Paul, Pt. 1: “How Low Can You Go?”

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? (ROMANS 7:12-25)
A man one dreamed of passing into the world beyond. An angel met him and showed him a great golden book. “What is that?” he inquired. “It is the book of your life,” was the reply. Looking closer he saw that there were some writing on the first page. “What is there?”

The angel said, “These are your evil acts, and you see that they are many.” The angel turned the page, and the man saw that the next sheet was more closely written. The angel said, “These are your evil words, and you see that there are more of them than there are acts.” The poet trembled.

The next page was more closely written. “What are these?” asked the man. “These are your evil thoughts, and you see that there are many, for a man thinks more than he speaks or acts.”

With the trembling voice, the man asked what the fourth page contained. The angel turned it over, and lo! it was black as midnight. The angel said, “This represents your evil heart, for it is out if the blackness of the heart that all thoughts and words and acts come.”

The Chinese say, “江山易改，本性難移 (Moving rivers and mountains is easy, changing a person’s nature is difficult” and “劃虎劃皮難劃骨, 知人口面不知心 (You can draw a tiger’s skin but not the bones; you can know a person’s mouth and face, but not his heart.”

Romans 7 is a classic passage on human nature, its origin and destiny, if you may. Four words gird Romans 7: law (23 times), sin (16 times), would/wish or “want to do” in NIV (7 times), and death (5 times).

Why does human nature behave as it does? Is man doomed to struggle or designed to succeed? Is there an end to the struggle? Where does it start and how does it stop?

Sin is the Villain
12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. (Rom 7:12-14)

Paul begins by asserting slavery to sin means death.

What is sin? Here are some suggestions:
“Sin is like a kidney stone. No one likes a kidney stone, nor should anyone like sin.”
“Sin is like a rotten egg we try to cover up with spices.”
“Sin is like a cancer with a 0% survival rate.”
“Sin is like weeds in a garden; if not rooted out, they will soon overrun it.”
“Sin is like having cataracts. It slowly adds a layer over our eyes, until sooner or later we can’t see too clearly anymore.”
“Sin is like a spider web. You get trapped in it.”
“Sin is like the bee, with honey in its month but a sting in its tail.”
“Sin is like gravity. It is an ever-present force. You can’t see it – only its effects.”
“Sin is like a snake, full of deadly poison. It is like a little spark that can burn up a great forest.”
“Sin is like an anesthetic; it has a numbing affect.”
“Sin is like a bullet in the body. There can be no strength and healing until the bullet is removed.”
“Sin is like the leak in the pipe; it will very likely cause you to fall every time.”

Sin is not child’s play. It must be exposed and admitted because it is “utterly sinful” (v 13). The word “utterly” is used five times in the Bible, the other four times translated as “most excellent” (1 Cor 12:31), “far beyond” (2 Cor 1:8), “far outweighs” (2 Cor 4:17) and “intensely” (Gal 1:13) and it produces death (v 13).

Everybody has an excuse and a scapegoat for sin. In this case, it is the law. Did the law bring death (v 13)? Is the law responsible for my death? Is it “wrongful death” and am I wrongly charged? Or is the law guilty as charged? The Greek for “by no means” (v 13, Rom 3:4, 3:31, 6:2, 6:15, 7:7, 9:14, 11:1, 11:11) is also translated elsewhere in the Bible as “certainly not” (Rom 3:6, Gal 2:17, 3:21), “never” (1 Cor 6:15) and “far be it” (Gal 6:14). No one enjoys laws, rules and codes, but Paul insists that death is the work of sin, not the work of the law. Remember, God’s law was given after man’s sin, not vice versa. The “law” is the Mosaic law and the “commandment” (v 12) is its authoritative moral and religious precepts.

Paul’s passionate argument is that the law and its teachings did nothing to stumble man, ruin lives or bring death. The law did not cause man to fall; sin is the villain and culprit, and it produces death (v 13).

The law, which was given after and not before the fall (Rom 5:13) to counter man’s sin, is fundamentally holy, righteous and good (agathos) (v 12), so it is unaffected by sin. The law is as good as it gets; it was given not to condemn man’s sin, but to lessen his guilt and reveal God’s holiness. It is was given as provision for man’s sin and not as penalty for man’s sin

In the chapters before, Paul states that the law is the judge (Rom 2:12) –hearing and deciding cases. The law is man’s conscience (Rom 2:15, 3:20) and his tutor (paidagogos) (Gal 3:24). It is the embodiment of knowledge and truth (Rom 2:20).

The law serves as a mirror, a messenger, so don’t shoot the messenger. When I look in the mirror in the morning and I do not like the corners of my hair standing up or jutting out, I need to wet my hair and comb it down. Sometimes, I’ll have to leave the house with a small comb stuck to the stubborn hair, allowing gravity to do its part. The most embarrassing is forgetting about the comb when I go to meet people.

Man is the Victim
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Rom 7:15-23)

A man was taken to court for stealing an item from a store. The man said to the judge, "Your Honor, I'm a Christian. I've become a new man. But I have and old nature also. It was not my new man who did wrong. It was my old man."

The judge responded, "Since it was the old man that broke the law, we'll sentence him to 60 days in jail. And since the new man was an accomplice in the theft, we'll give him 30 days, too. I therefore sentence you both to 90 days in jail."

The denial of man’s badness is so strong today that popular statements to deny his responsibility flourish, such as “He is not a bad person, but a good person who did a bad thing” and “He is not a bad person but he has only made some bad choices.” The beneficiaries include criminals and cheats.

Paul accurately portrays the predicament of man. There is no understanding or limit to the depths and despair of human nature, and no end to his mischief and malice either. No ban, boundary or bail is strong enough to deter him. It’s been said, “Rules are meant to be broken.” “Do Not” signs merely invite open rebellion.

The gym I frequent once placed a “Do Not Touch” sign on the temperature control box outside that goes from low 1 to high 10, due to patrons incessantly adjusting the temperature in the room. It did not work; even the sign disappeared! I suggested a “Wet Paint” sign would have done a better job. In today’s language, we say “I can’t help it” or “I can’t help myself.”

The human heart is worse than a can of worms. It does more damage than germs, viruses and diseases, playing its Jekyll and Hyde drama, tug of war sport, yes and no game in us all the time.

The dilemma of man and his struggle with sin, as exposed and expounded in verse 15, is so exquisite and intricate in Greek. There are basically only three “do” words in verse 15 - all at the end of a sentence; the “want to do” expression is merely “wish” in Greek. Verse 15 in Greek says: “For that I do (work out), not I know; for that I wish, not that I do. But what I hate, that I do.”

Paul says he does not “understand” or “ginosko” (know) what he is “doing” (1st “do”), the Greek word for “kat-ergazomai” means “work fully, work out, work through.” It has the “kata” preposition, meaning “against,” “through” or “out.”
Paul does not understand why he purposefully and preferentially do the wrong thing and make the bad choices – to its full extent or maximum limits bare. Further, there is no holding him back from testing the waters and pushing the boundaries. This “do” had to do with its extent, degree or scope – the edge. Understanding this helps readers to unravel the passage, because the word occurs five times in the chapter (Rom 7:13 –“produced”, 15 – “what I do”, 17 –“do”, 18 – “do”, 20 – “I who do it”).

The second do (complicated by NIV) has to with its regularity, typified by the last “do” (prasso) in verse 15 (“not do”). The last two “do’s” before this “prasso” word do not occur in Greek; it just means “wish.” Greek is simply “For not that I wish, I practice (prasso).” “Prasso” (vv 15, 19) is praxis/practice, to perform repeatedly or habitually, the same word translated as “keep on doing” in verse 19. Paul laments he cannot consistently practice good behavior. Good behavior is in bits and pieces, in fits and spurts, switched off and on.

The third “do” (poieo) is the decisive and outcome “do,” which occurs five times in the passage (Rom 7:15, 16, 19, 20, 21).

We do things contrary to our desire and profession to do well - in its complete extreme, constant exercise and conventional end. We sin to no end, we sin at all times and we sin to foregone conclusion. In the end he ended up returning to what he “does not want” or “hates” (miseo) (v 15) to do - precursor to the word “miso-gynist,” means to hate, detest. It is the “I hate to do it” or “I hate myself for it” syndrome. How complex, conflicted and contradictory. Doing right is a titanic struggle and an uphill struggle; doing wrong is a short step or a minor slip. The Chinese says, “學好必須十年功，學壞只須一分鐘 (Doing right requires ten years, doing bad requires just one minute).” The previous Chinese generation says, “要孩子學壞， 只須三日， 學好卻要三年 (Kids take three days to learn bad, three years to learn good.” Some have modified to say kids take three minutes or even there seconds to learn bad.

In truth, practice what you preach is easier said than done. The good you intend to do ends up not just merely bad, faulty or short, but evil (vv 19, 21) – sin’s Murphy's Law equivalent: If anything can go wrong, it will. Not only wrong, but wicked and wasted.

From utterly sinful (v 13) Paul progresses to “nothing good” (v 18) – one stating it in the positive and the other in the negative. The sooner we admit “nothing good” lives in us (v 18), the better it is. Paul uses the construction word “lives” (oikeo) (vv 17, 18, 20), meaning “occupies” or “inhabits,” from the verb “house” in Greek. Good can visit but not stay. Good is merely a renter, but evil is the new occupant. Further good has no intention or ability to stay. Instead sin lives or dwells (vv 17, 20) in me. Sin not a stranger or guest, but a housemate and a landlord. “Right there” (v 21) is parakeimai or to lie near, i.e. be at hand.

Sin is likened to a combatant “warring against” (anti-strateuomai) (v 23) the law of my mind (nous) and “making me a prisoner” (aichmalotizo). The former is the contest; the latter is the conquest - the engagement versus the exile. The latter Greek word occurs three other times, translated as “taken as prisoners” (Luke 21:24), “take captive” (2 Cor 10:5) and “gain control” (2 Tim 3:6).

Christ is the Vindicator
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Rom 7:11-25)

Paul acknowledges that the law, for all its virtues, merits and reserves, is not the answer, too.

Here are some quotations on the law:
“The Law is like an x-ray. It cannot cure cancer, but it can point cancer out.”
“The law is like a map. And a map is better than nothing if you're wandering around on a trackless mountainside: it will at least tell you if you're lost.
“The law is like a mirror. It shows us that we are sinners, but it does not provide the solution.”
“The law is like a flashlight. It shines in the dark and points out the problem, but it cannot fix things.”
“The law is like a bully with a whip, who herds us towards the truth of God. It is extremely painful to go, but it is worse to resist.”

