Special Topics in Corinthians

1. Special Topics in Corinthians Rolan Monje, BD Mmin The following are subjects of interest that deserve special attention after a survey of 1 and 2 Corinthians.

2. 1. Christ did not send me to baptize (1 Cor 1) • “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel...” - 1 Co1:17 • From this sentence, some conclude baptism must not be essential to salvation. • We need to be aware of the context of the passage as well as the language used.

3. Analyze context • The immediate context of his words in this epistle - 1 Co 1:10-13 • The remote context of Paul’s ministry in Corinth - Ac 18:1-18 • Biblical fact: Paul preached baptism. Thus, his comments in 1 Cor 1 should not be taken out of context.

4. Immediate context • Paul is making a point, as indicated by Paul’s rhetorical questions - 1 Co 1:13 • E.g., “Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” • Some evidently claimed to be disciples of those who personally baptized them; divided loyalties – Paul, Cephas (Peter), Apollos

5. The fact is Paul’s preaching resulted in baptisms! If one reads Acts, we find Paul encouraging the Corinthians to get baptized • Crispus, ruler of the synagogue, and his household believed on the Lord (and whom Paul personally baptized). (Acts 18:8, cf. 1 Co 1:14) • Also “many” of the Corinthians believed and were baptized - Ac 18:8

6. If one reads Acts, we find Paul encouraging the Corinthians to get baptized (Acts 18:8). Surely Paul would not suddenly contradict himself! In fact, in the rest of this same letter to Corinth, we find the following words: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Cor 12:13) • Paul is here stresses the normative nature of baptism and the sharing of spiritual food and drink (cf. Jn 7:37-39; Ro 6:4).

7. Analyze language • ou gar apesteilen me Christos baptizeinallaeuaggelizesthai… (ou, not…alla, but) where the infinitives “to baptize” and “to preach” are used • It is interesting that the Greek of this passage (not to baptize, but to preach…) is a way of expressing the importance of the second entity without negating the first. One can compare this with the Greek of Mk 9:37, Mt 10:20, Jn 12:44, and Ac 5:4 where “not…but” means “not just…but more so” or “not so much…as.” Therefore, this passage, while stressing the importance of preaching (an his role as preacher), does not disregard baptism.

8. Notice the words of Jesus in Jn 6:27... “Do not labor for the food which perishes...but for the food which endures to everlasting life” • Jesus was not saying one should not work, but rather was emphasizing the importance of seeking after spiritual food over physical food

9. So what was Paul saying? • “For Christ did not send me to baptize...but to preach the gospel” • Paul was not downplaying baptism, but that his role as an apostle to preach the gospel was more important!

10. From a NT scholar • The apostle is not speaking in absolute terms, but is underlining the priority of his calling, to preach the gospel. - FF Bruce, New International Bible Commentary

11. From a Greek scholar • “...bearing mind Paul’s other utterances about baptism, v.17 is to be interpreted in the light of the Semitic manner of laying stress on an issue: Christ sent Paul to preach the gospel rather than to baptize. But this is no depreciation of the value of baptism.” – Beasley-Murray Baptism In The New Testament

12. 2. Church discipline and disfellowship (1 Cor 5) • Worldliness was taking its devastating toll of spiritual life in Corinth. The Corinthians showed a lack of concern for purity. They neglected the responsibility to discipline and suffered as a result. • Corinth was a by-word for immorality, yet with all the debased, licentious habits of the Greeks, there was no relationship commonly known among them to compare with the depravity to which one of the Christians had sunk, living with his father’s wife. - F.F. Bruce

13. Paul’s three concerns • The gravity of the sin of incest • The arrogance of the church in the matter • The neglect of church discipline (disfellowship/excommunication)

14. Paul’s convictions • The church is to be purified as with the concern of leaven spreading (vv. 6-8). • The church is to have a mature view of church membership (vv. 9-13).

15. Notes for leaders • The church is not in the business of punishment; the goal of church discipline is restoration. • Disfellowship should be seen as the last recourse and only when much harm is done to the church and the person sinning refuses to repent. • In cases such as 1 Cor 5, our primary duty is to protect the body, not the sinner.

16. Two kinds of church discipline • Formative church discipline emphasizes personal growth and consists of the teaching and training of believers relative to their responsibilities as Christians and as church members. This teaching and training might well be called preventive discipline in a great number of cases.

17. Corrective discipline (also above called excisive discipline). It refers to confronting an individual’s sin and is associated with reprimand. While it is understood that we do not become sinless at our conversion (and that we may still fall in various ways), much of the harm caused by sins after conversion deserve attention. This must be discharged according to biblical guidelines.  

