Sunday, February 05, 2006
February 6th 1 Corinthians 3
Go ahead and look first at 1 Corinthians 3 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): 1 Corinthians 3:13
…his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
Title: Above or Underneath the Bible?
Observation: The believers at Corinth (or at least some of them) were placing themselves about the teaching of the apostles and we’re choosing their favorite apostles like we choose favorite football teams. They seemed to be saying, I like this part of the teaching of God and I will ignore the rest. They placed themselves in a position to judge what the teaching was and judge it as though they were wiser than God.
Too often we do this same thing. There is some scripture that’s easy for us to love and obey. I know Christians who say things like, “ I believe in grace not judgment.” Fair enough. Jesus death and resurrection trumps judgment for the believer. Yet to deny judgment is to deny the character of God and to deny that a just God must punish evil, not merely wave it away as if it was of no consequence. Jesus would have died for nothing and the holocaust would be laughed off as merely a prank of those precocious humans. Justice demands that there be a penalty.
If you ever come to a fork where you are not sure how to interpret the passage of scripture and there are two option a good hermeneutic (way of understanding) is to prefer the more difficult, more uncomfortable way of understanding Jesus. Too often we want to make Jesus say what we want Him to say instead of placing ourselves under the teaching He actually gave.
Application: I must place myself under the accountability of scripture. I am not the exception; I too must place myself under the apostles teaching as those in Corinth also had to. I should also read those with whom I disagree theologically; those uncomfortable to me may be exactly what I need to hear to more fully understand God’s Word.
Prayer: Lord God help me to place myself underneath the teaching of the Apostles. Lord, do not let me stray from their teaching. NO one is greater than their master; I stand under the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles through the Holy Scripture. Let me accept their hard teachings and put them into practice, so that I might not be the infant, tossed to and fro, but the strong man of God that you want me to be. Lord, be glorified in my life.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Key Verse(s): 1 Corinthians 3:13
…his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
Title: Above or Underneath the Bible?
Observation: The believers at Corinth (or at least some of them) were placing themselves about the teaching of the apostles and we’re choosing their favorite apostles like we choose favorite football teams. They seemed to be saying, I like this part of the teaching of God and I will ignore the rest. They placed themselves in a position to judge what the teaching was and judge it as though they were wiser than God.
Too often we do this same thing. There is some scripture that’s easy for us to love and obey. I know Christians who say things like, “ I believe in grace not judgment.” Fair enough. Jesus death and resurrection trumps judgment for the believer. Yet to deny judgment is to deny the character of God and to deny that a just God must punish evil, not merely wave it away as if it was of no consequence. Jesus would have died for nothing and the holocaust would be laughed off as merely a prank of those precocious humans. Justice demands that there be a penalty.
If you ever come to a fork where you are not sure how to interpret the passage of scripture and there are two option a good hermeneutic (way of understanding) is to prefer the more difficult, more uncomfortable way of understanding Jesus. Too often we want to make Jesus say what we want Him to say instead of placing ourselves under the teaching He actually gave.
Application: I must place myself under the accountability of scripture. I am not the exception; I too must place myself under the apostles teaching as those in Corinth also had to. I should also read those with whom I disagree theologically; those uncomfortable to me may be exactly what I need to hear to more fully understand God’s Word.
Prayer: Lord God help me to place myself underneath the teaching of the Apostles. Lord, do not let me stray from their teaching. NO one is greater than their master; I stand under the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles through the Holy Scripture. Let me accept their hard teachings and put them into practice, so that I might not be the infant, tossed to and fro, but the strong man of God that you want me to be. Lord, be glorified in my life.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