The law, good as it is, was given to sinful men to relive him from his guilt, but not release him his sin. It is “better than nothing” and “better than before,” but is not the best. It serves its purpose but it is not salvation either. It is more like a relief, a respite and a reprieve from sin. A band-aid, if you may. A nurse, but not the surgeon. The law, as the Chinese say, “治標不治本 (treats the exterior, not the issue),” the outside, not the inside.

Jesus Christ our Lord is the one and only vanquisher of sin. The word “rescue” is “deliver” (v 24), and his deliverance is “out of” (ek) (stronger than “from”) the body of death. A track of the Greek word “deliver” tells us Jesus Christ has delivered us from three things: (1) death (v 25), (2) the dominion of darkness (Col 1:13), and (3) the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us believers are delivered from sin or temptation. The battle rages on. The nature of man is unchanged, but the spell and curse of sin is broken. There is no difference between a believer and an unbeliever. One is an impenitent sinner and the other a penitent sinner; the former an unsaved sinner but the latter a saved sinner – one acknowledges himself a sinner, the other does not even know. At least now converted sinners have an alternative - serve God in one’s mind even though the flesh (“sinful nature” v 25) persists.

The other reason why believers are delivered from death (v 24) rather than from sin is because sin has no control over the dead, but death’s stranglehold is from Adam to eternity. There is no sin in heaven but death is decided upon heaven’s doors. Sin has a life span but death has no timeline.

Note also that Paul say we are delivered from death, not the law. The law is a Jewish issue, but death is a bigger issue and the last enemy (1 Cor 15:26). Death is a universal experience, so it requires a universal solution. Also, we need no deliverance from the law, since the law is primarily provided for the Jews, not for the world. The law is fine and good (Rom 7:13) as it is. Sin, not the law, deceived men and produced death. (Rom 7:11, 7:13). The sin of Adam’s race came way before the law was given in Moses’ time. Sin reigned from the time of Adam (Rom 5:14). Adam represents the human race and ancestry. The victim is humanity, man as a whole. The fierce onslaught of sin is an experience common to all men, not just the Jews.

Conclusion: Who do you serve – sin or the Savior? Do you allow sin get the best of you? Do you fight sin in your own strength or with the Lord’s help? Are you active or inactive in the Savior’s service warring against sin and delivering victims from death?

Reflection Questions:
1. What is Paul’s view of the Law in general?
2. What is Paul’s view of the Law in relationship to sin? Our culture tends to change the rules, values and even laws to accommodate people. Example: Cohabitation is common nowadays; it really is not a sin. How is Paul’s view different from the secular view?
3. How is the law spiritual? What does that mean?
4. Is sin (original sin / sinful nature) or the sin living in us responsible for the evil we do? Who/what is responsible for our doing good?
5. Do you have similar experience like Paul – desiring to do good but cannot carry it out. What is your example?
6. What is the inner tension that results in Paul feeling like a wretched man? Do you share the same feelings struggling?
7. What exactly is Jesus’ rescue? Consider your personal examples. Do we have the same struggle with the laws at work our body and in our mind?

Paul, Pt. 2: “For the Good of Those Who Love Him”

FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM (ROMANS 8:28-39)
Fred is 32 years old and he is still single. One day a friend asked, “Why aren’t you married? Can’t you find a woman who will be a good wife?” Fred replied, “Actually, I’ve found many women I wanted to marry, but when I bring them home to meet my parents, my mother doesn’t like them.”

His friend thinks for a moment and says, “I’ve got the perfect solution, just find a girl who’s just like your mother.” A few months later they meet again and his friend says, “Did you find the perfect girl? Did your mother like her?”

With a frown on his face, Fred answers, “Yes, I found the perfect girl. She was just like my mother. You were right, my mother liked her very much.” The friend said, “Then what’s the problem?” Fred replied, “My father doesn’t like her.”

There is a lot we do not know or like about suffering, especially why people suffer and why disasters happen, especially to us. One unsurprising thing for sure is that everyone has his or her fair share of it. People mistakenly believe that the Christian life a bed of roses with a happily ever after ending. Overzealous witnesses promises that much. The opposite is a more accurate portrayal of the Christianity Paul has in mind, where Christians in the first century invite enemies, hatred, persecution, discrimination and even martyrdom on themselves simply for wearing the name of Christ on their sleeves. This is the second most popular Pauline passage for many Christians.

What did Christ promise us when we undergo suffering? What is the proof of His promise? Why does suffering often cause us to draw closer to Him and not drift away from Him?

Nothing is More Purposeful Than the Love of God
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom 8:28-29)

An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout “PRAISE THE LORD!” Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, “There ain’t no Lord!!”

Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted “PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!” The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, “PRAISE THE LORD.”

The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, “Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn’t.” The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, “PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!”

The truth about Christianity is that God comes through when hardship breaks out. Yes, there is a purpose behind everything that happens, though we are less sure about its reason, solution or its explanation. I differentiate between looking back to its reason and looking forward to the purpose.

In Christianity we are not haunted or hogtied by Islam’s fatalism or Europe’s existentialism. The former says everything good and bad is from God and the latter says good and bad has no meaning. Christians believe God permits even the bad to happen, but He did not present, provide or perform them, or even prohibit them from happening. James 1:13 records, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”

By faith, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (v 28). What does that mean? Does it mean a free ride, a soft landing or a smooth passage is awaiting believers? Let us begin with the single Greek word “work.” Do not be misled by NIV’s translation. One of the misinterpretations and misunderstandings in Christianity is that God does everything for the believers. The believer can just sit back and watch the show, so to speak. That is hardly the case from this passage. The Greek for the verb “works” is “works together” as translated by KJV and NASB, or “sun-ergeo,” the precursor for the English word synergy – “syn” (sync) means “together,” and “ergeo” means “work,” as in “ergonomics.” It does not mean all things do not trouble, test and try you, that you are a puppet, a robot or a pawn, but that God will work in you and through you and with you to make things work for you. All things will join forces and act together to turn out for your good and that all things will work out fine, will fall into place and will serve its purpose. It doesn’t say God will “work for you,” but that He will “work for the good.” God, however, will work with you and even on you, but not for you during those times. It doesn’t even say for Tom, Dick sand Harry, but for “those who love Him.”

This word “work for” is used in four other instances in the Bible. When the disciples went out and preached everywhere, the Lord “worked with them” and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it (Mark 16:20). The resurrected Lord did not even go out with them and He did not work for them but he worked with them. Other translations are “join in the work” (1 Cor 16:16), “fellow workers” (2 Cor 6:1) and the classic passage about faith and actions “working together” (James 2:22).

Philip Yancey says, “I don’t think that God delivers us from suffering. He doesn’t give us some sort of little protective suit as a Christian so that we suffer less than other people. He does give us the resources of His Spirit and a kind of inner-peace that is unavailable to people who don’t turn to God in those moments.”
http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/yancey_3302.htm

It’s been said, “God did not promise a smooth sailing but rather a safe arrival.”

Do not get stuck on the word “predestined” (pro-orizo) or in the predestination argument. The word has nothing to do with fatalism. The line reads “‘predestined to be conformed’ to the likeness of his Son.” Again the pesky word “syn” word reappears in “sum-morphos” - jointly formed, figuratively meaning “similar.” This word occurs one other time in the Bible, translated as “transform” (Phil 3:21). All things work together to joint-transform you into “con-form” (“sum-morphos”) you to the likeness of His son. Just as Christ is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4, Col 1:15), we are to be more like Christ (Col 3:10), except that Christ “is” the image of God while we are to “conform to” the image of Jesus.

Nothing is More Precious Than the Love of God
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:30-32)

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

God in Christ has given us the greatest gift and proof of all by His death on the cross. By giving his blood and life, He gave us the greatest testament of His love.

The preposition “for” (v 31) - if God is “for” us - should read “over” (huper), above, beyond – if God is “over” us. The word “against” (v 31) frequently denotes opposition, distribution or intensity (Strong’s). How is God “for” us? He did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all (v 32).

God’s ways are fair. He did not overturn, break or shortchange his moral law to make an exception for His Son. God is holy, righteous and just. The same word tells us He did not “spare” the natural branches, the Jews (Rom 11:21). Nor did He spare sinful angels but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment (2 Peter 2:4). He also did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah’s family (2 Peter 2:5). Since He could not turn a blind eye to the sins of the world, He did not spare His son and sacrificed Him for man’s sin.

Paul uses two stronger and sharper “give” words in verse 32 to describe Jesus’ sacrifice - none of them really means “give.” The first is not the regular word for “give” but “give up” – with a preposition attached to it. The meaning is yield up or hand over, the same word for Judas’ betrayal (Matt 26:16). The second “give” is “charizomai” from the word “charis” but usually translated for another type of giving – forgiving!

Nothing is More Powerful Than the Love of God
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:33-39)

An engineer, after doing his internship with NASA in Houston, made a startling decision to change course and study medicine. Two decades removed from college, he shared his testimony in our church thanksgiving service:
“Passing the Oral Board is the culmination of 10 years of medical school, residency, and practice. If I were to include the college years and premed studies, the total would be 20 years. My decision to enter medicine in part was to follow Jesus, to heal the sick and to ease the suffering. As an anesthesiologist, I have the crucial role in putting patients to sleep and to revive them later. In Biblical times, this would be regarded as a supernatural power, performed only by Jesus Christ. Although the patients may not be aware of my presence during their surgery, I constantly monitor and watch over them, not just the operative part but the entire patient. This reminds me of how our Lord watches over each and every one of us, even though we may not be aware of His presence. I thank the Lord for giving me knowledge and skills to take care the weak and the sick. For Him, He is the true Healer and Life-Giver.”

There is always a person or two who questions you, but the important thing is who is qualified and worthy to press charges, judge cases and make intercession. Paul uses a slew of legal language to encourage downcast believers. “Bring charge” (v 33) is a legal term. Strong’s define the word “egkaleo” (v 33) as “to call in (as a debt or demand), i.e. bring to account (charge, criminate, etc.).” Apart from this verse, this word is found only in Acts, chronicling Paul’s passionate arguments against his enemies who wanted to find him guilty. The other six occurrences are translated as “press charges” (Acts 19:38), “being charged” (Acts 19:40) and “accusation” (Acts 23:28, 29, 26:2, 7). Paul uses the severest pressing argument by inserting the word “against,” not use on the other six occurrences of the same word “bring any charge.”

