No Stumbling

1 Cor. 8:11-13

And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Paul taught a hugely important principle in this chapter. In those days it involved eating food offered to idols. The reasoning was this. Idols are nothing because there is only one God. So the food offered to these idols would be fine since it was food offered to a non-entity. Consequently, many believers enjoyed this freedom of eating food offered to idols. But the problem was this. What if a brother younger in the Lord, a brother for whom Christ died, did not have this same freedom and was actually very bothered by this practice? If the younger brother happened to see the more mature Christian eating this food, it would become a huge stumbling-block to him. Paul's point is this. Nothing is more important than destroying a younger brother. In fact, it becomes sin. By a brother's act of freedom, a conscience is wounded or destroyed. Love for one another should supersede any freedom no matter how right that freedom is. Paul's resolve was to never make a brother stumble. 

Today there might be other issues. Perhaps drinking alcohol, going to R rated movies, dress styles, words or phrases in our speech, or activities we are involved in. Whatever it is, love for our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord should be more important. It should never be our desire to hang on to a freedom at the cost of someone else's spiritual growth. Sadly, some Christians have gone the other way with this. They have valued their freedom so much that they have created divisions and separations between believers. Where is the love? Where is the care for those for whom Christ died?

Father,

Open my heart and examine me. Are there things I am hanging onto? Reveal them to me. Grant me repentance. Grow my love for my sisters and brothers in the Lord.

In Jesus name,

Amen

The Strong Man

Mk. 3:27

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

I have been saved, redeemed, ransomed, justified, sanctified, and will be eventually glorified by the strongest God/Man ever! He is my strength! No one can enter His house, my body, the temple of the Holy Spirit and plunder His goods. No one can pluck me out of the Father's hand. I am insured and assured of complete and utter safety. In addition to all of this, I can rest in the plan and purpose of my Sovereign God. His will and purpose can never be changed. It was set in motion before the foundations of the world just as I was formed long before my life ever appeared on the time line of history. In so many ways, I am protected by the strongest man ever!

Father,

Thank You for sending Your Son to squash Satan, to abolish His power, and to claim victory for all those who find new life in Him. Thank You for the indwelling Son and Holy Spirit.

In Jesus name,

Amen

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Cor. 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body. 

These verses weave together two great gifts. The first gift was when God saved me completely by faith and grace to prevent me from ever taking credit for such an act.  My salvation was a package deal. God didn't just save my soul and spirit, but He saved my body as well. Into my body, He sent His Holy Spirit to live, to indwell, to teach, to guide, to lead, and to convict. It was His gift just like my salvation was.

But my salvation was not free. It came at a great cost to the Son of God. He had to leave heaven, His position and place with His Father. As if that were not enough, He had to die as the Son of Man triumphing over Satan once and for all. It was in this horrific act that He paid the price for my soul, redeeming and ransoming me. From that point forward, I belong to Jesus. As someone who was redeemed, bought with a price, I am no longer in charge of my body, soul, or spirit. Since my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, I must glorify God in my body. This lofty thought follows closely some verses on sexual immorality. Sexual immorality does not glorify God. Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? How abhorrent! Even to write it is horrible! Of course not! It is never right!! Instead I must always glorify God in my body because my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God.

Father,

I am sure there are other behaviors that prohibit me from glorifying You in my body. Keep my eyes and heart open to the leading of Your Spirit. Convict me. Keep me ever close to Your heart.

In Jesus name,

Amen

And such were...

1 Cor. 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

And such were... that is the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards,  revilers, and swindlers. This was the past for every believer, but when Jesus came into the life, all of those things disappeared because believers are washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. If believers are washed, sanctified and justified, and they are, then it should be an utter impossibility for the old way of life to control the life again. How can someone who is washed become dirty again, or someone who is sanctified and justified become lose their sanctification or justification? 

