The Contest and Crown

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. Therefore, I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, BSB)

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to encourage them to continue in their faith and remember God called them to Himself. He urged Christians to understand that being a Christian is not trivial, but a lifelong commitment. Paul taught them being a Christian requires discipline and encouraged them by reminding them of their eternal hope.

Paul used the metaphor of an athlete competing in a big race, like the games held every two years near Corinth. He reminded the church they cannot take their faith casually and not prepare for the contests. Like an athlete must exercise self-control of his body, mind, and heart, Paul said Christians must be self-controlled and disciplined to fight the battles that will besiege them. By training his body through strict habits and competitions, an athlete subjects his body to his will. Paul taught Christians must prepare themselves with spiritual disciplines that become habits to prepare for battles against temptations, trials, and forces of darkness. He meant each follower of Jesus will face contests to his faith, which can affect his body, heart, mind, and spirit. Therefore, each believer must prepare himself with spiritual disciplines/training, such as reading the Bible daily, memorizing and meditating on it, praying, fellowshipping, and worshipping with other believers, and standing up for his faith. Besides preparing for battle, each trial and/or temptation can grow the Christian and strengthen him. Those battles will make him ready for the next contest.

Living life as a Christian means the person does more than believe. He does not “beat at the air” without affect but strives, with training, to grow closer to God and emulate Jesus. Growing closer to God and becoming more like Jesus happens by following the spiritual disciplines mentioned in the above paragraph. When Christian growth through training happens, the believer gains a greater trust in God—a deeper faith. He fights battles with God’s strength and stands firm in his faith. The runner trains for the contest by subjecting his body to his will.

Discipline yourself. Subject it to your will, which you subject to God, and run the race strongly. By doing this, you will not fall short of the goal. You will not fail morally. Your testimony about God and the salvation He gives will prevail. Your faith in Jesus will inspire others to seek and to know Him as their Savior.

Remember, instead of getting a perishable crown, you receive the crown of life. Though thorny, like Jesus’ crown, your crown identifies you as being one with Christ. The thorns are the persecutions and temptations you endure and conquer, just as Jesus endured persecuted and tempted to conquer sin and death. By this, all who believe in Jesus become saved from sin and death. You, because of battling temptations and trials for your faith, will be identified with Christ. You will receive the imperishable crown as your reward from God, like Jesus’ imperishable crown, just as Paul wrote.

The contests—trails and persecutions of life—will occur throughout a person’s life. The ability to be victorious against them comes from going through them with God while receiving God’s power, wisdom, knowledge, and might. Having these with which to battle requires that the Christian discipline himself so he grows closer to God. By disciplining himself with prayer, meditating on and memorizing God’s word, studying the Bible, and attending worship services, the Christian draws close to God and immediately calls out to Him to be with and equip him for each battle he faces. The Christian, as a believer, has the imperishable wreath. He is God’s forgiven, saved child. With God, the struggles of life are conquerable. Christians have God with and for them, which makes the difference in their life journey.

If given the opportunity, many individuals would avoid engaging in contests of will, mind, heart, body, and spirit. Yet, we Christians have God’s mandate to tell everyone about Jesus so all believers can receive salvation. We have God’s promise that He will never leave or forsake us. Being able to live with and obey God daily with the joy and peace He gives makes the battles we face worth the cost. Our testimonies about God matter, regardless of the cost. Did anyone believe in Jesus because of your actions or words? If someone believes in Jesus and is saved from their sins, then the contests are worth the cost. Paul spoke of this in Acts 20:24. He wrote,

“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.”

How we face contests/challenges to our faith is important. Will our lives testify about God and His gospel? Or will our lives push people farther away from God? Facing hardships as a Christian is worthwhile to testify about God. The thorny, imperishable crown is worth the effort in life. Jesus considered it to be true and became the preeminent example. He died to save each person who believes in Him and confesses and repents of his sins. You will face contests as a Christian. The challenges are worth the cost of obeying God to spread the gospel. The crown is worth the contest and cost you will face.

Believe and receive the imperishable crown.

Be victorious in contests and live as a champion of the faith.

 

Love has Power

 

“(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:7

 

What does love do in this verse? Consider the four verbs.

 

Love BEARS all things. Love covers, as in excuses with grace (the grace Jesus gives His followers), the errors and faults of others. Jesus modeled forgiving everyone over and over again. He taught we are to forgive 70 times 7 times—perfect perfection, basically. We show our love by excusing errors and faults and don’t hold a grudge or wish for vengeance. We take Jesus’ example and apply it to our lives, so that we are gracious to people who err or with whom we’d be inclined to judge as being at fault.

 

Love BELIEVES all things. This is more than having absolute faith in Jesus. Jesus knew that because of sin, humanity was marred. He never gave up on humanity. Jesus believed we could be good again, but only through His power. He was not unaware of the greed and deceit Judas was capable of (We are each capable of sin.), yet He knew when people believe in Him for salvation, they are capable of doing and being good. This is the kind of belief in people love has, according to Paul. Love, God’s agape love in us, because of the Holy Spirit living in us, enacted by us believes can change. We believe by Salvation through Jesus that sinner and/or one who torments us can be good. Our faith should look forward to what a person can be, just like how we are changing for good because Jesus saved us. Like love BEARING, BELIEVING a person can be good comes from Jesus. He died because He knew people could and would be changed by belief in Him. We know the person has some goodness in him/her because of the hope we have in that person’s possibility of salvation. We can’t save the person, but we know he/she can be. It’s a looking toward the future to what he/she can/will be. This believing requires hope.

 

Love HOPES all things. We actively wait with full confidence that Jesus saves people and can save this one about which we are thinking. Jesus bore everything humans put Him through because He believed they could and would change for good, the true goodness only God is and gives. He holds on with hope of a person’s salvation and graciously excuses the faults and errors of this person and all people. Jesus actively waits with confident faith and hope knowing many people will be saved and perfected when they arrive in heaven. Likewise, we can have this same hope for people to be saved, changed, and perfected because we know Jesus personally and ultimately believe in Him, His power, His plan of salvation, His love, the future perfection of Christians. Only because Jesus saved us can we have this ultimate, unsupersedable hope.

 

Love ENDURES all things because of God’s power. Jesus knew this when He prayed in the garden before His betrayal when He said to His Father, “Not My will but Yours be done.” He endured the worst form of death to be the sin sacrifice because He knew every person could and many myriads would believe, be saved, would change, would bear, and would endure many things by other people while others watched the Christian’s attitude, actions, and words. The Christian would because Jesus did and because of their hope in the promise of being with God in heaven and being perfected there. 