On the legal side, “justify” is Greek for kata-krino, means against and “krino” means judge. Krino (critic) by itself means judge or critic, but kata-krino, attaching the preposition “kata” or against, means sentence. It is the point of no return just as Jesus was condemned (Mark 10:33), a point of helplessness.

The last legal term “intercede” (entugchano) occurs five times in the Bible, thrice for “intercede” (Rom 8:27, 34 Heb 7:25), once for “petition” (Acts 25:24) and “appeal” (Rom 11:2).

The word “separate” (v 35) occurs six times in the Bible. In its strongest application, it is used for the bonds of marriage (Matt 19:6, Mark 10:9, 1 Cor 7:10). It makes its single appearance in the gospels when Jesus uttered, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matt 19:6)

Because He is the prosecuting attorney, court judge and defense lawyer, nothing can separate us from His love. Paul lists trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. There’s nothing worse and nothing else after this list. By the way, lacking money is not your worse fear. Trouble is Greek for “tribulation” (thlipsis) – no rest. Hardship is anguish or distress in Greek – no quiet. Persecution is the intensity or “pressing on” of suffering – no stopping. Famine is no food. Nakedness is no clothing. Danger is no security and sword is no defense.

The traditional translation “more than conquerors” is awkward for the single Greek word that occurs just once in the Bible. The single Greek word “huper-nikao” comes from “huper” or “above, beyond, exceeding, more (than)” and “nikao,” the verb for “nike” or “conqueror, overcomer, victor.” So hupernikao “vanquish beyond, i.e. gain a decisive victory.” We will succeed, not barely survive. We will not merely challenge, but conquer. We are tested but we will triumph.

Conclusion: Nothing is more personal, permanent and passionate than God’s love. God gives us his very best, guides us in every way and guards us to the very end. Without his consent, not a hair of your head will perish. There is a lesson to be learned but not a lesson to be loved in all things. God did not promise a life without storms, gloom or downpour. But God did promise a rainbow at the end of the storm and a light at the end of the tunnel and a day of rejoicing after a night of mourning. (Ps 30:5)

Paul, Pt. 3: “Better Alive Than Dead”

BETTER ALIVE THAN DEAD (ROMANS 12:1-2)
Pete and Larry had not seen each other in many years. Now they had a long talk trying to fill in the gap of those years by telling about their lives. Finally Pete invited Larry to visit him in his new apartment.

“I got a wife and three kids and I’d love to have you visit us.”

“Great. Where do you live?”

“Here’s the address. And there’s plenty of parking behind the apartment. Park and come around to the front door, kick it open with your foot, go to the elevator and press the button with your left elbow, then enter! When you reach the sixth floor, go down the hall until you see my name on the door. Then press the doorbell with your right elbow and I’ll let you in.”

“Good. But tell me...what is all this business of kicking the front door open, then pressing elevator buttons with my right, then my left elbow?”

“Surely, you’re not coming empty-handed.”

Many believers return leftovers or nothing to the Lord and understand little about sacrifice and commitment. Paul offers some guidance to the Gentile believers in Rome about how to live a full life and not a futile life for the Lord, to be more like the Lord and less like the world. Romans 12 is one of the most popular texts in the Bible. I have heard pastors preaching this text more than most Pauline texts in the Bible.

Do believers have an obligation to serve God? What motivates them to serve? Why are some obstacles preventing and delaying him from completing his service?

Surrender Your All
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. (Rom 12:1)

The Chinese are very particular about eating fresh seafood. They craved for fish right out of the tank. Many years ago when I visited my cousin in Chicago, we dined at a popular Chinese restaurant in the suburbs. We were eager for fresh fish but were not sure what to expect in Chicago, so I asked the waiter in Cantonese: “Is your fish ‘swimming fish游水魚’?” The question seemed to catch him by surprise. He paused, looked at us smugly and answered with a straight face, “It swam before.”

The Food and Drug Administration has tips on how to choose fresh fish:
Fish should smell fresh and mild, not fishy, sour, or ammonia-like.
A fish’s eyes should be clear and bulge a little.
Whole fish and filets should have firm, shiny flesh and bright red gills free from slime. Dull flesh could mean the fish is old.
The flesh should spring back when pressed.
Fish fillets should display no darkening or drying around the edges. They should have no green or yellowish discoloration, and should not appear dry or mushy in any areas.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/seafsafe.html

Is your offering to the Lord fresh or frozen?

Paul encourages the Romans to offer their bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord. Jewish sacrifices are totally opposite of Chinese and pagan sacrifices, where worshippers eat the sacrifices (1 Cor 10:18). Jewish sacrifice is wholly consumed, but not for general consumption. The Israelites were not given detailed instructions on offering sacrifices until the first chapter of Leviticus. Burnt offerings must be a male animal without defect. The presenter lays his hand on the head of the offering before its slaughter, and then the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar. The sons of Aaron shall then put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire, put the burnt offering that is skinned and cut into pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. The inner parts and the legs must be washed with water before the priest burns all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. (Lev 1:1-9)

In the same way, the believer’s body is totally given to the Lord as a living sacrifice. The conditions for acceptance are the same. It must be without defect – not damaged goods; it must be alive – not sick, diseased or dying animals, animals on its last legs. Nothing is saved or salvaged. The best parts are given or burnt to the Lord. No head reserved for porridge, no kidney for snack, no inner parts and legs for barbeque, or bones for soup.

Matthew Henry’s insight is amazing:
“Your bodies - your whole selves; so expressed because under the law the bodies of beasts were offered in sacrifice, 1 Cor 6:20. Our bodies and spirits are intended. The offering was sacrificed by the priest, but presented by the offerer, who transferred to God all his right, title, and interest in it, by laying his hand on the head of it. Presenting them denotes a voluntary act…It must be a free-will offering. Your bodies; not your beasts…The presenting of the body to God implies not only the avoiding of the sins that are committed with or against the body, but the using of the body as a servant of the soul in the service of God. It is to glorify God with our bodies…Present them a living sacrifice; not killed, as the sacrifices under the law. A Christian makes his body a sacrifice to God, though he does not give it to be burned. A body sincerely devoted to God is a living sacrifice.”

One of my professors in seminary, Dr. Thomas Constable, says, “Urging (Gr. parakaleo) lies between commanding and beseeching…The apostle did not want his readers to comply because he had commanded them to do so, but because they wanted to because of what God had done for them.”

Mercy (v 1) is plural and not singular in Greek, which is consistent of him in other letters too (2 Cor 1:3, Phil 2:1, Col 3:12), although it is singular in the book of Hebrews (Heb 10:28). It is ever so plentiful, bountiful, and meaningful.

On the other hand, believers are to offer Him our bodies as a living, holy and pleasing “sacrifice” - singular in Greek and most translations but NIV. It is a single act, not piece by piece, part by part, portion by portion. In Greek it is “present your bodies as a sacrifice (whole and decisive),” followed by three adjectives: living, holy, pleasing.

Contact with anything dead or even torn is unclean, including eating or touching them (Lev 11:31, 17:15). You might say, “Aren’t they all dead when you sacrificed them?” There is a difference between offering the dead before slaughter for sacrifice and offering the living before sacrifice. The pragmatism in us considers its function, but God examines its form and fitness.

Living is the activity and functionality, but “holy” is its nature and quality. Holiness is the idea of being set apart to the Lord. The word “set apart” in Genesis means a clear difference, a distinct division; it is the word for the separation of light from the darkness (Gen 1:4), the sky from earth’s atmosphere (Gen 1:6-8), the day from the night (Gen 1:14, 1:18). In Israel’s case, they are to be set apart and utterly different from the nations - to be God’s own (Lev 20:26). God has chosen Israel out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (Deut 7:6, 14:2) The negative is separation from the others but the positive is to be God’s possession. By the way the New Testament idea of holy is not perfection, but “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish” (Eph 5:27). While “living” means not dead, diseased or dying, “holy” means the best.

Pleasing (eu-arestos) is its purpose and aspiration. The Greek word occurs nine times in the Bible, NIV translated them as “please” or “pleasing” (Rom 12:1, 12:2, 14:18, 2 Cor 5: 9, Eph 5:10, Phil 4:18, Col 3:20, Titus 2:9, Heb 13:21), which is part of the Greek equation, but missing out in NIV is the first part eu- of euarestos, which is well-pleasing.

Seek the Transformation
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

A dignified old clergymen owned a parrot of which he was exceedingly fond, but the bird had picked up an appalling vocabulary of cuss words from a previous owner and, after a series of particularly embarrassing episodes, the clergymen decided he would have to have his parrot put to sleep. But a lady in his congregation suggested a last-ditch remedy. She said,” I have a female parrot. She is an absolute saint. She sits quietly on her perch and prays constantly. Why don’t you bring your parrot over and see if my own bird’s good influence doesn’t reform him?”

The pastor said it was worth a try, and the next night he arrives with his pet. The bird took one look at the lady parrot and chirped, “Hi, Toots, how about a big kiss?” The lady parrot responded gleefully, “My prayers have been answered!”

An Irish proverb says, “Who lies down with dogs will get up with fleas.” (A Treasury of Irish Folklore and Humor, Henry D. Spalding, Jonathan David Publishers, New York 1978)

The verb conform (v 2) is su-schematizo; the su/sun preposition means “joint” and schematizo is from “pattern” (schema), which means external condition and circumstances, also translated as “things” of the world (1 Cor 7:31) and (Jesus’) “appearance” as a man (Phil 2:8). “Conform” is an imperative - an order and not an option or an offer.

Paul commands believers to mark boundaries with the world, not to be joined/”sun” at the hip with the world, to be identical to and unrecognizable from the world. Imitating the pattern/schema of the world leaves no room for the believer to grow and mature, to be shaped by the word and not the world. The world is “aion,” meaning “an age,” a period of time, not the physical world “cosmos” but the present world.

Transformed is the most dramatic, unexpected and interesting word in the text. “Metamorphoo” is also an imperative, it describes Jesus’ transfiguration, where His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. (Matt 17:2, Mark 9:2). It is night and day, black and white, old and new. Unlike Jesus’ transfiguration, the goal of our transformation is to be transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18) In biology, metamorphosis is an abrupt structural change, as seen in the marked changes during the development of an organism, especially the transformation from larva to adult, e.g., in the transformation from tadpole to frog or from caterpillar to butterfly. The skin is shed, the changes are permanent, the chain is broken, and there is no resemblance to the past.

