Thursday, May 12,
2016, 12:56 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Abide in Him.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read 1 Corinthians 3:1-15
(ESV).
Infants in Christ
(vv. 1-4)
But
I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the
flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were
not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the
flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the
flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and
another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
When we think of an infant, we think of someone newly born
into this world. The same is true of those who are newly born spiritually, of
the Spirit of God. They are spiritual infants, just learning about Jesus and
how to walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Although they
have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and have been resurrected with
Christ in newness of life, their journey has just begun. They must go through a
process of sanctification in Christ Jesus, as we all must do, daily putting off
the deeds of the flesh and putting on Christ and his spiritual armor. Daily we
are being transformed into the likeness of Christ and are being made holy by
God. It is a progression, but the fact that we are in process should never be
used as an excuse for continued willful sin against God.
The problem here is when those who should have matured in
Christ by this point are still behaving like infants, still needing the
fundamentals of the Christian faith taught to them, because they are, in some
respect, still living like they lack knowledge and understanding of the
Christian life and what God expects of them. Sadly enough, this describes many
who call themselves followers of Christ these days, and many who have professed
to know Jesus for many, many years. They have not matured past day one, it
would seem from all outward appearances. Of course, some of them may be
professors only of Christ, and may not have ever had a genuine heart
transformation of the Spirit of God, while others may have just never grown beyond
spiritual infanthood, or they may have slipped back into some of their former
ways due to neglect and laziness in their spiritual walks.
Only God (vv.
5-9)
What
then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord
assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So
neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the
growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his
wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's
field, God's building.
I love this perspective! It is human nature to idolize
people, it would seem. So many people become followers of other people or
groups of people, and they follow them above God or in place of God, looking to
them for their faith, hope and healing instead of looking to Christ. So many
Christians or professing Christians are followers of humans over and above
being followers of God. They believe whatever they see, hear or read without
even bothering to inquire of God as to whether it is true or not. If a preacher
says it or a famous person says it, or if a politician or the news media says
it then so many people assume it is truth, when it may not be truth at all. Yet,
even if the people that are being followed are godly men and women, still all
the credit should go to God, for we have nothing that we did not receive from
God, and all we are doing is just doing our assigned part. It is God who makes
it work.
Our Solid Foundation
(vv. 10-15)
According
to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation,
and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon
it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for
the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire
will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has
built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is
burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as
through fire.
Ok, this is fundamental here. Although all believers in
Jesus Christ are in process, and our salvation will not be complete until Jesus
Christ returns, we must begin with the correct foundation or we are not in
Christ at all. If we want to have the hope of eternal life with God, then we
have to build on the correct foundation. That foundation is Jesus Christ, but
not just his name, or not just some obscure “belief” in the person of Christ. If
we are to build on Christ as our foundation, then we build our lives on the
basis of all that he did and stood for and is, i.e. his divine character and
will for humankind.
For example, Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24). He died that we might no longer live for
ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (2 Co. 5:15). His grace is
not a free license to continue in sin without guilt and without remorse, but
his grace, which brings salvation, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we
wait for Christ’s return (Tit. 2:11-14). Jesus said that if anyone would come
after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and
self), and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on to our old lives (of living
for sin and self), we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives
(die with Christ to sin), we will gain eternal life (Lu. 9:23-25). Jesus’ apostles
taught the same message of death to sin and living to righteousness.
So, if our basis (foundation) for our Christian faith is that
God requires nothing of us – no repentance, no obedience and no submission to
him as Lord – then that is the wrong foundation. It is built on sinking sand,
and it will not stand the test of time. We are not saved (past), then live our
lives however we want, and then go to heaven when we die. Jesus is going to
tell many people he never knew them, but who professed his name and who did
things “for” him.
There is a difference, evidently, between those who have the
correct foundation but who build little of value on that foundation and those
who do not begin with the right foundation at all. If I were you, I would make
certain I have the correct foundation, but also I would make sure that I am
building on that foundation with what has eternal value. I would not bank on making
it to heaven based on a notion that I can “believe” but then do nothing.
Abide in Him / An
Original Work / July 31, 2013
Based off Ps. 27:14; Is. 40:31; Jn. 14-15
If you wait for the Lord,
Put your hope now in Him,
He will give you His strength
And endurance within.
He will renew your strength,
So you will not lose heart.
You will soar on wings like eagles,
Never depart.
“If you abide in Me,
And My words live in you,
You will walk with Me daily
And follow what’s true.
I will live now in you;
Give you peace now within,
If you obey My teachings
And turn from your sin.”
“If you listen to Me,
And do all that I say,
I will give you My comfort;
Be with you always.
I will heal all your pain;
Life with Me now you’ll gain,
If in fellowship with Me
You always remain.”
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