 

Only by God’s power and following Jesus’ example can a Christian love to the depths Jesus did. Loving a person because of who they can be with Jesus’ touch by salvation. Love bears all things from people. It believes the best of people. Love hopes by waiting confidently for what Jesus will do in that person. And love endures everything knowing that what God promised will happen and what Jesus said is true. He loves us. He died for us. He can and will save those who believe in Him. 

 

Jesus can help us bear, believe, hope, and endure all things from all people because Jesus gives us the power to do them like He did and because we care for them and see the good they can be because of Jesus. He can change each person by saving them. Each person gets to believe in Jesus for him/herself. Salvation is personal. No one can save another by baptizing him/her or being baptized in place of him/her. Jesus gives us the ability to believe in Him. 

 

Will you believe? He gives us the ability to bear, believe, hope, and endure. 

 

Are you accepting His power and living as Jesus lived? Jesus’ love has the power to save you, then make you strong enough to live love like Him. 

 

Will you choose to live by and through His power-filled loved?

Love is…

 

 

“(Love) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

— 1 Corinthians 13:6

 

Love, the “far better way” about which Paul began to write in 1Corinthians 12:31. 

 

He wrote about love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

 

Love does not rejoice and take delight in unrighteousness—injustice and evil—but rejoices and finds joy in life that is in harmony with divine truth—righteousness. [my paraphrase]

 

Each person receives one or more spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. No gift is better than the other, just as no Christian is better than the other in the body of Christ. Each believer should strive to know God better and grow to be more like Him daily, as Jesus taught.

 

Instead of comparing ourselves to another, follow Jesus’ example, who, because He loves each person, chose to live as a man for about 33 years. He faced temptations but did not sin, endured ridicule and persecution by people close to Him, as well Gentiles and the people of Israel. Jesus chose to continue to teach, face accusations and scrutiny, endure doubt and betrayal by men, and suffer the pain and suffocation of the crucifixion because He loves each person He creates.

 

Love is God’s motivation. He loves us so much that He chose to send His Son, Jesus, to earth to endure all these evil things so that our sins (our wrongdoings) could be erased from our names. God wants an eternal relationship with each of us. If we do not believe in Jesus and His death as the sacrifice (the Savior) for our sins, God’s judgment of each person requires unbelievers to receive the just judgment for those sins. 

 

What is justice for unrighteousness (choosing your will/desires instead of what’s right)? Unrighteousness is opposite of righteousness—rightness with God. Since God is holy and the epitome of righteousness, unrighteousness is the opposite of holy; it’s evil. Because evil cannot exist where holiness is, the judgment for unredeemed sinners (someone who has not believed in Jesus and accepted the sacrifice He paid to redeem and free each person from the penalty and right judgment of his/her sins) is separation from God. Therefore, since God is in heaven in His kingdom, unsaved sinners cannot exist forever with Him in heaven. So unbelievers will be judged for their sins and suffer the penalty of eternal separation from God, which is hell.

 

“We know love by this, that Jesus laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (other Christians).” 1 John 3:16.

 

Love is rejoicing because of living in harmony with God and sharing His love with others. God’s love for us is our ultimate example of how we are to love and live. Rejoice and delight in God’s love, then rejoice and delight in loving other people like God does.

Escape

 

Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind.

God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 [NASB])

If you have ever read a Bible, listened to one being read, or heard people quote Scriptures, you have probably heard this verse or something akin to it. Most often, people will use part of it. What they say is, “God will not allow you to be tempted more than you can handle.” There is much more to these two verses Paul wrote than God’s benevolence to a person. These two verses speak almost exclusively about God.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in south-central Greece. The body of Christ, the church, there was experiencing problems within it. (Note: All churches will experience difficulties, temptations, and sin at least once.) Paul wrote to these Christians about the factions and divisions in the church caused by people falling to temptation. He wrote to tell them each member of the church must stand strong in their faith in Jesus to be a unified body of Christ that serves the members and the neighbors outside the church. A Christian’s freedom through Jesus Christ does not mean they are free to sin. Potentially, that would cause a brother or sister in faith to stumble because of his or her example.

To what were the temptations did the Corinthian Christians fall? Lust and craving what they did not have and but wanted. They were discontent with God and seeking only Him. The Corinthian Christians allowed these things and activities they desired to be their gods. These Christians worshiped false gods. Paul said the Corinthian believers wanted to gratify their evil desires and live immorally. By doing this, they caused factions and division in church and caused other believers to falter in the growth of their faith.

Next, Paul reminded these believers about the Israelites, God’s chosen people, and how they had a covenant with God through Moses. Repeatedly, the Israelites broke their covenant with God and sinned against Him. Paul helped the people recall what happened to the Israelites when they sinned. This, hopefully, would cause reflection amongst the Corinthian Christians and influence them to become mature followers of Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthians because he cared for them. He did not want them to fall to temptation, but to stay in a growing faith-relationship with God.

With verses twelve and thirteen, Paul explained how Christians could avoid the snare of temptation, not be seduced to sin. In the New Living Translation of the Bible, Paul’s words in verse twelve say, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful (take action) not to fall.” Just when a Christian thinks he or she has conquered his or her temptations and cannot be tempted again, watch out because one is already in front of you. No one is outside the sphere of temptation. Paul’s word standing comes from the Greek word meaning being steadfast in mind and faith. It involves the mind, heart, and spirit. Indirectly, what Paul said involves action, too. Strong faith in and from God will keep Christians from acting out their desires that He does not approve. Paul meant, do not stop guarding yourself against Satan’s attacks. Put on the armor of God always. No person is strong every minute of his or her life. If that was the case, then Jesus would have had no reason to come to earth and die sinless of a sinner’s death. He died to take our place, so we would not have to die for the judgment of our sins. So, stand strong in your mind and faith and be careful not to fall. Consider the possibility of falling to temptation and being on guard, consider, and take heed (act) to avoid sinning. Living the life of a Christian in a fallen world is like being in a battle.