Transformation begins with the mind, not one’s body. “Nous” (mind) is the intellect, the thought, one’s understanding. Matthew Henry says, “The mind is the acting ruling part of us; so that the renewing of the mind is the renewing of the whole man.”

Strive for Excellence
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:1-2)

John Stott, commenting on this passage, says we have to choose between the way of the world and the will of God.

The world says: get and grab what you can and live for yourself.
God says: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The world says: give as good as you get; return good for good and evil for evil and tit for tat.
God says: “Do not repay evil for evil but overcome evil with good.”

The world says: sex is for fun; it’s enjoyment without commitment.
God says: sex is for love; it’s enjoyment within commitment.

The world says: go for the top and the end justifies the means.
God says: “Whoever wants to be first among you, let him be the servant of all.”

The world says: greatness is measured by achievement.
God says: greatness is measured by service.

The world says: you’re number one; so live for yourself and look out for yourself; nobody else is going to if you don’t.
God says: “Seek first my rule and my righteousness, and these things will be added to you.”

The world says: stand up for yourself; fight for your rights.
God says: “Blessed are the meek; they shall inherit the earth.”
http://www.30goodminutes.org/csec/sermon/stott_2621.htm

The outcome of a sacrificial life and a transformed mind is walking in the will of God.

The translation “test and approve” is unnecessary for the single Greek word “dokimazo” or “to prove,” meaning “test,” “discern,” “think” or “examine.” The most popular translation for this word is “test” (1 Cor 3:13, 2 Cor 8:8, 13:5, Gal 6:4, 1 Thess 2:4, 5:21, 1 Tim 3:10, 1 John 4:1) , followed by “approve” four times (Rom 2:18, 14:22,1 Cor 16:3, 1 Thess 2:4), and once for diverse translations such as “interpret” (Luke 12:56), “try out” (Luke 14:19), “think” (Rom 1:28), “examine” (1 Cor 11:28), “prove” (2 Cor 8:22), “find out” (Eph 5:10), “discern” (Phil 1:10), “tried” (Heb 3:9) and “refined” (1 Peter 1:7). This word is basically “think,” which is an activity of the mind. Mind is the form - the brain, the mental faculty; but dokimazo is the intellect, the function of the mind.

The myth of the mind is its impartiality and its independence. The mind is not given to us merely to remain neutral. It’s been said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” There is no limit to the mind once we put our mind to it. As a psychologist friend of mine exercising with me suggested, “Exercise is not physical; it is mental.” I often tease and encourage clueless gym wannabes and rookies, “Exercise is mind over matter.” The transformed mind has no problem thinking God’s thoughts and understanding God’s values, discerning true and false, decoding right and wrong, discriminating moral from immoral, ethical from unethical and godly from ungodly values.

The three words that qualify the will of God are good (agathos), pleasing (eu-arestos) and perfect (teleios - completeness). Agathos is good in its benefit. Pleasing – repeated in verse 1 - has “eu” or “good” preposition, meaning “very pleasing.” The Greek word for “perfect” (teleios), meaning “full age” or “completion,” occurs 19 times in the Bible. Besides 11 times the popular translation of “perfect” (Matt 5:48, 5:48, 19:21, Rom 12:2, 1 Cor 13:10, Col 1:28, Heb 9:11, James 1:17, 1:25, James 3:2, 1 John 4:18), the other translations are “mature” – six times (1 Cor 2:6, Eph 4:13, Phil 3:15, Col 4:12, Heb 5:14, James 1:4), “adults” (1 Cor 14:20) and “finish” (James 1:4).

This “perfect” word is the same word for the work of pastors to build up the body of Christ “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature” (Eph 4:13) and for perseverance to “finish” its work in believers so that they may be “mature” (James 1:4) – the words “finish” and “mature” are the same Greek word for “perfect.”

Conclusion: There is no better offering to God than to offer yourself – your consecration, commitment and communion with Him. Have you offered the best of your body, mind and will to the Lord? Do you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength? (Deut 6:5) Are you withholding time, talents and treasures that rightfully belongs to the Lord? Do you walk in the path of the wicked or the righteous? Are you walking in the path of life, understanding and peace? Do you love or imitate the world or the Lord?

Application Questions:
1. What is Paul’s call to Christians? Is there a difference between “believers’ and those who offer themselves as a living sacrifice? Where are you in responding to this call.

2. Consider one area that you need discipline as you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (e.g. pleasures of the body, health, etc.). Pray about it and set some personal goals to begin exercising discipline.

3. Choose an area that you struggle not to conform to the world (e.g. work ethics, family life, money, relationships). What is it? Contrast the world’s values and the biblical values.

4. How can we be “transformed by the renewal of your mind”? Do you have such experiences? Share the experience with a brothers and sisters?

5. How do we distinguish between our own desires/aspirations and the will of God? Are they always different or are they the same? How do we discern what the perfect will of God is?

6. How do we encourage (“urge”) one another to practice Romans 12:1-2 as fellow brothers and sisters? Consider one way you can do that.

Paul, Pt. 4: “The Paradox of the Cross”

THE PARADOX OF THE CROSS (1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31)
The cross took a major political beating since 2004. In May, 2004, the ACLU gave Los Angeles County two weeks to eliminate the 1957-designed seal that appears on most official county property: walls, documents, uniforms, vehicles and even business cards – all because of a cross. After four months of debate, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors caved in and stripped a tiny miniature gold cross from the Los Angeles County seal to avoid a lawsuit. By a 3-2 partisan vote, the three Democrats on the board voted in favor of removing the cross while the two Republicans voted retain it. (Los Angeles Times 9/15/04 “Officials Vote to Replace County Seal”)

In June the same year, more than 700 people packed a board meeting in Redlands, the city 50 miles east of Los Angeles, to decry the removal of the cross. Thousands more wrote or called supervisors to complain, but the board refused to budge. It will cost the county an estimated $800,000 to replace the seal. Redlands city attorney, Dan McHugh, said, “The city council has a budget crunch, it could run up to 50 to 60 thousand dollars in costs so the city council made the decision that the manager ought to continue removing the cross. It was just not worth the money or the effort.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119035,00.html

In a sense, the cross receives the same treatment as Jesus, who was spit in the face, struck with fists and slapped (Matt 26:67), then flogged (Matt 27:26), struck on the head (Matt 27:30), mocked (Matt 27:29), blasphemed (Matt 27:39) and
insulted (Matt 27:44).

What is the message of the cross? Why is it so offensive and reviled? How is the cross a threat?

The Cross of Christ is the Wisdom Left Untried
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Cor 1:18-21)

An atheist was sitting under a tree one day thinking. “God,” he said, “you know I don’t believe in you, but if you exist, you must be stupid. Look at this huge oak tree. It has little teeny acorns on it. And look at this huge pumpkin growing on this weak, puny little vine. Now, if I had been you, I would have put the acorn on the little vine, and the pumpkin on the huge, strong oak tree.”

While the man was reflecting on his great wisdom and wishing that he had a mirror to see how wise he looked, an acorn fell on his head. “Thank God it wasn’t a pumpkin,” he cried out.

The wisdom of man is laughable. The hippies say all we need is love. The pacifists say all we need is peace, not war. The romanticists say all we need is one another. The fortune tellers say all we need is luck and the progressives say all we need is change.

Paul states man’s real need is the cross because his greatest need is salvation. However, the cross is foolishness to those who are not merely “perishing,” but those destined for “total destruction” (apollumi) in Greek (v 18). He labels the cross for what unbelievers call it – foolishness, or moria from moros. The cross is a comedy to unbelievers - a trick and a joke. In the eyes of the world, there is no greater fool than a Christian and no greater foolishness than the cross. Critics consider Christianity a crutch for losers and failures. Besides “those perishing,” those destroyed in the Bible include the body (Matt 5:29), one’s life (Matt 10:39), wicked people (Matt 21:41), evil spirits (Mark 1:23-24), the unrepentant (Luke 13:3), the sinful (Rom 2:12). Interestingly, the targets of God’s destruction are people, not things or animals.

Christians, on the other hand, vouch that the cross is more than just a piece of wood or jewelry. It is the power (dunamis) of God to save, forgive and change lives. Three words have the same connotation as “power” in Greek. One is “strong,” another is “mighty” and the most popular is “power/dynamite,” the popular word for describing “the power of God” (Rom 1:16, 2 Tim 1:9, Matt 22:29, Mark 12:24, Luke 5:17, Rom 1:16, 1 Cor 1:24, 2 Cor 6:7, 2 Tim 1:8). The power of God is more than just the regular word for “strong” or “mighty,” words describing physical attributes.

According to verse 18, 21 and two other passages (Rom 1:16, 2 Tim 1:9), the Bible tells us what man needs is the cross, because is the power of God for salvation, man’s most precious gift. Why do we need salvation? Salvation because man’s doom, downfall, destiny, demise and destruction are certain. The cross is not popular because it points out man’s sinful condition, selfish choices and stiff judgment.

While man is “totally destroyed” or “perishing” (v 18), the wisdom (sophos) and the intelligence of man are “destroyed,” a milder form of the word. Wisdom is sophos, the precursor for the words sophisticated, sophist (a teacher or philosopher), sopho-more (wise + moron!). Intelligence (sun-esis) is the cognitive and intellectual ability to put and pull thoughts together. They are the synthesizers and organizers of thought. The scholar (grammateus) is the scribe or secretary, people who put thoughts into writing, in contrast to the wise who is good at thinking and the intelligent who is strong in analysis. The philosopher (suzetetes), on the other hand, is the seeker, the root word from the word “seek.” He is the inquirer of his generation.

If you ask any four of them – the wise, the intelligent, the scholar and the philosopher, none of them will tell you they know the truth of they know. They will not pretend to know about man’s salvation. The truth, to them, is in the process, never the proposition. They are interested in seeking the truth, not finding the truth. They really do not deny the truth of sin, wrongdoing and transgression, but they will tell us nobody knows. They are more interested in the question, not the answer; the search and not the solution.

For all the great thinking and the collected brains of the world, they could only know about Him, not know Him. They do not reject religion – just revelation. I always say religion is man seeking God, but revelation is God seeking man.

