose his reward.
The builder will be saved. Just as someone who has built his house of combustible materials may escape when the fire comes, yet his property is lost, and all his labour comes to nothing. The apostle is speaking here about those teachers who, although they retain the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, combine them with error. This is clear from verse 12: 'If anyone builds on the foundation.' It is not enough, therefore, for a minister to hold fast to fundamental truth; he must take heed what he teaches in connection with that truth.
3:17. And you are that temple. As the word for temple is not in the text, the reference may be to the word sacred. 'The temple is sacred, which you also are.' The same reason exists why the church cannot be defiled or injured, that there is that the temple could not be profaned. Both are sacred.
3:18. Do not deceive yourselves. 'Let no one doubt the truth of what I have said about the worthlessness of human wisdom, and of the danger of substituting it for God's wisdom. If he does, he will find himself mistaken.'
3:19–20. We must renounce our own wisdom because it is folly. The infinite mind sees that to be folly which we children think to be wisdom. To prove the assertion that human wisdom is foolishness with God, he quotes two passages of Scripture. The first is from Job 5:13, the second is from Psalm 94:11. The former is a fragment of a sentence containing no verb in the Greek. Our translation treats the particle as if it were a verb. Those passages clearly express the same sentiment which the apostle had uttered. They declare the impotency and insufficiency of human wisdom.
3:21. All things are yours. The amplification of these words, given in the next verse, shows that they are to be taken in their widest sense. The universe is yours. How unworthy it is, then, for you to boast about men. Paul often appeals to the dignity and destiny of the church as a motive to right action. 'Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?' (6:2).
3:23. Christ belongs to God. As the church is subject only to Christ, so Christ is subject only to God. The Scriptures speak about a threefold subordination of Christ:
1.A subordination of the second person of the Trinity to the first in mode of subsistence and operation. This is perfectly consistent with their identity of substance, and equality in power and glory.
2.The voluntary subordination of the Son in his humbling himself to be found in appearance as a man, and becoming obedient to death, and therefore subject to the limitations and infirmities of our nature.
3.The subordination of the incarnate Son of God, in the work of redemption and as the head of the church. He who is by nature equal with God becomes, as it were, subject to him.
The passages most directly parallel with this one are 11:3 and 15:28, but the same truth is taught in Philippians 2:5–11 and Hebrews 1:3, and in many other passages.
—Commentary on 1 Corinthians, A
Chapter 4
1 Let us be judged as servants of Christ, and as those who are responsible for the secret things of God. 2 And it is right for such servants to be safe persons. 3 But it is a small thing to me that I am judged by you or by man's judging; I am not even a judge of myself. 4 For I am not conscious of any wrong in myself; but this does not make me clear, for it is the Lord who is my judge. 5 For this reason let there be no judging before the time, till the Lord comes, who will make clear the secret things of the dark, and the designs of the heart; and then will every man have his praise from God. 6 My brothers, it is because of you that I have taken Apollos and myself as examples of these things, so that in us you might see that it is not wise to go farther than what is in the holy Writings, so that no one of you may be lifted up against his brother. 7 For who made you better than your brother? or what have you that has not been given to you? but if it has been given to you, what cause have you for pride, as if it had not been given to you? 8 For even now you are full, even now you have wealth, you have been made kings without us: truly, I would be glad if you were kings, so that we might be kings with you. 9 For it seems to me that God has put us the Apostles last of all, as men whose fate is death: for we are put on view to the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are made to seem foolish for Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are feeble, but you are strong; you have glory, but we have shame. 11 Even to this hour we are without food, drink, and clothing, we are given blows and have no certain resting-place; 12 And with our hands we do the hardest work: when they give us curses we give blessings, when we undergo punishment we take it quietly; 13 When evil things are said about us we give gentle answers: we are made as the unclean things of the world, as that for which no one has any use, even till now. 14 I am not saying these things to put you to shame, but so that, as my dear children, you may see what is right. 15 For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news. 16 So my desire is that you take me as your example. 17 For this cause I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and true child in the Lord; he will make clear to you my ways in Christ, even as I am teaching everywhere in every church. 18 Now some are full of pride, as if I was not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you in a short time, if it is pleasing to the Lord, and I will take note, not of the word of those who are full of pride, but of the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What is your desire? is my coming to be with punishment, or is it to be in love and a gentle spirit?