Paul continued with verse thirteen by telling the Corinthians how to avoid falling to temptation. He began by writing, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.” Remember, in verse twelve, Paul mentioned one must be steadfast in faith and mind and act, so he or she does not fall to temptations. Fight temptations with your whole being–heart, soul, mind, and strength (body). With verse thirteen, Paul reminded them no temptations any Christian faces are different from what other people experience. Each Corinthian Christian (and us) faced what the other did, wallowing in pity and being the lord of their lives, or allowing God to be the only God of their lives. None of us is beyond being tempted by Satan. All people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Jesus came for this reason. He paid the penalty for each person’s sins by dying a criminal’s death, though He had not sinned. Jesus did not leave believers defenseless against temptation. He gave His Holy Spirit upon their belief in Him. Other Christians have faced the same temptation the Corinthians Christians faced and emerged victorious; therefore, each believer can overcome temptations. The Corinthian Christians were not defenseless; no one is. Take heart by remembering the people who walked through and defeated this same temptation. Remember, the ones who went before us, like the Israelites, who fell to temptations, reaped their reward of disciplining and judgment from God.

Even more than recognizing we must be strong and have faith, in both of which falter, we must recognize God and not wallow in self-pity. Paul wrote about God in verse thirteen. He said, “God is faithful.” In the middle of these two verses, Paul reminded the Christians of the most important part of fighting temptations. God is unlike humans who fail in their promises. He always keeps his promises. He abides by them. God’s faithfulness is a fundamental part of His being. He cannot lie or fail. What God says He will do will be done. Everything He promised in the past still holds true. He promised He would be found if we sought Him with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13). God will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8 & Hebrews 13:5). Jesus said to His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house (John 14:2). The Bible is filled with God’s promises to His people and to those who earnestly seek Him. God is always faithful to His children. Faithfulness is inherently part of God. Each believer must hold on to that truth as they battle temptation. They do not fight alone or with failing strength. God gives faith to believe in Him, that He will lead him or her to victory over that temptation.

The third statement Paul wrote in verse thirteen is, “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.” (NLT) God is faithful and God is powerful. Omnipotence is part of who God is. Only He holds the universe in its correct alignment, so cataclysm does not occur and destroy all life. No person is more powerful than God. When fighting Satan’s forces as they strike out against you, a person needs superlative power, power beyond all imagining. The word power comes from the Greek word dunamis, from which the English word “dynamite gets its origin. Besides knowing this, we must recognize Paul did not tell the Corinthian Christians they will fight the temptations alone. God is with the person and will not allow it to be greater than the person can withstand. God knows that each temptation and trial grows a person stronger in their faith and trust in Him. He knows when it will be more than the person can stand up against because the person’s Christian growth has not grown that far. God also knows when a person needs to grow more and allows stretching through trials and temptations. In this verse, remember, God is and has the power (dunamis) to help a Christian get through temptations and to stop it completely, so His child is not overwhelmed. Note that God’s hand in all this. He is faithful. He has and gives His power. God controls how long a temptation/trial will last. Defeating temptation is all about being united with God in heart, mind, body, and soul.

The fourth and final part of verse thirteen states Paul told the Corinthians Christians, “When you are tempted, He (God) will show you a way out so that you can endure.” So, understand well, God won’t let a temptation go longer than you can stand with faith in Him and His power. He will show/give you a way out. He knows the map of the temptation and your desires and leads you, with His light, to green pastures (Psalm 23). Paul began this teaching and encouraging passage by telling the Christians to be careful and make sure they are standing strong against temptations. Look, see, and discern you face temptations and without God, you will not prevail. At the end of verse thirteen, Paul said, “When you are tempted, God will show you the way out and carry you away safely.”

Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians they will still face temptations like they did when they were not believers in Jesus. So, do not be surprised. Paul did not end with that fatalistic thought. He said God is faithful. He is faithful to His children and His promises. Paul continued by reminding the believers God is all-powerful. He can defeat the temptations Satan throws at them. God knows how far a Christian has grown spiritually and has the power to end the temptation at a specific point. The LORD is almighty and gives the strength His people need for the temptation/trial when they ask Him. Inherently, God is faithful, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and almighty. He knows what each person faces at any moment in time and desires to help him or her. Christians must do their part, too. Paul mentioned only two things Christians must do. He said believers must be steadfast in mind and spirit (vs. 12 a) and “be careful not to fall.” Christians must remember He is always with them, giving them His power and strength, and making a way for them to greener pastures (Psalm 23).

Being careful not to fall requires action. Believers in Jesus must act on the faith and trust they have in God. They act based on who God is, His promises, and what He has done and can do; He can do everything. The faith and actions of Christians are not baseless. Christians’ lack of faith can cause harm to themselves and their relationships with family, friends, God, and believers in the body of Christ. Paul addressed the Corinthians Christians because of their sins of living like non-Christians: visiting temple prostitutes, worshiping idols, cheating people out of money. In essence, they made their desires into their gods and did not follow the LORD God. Be aware when you sin, you cause disunity in the church, just as the Corinthian church experienced. You cause other believers to stumble. And you allow yourself to be led astray by Satan. When Christians live by God’s power against temptation, they gain more faith, grow more like Jesus, grow closer in relationship with God, grow stronger relationships with other people, strengthen the church to follow God more diligently, and bring God glory 1 Corinthians 10:31b).

Where do you stand in your relationship with God? Are you fighting temptations in your own weak strength and power? Or are you calling on almighty God to fight with you, give you faith, and show the way out of that situation. From this, your relationship with Him will grow and be an example of His faithfulness to someone who watched you conquer that temptation. Do not stop praying for strength to combat temptations. They will confront you every day.

 Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 [NABS])

God is faithful, all-powerful (omnipotent), almighty, all-knowing (omniscient), and always-present (omnipresent). You face and endure nothing without His knowing, His light, His power, and His strength because He is always faithful to His promises to His children. Going through trials and temptations can be all about God or all about ourselves. You choose and that choice decides the outcome of the temptation. What you choose can and will affect other believers, your neighbors, and the church.

 

Ego and Glory

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13 [NLT])

Many people look at these two verses and read, “God is faithful and won’t give you more than you can handle.” That is all they recall. I believe that is what Satan wants them to recall. But there is more to this passage. We must begin at the beginning of the chapter to understand fully what God wrote through Paul.

In the first eleven verses of this chapter, Paul reminded the Corinthians of the Israelites’ history. He reminded them how God had guided them by a cloud and how He had parted the sea so they could walk on dry ground to escape Pharaoh’s army. Paul recalled for them how the Israelites ate and drank the food and water God sent for them each day. Then he explained anew how these same people whom God rescued displeased God. The Israelites worshipped idols, complained about food and drink, celebrated with feasting and drinking and pagan revelry that included sexual immorality. God responded to these people with faithfulness and disciplined them and removed the ones who led others astray. He sent snakes to bite the sinners and the angel of death to remove them from among the Israelites.