The Cross of Christ is Weakness in Disguise
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. (1 Cor 1:22-25)

Elisabeth Elliot, wife of slain missionary Jim Elliot, whose story was the subject of the movie “The End of the Spear,” says what the cross means to her:
Number one: To take up the cross means to shoulder what will be the means of your death.
Number two: To take up the cross means to give energy to a seemingly hopeless task.
Number three: Submit to unsympathetic authorities.
Number four: Obey commands that you would not have chosen.
Number five: Face public mocking and ridicule.
Number six: Be rejected by those you have loved and served.
Number seven: Have your motives and actions misjudged.
Number eight: Experience pain and discomfort.
Number nine: To take up the cross means to see those you care about reject God.
http://www.backtothebible.org/gateway/today/8233

The cross is a paradox the world cannot understand. A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems to contradict itself but in reality expresses a possible truth. For example, Jesus says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt 10:38), “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14), “Many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:31) and “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matt 20:26)

The message of the cross is the greatest paradox: by His death we have life, by His forgiveness we have freedom, by His sacrifice we are saved, by His death we have deliverance, by His blood we are blameless, by repenting we are reconciled, His affliction for our atonement, His curse for our crime, His mortality for our immortality, His end for our eternity, His oppression for our offense, His suffering for our salvation, His grace for our guilt, His pain for our pardon.

In fact, the Jews and the Greeks thinkers and intellectuals looks for something far less than what God is giving. God is offering them divine wisdom and power, but they settle for logic and miracles. Instead of choosing the miracle of salvation, they were chasing supernatural visions, dreams and phenomena.

Human intelligence should rightly be called artificial intelligence because they can only study about the brain and the mind, but not man’s heart and soul. The cross offends and stumbles learned people, because Christianity makes no sense to them. Not only so, it is a scandal, an offence, a stumbling block to the Jews. The mission of Christ is not to save himself, but to save us. If wisdom could solve everything, Solomon’s kingdom would never end and he would not say “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!” (Eccl 1:2) The cross is power, not merely strength and might, because only God’s power can save man’s soul.

The Cross of Christ is Worth the Boast
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1:26-31)

Ten years after finishing law school, Chuck Colson found himself working in the White House, appointed as Special Counsel to President Nixon in 1969, responsible for inviting influential private special interest groups into the White House policy-making process and winning their support on specific issues. For four glorious years he was known as Nixon’s hatchet man. He dispensed favors and issued orders in the name of the President. Colson confessed he was “valuable to the President ... because I was willing ... to be ruthless in getting things done.” Then came Watergate and he was implicated along with other Nixon aides. In 1974, Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He was given a one-to-three year sentence, fined $5,000 and disbarred.

In prison, a dramatic thing happened. A proud man, he accepted Jesus Christ into his life. After he was released, he went back into prison. This time, to start a ministry called Prison Fellowship to reach out to other prison inmates. Colson has received fifteen honorary doctorates, but he said: “All my achievements meant nothing in God’s economy. My greatest humiliation - being sent to prison-was the beginning of God’s greatest use of my life. Now I could see, after I lose everything I thought made Chuck Colson a great guy, what God intended for me to be and the true purpose of my life. God does not want our success. He wants us.”

Three verbs describe the fate of the wise, the influential (dunatos), the noble (eu-genes) and the strong (ischuros) at the hands of God: shame, nullify and boast. The Greek for “shame” appears twice in verse 27 and altogether 13 times in the Bible, its lesser translations are humiliate (Luke), disappoint (Rom 5:5), dishonor (1 Cor 11:4), embarrass (2 Cor 7:14), be ashamed (2 Cor 9:4). Its original word has a “down” (kata) preposition attached, meaning “shame down,” by implication utterly shameful, making one red faced, making one lose face and making one face downward.

The second verb “nullify” also has the same preposition (kata) attached to the verb. It’s other translations in the Bible are “cut down” (Luke 13:7), no value (Rom 4:14), done away with (Rom 6:6), release (Rom 7:2), coming to nothing (1 Cor 2:6), destroy (1 Cor 6:13), cease (1 Cor 13:8), pass away (1 Cor 13:8), disappears (1 Cor 13:10), put behind me (1 Cor 13:11), fading (2 Cor 3:7), taken away (2 Cor 3:14), do away (Gal 3:17), abolished (Gal 5:11). The range of meanings taken from the passage on love in 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 includes “But where there are prophecies, they will CEASE … where there is knowledge, it will PASS AWAY ... but when perfection comes, the imperfect DISAPPEARS… When I became a man, I PUT childish ways BEHIND me.”

“Shame” refers to how man “feels,” but nullify refers to who he “is” – nothing, non-existent, disintegrate before God’s presence. The list of things God “nullify” in the Bible includes food and the stomach (1 Cor 6:13), the last enemy, which is death (1 Cor 15:26, 2 Tim 1:10) and, of course, him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil (Heb 2:14).

Finally “boast” refer to what man “says.” The last verb “boast” is less frequently translated in the Bible as brag (Rom 2:17), rejoice (Rom 5:3), take pride (2 Cor 5:12), glory in (Phil 3:3). At first, in my zeal, I wanted to say all boasting is wrong, but boasting in itself, in the Bible, is not wrong. There is a right way to boast and a wrong way to it in the Bible. Good boasting/rejoicing includes boasting in the hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2), suffering - which produces perseverance (Rom 5:3), reconciliation with God (Rom 5:11), in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31), others’ eagerness to help (2 Cor 9:2), things that show my weakness (2 Cor 11:30), power that is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9), the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 6:14), others’ perseverance and faith in persecutions and trials (2 Thess 1:4), the humble brother in his exaltation (James 1:9). Of course, the most often mentioned is to boast in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31, 2 Cor 10:17)

The wrong thing to boast is about oneself (2 Cor 12:5), observing the law (Rom 2:23), work done in another man’s territory (2 Cor 10:16), circumcision
(Gal 6:14), works (Eph 2:9) and the certainty of tomorrow (James 4:16).

Conclusion: Are you relying on God’s wisdom or man’s wisdom? Do you boast in your strength or God’s strength in your weakness? Are you ashamed of the cross or do you glory in the cross?

Questions and applications

1. Who would you consider as “the wise in the world”? Name a few individuals.
Who would you consider as “the wise in the Lord?” Name a few individuals.
Compare and contrast to identify similarities and differences.

2. Why would the Gospel of “Christ crucified” be a stumbling block to many?

3. Have you ever shared the gospel with others and they find what you shared to be foolish (or irrational, unscientific, illogical, a fable)? How do you respond?

4. Who were the Corinthian Christians? What was their social status? How did the Lord change their lives? How about you and other RCAC brothers and sisters? How are we perceived by non-believers? How has God transformed you?

5. Read Isaiah 29:14 in its context to understand God’s reason for “destroying the wisdom of the wise.” Reflect on our attitude towards God. Read Jeremiah 9:24 in its context to understand what believers should take pride in. Reflect on where your personal pride lies.

Paul, Pt. 5: “When Elephants Rumble”

WHEN ELEPHANTS RUMBLE (1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-15)
An African proverb says, “When elephants fight, grass gets trampled.” When elephants rumble, not only grass suffers the damage, animals run for cover, too. Elephants do not throw their weight around for nothing. According to Wikipedia, the grizzly bear weighs 1,720 lbs., the white rhinoceros 7,937 lbs., the hippopotamus 9,920 lbs., but the African elephant weighs 16,534 lbs.

The largest elephant on record weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilograms) and was 13 feet (3.96 meters) tall! Wild elephants eat all types of vegetation, from grass and fruit to leaves and bark— about 220 to 440 pounds (100 to 200 kilograms) each day. They also drink about 30 gallons (113.5 liters) of water each day.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-elephant.html

Building a church is hard enough without bigger than life characters causing a stampede in church. Often, there are conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings. In the church at Corinth there were two 600-pound gorillas and 2,000-pound elephants by the name of Paul and Apollos. Their followers were displeased with each other, disrespectful to each other and distant from each other, adding to the two men’s stress, straining the fellowship in the church, neglecting the work of the gospel, hurting the name of the church and rejecting the suggestion of possible reconciliation.

How should leaders, coworkers and groups within the church work together? What causes divisions and factions? What can we do to build up and not tear down one another?

Prize Good Motivation
3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. 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 quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-4)

During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up. The rabbi, learned as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn’t know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98-year-old man, who was one of the original founders of their temple.

The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual temple tradition was, so he went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation. The one whose followers stood during Shema said to the old man, “Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?” The old man answered, “No, that is not our tradition.”

The one whose followers sat asked, “Is the tradition to sit during Shema?” The old man answered, “No, that is not our tradition.”

Then the rabbi said to the old man, “Please help us! The congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether they should sit or stand.” The old man interrupted, exclaiming, “THAT is our tradition!”

The church is a hotbed of conflicts, as witnessed by the church in Corinth. Paul chides them as worldly and infants (v 1). The word “worldly”– “fleshly” in Greek, not “cosmos” – occurs merely 11 times in the Bible, four times in this passage alone (vv 1, 3, 3, 4 – “men”). Mostly, the world is contrasted with what is spiritual, godly and holy (Rom 7:14, 15:27, 1 Cor 3:1, 9:11, 2 Cor 1:12). A fleshly or worldly person is a slave to sin (Rom 7:14). He is selfish, superficial and self-righteous. He does not seek the things of God, to grow in Christ or the good of others.

Paul addresses the Corinthians as infants, crybabies and adolescents. An infant is ne-pios in Greek; ne- is negation and epos is “word,” so a baby does not speak a word. He babbles and cries; he does not speak. An infant talks gibberish and makes noise. Babies do not walk, they crawl. They need to wheeled in their strollers, strapped to their baby seats and helped to their high chairs. Worse, some need to be constantly carried in the arms or rocked in the arms.

A baby loves his baby formula, toys and pacifier. Solid food will make the infant choke, vomit and sick. Babies sleep, eat and poop. They crave attention; they won’t leave you alone and allow you to sleep or rest. Other negative portrayals of the “infant” in Greek include the inability to talk, think and reason like a man, in 1 Corinthians 13:11. In Ephesians 4:14, he is tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. In Hebrews 5:13-14, unlike the mature man, the babe cannot distinguish good from evil.

The roots of the infancy tag or label the Corinthians inherited can be traced to their childish and not constructive behavior. Two problems rocked and stalled the church in Corinth. One was jealousy and the other was quarreling (v 3). The root of jealousy (zelos) is in the word “zeal,” which tells us of the intensity of the issue, the passion felt and feelings involved, and the fervor at its height. Zeal is internal. Internal jealousy is then spilled into open quarreling. Contention, competition and criticism characterized the church. Because of that, the atmosphere was poisoned, her fellowship was strained and her ministry had suffered.

