(This combines two short studies. Rather than reading whole chapters at once, I'm simply going to take a few verses at a time.
Again, the latest version of NIVUK has changed Man, to Men and Women etc. so will be different to the earlier version I used.)
The first problem Paul dealt with in this letter was division within the church:-
One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
As we read on, we will see that it still troubled Paul.
In our last study Paul had just explained that our faith was not based on human wisdom, but on God’s power. We saw that Paul was weak, fearful, even trembling as he brought a message full of the Spirit’s power – and it was by the Spirit’s power that the people of Corinth had been convicted and converted.
Paul explained that people are not converted by clever arguments. They may well produce a mental assent, but only the work of the Holy Spirit can change the heart.
However, having been converted, Christians need to move on. They need to be weaned off the milk of simple things and start to grapple with the deeper things of God. We need to mature. Having explained that faith was not based on human wisdom he says:
1 Corinthians 2:6-7
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
What is God’s hidden wisdom?
It is his plan of salvation, established before time began (Romans 8:28-30) but it had been hidden from wise men right up to the time of Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 16:25) and this plan was not only for the Jews, but it included the whole world.
Looking at the underlined phrase in 1 Cor 2 verse 7, what does ‘destined for our glory’ mean?
(What does it mean to be glorified?)
We shall indeed share in Christ’s Glory. Look at these passages in 2 Thessalonians and 1 John:
2 Thessalonians 2:14
14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
and
1 John 3:2
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Back to our passage – verse 8:
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Don’t you find it strange that the rulers did not understand? – John 8:30 tells us that the ordinary people believed, but John 8:43 tells us that the rulers were unable to hear.
Why was that? John 8:44
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”— (see Isaiah 64:4)
Is this verse talking about Heaven? Or here and now? Or both?
If it refers to Heaven, I think that whatever anyone has ever said that heaven will really be like, or however scripture may have been interpreted, heaven will be quite different – and much better – than that!
If it refers to our Christian life now, could anyone have imagined what it is truly like to live in relationship with Jesus? Can non-Christians understand?
Would someone like to explain Verse 10? These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
The Spirit has not described to us the things God has prepared. But he has shown us the possibility that there can be things beyond our comprehension. There are some things about God – deep things – which are un-knowable to us mere mortals. But there are many things which the Spirit does make known to us:
Verses 11-12:
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
The New Living Translation has ‘No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit’
So we see that one of the jobs of the Spirit is to actually reveal some of God’s thoughts to us, and to interpret God’s gifts to us.
Now read verses 13-16:
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” (Isaiah 40:13)
But we have the mind of Christ.
What do we mean by that last phrase? (Look back at verses 11-12)
We have seen that Paul knew that people are not converted by clever arguments. Those may well produce a mental assent, but only the work of the Holy Spirit can change the heart. However once people have become Christian, they must not make the mistake of thinking that they have arrived; they need to move on.
So now we go into chapter 3 but just the first verse:
1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.
By saying they were worldly was Paul suggesting that they are not actually Christians at all?
The problems Paul had heard about showed a spiritual immaturity. Yes they were Christian, and as Paul will say in v16 ‘they are God’s Temple and God’s spirit lives in them’.
So he explains: verses 2 and 3
2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
They were converted Christians, but they had not moved on, and their judgements were still clouded with worldly thoughts. And those thoughts were encouraged as they argued between themselves the relative merits of those who were leaders in the Church.
Are we ever guilty of that?
In Corinth these discussions inevitably led to favouritism – read verses 4-9
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour. 9 For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
We naturally are impressed by others who seem to be more capable than ourselves. But there is a danger that we might praise that person because of their talents or abilities, rather than praising the God who gave them.
Is there any danger when we choose to go to hear gifted speakers? Or buy their books or watch their videos? And even encourage others to do the same?
There’s no danger as long as the speaker’s intention is to build you up in your faith and to direct you into a closer walk with Jesus – to give you solid food, not more milk!
But we need to be careful, as good speakers can be very persuasive, and will have their own views and interpretations which need to be checked against scripture. And we must also be careful not to criticize, or as we saw earlier, not to be drawn into someone else’s criticism.
Look again at verses 6-8. Paul describes us as plants growing in a field.
Now, look at the end of verse 9. Paul changes the picture to a building site. More than just a site, all of the groundwork has been done and an amazing foundation has already been laid. Now read verses 10-15.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, . . . wood, hay or straw, 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. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Look at verse 12: Israel is limestone country – limestone rocks are lying about everywhere they are free for you to just pick up.
‘Costly stones’ means those bought at a price – properly shaped limestone, or even marble; here we’re not talking about gem stones – there are different words for precious stones and costly stones (see Revelation 18:12).
What are we going to build on this amazing plot of land that we have been given? We could either build a beautiful structure, a palace, or a Temple – built to last. Or we could put up a cheap temporary shelter with a timber frame and thatched roof.
We must always bear in mind the one who has provided such a secure foundation.
As we start building, one way would provide a fitting structure. The other would be a waste of time and won’t last. More than that, it would demonstrate that this builder really doesn’t care at all about the foundation that had been so carefully provided – or its cost.
But how does that translate into the work we are doing for the Lord? Or the way we live as Christians?
What does it mean in v13-15?
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. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Not that we will suffer in judgement, but there is a danger that what we have spent our time and effort on could disappear in a puff of smoke.
Paul’s thoughts now seem to move on from our work, and our Christian witness, to perhaps include our leisure time. Read verses 16-17:
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
What does he mean by ‘God’s temple is sacred’?
Jesus literally lives in us by his Holy Spirit. Where we go He goes, what we do He is forced to join in. If that thought makes you feel uncomfortable, think how uncomfortable the reality is for Jesus.
Now look at verses 18-20
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
Actually we do like to think we are quite wise.
Do we secretly think that those verses don’t really apply to us?
Well they do – v18: ‘Do not deceive yourselves’
Verses 21-23
21 So then, no more boasting about men. All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
So is it wrong to have favourite preachers or speakers?
Christian leaders and teachers are all the gift of God to us and so it is very presumptuous to say we prefer one and not another.
But more than that – the whole world is ours to learn from and to be blessed by. And come to that, life itself – with all its trials and blessings – now, and on into the future. And even death is not something to be feared but to be welcomed as it ushers us into the presence of God.
Some people would prefer to hide from life and all it has to offer. But we should remember that it is God who gives it and richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). There is an astonishing wealth of blessing for us if we would only be prepared to receive it.