The point Paul made with this recollection of the history of Israel is they put God to the test. He told the Corinthians they should not put Christ to the test. They should not test God’s patience and faithfulness to us just as those who died from snakebites did. What God did to the Israelites for discipline purposes were examples to the Corinthians and us so we would not challenge God with our rebellion. Paul said in verse eleven, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

Of what does this warn us? Paul explained this in the rest of the chapter, but he gives the how in verses twelve and thirteen. In verses fourteen through thirty, he said not to give offense to others who possibly are weaker in the faith or who are not Christians by your actions. Don’t create temptations for yourself by the freedom Christ gave you and so put your guard down when you eat things that you knew people offered as sacrifices to idols. And don’t anger God by your freedom by saying “all things are permissible.” (vs. 23) Paul warned the Corinthians and us of this. You notice in these three things, each action would affect a relationship - yours with others, yours with yourself, and yours with God.

With this understanding, Paul told them how to withstand temptation. Before we understand that, we need to understand human ego. Most people think they are strong enough to stand against temptation, but if that were so, all the addicts over the history of time and wouldn’t be addicts, whether addicts of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, porn, abuse, food, shopping, or whatever. Yet, if we truly look at human history and ourselves, we recognize, we are not strong enough to stand against all temptations. We are not Christ who stood strong against Satan’s temptations in the desert. Humans eventually collapse when faced with certain temptations in their lives. We each have weaknesses. Our egos tell us we are strong enough and can do this or that without failing, and sometimes we can. Most of the times, though, we cannot.

At this point is where Paul’s statement in verses twelve and thirteen come to play. He said, “If you think you are standing strong,” when often we are not standing strong. Paul knew humanity’s weaknesses because he recognized his own weaknesses. He had been a self-righteous Pharisee. “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” Paul knew at some point each person succumbs to temptation and warns them not to think too highly of themselves and their capabilities. Again, with verse thirteen, he reminded them that the failures of others we see around us, their weaknesses and falling to temptations, could be us, too. We are like every other person who walked the earth. We are weak and cannot stand up to every temptation.

Paul didn’t stop at that point and cause the Corinthians or us to despair. He reminded us about God and His characteristics. Paul continued, “God is faithful. He will not allow temptation to be more than you can stand.” Notice, God is the One who is all-knowing, always faithful, and all-powerful. Paul reminded the readers of this letter they are no stronger than any other person who’s lived, but God is stronger, is strongest, is faithful, and loves us. Because of God’s faithfulness, love, and knowledge of each of us, “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.” Don’t stop at that point, though. If you do, you will interpret this passage as many secular Christians and non-Christians do, with an off-the-cuff faith. It’s like the saying you hear from people, “God’s got my back.” It requires no faith in God is required to say that. That saying doesn’t give you the strength to walk through a situation. It’s just a saying, like when people say, “God won’t allow me to experience more than I can handle.” With those statements by people, no faith or covenant with God is required to say it. Paul reminds us instead that God’s wisdom, strength, faithfulness, and love, His covenant with us as His children, that sees us through the situation.

Paul completed his thoughts on this with, “When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” God is the One who makes a way. He won’t give you more than you can handle, and He will show you the way out so you can endure. The ability to withstand temptation is all about God. Paul made sure we understood that. He showed the frailties and weaknesses of humanity in verse twelve. We bring nothing to the table by which we can go through difficulties other than our faith in God, our covenant relationship with Him. God brings everything to the table for us to get through these times. He brings His knowledge, power, wisdom, love, and faithfulness that gets us through hard times. God is faithful to His covenant with His children. He will show us how to get through situations in our lives. What we bring to the table in these situations is our faith in Him and our obedience to His direction. We have no power and wisdom to get us through every trial.

God’s covenant with His children and their covenant with Him affects their relationship, and it affects their relationships with the people around them, and their relationship with themselves. Paul made sure the Corinthians and later readers understood this. When we stand strong because of God and give Him the glory, it strengthens our resolve and grows us to be more like Christ. It affects the people around us who see our trials and watch how we walk through them. When you testify and live a life of testimony to God, others grow, too. Our relationship with that person grows. This is the overarching learning point for the Corinthian Christians. Their lives should be a living testimony to the people watching them. This is what Paul meant when he said in verses thirty-one and thirty-two, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.” Live a life of testimony giving God the glory for everything you do and all that He does in your life and it will affect other believers, non-believers, and your own life.

Paul ended this chapter with, “I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.” (vs. 33b) Satan wants to make us think we are unable to do things or that we can face things without God’s help. Satan lies.

Be faithful to God. Be true to your covenant with Him. He is always faithful to you. He will not allow a temptation to be more than you can stand and will always show you a way out so you can endure.

Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

If you are not yet a child of Yahweh God, you can be by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Admit you are a sinner. Believe in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to Him. God loves you and wants to save you from your sins and death. He wants to have an eternal relationship with you.

Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9 [NLT])

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:9 [NLT])

Lord, so often I just push through a difficulty in my own strength and forget to ask You for Your wisdom and help. I think, “I’ve got this!” In that thinking, I have rebelled against You. Please forgive me for thinking better of myself than I am. Help me remember, You are the reason I live and am saved from sin and death. Not of my own strength, intellect, or reasoning have I survived, but only because of You. Help me to seek You and then to give You all the glory. Help me to remain totaled devoted to You. Use me to share about Your love and faithfulness to people around me. Amen.

Choosing to Face the Storms

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! (Matthew 26:41 [NLT])

Think about boating on Lake Erie or the Mediterranean Sea. The day begins with sun, calm seas, and a small breeze. You and a friend decide it’s  a beautiful day to take the sailboat out on the water. You raise the sails to get out of port. As you laze on deck with sails furled in the middle of the lake or sea, a wind arises that makes your boat rock furiously from starboard to port. Unfurling the sails will only cause you to catch too much wind and make your boat toss and turn at the storm’s mercy. A large ocean-going vessel comes to your starboard offering ropes to moor your boat to the ship’s sheltering side away from the wind. What should you do? Accept the offer or take your chances to ride out the storm?

