1 Corinthians 1 - 4 (29th November) - Andrew

Chapter 1
This book is a letter from Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.

“Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thoughts and purpose.”
- verse 10

I suppose at the time Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, he realized that there are some arguments in the church.

Is there arguments happening in our church or even in our own tribe? Like what Paul wrote in the letter, “Let there be real harmony…”. We are in the same family in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Can Christ be divided into pieces? ...”
- verse 13

Since we are in the same family and a family should not be divided into pieces, let us not have any disputes among ourselves.

“… but to preach the Good News – and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.”
- verse 17

Yes, before we spread the gospel to our friends or family members, let us pray first. Pray for the wisdom of God to come upon us.

‘As the Scriptures say,
“I will destroy human wisdom
and discard their most brilliant ideas.”’
-verse 19

And pray that words out of our mouths are indeed from Him and not by our own strength.

“Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.”
- verse 27

Isn’t our God a wonderful and marvelous God? If anyone says that you are a fool etc, rejoice because our God who spoke to us through his words already told us that He deliberately chose us whom the world considers foolish to shame those who called us a fool.

“… so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”
- verse 29

‘As the Scriptures say,
“The person who wishes to boast
should boast only of what the Lord has done.”’
- verse 31

Chapter 2
Paul spoke about wisdom in this chapter. He did not use any chim words to convene the messages to the church in Corinth because he wanted the people to trust in the Lord’s wisdom rather than human wisdom.

And he trusts that those who have the Holy Spirit in them will understand what he’s trying to say.

Chapter 3
“My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow.”
- verse 6

See how humble Apostle Paul is. Indeed, everything that we do and whatever results that we achieved from it, whether its good or bad, it is God who determined the results. When its good, we should not boast as if its by our own strength.

“But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?”
- Isaiah 10:15

“We work together as partners who belong to God.”
- verse 9

Yes. We are all working in God’s field. And everyone of us are important in God’s plan to bring His kingdom to our world. Therefore let us work in harmony together.

Chapter 4
From verse 1 to verse 4, Apostle Paul talked about it does not matter whether he is being faithful to his faith or not because it is God himself who will examine him (verse 4).

“So be careful not to jump to conclusions before the Lord returns as to whether or not someone is faithful…”
-verse 5

Enough said.