1 Cor 4:1-21 (BBE)
Chapter 5
1 It is said, in fact, that there is among you a sin of the flesh, such as is not seen even among the Gentiles, that one of you has his father's wife. 2 And in place of feeling sorrow, you are pleased with yourselves, so that he who has done this thing has not been sent away from among you. 3 For I myself, being present in spirit though not in body, have come to a decision about him who has done this thing; 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you have come together with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 That this man is to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may have forgiveness in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 This pride of yours is not good. Do you not see that a little leaven makes a change in all the mass? 7 Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover. 8 Let us then keep the feast, not with old leaven, and not with the leaven of evil thoughts and acts, but with the unleavened bread of true thoughts and right feelings. 9 In my letter I said to you that you were not to keep company with those who go after the desires of the flesh; 10 But I had not in mind the sinners who are outside the church, or those who have a desire for and take the property of others, or those who give worship to images; for it is not possible to keep away from such people without going out of the world completely: 11 But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him. 12 For it is no business of mine to be judging those who are outside; but it is yours to be judging those who are among you; 13 As for those who are outside, God is their judge. So put away the evil man from among you.
1 Cor 5:1-13 (BBE)
Chapter 5
The case of the incestuous member of the church (verses 1–5).
Exhortation to purity, and to faithfulness in discipline (verses 6–13).
Reproof for retaining an unworthy member in the church (verses 1–13).
The second evil in the Corinthian church to which Paul directs his attention is allowing a man guilty of incest to remain in its communion. He says it was generally reported that fornication was tolerated among them, and even such fornication and was not heard of among the heathen (1 Corinthians 5:1).
He reproves them for being inflated, instead of being humbled and penitent, and excommunicating the offender (1 Corinthians 5:2). As they had neglected their duty, he determined, in the name of Christ, and as spiritually present in their assembly, to deliver the man guilty of incest to Satan (verses 3–5). He exhorts to purity, in language borrowed from the Mosaic law respecting the Passover. As during the feast of the Passover all leaven was to be removed from the Hebrews' homes, so that Christian's life should be a perpetual paschal feast, all malice and hypocrisy being banished from the hearts and from the assemblies of believers (verses 6–8). He corrects or guards against a misapprehension of his command not to associate with the immoral. He shows that the command referred to church communion, and not to social relationships; and therefore was limited in its application to members of the church. Those out of the church, it was neither his nor their prerogative to judge. They must be left to the judgment of God (verses 9–13).
5:1. Having dismissed the subject of the divisions in the Corinthian church, he takes up the case of the incestuous member of that church.
The term sexual immorality is used in a comprehensive sense, including all violations of the seventh commandment. Here, a particular case is distinguished as especially atrocious. The offense was that a man had married his step-mother. His father's wife is a scriptural periphrase for step-mother (see Leviticus 18:8). That it was a case of marriage is to be inferred from the uniform use of the phrase 'to have a woman' in the New Testament, which always means to marry (see Matthew 14:4; 22:28; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 29). Besides, although the connection continued, the offense is spoken of as past (verses 2–3). Such a marriage Paul says was unheard of among the Gentiles, that is, it was regarded by them with abhorrence. Cicero speaks of such a connection as an incredible crime, and as, with one exception, unheard of. It is probable from 2 Corinthians 7:12 that the father of the offender was still alive. The crime, however, was not adultery, but incest; for otherwise the apostle would not have spoken of it as an unheard of offense, and made the atrocity of it to arise out of the relationship between the woman and the offender's father.
5:2. Should you not rather have mourned, that is, grieved for yourselves. Your condition, instead of filling you with pride, should humble you and make you sad.
5:3–5. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit. Neither Paul's capacity nor his authority to judge, nor his power to execute his judgment, depended on his bodily presence. He was present in spirit. This does not mean simply that he was present in mind, thinking of them and interested in their welfare; but it was a presence of knowledge, authority, and power.