Jesus knew about storms. He knew what caused humanity to stumble, when we face temptations and act upon them. These temptations when acted upon lead to sin. Each person alive has sinned. It’s part of the curse when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of which God told them not to eat. Jesus knew from where sin came. He addressed it immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.” The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. (Mark 1:10-13a [NLT])

Jesus understood humanity had great difficulty facing temptations. He faced temptations immediately after John baptized Him. Jesus faced temptations like any human does throughout His life. At any point in His three-year ministry, He could have said He wasn’t the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Christ, or the Messiah, then the Jewish religious leaders wouldn’t have challenged Him daily. Jesus could have said He was just a man whom God called to be a prophet. That’s what the people thought He must be.

Jesus faced the temptation to back down from the challenges presented by the people and the challenges presented by Satan. He willingly walked the path set before Him. Why? So, sin would be defeated and Jesus would have victory over death-eternal death, which is separation from God. Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that as sinless man, He could give power over temptation and sin to every person who believes in Him as their Savior and Lord. In the desert, Jesus was hungry. It would have been wonderful to enjoy a full stomach and so turn the stone into bread. But He didn’t do it. It would have been a relief if the angels of God’s kingdom carried Him from the heights while Satan tempted by Him. But He didn’t ask for their help.

Jesus faced the temptations to sin as a man and as the Son of God so He could give strength to people and enable them to overcome temptations without sinning. Our temptations do not differ from anyone else’s temptations. The foremost thought we have is to put our own selves first instead of seeking God and His will.  Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” [NLT] When you face  temptations, God is there ready to help you overcome them. In overcoming temptations, you must battle them, not ignore them. These battles strengthen you if you rely on the strength of God to get through the temptation and not to sin. If you rely on your own strength, you do not grow, but become prideful, another sin. This is key to overcoming power. We must rely on God to overcome by going through the struggle against temptation. Only God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Only He knows how to get through and become stronger.

Jesus chose to go through temptations instead of avoiding them. Avoiding them would not have made Him the conqueror. Facing temptations and overcoming them makes conquerors of people who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ choice to face temptation, stand up to it, and overcome it, gives His followers His power to do the same thing. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31b-39.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one-for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened to death? (As Scriptures say, “For Your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NLT]

Jesus, because of His and the Father’s great love for us, came to earth to live as a man, to face temptation just as a man, and to overcome temptation because He is God. He died and rose to life again to provide us, each believer in Him as Lord and Savior, the ability not to sin and not to face eternal death. Jesus did not turn away from temptation but chose to go through it to prove He is the Son of God. By this, He gives us power to overcome and grow through our times of temptation. No wonder Jesus challenged His inner circle of Peter, James, and John when He repeatedly found them asleep as He was praying for strength to face, battle, and overcome His biggest challenge, the challenge to save our souls and make a way for us to be righteous and be in a relationship with God. With these words, these three disciples heard Jesus’ challenge, and He recognized their weakness. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 [NLT]) These three men wanted to be faithful disciples of Jesus, but they were unable to face the temptation to sleep instead of keeping watch-praying.

We can overcome temptations and weaknesses and become stronger because of it. Jesus said that strength comes from God through prayer. Acknowledge your weakness. Ask God for His strength to walk with you through the temptation and to grow you as you walk with Him through it. Then pray with thanksgiving, praising God for the strength He gave you and the growth He caused because you walked with Him instead of falling asleep or walking in your own strength at the time of trial.

Consider the sail boat tossed furiously by the sudden storm. Consider yourself in that storm-tossed boat when a large steady ocean-going vessel offers you mooring ropes by which to secure your boat to the calmer side of that ship. Jesus is like that large ship. He provides His strength for you to hold on to while facing your temptations, your storms. With His strength and guidance, you can get through the storm and to your destination with less injury than if you faced the storm by yourself. You will be able to face another day and be wiser because of it. After having gone through that storm with Jesus, you will be able to help someone else face their temptations. Those temptations have made you more than a conqueror. You have become a stronger Christian in your prayer, thought, and physical life.

We are more than conquerors.

How?

Through Christ Jesus, who loves us.

Only with Jesus will we get through a temptation, conquer it, and become more than we were before the temptation. We are more than conquerors because of Jesus.

Lord, I have faced temptations. I have failed at times, too. I hate going through hard times. You, Lord, chose to face temptations because of Your love for me. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to do that, but You did it anyway. You loved me before You even knew me. Lord, I am undeserving of Your love. Make me more like You. Forgive me of my sins and wanting to live life my way. Help me not to shrug away battles and temptations because I am afraid, but to seek You by prayer and walk with You through them. Help me grow to be more like You, for You, Lord, are almighty. You are all-knowing. You chose to come to the world to die for my and other people’s sins because You love us. Thank you, Lord. Make me more like You. Mold me into Your image for Your purposes and glory. Amen.

Living Enriched Lives

In 1 Corinthians 1:4-8, Paul began his encouragement and entreaty to the Corinthian Christians. He began his letter reminding them of the most important thing – God’s grace is all-sufficient. In these five verses, Paul taught very succinctly the four most important things about God’s grace. Most importantly, he said, God’s grace enriches believers’ lives. We today can and need to learn and hold on to this teaching.

First, remember God’s grace is His loving-kindness and mercy given to a person without him or her deserving it. His grace is more than this though. One Corinthians 1:4-8 is where Paul unpacked it for the Corinthian believers. 

God’s grace enriches a believer’s life in his or her speech and knowledge. He fully enriches every believer in all ways so the believer’s words, speech, declarations, thoughts, meditations, reasoning, intelligence, understanding of God and the Christian faith are deeper, more perfect, and enlarged. The understanding by the believer of God and the Christian faith is so enriched and illuminated he or she explains his or her faith with power.

God’s grace acts in a believer’s life so it is visible. His grace enriching the believer’s knowledge and understanding of Him and the Christian faith spoken and testified with power and conviction leads to the believer’s life confirming his or her testimony of his or her faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in God came from His gift and gave His undeserved grace to the believer. That grace then makes itself evident in the gift of knowledge, understanding, and speech of the believer when he or she that testifies of God and the Christian faith

In addition to these, Paul stated God’s grace gives and shows in the believer’s expectant, eager, and watchful hope for the return of Jesus Christ. God’s grace, which provides salvation and adoption, gives hope for the future expected return of Jesus the Christ, a time when all things on earth return to perfection. His grace affects the mind of the believer, affects the believer’s thinking and hope for present and future times. Living with this evident hope testifies to God’s grace.

Finally, Paul said, God’s grace confirms the believer to the end so he or she is blameless and innocent before God. God’s grace given through the blood of Jesus Christ establishes and makes sure the believer is blameless of sin on the day of judgment and for eternity. His grace seals the believer for eternity.