Promote Good Morale
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 labor. (1 Cor 3:5-8)

Elisabeth Elliot told of a legend she heard from an African pastor. The story is told that Jesus was walking along with His disciples one day, and He asked each one of them to pick up a stone to carry for Him. So Peter picked up a fairly small one. John picked up a large one. And Jesus led them up to the top of a mountain, by which time they were hungry. So Jesus turned these stones into bread and gave them permission to eat what they had in their hands. Well, of course, Peter didn’t get enough, so John shared some of his with Peter.

Then on another occasion Jesus again took them for a walk and asked them to pick up a stone. This time He didn’t go up to the top of the mountain. But He took them to the river Jordan and told them to cast the stones into the river--which they did. This time, of course, Peter having picked up a much heavier stone. Then they looked to their Master for an explanation.

Nothing happened. He didn’t do any miracles. He just looked at them with great compassion and said, “For whom did you carry this stone?”
http://www.backtothebible.org/gateway-to-joy/accept-what-god-is-doing.html

What ignited such passion and division in the church that Paul wanted no part of? One group professed solidarity with Paul and another pledged loyalty to Apollos. Apollos is a prominent person in the New Testament church. Ten references to his name are found in the Bible. A Jew, a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures (Acts 18:24), Apollos vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 18:28) He had a mind of his own and was a tough nut to crack. Later in the book, Paul admitted he strongly urged Apollos to go to Corinth, but Apollos did not go for the lack of opportunity (1 Cor 16:12). Not many people dared to resist Paul, but Apollos was one of those. Possibly, Apollos refused to go because he did not want to be distressed by and dragged into their quarrels of Corinth.

Paul and Apollos were brothers in the Lord (1 Cor 16:12) and they were never at odds with each other (Titus 3:13), but their supporters were. Watch Paul do the balancing act in reference to Apollos – Paul and Apollos in verse 4 and the reverse, Apollos and Paul, in verse 5. He did not want to be accused of belittling Apollos’ leadership and provoking his supporters in this sensitive church.

Paul explained that they are just servants (diakonos) - an attendant or a waiter. There are two major servant words in the Bible. The more popular and technical one is doulos, the slave, a phrase popular to culture and in theology. The diakonos is popular for ministerial and even political setting. For example, government authorities are God’s servants (Rom 13:6). Paul and Apollos were
servants “through” (“dia,” from diameter – through/across) whom you came to believe. They are mere ambassadors, not the King; vessels, not the Pilot; and channels, not the Source .

Paul’s part is to plant, Apollos’ part is to water and God’s part is to cultivate. The gracious part in Paul commends Apollos for doing the dirty job, to water the plant, which has to be done regularly. I should know because the lazy part in me plants our cherry tomatoes near the sprinklers so that I do not have to water them. The planter does his one-time bit and leaves the rest of the job to the gardener, who has to water every day, supplies the nutrients and protects against pests. Paul was the founder of the church in Corinth (Acts 18:1), and the church was blessed to have Apollos (Acts 19:1) after Paul left (Acts 18:18). The weird thing was that Paul and Apollos never officially or technically met. When Paul left for Ephesus, Apollos was there but he did not meet Paul, who had set sail from Ephesus (Acts 18:21), but instead met Aquila and Pricilla. In fact, Paul and Apollos (1 Cor 16:12) were both not in Corinth at the time the letter was written.

“Grow” is the same word for John the Baptist and Jesus “growing” and becoming strong (Luke 1:80, 2:40). Jesus uses this word for natural agricultural growth – the lilies (Matt 6:28, Luke 12:27), the mustard seed (Matt 13:32, Luke 13:19) and the seed that fell on good soil (Mark 4:8). This could be quantitative (Acts 7:17) or qualitative growth (Eph 4:15, Col 1:10), though more so for the latter. The true harvester is God. He looks for fruit, gathers the crops and reaps for harvest.

Every time “reward” (v 8) is mentioned, people go crazy. They make doctrine and theology out of it. Gold, diamond or platinum? How many karats? They measure the kingdom of God in material terms. No, Paul is just stating a “principle,” with no specifics or details involved. It is just human analogy, not heavenly material or kingdom objects.

Provide Good Material
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 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. (1 Cor 3:9-15)

According to Wikipedia, foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations. Shallow foundations are usually embedded a few feet into soil.
Deep foundations are used to transfer a load from a structure through an upper weak layer of soil to a stronger deeper layer of soil. Sometimes these foundations penetrate bedrock.

Most house foundations are only one to two feet deep. Skyscrapers require huge foundations to support the structures. First, a large hole is dug into the ground to reach a point of stable soil (often bedrock). After some sort of bedrock is reached, large steel footings are placed, and from these, vertical steal beams are placed along with a network of rebar.

The foundation of the 1,815 ft (553m) CN Tower in Toronto is 50 ft (15m) deep or 5 floor deep. This is nothing compared to one of the world’s deepest foundations. The foundation of the 88-story or 1483-feet (452m) Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is 394 ft (120 m) deep - more than one fourth of its structure!
www.allaboutskyscrapers.com/skyscraper_concrete_foundations.html

The Corinthians’ jealousy and quarrelling were a slap to the face of Paul and Apollos, not something to be proud of. Paul almost shouted, “Are you out of your mind? We are fellow workers ( 9), not sworn rivals. The word “fellow workers” (sun-ergos) is intermingled with “joint” (sun, i.e. sync) and “worker” (ergon, i.e. ergonomics). The Corinthians were the field (georgion, from geo/earth + ergon/work) and the building. Paul and Apollos were the farmhands joint at the hip and the church was the land and the structure joint to the body of Christ.

Paul compares himself to an “expert builder” or architect (architekton) – the only time the word appears in the Bible - laying a foundation (themelios) or substructure, the base, the bottom or, better still, the bedrock underneath the earth’s surface. He cannot fail; his math must add up or the consequences are unimaginable. An engineer in my church once told me, “Engineering is all about physics.” Someone else is “building on it” – the verb “building” has the “on” (epi) preposition attached - the verb occurs four times in the passage (vv 10, 10, 12, 14). The substructure and the structure are attached, not detached; connected not disconnected; joint, not disjointed.

The word “careful” (v 10) is “see.” The word is not so much as “be careful” in the heart than “careful” with the eyes. Everyone should build with eyes open and not do shoddy work; fellow workers are obligated to pull their weight and not cut corners.

Next Paul begins the greatest to least comparison – gold, silver, costly (timios, from ti-me or “honor”) stones, wood, hay – which is a bundle, and straw – a stalk.
Again, Paul is using a principle, not alluding to what each represents, except for the foundation, who is Jesus Christ. There is only one foundation, not layers of foundation. There is only one choice for foundation; pastors, founders and leaders are merely the engineers. They do not determine the foundation; they merely determine who and where the foundation is, they point to the foundation and build on the foundation. All in all, the words build and plant each occurs four times in the passage.

The Day (v 13) in Paul’s theology is the day of God’s wrath (Rom 2:5) and the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ ((Rom 2:16). More than one third of 75 times the Greek word “fire” occurs in Revelation. “Burned up” (kata-kaio) in verse 15 does not mean burn, but burn against; the preposition “kata” or “against” is attached. Nothing will be hidden and no excuse will suffice.

Conclusion: Are you a peacemaker, a planter and a planner in God’s kingdom? Are you part of the solution or part of the problem? Are you committed to the Lord, His body and the church? Do you have a humble attitude and a reconciling spirit?

1 Cor 3: 1-15 Questions

1. What are the characteristics that distinguish the Corinthians as “worldly” and “infants in Christ”? Are the two the same?

2. Why is jealousy and quarreling described as worldly? Does that happen in today’s churches? What about your church?

3. What is the difference between identifying yourself with a group, a church, a denomination and a particular individual (Paul, Apollo, or a charismatic/popular leader in modern times)?

4. While the Corinthians took pride in following Paul (or Apollo), how did Paul see himself and the Corinthians?

5. Paul called the Corinthians “the field” and “the house,” what is his responsibility as God’s fellow servant? Is there any difference between “servant” and “fellow servant”?

6. Reflect whether you are building on the Foundation of God, which is Jesus Christ. If you are, what are the materials you are using? How would you describe “your work” Do you think it is of quality that will pass the test?

7. What are you? God’s servant, God’s fellow servant or worldly infant in Christ?

Paul, Pt. 6: “Three Sides of the Equation”

THREE SIDES OF THE EQUATION (1 CORINTHIANS 10:23-33)
A farmer wanted to breed his three sows (adult female hogs). He had a friend who owned a few boars, so they made arrangements to get the sow and boars together. One afternoon the farmer loaded the sows into his pickup truck and hauled them over to the nearby farm. While the pigs were getting very well acquainted, he asked his friend how he would know if his pigs were pregnant.

“That’s easy,” said the man. “They wallow in the grass when it (works) takes, but they wallow in the mud when it doesn’t.”

Early the next morning the farmer awoke, glanced out the window of his bedroom, and noticed all three sows wallowing in the mud. So he loaded them back into his pickup and took them for a second round with the boars. Next morning...the same result. All three were wallowing in the mud. Disappointed but determined, the farmer once again took them back, hoping the third time would be the charm.

The following morning the farmer had to be away from the farm on business, so he anxiously phoned his wife, “Are they wallowing in the grass or the mud, dear?”

“Neither,” she replied. “But two of them are in the back of your pickup and the third one’s up front honking the horn!” (Charles Swindoll, Simple Faith 184-85).

Like the farmer, good, godly Christians are so serious about changing others’ opinions, beliefs and convictions on non–essential issues that they cannot see eye to eye or have a heart to heart talk with others who differ from them. Some churches split and members leave over Bible versions, worship wars and Jesus’ coming.

One of the most contentious issues in the church at Corinth was whether to eat food sacrificed to idols. The believers there comprised of Jews and Gentiles, so their background and diet is different.

What factors govern our decision-making in differences? What is the best and greatest motivation?

Paul gives us three principles to free us to worship, serve and thrive in a church community.

Seek the Gain That Counts
23 “Everything is permissible”- but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”- but not everything is constructive. (1 Cor 10:23-24)

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?” “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“Well, no,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…” “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“Umm, no, on the contrary…” “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.” “Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?” (Appleseeds.com)

Why did Paul rehash the case on food sacrificed to idols? Did not the church in Jerusalem ask the Gentiles to abstain from four things upon profession of Christ - food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality? (Acts 21:25) Did Paul undermine the apostles’ teachings? The apostles and the church had previously faced and handled at least two food fights. First, on the subject of ceremonial washing of hands and feet and the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles that was part of tradition of the elders. (Mark 7:1-4) Jesus summarized, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’” (Matt 15:18-20)

Paul, too, had his hands full with the debate over eating vegetables or meat. He says in another book, Romans 14:1-3 - “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.”