Hand this man over to Satan. From the earliest times, there have been two prevalent interpretations of this expression. According to one view, it means simple excommunication; according to the other, it includes a miraculous subjection of the person to the power of Satan. Those who regard it as merely excommunication say that 'to deliver to Satan' corresponds to 'removed from among you' in verse 2, and therefore means the same thing. The Corinthians had neglected to excommunicate this offender, and Paul says he had determined to do it. Besides, it is argued that excommunication is properly expressed by the phrase 'to deliver to Satan' because, as the world is the kingdom of Satan, to cast someone out of the church was to cast him from the kingdom of Christ into the kingdom of Satan. Compare Colossians 1:13. In favour of the idea of something more than excommunication, it may be argued:
1.It is clearly revealed in Scripture that bodily evils are often inflicted on people by the agency of Satan.
2.The apostles were invested with the power of miraculously inflicting such evils (Acts 5:1–11; 13:9–11; 2 Corinthians 10:8 and 13:10).
3.In 1 Timothy 1:20, the same formula occurs, probably in the same sense. There, Paul says he had delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme.
4.There is no evidence that the Jews of that age ever expressed excommunication by this phrase, and therefore it would not, in all probability, be understood in that sense by Paul's readers.
5.Excommunication would not have the effect of destroying the flesh, in the sense in which that expression is used in the following clause.
Most commentators, therefore, agree in understanding the apostle to threaten the infliction of some bodily evil, when he speaks of delivering this offender to Satan.
5:6. A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. This proverbial expression is not intended here to express the idea that one corrupt member of the church depraves the whole, because, in the following verses, in which the image is continued, the yeast is not a person, but sin. The idea, therefore, is that it is the nature of evil to diffuse itself. This is true with regard to individuals and communities.
5:7. Yeast. Yeast in this context is a figurative expression for sin. To say, therefore, that they were unleavened is to say that they were holy. This was their normal state – as Christians. A Christian is a new or holy person. The argument, therefore, is drawn from the acknowledged fact that Christians, as such, are holy. 'Purge out the yeast of wickedness, that you may be pure, for believers are holy.'
5:8. Sincerity is purity, transparent clearness; something through which the sun may shine without revealing any flaw.
Truth, in Scripture, is far more than veracity. In its subjective sense, it means that inner state which corresponds to the truth – that moral condition which is conformed to the law and character of God.
5:9. Not to associate with sexually immoral persons. Not to be mixed up together with. See 2 Thessalonians 3:14. This may refer either to relating socially or to church communion. Paul explains this indefinite command, first, by stating that he did not mean to forbid social relationships; and then saying he did intend to prohibit Christian fellowship with the wicked.
5:10. The world means mankind as distinguished from the church (Galatians 4:3; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:8). The prohibition, such as it was, was not limited to any one sort of immoral people; it included all sorts. The greedy, those who want more; and especially those who defraud for the sake of gain. In the Scriptures the controlling love of gain is spoken of as a specially heinous sin in God's sight. It is called idolatry in Ephesians 5:5 because wealth becomes the object supremely loved and sought. Therefore someone who sacrifices duty to the acquisition of wealth, who makes gain the great object of his life, is a greedy person. He cannot be a Christian, and should not, according to the apostle, be recognized as such.
5:11. Do not even eat with such a one. This does not refer to the Lord's Supper, which is never designated as a meal. The meaning is that we are not to recognize such a person in any way as a Christian, even by eating with him.
5:13. 'Drive out.' This seems to have been borrowed from Deuteronomy 24:7. It is a simple imperative injunction, or necessary application of the principle of Christian communion just laid down. This passage is not inconsistent with the interpretation given to verses 3–5. In consequence of their neglect of duty, Paul determined to deliver the incestuous member of the Corinthian church to Satan. He calls upon them to recognize the validity of that sentence, and to carry it into effect. The sentence was pronounced; they, so far as it involved their communion, were to execute it.
—Commentary on 1 Corinthians, A