It would appear from this passage [v. 1-11] that if these old behaviors are in the life then Jesus is not. To think that Jesus would co-exist with the actions of an unsaved person is foolishness. Paul went on to clarify this further by saying,  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. No doubt this, that a person can be saved and still be unchanged,  is one of the biggest lies that Satan has foisted on humanity. Riding the fence may seem like there is a foothold on both sides of the fence, but not so. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. God has made His line clear and pronounced, but Satan has left his line hazy and indiscernible. Sadly, such confusion feeds his foolish lies. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. [2Cor. 5:17] 

Father,

Your word speaks so clearly. Help me to see clearly into my own life so that I don't fall prey to any of Satan's lies.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Caleb

Josh. 14:10-11

And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.

Caleb was eager to claim the promise made to him by Moses. Forty-five years earlier, he was unafraid to fight the Anakim even though the other spies said it was a no-go. He knew his God was stronger than any giant. And now at age 85 his strength was unabated. He was willing to fight for the land of the promise for it may be that the Lord will be with him. He was willing for the Lord to do whatever in his life, but he wasn't going to let fear control him and his decisions. Joshua blessed Caleb and Hebron became his inheritance because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 

David echoed this same confidence in Ps. 27 when he said, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?  It mattered not who the evildoers, adversaries, or foes were, how many there were, or in Caleb's case, how big they were. For both David and Caleb, whose confidence was in the Lord, rested in their God who was in charge of all life. He, who created all and spoke through the crash of thunder and the streak of lightning, saw man as easy prey. This same God is my God. I can have the same confidence in Him that Caleb and Joshua had.

Father,

There are times when I am afraid. I ask that in Your strength and through Your grace You help me defeat that enemy. I know You are strong and that Your are always there for me, so what am I afraid? Teach me heart. Help me understand.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Imitators

1 Cor. 4:16

I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

In my day the idea of imitating another believer' s example is never out-rightly stated. I hear much about copying Christ as opposed to others. So why would Paul say this? Would it be spiritual pride? I think not since he is not claiming any credit for himself, but giving all the glory to God. Perhaps he is using a behavior common to all people. It is in our nature to look at others and copy what suits us. We may not admit it or encourage it, but we do copy what we see in other believers. It is this copying that can lead to competition and many other ungodly behaviors. Yet, Paul was using this idea for good.  Phil. 3:17 says, Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. The believers of this time lived when they were the first believers. What choices did they have to copy? Unfortunately, in Corinth they were copying and sanctioning ungodly behaviors: immorality, divisiveness, and competition at its worst. So Paul was shifting their vision off one another to those who were solidly Christ's, to those who walked according to the example you have in us.

The life Paul lived as well as the other apostles was no picnic. There were no parades or comfortable lodgings with great retirement benefits. In fact,  God has exhibited us [the]apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. How foolish that the Corinthians would think themselves strong and honorable! Paul went on to say, To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. How powerful is this! I am sure that my life doesn't resemble this in any way, shape, or form. No wonder Paul could say that they could follow his example. Paul went on to say that he didn't write these things to make them ashamed but to admonish them as his beloved children. It is quite an admonishment for me as well. What are the examples that I am following? What do I seek to do with my time?

Father,
Thank you for challenging my thoughts today. Teach me how You want me to live.
In Jesus name,
Amen

Divisons

1 Cor. 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Divisions within the body are destructive and sinful. Specifically, the Corinthians were fighting over who had had a major impact upon their lives especially in their salvation experience. Paul was appalled at this attitude, and consequently, he had to address them as children giving them the milk of the Word instead of the meat. They were missing the main point, that is that neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. 

Paul admonished them about how they were building upon their foundation regardless of who had laid the foundation. The building materials were gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw. Each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Yikes! Suffer loss! The key issue is for them and for us is faithfulness. How faithful are we to the task that God has given us? What are our motives in the work we do? Is human pride a factor? We need not fool ourselves thinking all will be forgotten. Certainly we won't lose our salvation, but who wants to suffer loss in heaven? Who wants to have nothing to throw at Jesus' feet?

Finally, Paul spoke to them about God's temple. Had they forgotten that they were the temple of God that was indwelled by His Spirit? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. Wake up! Listen! Examine your lives! The wisdom of the world is worthless in God's eyes. This divisiveness is worldly and foolish. So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

Father,

Fill my life with a love for Jesus. Make this love be my motive in all that I do. Sweep away anything that is tainted by sinful motives and methods. I want to be totally Yours used as You will.

In Jesus name,

Amen