1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Chuck Hickman | Port Gardner Church

1 Corinthians | Correction in the context of Love | 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

When correction comes from God it can be in many forms and from differing sources, but the truth of God always comes in the context of the love of Christ. This week we see how much Paul loves this church at Corinth and how that love translates into correction that will bring change and ultimately… honor to God.

Does anyone of us like to be corrected? Probably not

We want to learn on our own… not with the so called “help” of others…Unless we request their help. And in those cases like School or a class or a self help kind of thing, we admire ourselves for being humble. Knowing our limitations and needs. Preparing ourselves for a better future… blah blah blah.

Sometimes we choose to “learn” out of a necessity.

Changing destructive behavior because we’ve been challenged to do so. Sometimes with the extra threat of broken relationships…Learning a new skill so we can make a bit more money. School teachers, master’s degrees, special certifications.Or because we have lost a job that has gone by the wayside because of new technologies.

But how often do we “like” any of this stuff?

Maybe when we are young and are in that “learning curve” of life… but we all know the saying

“you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” Right?

And this thinking permeates much of who we are and how we act.

We get to a point in our lives that we may think that change is impossible… or at least improbable.

We’ve tried and failed so many times that it’s just not worth the effort and subsequent embarrassment to do anything that has some kind of “risk” involved. The real truth here is that many of us have understood and lived the Christian life as somewhat of a self help program. We can watch Oprah and Montel and Dr. Oz and use tips and tricks offered by them to make our lives betterWe think that there is a magic formula or potion that will finally take the weight off, make me more successful or happy or well adjusted and even more forgivable. The bottom line is that the Gospel message does not say “you do” it says “Jesus did…”.

We don’t need to be taught or coaxed or confronted to “turn over a new leaf”. We need to receive and live out a new life. The “new life” is from Jesus’ death on the cross, for our sin and in our place. We can’t build a message or a life that would still be true if Jesus had not died on the cross. But that is how many of us still live our life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Grace gives everyone a fair shot at change. You don’t have to be smarter or richer or stronger or better looking or thinner or more driven or even “more spiritual” than anyone else. Jesus levels the playing field and he takes away all of the reward for our efforts as well.

So here we are in the City of Corinth.

REVIEW

The City of Corinth

Located in southern Greece fifty miles away from the city of Athens.It is located two miles south of an isthmus that connects Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. Corinth had command of both of the harbors on either side of the isthmus; therefore the city controlled trade between Rome and Asia.

More Details

This was a competitive forward moving city of people of 500,000. Hosted theIsthmian games. Second only to the Olympics. The city was built under the shadow the great temple of Aphrodite. Each evening, a thousand sacred prostitutes would descend upon the city to offer their services. The Corinthian people were also world known: for partying, drunkenness, and loose sexual morals.

A very Diverse Culture

Diverse, but very self-absorbed. They considered themselves individually, and corporately, to be the center of the Roman universe.

Self Promotion

Every part of their lives, from wealth to wisdom, became a tool through which they could make much of themselves to gain the approval of others.

The Church at Corinth

A growing church with growing problems. Living like pagans. Instead of causing their culture to conform to Christ, they are being transformed by their sinful culture. They have brought the world into the church. The church had been “Corinthianized” in the same way that today’s church has been “Americanized”. The Church in Corinth had forgotten who God had called them to be in Christ

A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I give thanks to my God always. Paul will later spend most the letter rebuking sin and correcting error; yet he is still sincerely thankful for God’s work in them. Those who feel called to rebuke sin and correct error in the church today should follow Paul’s example. Unfortunately, many of them never communicate any encouragement with their correction and advice.

How many times have we seen rebuke or correction in the church without the care, love and understanding of who we all are in Christ? I’m talking about the church now… not those who are unsaved.There is differing criteria for how brothers and sisters in the Lord are to treat one another.We are always to bring correction to each other in Love. Love being the common bond between all believers.

But what about being corrected by someone who is not a believer? What about our jobs and the authority system that we work in?

1 Peter 2:13-17 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

And Paul lets us know that everything we have and do that is good comes from God… nor ourseleves

Specifically, Paul thanks God for the grace of God that was given you in Christ JesusEverything good the Corinthian Christians have from God has come to them by grace. God has given freely, for His own reasons.

We may never know God’s puposes: Read “Valued By God” by Jennifer Kabbany

The effect of grace in the life of the Corinthian Christians was to make them enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge. The Corinthians were a “rich” church, not only materially, but also in theirspeaking and knowing about Jesusin their abounding in the gifts and they live in anticipation of Jesus’ coming. The work of God in the Corinthians (and in any believer for that matter) could and should be seen by what they were saying,by what they were learning, by a supernatural element in their lives, and by theirexpectant anticipation of Jesus’ return.And in the context of Love.

When Paul looked at the Corinthian church, he could say:

“These people proclaim Jesus, they know about Jesus, there are the supernatural gifts of God among them, and they are excited about Jesus’ return.” Whatever problems they had, these are some pretty impressive strong points! Can even this much be said about many churches today? We may pride ourselves on not having the Corinthian’s problems, but do we have their positives?

Yet, these positives were no great credit to the Corinthian Christians themselves. They were not the spiritual achievements of the Corinthians, but the work of the grace of God in them. Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble. He recognizes that the gifts were not the problem, but wrong attitudes and beliefs about the gifts.

The Corinthian Christians were indeed gifted, but they were carnal as well.

“Should it not show us that gifts are nothing, unless they are laid on the altar of God; that it is nothing to have the gift of oratory; that it is nothing to have the power of eloquence; that it is nothing to have learning; that it is nothing to have influence, unless they all be dedicated to God, and consecrated to his service?” (Spurgeon)

Who will sustain you to the end?

The Corinthian Christians had their strong points, and they had their weak points. Paul praises God for their positives, andexpresses confidence that God will take care of their weak points, and sustain them to the end, so that they would be, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How can Paul be confident of this when the Corinthian church has so many problems?

He can be confident because God is faithful. He is the One who has called them into the fellowship of His Son, so He is the One who will sustain them to the end and present them guiltless.

In these first ten verses, Paul refers to Jesus in every verse, for a total of eleven times.

In this emphasis on Jesus, Paul is promoting the sure cure for the problems of the Corinthiansgetting your eyes off self and on Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Paul is gonna knock these Corinthians on the head in the coming verses of 1 Corinthians.

He’s going to say some very hard but truthful things.To hear the difficult things, we have to know first that the one sending the message loves and cares for us.

If the message is truth, then it came from the one who saved us.

No matter the delivery method. No matter the attitude of the person. No matter the relationship we have with them.

Would it be better if we knew the person well and knew that they loved us and really cared about us… yes, and it is our responsibility as believers and leaders to know this and practice this.

If you are my age, you may have some adult children.

Have you ever been corrected by your children? Not easy to hear.

Have you ever corrected your parents? Not easy to do.

God is using Paul in many ways in the city of Corinth and the church there.

He is communicating God’s truth.

Justification is by faith.

True faith is God's work

John 6:28-29 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

granted by God

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

and is concurrent with regeneration

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

which God works in us by his will

John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The result of this justification and regeneration is that the sinner turns from his sin and towards doing good works.

But it is not these works that neither earn our place with God nor sustain it. Jesus accomplished all that we need to be saved and stay saved on the cross.

All that we need, we have in Jesus. All we need to do to be saved, to be justified, is to truly believe in what God has done for us in Jesus on the cross;

this is why the Bible says we are justified by faith

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This true belief with justification before God and regeneration in the new believer, results in good works.