18. 3. Paul’s words vs. The Lord’s“Not I but the Lord...I have no command” • This refers to the section of 1 Cor 7:1ff where Paul addresses matters raised by the Corinthians in a letter to him. The issues are all related to marriage. • Should a Christian aspire for marriage (7:1)? • Should virgins get married (7:25)? • Paul’s add his personal conviction that a Christian should live according to God's calling, whether married or single (7:17-24).

19. 1 Cor 7:10-12 has “not I but the Lord;” since it’s not about merely Paul’s command, but Christ’s; cf. Mk 10:9; Lk 16:18. • Paul’s concern: what is good in God’s eyes. • For the unmarried to remain so is a "good" thing if a person can control his or her sexual desires. • For a married couple to stay together is not just "good"--it is commanded by the Lord. • “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.” (1 Co 7:19)

20. “I have no command” in 7:25 • 1Co 7:25-26 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. • 1Co 7:39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.

21. Paul’s conscious sense of apostolicity Paul can sometimes distinguish between his teaching and the teaching of the Lord, and nowhere does Paul make it clear that he thought his letters to be inspired. Nevertheless, in differentiating his teaching from the Lord’s, Paul does not suggest that his carries any less authority. – D.A. Carson, An Introduction to the New Testament

22. 2 Cor 6.14ff 2Co 6:14-18 Do not be yoked together [KJV: unequally yoked] with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people… “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

23. 2Co 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

24. Holiness in 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 • This is a prohibition against forming close attachments with non-Christians, using an agricultural metaphor about yoking (cf. Dt 22:10; also Lev 19:19). • Dt 22:10a Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together. • Simply put, don’t create a “mismatch.”

25. Harmonizing 1 Cor 7 and 2 Cor 6 • General principle of holiness and exclusiviness (2 Cor 6:14ff) • Specific example applied to a widow who may wish to re-marry (1 Cor 7:39)

26. Specific example in Corinth 1Co 7:39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. AB: ...she is free to be married to whom she will, only [provided that he too is] in the Lord.

27. MAN WOMAN GOD

28. D. Murrow, from the book “Why Men Hate Going to Church” • The modern church is having trouble reaching men…Women comprise more than 60 percent of the typical adult congregation on any given Sunday. There are quite a few single women but hardly any single men in church today. Everyday it gets harder for single Christian women to find men for romance or marriage.

29. Closing challenge • The church should be taught the value and beauty of Christian marriage (Heb 13:4). • In addition, it is worth the time to discuss the thorny issues pertaining to mixed marriages and re-marriage (1 Cor 7). • In all cases, one should remember that God looks at the individual heart and expects loyalty and exclusive devotion.

30. 4. Stumbling (1 Cor 8) • “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” - 1 Co 8:13 • Paul's discussion leads to the larger question of how believers should use their Christian liberty. • His conviction is that love for one's brother or sister in Christ should be the baseline for one's Christian liberty (8:1-13). • In the next chapter, he gives a personal example of how he was ready to forego the exercise of his own rights as an apostle for the sake of God's people (9:1-18).

31. His call to imitation in 1 Co 11:1 has reference to his attitude mentioned in the previous chapter... a. To do all things to the glory of God - 1 Co 10:31 b. To give no offense to Jews, Greeks, or to the church of God - 1 Co 10:32 c. To not seek one’s own profit, but rather the salvation of others - 1 Co 10:33

32. In regards to eating meats sacrificed to idols - 1 Co 8:7-13 a. Paul makes clear the possible consequence of abusing one’s liberty b. Thus the application of his basic principle (“not seeking my own profit”)

33. On reaching the lost 1 Co 9:19-22 He had made himself a servant to others, that he might save some applying the principle “not seeking my own profit” In regards to brethren whose faith was weak - Ro 14:13-23 a. Making every effort not to put stumbling blocks in a brother’s way b. Again, applying the principle (“not seeking my own profit”)

34. Paul’s admonitions To the church at Rome - Ro 15:1-3 a. The strong should bear with the scruples of the weak b. We should seek to please our neighbor for his good c. We should follow the example of Christ Himself To the church at Corinth - 1 Co 10:23-24 a. It is not enough that a matter be lawful; does it also edify (build up)? b. We should not seek our own, but one another’s well-being

35. 5. Baptism for the dead • 1Co 15:29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? • This presents some difficulties for us today, particularly because Paul does not talk about it elsewhere. Certain pseudo-Christian groups (e.g. Mormons) teach baptism on behalf of deceased relatives.

36. The present tense of "baptize" suggests that the practice of baptizing for the dead was current and evidently well known to the Corinthians. Most views center around the idea that Paul is referring to the practice of living believers being baptized for deceased believers who had died unbaptized or perhaps for deceased relatives who had never become believers. • Note that Paul does not approve of it.

37. All other texts on baptism tells us that one should be baptized as a personal and individual response of faith. • Nowhere in the Bible is there a text that commands one to be baptized for (in behalf of) another person. Certainly Jesus never did that we have no such example in the New Testament.