This statement by Paul seems so small when considered in the totality of his writings, yet it is profound though concise. God’s grace enriches a believer’s life in speech, knowledge and insight so he or she lacks no gift from God. The conviction of this faith and the depth of knowledge and illumination manifests itself in the believer’s life and words to confirm his or her testimony of believing in Jesus Christ. God’s grace gives and shows in the believer’s expectant, eager, and watchful hope for the return of Jesus Christ. Finally, it confirms the believer to the end so he or she is blameless before God.

Have you experienced God’s grace?

Is your life a living testimony to God’s grace?

Like the Corinthian Christians who were divided into factions, we need to remember we must choose to live the life God’s grace put into us so our words and actions show His grace to the world as a testimony so others will want to come to know Jesus Christ, too.

Alert and Committed

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

(1 Cor 16:13 [NASB])

We have arrived at the end of the first week of January 2016. Have you remained committed to your objectives and goals so far?

We each are weak and fail in some of our goals in life whether it be to eat better, exercise more, be aware and help the needy, read our Bibles and pray, or be a better family member. Each of us proved ourselves unfaithful to our own goals and objectives at some point already this year. We are human – fallible and sinful.

Paul closed his first letter to the Corinthians reminding and encouraging them to be alert and stand firm in the faith. He told them to be cautious to keep the faith and be active in their faith - put into action their love for God by obeying Him.

Paul also encouraged and reminded them to act like men and be strong. They were to be brave like men and take a stand for God. Since the Corinthian believers came from the midst of a Gentile (non-Jewish) background and were surrounded by a pantheon of gods worshipped by their neighbors and the Roman Empire, it would be easy to slip back into their old ways. Paul challenged and encouraged them to be like brave and strong men and take a stand for Christ in their lives. Even when everyone around them worshipped other gods and ridiculed them, stand brave and strong in their faith in Jesus Christ, Paul instructed.

Considering what Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, how active is your faith? Do you stand firm when others around you do not live a Christian life or when they mock yours? Are you strong in your faith in the face of ridicule, slander, and persecution?

Paul was no stranger to persecution. He was a prime example for the Corinthian Christians on what it looks like to be active, firm, brave, and strong in the faith.

Will you listen to and receive encouragement from Paul to be active in your faith?

Will you stand firm in your faith in Jesus Christ today, tomorrow, this week?

Will you be brave in the face of adversity and be strong in your faith in God?

Stay committed to God.

He is committed to you.

A Holy People: Food Laws Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

            In the last two chapters of Deuteronomy and the resultant Bible studies, we read about one sanctuary and one God. We learned, too, about what that means for us today. Today’s lesson begins a series on one holy people. In Deuteronomy 14:1-21, Moses began and ended this passage with the statement to the Israelites that they are holy to the LORD God. In this sermon, Moses told the Israelites what it means to be a holy people of the LORD. The specificity for the next thirteen chapters begins in today’s study with the food laws God commands for the Israelites so they stay holy and set apart for Him. Before He gave specifics about the food laws, He gave two commands about mourning the dead. Each of these concerns the body - the external and the internal. Let us look now at these twenty-one verses.

Sons of the LORD

            Verse 1 says, “You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.” First, note that this verse is the only time the Israelites are called the “sons of the LORD your God” in the Old Testament. God wanted them to know He cherishes them and gives them commands out of love just as a father to his child. Note that the word “son” comes from the Hebrew word ben, which denotes a male child. In this circumstance, it can mean the people of a nation, too. God spoke to the whole of Israel as His children. The laws He gave were for His children who are His followers/worshippers. God gave these laws for His children and the nation He called His own.

The second half of verse one is interesting. What did God mean when He told them not to cut themselves or shave their foreheads for the dead? The custom of the nations around the Israelites was to cut their bodies or shave part of their head in the grieving of their dead family member or neighbor. Jeremiah 16:6 and 41:5 mentions this. The nations around the Israelites did this as a part of the worship of their gods, too (1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites saw the Egyptians shave their heads and eyebrows in the worship of their god, Isis. God forbade the Israelites to cut themselves or shave their heads to keep them separate from the worship of other gods. The Israelites cut themselves via circumcision as a sign of their covenant with Yahweh. To cut or mark themselves for funerary reasons, would put a mark of a false god on themselves. God’s laws told them not to harm themselves, physically and spiritually. To keep the Israelites from absorbing the worship practices and rituals of the surrounding nations, God gave them laws about certain practices, such as not cutting oneself or shaving the hair on one’s forehead. This law may appear arbitrary, but God was providing safeguards for anything that might become absorbed into the Israelites’ way of life, which was against God’s commandments.

A Holy People

In verse two, Moses explained why God gave the laws. He said, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” God said He chose them. Remember in Deuteronomy 7:6-7, 10:15, and 12:5, God said He chose them to set His affection of love on them. He chose them as His own possession from every people group on the earth. In Leviticus 20:26, God said He set them apart from every people to be His. The English word “chosen” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word bachar, which means to be chosen, decided for, or elected. The word “possession” is from the Hebrew word vegullah and means a treasured possession or special treasure. As any father would protect his family, God’s love for the Israelites was protective. Because He loves His people, He provided every measure of protection over them to prevent their being deceived or led astray from Him. This verse, then, tells the Israelites the reason for the laws set out in the next nineteen verses. Because they are a holy (set apart and consecrated to God) people, they must do nothing that God’s laws prohibit.

The next nineteen verses told the Israelites what they could and must not eat. They must not eat any detestable or abhorrent thing, anything God considered detestable or an abomination (vs. 3). Over the centuries, people have tried to understand why God allowed the eating of some animal meat and not others. Four trains of thought about this have arisen. First, people think God disallowed the eating of certain animals because people used them in pagan rituals. This idea would stand to reason considering that pagans used animals in the worship rituals of idols, but people of other nations offered bulls to their gods, too. Another view is that God disallowed the eating of certain animals for hygienic reasons. The people of the time did not have the ability to clean and prepare certain meats so that eating the meats would not make people sick. Yet any of the meats could have made people sick if kept for more than a day since they had no means of refrigeration. Other people reckon God disallowed certain foods because of the symbolism. Because God only allowed animals that did not prey on other animals or did not die of their own as offerings or sacrifices, these were the animals God commanded the Israelites not eat. This reasoning makes sense, but does not account for all the animals. What makes sense of God’s reasoning of allowed and disallowed animals for eating? It comes down to what God says is “clean” or “unclean.” Before the Mosaic covenant, Noah knew without asking which animals were clean and unclean when God told him to take two pairs of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals on the ark (Genesis 7). God has sovereign choice. He did not choose Israel because they were the most moral people on the earth or the largest or the most devout. Along with this reasoning, God did not appear to choose which animals were clean or unclean based on human reasoning. He used sovereign choice. This reasoning fits when the others do not. God chose Abraham, Jacob, Mary, the Israelites, and which animals to be eaten and sacrificed. This point shows God’s choice and election just as discussed at the beginning of verse two.