This third incident concerns food sacrificed to idols. The word “permissible” (v 23) in Greek is translated as “lawful” by KJV, RSV and NASB. That was the word of choice the Pharisees used to test Jesus with a flurry of questions: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matt 12:10), “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10:2) and “Is it RIGHT to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Matt 22:17)

NIV’s “beneficial,” on the other hand, has three different translations in three different versions: KJV’s “expedient,” RSV’s “helpful” and NASB’s “profitable.” Most of the time, the word “beneficial” is translated elsewhere in the Bible by NIV as “good” (John 16:7, 18:14, 1 Cor 7:35, 10:33), “better” (Matt 5:29, 5:30, 18:6, 19:10, John 11:50), “best” (2 Cor 8:10, Heb 12:10) and on one occasion “helpful” (Acts 20:20) and “gained” (2 Cor 12:1). Greek time! “Sum-phero” (beneficial) is from “sum/sun” (sync/joint) and “phero” (carry, bear, see “Christopher=Christ bearer”). The word literally means “bears up.” While all things are lawful, all things do not keep up, carry over, hold together or maintain form in the long run. This is on the personal side, which there is no lasting personal benefit. From verses 23 till the end of the chapter, the word “all” occurs nine times (1 Cor 10:23, 23, 23, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 33). Come to think of it, that’s what the Chinese say. It’s not going to make you better, prettier, stronger, only fatter! There are always other things to eat. Food is perishable but fellowship and friendship are permanent. Crudely saying, food exits one’s body but fellowship binds hearts together.

The next line repeats the first line except for the last word - “constructive” (oikodomeo), or “edify” in KJV and NASB but “build up” in RSV. While “beneficial” is for the long term, “constructive is from the bottom up. The word is the same word for the construction of a house; to be a house-builder. The Bible tells us only two things builds up: love (1 Cor 8:1) and faith (1 Tim 1:4). Nobody becomes more spiritual over food. They merely have more religious opinions but they do not help a person grow spiritually.

Seek the Good of Others
24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake- 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? (1 Cor 10:24-30)

According to an ancient fable, there was a Persian king who wanted to discourage his four sons from making rash judgments. At his command, the eldest son made a winter journey to see a mango tree across the valley. When spring came, the next oldest was sent on the same journey. Summer followed and the third son was sent. After the youngest made his visit to the mango tree in the autumn, the king called them together and asked each son to describe the tree.

The first son said it looked like an old stump. The second disagreed, describing it as lovely—large and green. The third son declared its blossoms were as beautiful as roses. The fourth son said that they were all wrong. To him it was a tree filled with fruit—luscious, juicy fruit, like a pear.

“Well, each of you is right,” the old king said. Seeing the puzzled look in their eyes, the king went on to explain. “You see, each of you saw the mango tree in a different season, thus you all correctly described what you saw. The lesson,” said the king, “is to withhold your judgment until you have seen the tree in all its seasons.” (Appleseeds.com, Source: “Sower’s Seeds That Nurture Family Values, # 30”)

Verse 24 is plain and short in Greek: “Seek none oneself but another (heteros, as in heterodox).”

What are believers to do if unbelievers invite them for dinner? Did Paul shortly before not advise believers to stop eating in an idol’s temple (1 Cor 8:10) and participating in fellowship with demons? (1 Cor 10:20) What has changed? In this instance, the believer is invited and the occasion is a home. Paul says do not fuss or fret unless the owners fuss and frown. This is different from Paul’s argument in chapter 8 concerning eating in an idol’s temple (1 Cor 8:10), which is strictly forbidden.

Why is food not the issue? Because the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it (v 26). The full quotation taken from Psalms Ps 24:1-2 is: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” All the land and sea creatures are His creation, which He deemed good. (Gen 1:21, 25)

The biblical teaching on food or meat in itself is two-fold: (1) All food is “clean or “katharos” (Rom 14:20) – the reverse is “no food is unclean in itself” - and (2) everything God created is “good” (kalos) and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. (1 Tim 4:4-5) The truth, as Paul eloquently states it is “Food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.”
(1 Cor 8:8)

The litmus test in a non-biblical issue - not unbiblical issue - is shifted to one’s conscience, stated five times in the chapter (1 Cor 10:25, 27 , 28, 29, 29). The conscience is a stern judge, a merciless critic and a terrible nag. The verb “judge” (v 29) is to scrutinize, investigate, interrogate - asking questions to no end. The exhaustive translations for this word are examine (Luke 23:14), call to account (Acts 4:9), cross-examine (Acts 12:19), examine (Acts 17:11), discern (1 Cor 2:14), make judgments (1 Cor 2:15), judge (1 Cor 4:3), sit in judgment (1 Cor 9:3) and raise questions (1 Cor 10:25). The Greek word for “raising questions” (v 25) or “judging” is bound up with a prefix “ana,” (ana-krino) for repetition and intensity.

The conscience is an amazing thing; it is qualified by different adjectives. There are people with weak (strengthless in Greek) conscience (1 Cor 8:10), good conscience (Acts 23:1), clear (katharos) conscience (1 Tim 3:9), corrupted conscience (Titus 1:15), guilty (evil in Greek) conscience (Heb 10:22). The worst is not in the Bible – no conscience, which is a myth: there is good/clear, weak or bad/corrupted, but not no conscience.

Paul says, “But if anyone regards (peitho –persuaded) something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.” (Rom 14:14) Food is food; it is neutral, but to a weaker brother, its cultural, religious and psychological value matters more than its nutritious value. It’s been said, “A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.” Conscience is the awareness of what is right or wrong. The Greek word is sun-eidesis or joint knowledge, co-perception, not ignorance or unawareness.

In the same way the children of God has glorious freedom (v 29, Rom 8:21), for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17), but the reverse side of freedom is denouncement (blasphemeo) (v 30), offense and vilification.

Seek the Glory of God
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God- 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Cor 10:31-33)

Charles Colson shared about receiving a phone call from Jack Eckerd, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. Jack Eckerd invited him to Florida on the founder’s Lear jet to discuss Florida’s prison reform. While he was there Colson talked to Jack Eckerd about Jesus and gave him some books to read. Years went by but Colson witnessed to Jack Eckerd without success. One day Jack Eckerd called him up to say he believed in the resurrection. Charles Colson prayed with him to accept Christ.

The first thing Eckerd did was to walk into one of his drugstores and walked down through the book shelves, but this time he reacted differently when he saw Playboy and Penthouse magazines in the stores. And he’d seen it there many times before, but it never bothered him before. Now he saw them with new eyes. He’d become a Christian. He went back to his office. He called in his president. He said, “Take Playboy and Penthouse out of my stores.” The president said, “You can’t mean that, Mr. Eckerd. We make three million dollars a year on those books.” Eckerd said, “Take ‘em out of my stores.” By one man’s decision, those magazines were removed from the shelves of 1,700 stores across America, forsaking three million dollars a year in revenue. (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited)

Paul provides the Corinthians believers a different and superior way to think. This time, not bound to conscience and feelings, right and freedom, brothers or sisters, but to God’s glory. Conscience as motivation has its ups and downs, highs and lows, peaks and pits, but doing things for God’s glory is the greatest and ageless motivation in life. Doing things for God’s glory is the greatest freedom in life. Paul did not limit the principle to eating food sacrificed to idols, but that whatever they do, to do it all for the glory of God (v 31). If eating causes a weak brother to stumble, not just merely disagree, then I can choose to eat it another day or in another company. “Stumble” (v 32) in Greek has the meaning of striking, beating and tripping. It means that if others are beaten up over my eating in their presence, then I will pass. It doesn’t mean one is a hypocrite for eating somewhere. The word “stumble” occurs three times only in the Bible, the other two translations are “clear” (Acts 24:16) and “blameless.” (Phil 1:10) Note that Paul is not saying not to eat at all, but not in the presence of the weak brother, who will blame himself or you for his stumbling.

“Please” is “aresko,” which is taken from the word “airo” - to lift up (others). Pleasing everybody is an impossible task and a losing proposition. That’s why Paul qualifies it to mean for the greater good, not his own (v 33). The ultimate is to open and not close the door to witnessing. Why is eating or not more important than the gospel? In another passage unrelated to eating, Paul says “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Cor 9:22-23) Pleasing all and becoming all is not a virtue in today’s society. It is frowned upon and interpreted as a sign of weakness, not strength. The foremost reason is that we do not want others to take advantage of us. Paul is not saying the believer has to “be all,” not a state or character, which does not change – just “becoming” all, that others may be saved. It is a salvation issue, not a sanctification issue. He is stating that he is responding to the weaker brother, not just someone claiming he is weak, but that he is weak.

Conclusion: Do you do all things for the glory of God? Is your testimony pleasing to Him? Do you find ways and time to witness for Him?

1. Study the three words permissible, beneficial, and constructive.

Using entertainment (e.g. watching movies) as a topic, can you give an example of each (i.e. permissible, beneficial, and constructive)?
Using hobbies as a topic, can you give an example of each?
Using food as a topic, can you give an example of each?
Using friendship with unbelievers as a topic, can you give an example of each?

Identify some other choices you are discerning in your personal life (study or work life) and ponder.

2. In this text, what is our responsibility to our non-believing friends (in school or work settings) when we participate in activities with them?

3. Using the examples you come up with in #1, can you include your conscience and “the other man” (your unbeliever friend)’s conscience in examining the activities

4. What is the fundamental guideline or principle for all we do? (v.31) Apply it to the examples you have selected in #1. Does it change anything?

5. What does Paul’s effort to “please everybody in everyway” mean? What should the purpose be? As Christians, are we trying to “please” everybody?

Paul, Pt. 7: “One in the Spirit”

ONE IN THE SPIRIT (1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-26)
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. Green said “I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees, leaves - without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.”

Blue interrupted: “Consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity.”

Yellow chuckled: “I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile.”

Orange started next to blow her trumpet: “I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and pawpaws. When I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you.”

Red shouted out: “I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood….I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy.”

Purple spoke with great pomp: “I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom.”

Finally, Indigo spoke, “Without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace.”

Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening - thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort. Rain began to speak: “You foolish colors. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me. From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace.” (Abridged)

According to Unger’s dictionary, Corinth is Greece's most splendid commercial city. Its strategic situation just south of the narrow isthmus connecting central Greece with the Peloponnesus made it the mecca of trade between the East and the West. The city derived rich income from the transport of cargoes across the narrow isthmus. The city of Corinth is divided along racial, social and economic lines, affecting the church and influencing its dynamics. Jews and Gentiles, masters and slaves, rich and poor are represented.

How can a church rally her members to emphasize spiritual and godly service and bypass physical and cultural distinctions? What do they need to adopt and affirm in order for the church to flourish and grow?

The Flock is One
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 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 12:12-13)

This is as good a story on the plight of the church and the lack of workers as any: This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

The church is a family, not individuals; an organism and not an organization; a body and not the building. Her members are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28), and the sum is greater than the parts.

The word “body” (soma) occurs 18 times in chapter 12 alone and 47 times in the book. The word “unit” (v 12) is an awkward translation of the Greek for “one,” which occurs 13 times in the chapter. The Lord’s purpose for the church is for her unity, as witnessed by Jesus’ High Priestly prayer for the church before his crucifixion. Six times He prayed for them to be united as one (John 17:11, 21, 21, 22, 22, 23).

To be one means unity not uniformity; to be unanimous, not to be in union; to have harmony, not hostility; to be in accord and not in discord; to agree to disagree; to emphasize similarities and not differences.

A key saying for unity is ““In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” When I was invited to be an adjunct faculty in a seminary, I said that my theological views might be different from the school’s position. The academic dean replied, “It’s OK, Victor, as long we do not attack each other.”
We can defend one’s position but not demean the person, argue one’s point but not attack the person, call others no names but brother, that’s the spirit of unity.

The word “parts” occurs 17 times in the chapter. The body is singular but her members are plural, just as a family is one but her members are more than one. In fact, experts believe a one-child policy makes spoilt brats of their kids. These little emperors have not learned to share – toys, love and money. The family’s schedule and universe revolves around the doted child. Just before turning teen, I was still sharing a big bed with my brother and sister. Of course, all of us want to sleep inside, nearest the wall instead of the aisle. To wake the sleepyheads for school, my grandmother would grab the nearest legs and literally pull us out of bed.

The word “all” occurs 16 times in chapter 12. The mission and the ministry of the church are more important than its members and their division. Our source is in Christ and our unity is in the Spirit (v 13). There is one Body even though we have many believers, one Baptizer even though we are baptized at different times and one Birth even though we have many babies.

The Functions are Different
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don't need you!” (1 Cor 12:14-21)

None of the parts of the body is useless or worthless, including the appendix, which I had removed due appendicitis. My only disappointment is my doctor left an upside down scar – a frown - instead of a smiley face on my waist.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function, surgeons removed them routinely, and people live fine without them. And when infected the appendix can turn deadly. It gets inflamed quickly and some people die if it isn't removed in time. In 2005, 321,000 Americans were hospitalized with appendicitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 300 to 400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, according to the CDC.

Surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School assert that the function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most of it is good and helps digest food. But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix's job is to reboot the digestive system in that case. The appendix “acts as a good safe house for bacteria,” said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Cultivating good germs is not needed in a modern industrialized society, Parker said. If a person's gut flora dies, they can usually repopulate it easily with germs they pick up from other people, he said. But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn't as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy. In less developed countries, where the appendix may be still useful, the rate of appendicitis is lower than in the U.S., other studies have shown, Parker said.
(“Scientists: Appendix Protects Good Germs” Press Enterprise, 10/6/07)

Every one has a job to do, a role to play and a task at hand.

Paul seems to begin with the weaker members, weaker as in less conspicuous, clumsily placed. The Greek for “foot” (pous, as in podiatry) occurs 96 times in Bible but the hand 172 times, almost doubling foot. In Arab countries and in Thailand, it is considered extremely offensive to show someone the sole of your foot, because the feet are the least respected parts of the body. Due to their bottom position and limited function, feet are exposed to a variety of potential infections and injuries. Most people wear basic footwear to prevent injuries.

In daily tasks we celebrate the hand more than the feet, but none can do without the other. The hand holds things and goes online, but the foot plays soccer and travel places. The hand drives the car but the foot presses the brakes.

In sports, most of the injuries are with foot pain, lower leg & ankle, knee pain
and thigh pain. Due weakness in the knees and legs, I protect my foot gingerly, wearing socks during late fall, winter and early spring when the room temperature drops below 75 degrees. My feet turn colder faster than my hands. I wear socks but never gloves. At one time, there was no nail left to my left leg’s last toe, but it resurfaced with water exercise.

The “ear” word occurs 37 times but the “eye” 101 times in the New Testament. The nose is the most underrated member of the body; Greek for “smell” occurs just once in the Bible!

A body with identical parts ceases to be a body. If the parts do not cooperate the body is no longer a body but a corpse. All parts are defined by their function. Any part not playing their part would result in the loss of coordination, health and function. Problems plague the body when a part overcompensates for another’s dysfunction.

The Feelings are Mutual
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor 12:12-26)

Earlier this summer, a study published in the American Sociological Review (“Social Isolation in America”) found Americans have fewer friends than they did 20 years ago, and that the number of those without a friend had more than doubled. Researchers at the University of Arizona and Duke University concluded we're more isolated and lonely than we used to be.

Tom Rath, a numbers man for the Gallup polling group, drew on more than 5 million interviews to write his book, “Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without.” He found little has changed, and “Gallup studies show it's not a bleak picture at all. Unless you have at least three or four people in either sphere of life, work and home, that is, you can have problems. Evidence shows having three or four friends at work makes a real difference. It's better than going out and buying something, or reading a self-help book.” Susanne Alexander, an author, relationship coach and marriage educator, says, “Minus friends, however, we're not happy campers. We can shut down emotionally. Problems can last longer, and solutions can be harder to reach. You're unable to move ahead.” (“Friends make one rich” Press Enterprise, 8/28/06)
Rath's new book,

The insignificant parts are not weaker, but they merely “seem/think” (vv 22, 23) weaker (seem/think are the same in Greek – dokeo or think). Paul uses the word “seem/think” twice – same word in Greek (vv 22, 23) to make the Corinthians understand that their thinking is mere opinion, perception, value judgment, not discernment, observation, or true worth. Note that Paul refuses to call any part “strong” or “stronger,” inferior or superior, greater or lesser. In fact, he did not call them weaker (v 22) but “strength-less,” or without strength in Greek. Besides “weak,” this word is also translated as the “sick” (Matt 25:39), the “cripple” (Acts 4:9) and the “powerless” (Rom 5:6). He did this not to call them names, but to expose the normal body parts’ disregard, disrespect and discrimination toward weaker body parts.

In the survival of the fittest, there is no place for the weak, but God placed the weaker parts in the body so that other parts can minister to them. The presence of weaker parts completes the church and gives her balance. They are “indispensable” (1 Cor 12:22), which occurs eights times in the Bible, usually for a less dramatic translation, such as four times for “necessary” (2 Cor 9:5, Phil 1:24, 2:25, Heb 8:3) and once for “close” (Acts 10:24), “had to” (Acts 13:46) and “must” (Titus 3:14).

Paul uses three words to compare “weaker” members – “less honorable,” “unpresentable” (v 23) and “parts that lacked.” “Less honorable” is a-timos – no honor; “a-“ is a negation and “timos” is from “tim-e,” the first syllable for Timothy – honoring God. “Unpresentable” is “a-skemon,” as in no “skemon,” the latter translated as “form” (1 Cor 7:31) or “appearance” (Phil 2:8). “Parts that lacked” (hustereo) is from the root word “hupo,” meaning “under,” “beneath” and “below.” Their contrast is with “honor” and “special modesty.” “Honor” is “tim-e” and “special modesty” is “eu-shemosune” or “good (eu)” “appearance/form,” from the previous word. Paul interestingly uses three “perissoteros,” translated as “treated/treatment” to emphasize the care and concern for the weaker parts; the word occurs six other times in NIV, translated as “most” (Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47) twice, and once for “more” (Matt 11:9), “much more” (Luke 12:48), “excessive” (2 Cor 2:7) and “freely” (2 Cor 10:8).

Parts are incomplete and incompetent without partners. Going solo, none is stronger and all is weakened, if not destabilized and damaged.

Paul next uses three “sun” prefix to knit the passage together. God’s purpose is to “combine” (v 23) or “sugkerannumi,” from sun (joint) and kerannumi, translated as “full strength” (Rev 14:10) and “mix” (Rev 18:6, 18:6), so that negatively - there is no division in the body. The other translation for “division” is “tear” (Matt 9:16, Mark 2:21). Positively, they are to have equal concern for each other. The more pressing translation for “concern” (1 Cor 7:32, 33, 34, 34) is “worry” (Matt 6:25, 6:27, 6:28, 6:31, 6:34, 10:19, Luke 10:41, 12:11, 12:22, 12:25, 12:26), interest
(Phil 2:20) and anxious (Phil 4:6), which is a deeper and wiser, knowing that problems touch and involve both sides.

The second “sun” - “equal concern” is “sum-pascho” or joint passion (as in suffering, i.e. Passion for Christ). Rejoice (v 26) is the third word, along with verse 23’s “combine” and verse 25’s “equal concern.” It means sug-chairo, joined (in) joy, translated as “shared the joy” (Luke 1:58) and “rejoice” (Luke 15:6, 15:9,
1 Cor 13:6, Phil 2:17, 2:18).

Conclusion: Are you concern for others in the body? Has knowing Christ and others make you gentler, meeker and simpler? Are you active or passive and progressing or regressing in service?

Questions:
In your church, is the diversity based on ethnicity/nationality, socio-economic status and education/income/occupational status? Do you think a diverse church can stay united? What was the church in Corinth like (1 Cor 1:10)?
Paul uses the analogy of the body to describe the church. Examine how this analogy helps us understand church life.
Why do we need the body parts with their different functions?
Do you see you need brothers and sisters in the Lord (v 27)? Describe some needs.
Who are the “seemingly weak” brothers and sisters in your church? Why are they perceived as weak?
How can we treat the less honorable brothers and sisters with special honor? Give a concrete example in your church.
What is God’s role in unifying the church (vv 18-20, 24-25)?
Share an example when your body parts are (1) not coordinated in their functions, (2) hurting one another, and (3) supporting one another. Apply the analogy to your church.