Food Laws

What did God say the Israelites could and must not eat? Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11 contain the list of clean and unclean animals. Deuteronomy 14 says the Israelites could eat any animals that had a divided hoof and chewed the cud. These animals included the ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. They, too, could eat anything from the water with scales and fins, any clean bird, and any winged insect that had jointed legs above their feet with which to jump. Leviticus 11 does not give the list of divided hoof cud chewing animals like Deuteronomy, but lists the winged insects that are clean – locusts, devastating locusts, grasshoppers of all kinds, and crickets of all kinds. Leviticus 11 does not speak of the clean birds the Israelites must not eat. As to the unclean things, both Deuteronomy and Leviticus give much more detail, with Leviticus giving more than Deuteronomy. The unclean animals God forbade the Israelites to eat included the following - 1. Animals that chew the cud but do not divide the hoof (camel, hyrax/shipman, and rabbit); 2. Animals that do not chew the cud, but have divided hooves (pig); 3. Animals in the water that have no fins or scales; 4. Swarming/teeming life (insects) with wings; 5. Winged insects that walk on all four feet; 6. Whatever crawls on its belly; 7. Whatever has many feet; 8. Swarming things (mole, mouse, great lizard and all its kind, gecko, crocodile, lizard, sand reptile, and chameleon); and 9. Unclean birds (eagle, vulture, buzzard, all kinds of kites, falcon, ostrich, owls, sea gulls, all kinds of hawks, pelican, cormorant, stork, all kinds of herons, hoopoe, bats, ravens, and carrion vultures). Of the unclean animals, Leviticus is more specific about the swarming things. To this list, Deuteronomy adds that any animal that “dies of itself” must not be eaten (Deut. 14:21). Deuteronomy adds one other thing that Leviticus does not include. Verse 21b says, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” God gave this same law in Exodus 23:19 and 34:26. The rationale is not obvious, though Philo, the philosopher, conjectured God commanded this because milk symbolizes life and cooking symbolizes death; thus, you cannot have both life and death in the same pot. Notice verse twenty-one says they can give or sell any of these things to aliens/foreigners in their towns and cities, but they are not to eat it. For people who are not God’s chosen people like the Israelites, the laws of the LORD did not apply.

A Holy People – Reprise and Expansion

Moses repeated for them why they were to follow this law of God. He encapsulated the food law with this reason. They were a “holy people to the LORD God,” Moses said. God’s children, those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ, are the LORD’s “holy people.” What, then, does the food law mean for us today? First, remember that the Israelites lived under the Mosaic covenant, which was a covenant of relationship with God and other people, a covenant of community. The Mosaic covenant led the people to know of their sins and ask forgiveness, but it never provided absolute salvation from their sins. God’s laws were outward actions that did not always reach inside the people. The Israelites’ thought processes focused on keeping unclean things from contaminating their inward selves. When Jesus came to earth, He taught what goes into a man is not what makes him clean or unclean, good or evil, but what comes from the inside of man that makes him these things (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7:15-22). Jesus Christ taught that He came to fulfill the Law not abolish it (Matthew 5:17). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached on the attitudes of people. He taught that what is on the inside - in the heart, soul, and mind of a person - is what and who the person is. That is why He taught that the person who wants to be His follower must love the LORD God with all his or her heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). Since Jesus taught what comes from inside a person determines if he or she is clean, good, and right with God, a follow of Jesus can only be one who accepts Him with his or her whole heart - the inner man, not the outer man. Actions do not make a person acceptable to God, but the circumcising and giving of one’s heart. Actions do not lead to salvation; faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior from our sins does.

Food Law Today?

What does that mean about God’s food laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy? First, we must remember what Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 15:11, what enters a man is not what defiles him, but what proceeds out of his mouth does. Along with this, we must recall Peter’s vision from God in Acts 10-11. God lowered a sheet of many kinds of animals and told Peter to kill and eat them. Peter told God he never ate any unclean thing. God told him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” From this lesson with God, at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, Peter said the Gentile Christians do not have to become Jews before becoming Christians. He instructed them “abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood” (Acts 15:28). Paul stated in Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Paul spoke about not creating obstacles for Christian brothers and sisters. Later, in 1 Corinthians 10:25-26, Paul said, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without questioning for conscience’s sake; for the earth is the LORD’s and all it contains.” This alludes back to what God told Peter in His vision and what He said at creation, everything He created is good. Paul told Timothy this same thing in1 Timothy 4:4, “For everything created by God is good, and nothings is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.” I think that is a major point. The attitude of the person receiving and eating the food determines if the God received glory or not when the person at the food. Remember what Paul wrote to in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Glorifying, praising, and thanking God for everything while doing all things comes from the inside of a person, from the person’s heart and soul. From the inside of a person comes either good or evil. When a person glorifies God, God declares the person and his actions good. So what a person puts into his or her mouth is not what defiles him or her. What defiles is what comes out of the person’s heart via his or her mouth or actions. Hence, with these New Testament verses as explanation and with the new covenant that Jesus Christ brought, the food laws God gave to the Israelites are not valid for Christ’s followers. Jesus fulfilled the laws of the Mosaic Covenant and brought salvation through His once-for-all death and resurrection for sinful humanity.

This leaves us each to decide. Are you still living under the Mosaic covenant, not receiving the salvation Jesus paid for with His life? Have you come to believe Jesus is the Son of God sent to die the death penalty for your sins? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you and be the LORD and Master of your life? For those who are followers of Christ, have you allowed the laws of life to hold you down so you do not live a victorious life for the glory of God? Now is the time to let Jesus live and shine through your life – your submission, words, and actions. Will you let Him break the yoke of slavery to laws and sin in your life? It is up to you. 

God’s plans were still unfolding; His promised Messiah’s time had not yet occurred. For the Israelites to stay in communion with God, they had to follow God’s laws, statutes, and commandments. These laws, statutes, and commandments led them to see God and keep Him in their lives, but the laws could never offer them perfect absolution from their sins.

Guidelines for Speaking/Teaching in Church

Guidelines for Speaking/Teaching in Church

1 Corinthians 14

When we come across the situation where someone claims to have an anointing by God and wants to preach or teach in our church, the main passage of Scripture that we should follow is 1 Corinthians 14. In this passage, Paul said all things, preached or taught, must be done for the edification of the church and it must be done in an orderly manner. We must also consider 1 Corinthians 13 as it also teaches about prophets. Chapter 13 says each of the services must be done in love. These three things - done in love, done for the edification of the church, and done in an orderly manner – must be the overarching guidelines for anything taught or preached in the church.

            Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:3-4, “One who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in tongues edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.” The word “edification,” according to Thayer and Smith’s NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, means “to build up or promote someone’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, and holiness.” Paul spoke of edifying the church in this chapter in verses 4, 5, 7, 12, and 26. Prophecy is for the edification of the church, not to bring acclaim to one’s self. If it is not said or presented in a way the church will understand, then is does not edify and does not need to be said. Prophesying or speaking/translating is only good if it edifies the people of the church. In verse 7 and 8, Paul spoke of instruments as a metaphor for prophesying. The tone that is played must be recognized, likewise the prophet must be recognized as being from God and having a word from God, and the hearers must understand (recognize) what is being said. “If the bugle plays an indistinct sound, who will prepare for battle” (vs. 8). Paul reiterates this point often. “So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear (definite, distinct, well marked), how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air” (vs. 9)? Paul said, “Let all things be done for edification” (vs. 26).

            Edification of the church is not the only criteria that helps us determine if we should let a person stand up and proclaim/teach to the church what God has told him or her. We must determine if what the person wants to say is biblical. If it is not biblical, it should not be allowed. If the person says God gave them a new revelation and you determine it is not biblical, they may say it is something new God wants people to hear. What do we do with this then? We have a few guidelines to follow. We could look to the Deuteronomic passages of Deuteronomy 13:1-3 and 18:20-22. These passages say:

13:1-3, “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known ) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

18:20-22, “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken ?' When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing, which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

To sum this up,

1. He or she must claim to speak what God has revealed to him.
2. The true Old Testament prophet of God must predict the future and it must have come to pass exactly as prophesied.
3. His or her message must be in harmony with the revealed word and will of God. If the message contradicts other Scripture, the speaker and his or her word is to be rejected.
4. His or her message must be true and he or she must lead people toward God, not away from Him.

Should these two verses not be enough and the person insists it is a new revelation, we can rely upon four other passages to guide us through which we can explain to them about God’s revelations. From the Old Testament all the way to the end of the New Testament, in Revelation, God said that only that which He says is revelation is to be considered from Him.

Deut. 4:2, "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Deut. 12:32, "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.”

Prov. 30:6, “Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.”

Rev. 22:18-19, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

The book of Revelation records the final revelations from God to humankind. It tells of revelations in the past, present, and to come in the future. Should this not be enough to quiet a supposed prophet who wants to speak in our church, but is not found to be biblical, the pastor can remind the person of the passage in 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration from God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The Scripture, the Bible, contains all of God’s revelation, teachings, commands, and the message of the Gospel and hope for eternal life. Nothing more is to be added. If what the person wants to proclaim is not in the Bible or is contrary to the teachings in the Bible, it should not be allowed to be spoken to the church.

            The final thing to be considered before allowing a person to speak “an anointed message” to the church is will it lead to chaos and confusion. Paul said in verse 33, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” Paul closes with this thought, too. In verse 40, Paul said, “But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.” Given that a prophet is a person who exhorts, teaches, instructs, comforts, encourages, rebukes, convicts, and stimulates their hearers, foretells of Jesus, and is filled with the Spirit of God (Thayer and Smith Greek Lexicon), a pastor of a church is a prophet to the church from God. He is a shepherd of a local church who proclaims the Word of God, just as a prophet does. Since this is the case and since the preacher is the shepherd of the church, the “anointed prophet” who wants to speak should first meet with the pastor so the pastor can determine if the word the prophet wants to speak to the church follows the guidelines above, that is, it does not add to or subtract from God’s Word, but expounds on what is in the Bible. Paul said this in verse 29 also. He said, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.” Judgment, in the Greek Lexicon means to make a distinction, to determine, separate, and to discriminate if the prophecy is from God. Hence, the judgment Paul spoke of in verse 29 is to determine if the prophet’s words are biblical or if it is counter to the revelation of God, the Bible. The pastor is the other prophet who will judge the one wanting to speak “an anointed word.”

Paul further stated in verses 32-33, “And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” This “confusion” means instability, disorder, and disturbance. Confusion in the Bible is likened to sin in James 3:16, wars and disturbances in Luke 21:9, beatings, tumults, imprisonment, labor, sleeplessness, and hunger in 2 Corinthians 6:5, and strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, and disturbances in 2 Corinthians 12:20. Confusion is not from God, but from Satan. God does not want confusion and chaos in His Church and puts His shepherds over His churches to judge the words of others as to the source of their revelation and if they are biblical. The pastor is the prophet to the church from God who helps maintain order in the church for God.

            In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul spoke of prophets and tongues and gave guidelines for their use in the church. What the prophet and speaker of tongues must ensure is that the word they speak is edifying and that it is biblical. If it is not biblical, it is not from God. Additionally, the method to use to speak what you feel is a word from God must be done in an orderly manner. The person must speak with the pastor, God’s prophet for that church. The pastor will determine from the Deuteronomic guidelines and his own biblical studies if the word to be shared with the church is acceptable according to God.

Finally, this chapter is secondary to 1 Corinthians 13. In chapter 13, Paul said, “If I have the gift of prophecy…but do not have love, I am nothing” (13:2). When a person speaks to a church or pastor, what they say must be done out of love for the hearers. If it is not, then the person is a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (13:1). Because the gifts of prophecy are “done away” and love never fails, love for God and His people must be the overarching requirement for a prophet/speaker. Biblical teaching is the second requirement for prophets, which includes edification of the church. The final requirement is that the prophet go about getting to speak and speaking in an orderly manner, from the first talk with the pastor to presenting the teaching to the church in a way they understand – considering language and method. A true prophet today will teach or preach what God revealed in His persevered Word, the sixty-six books of the canon