Monday, December 26, 2016, 7:14 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Amazing Grace.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read 1 Corinthians 3:1-15
(NASB).
Infants in Christ (vv. 1-4)
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to
spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk
to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even
now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is
jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking
like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of
Apollos,” are you not mere men?
When we first believe in
Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, depending upon our physical
age or our background, we may know little of God’s word, or of Jesus Christ, or
of what it means to be a Christian. So, we need to daily be in the Word of God,
reading and studying it, and praying for understanding of just the basics of
our salvation. As well, our Lord has provided believers in Jesus with the gift
of teaching within the church to teach us those elementary truths of what it
means to be a Christian, and concerning how we are to walk in Christ’s holiness
and righteousness.
But, as we progress in our
walks of faith with Christ, and we grow in him through times spent with him
each day in his word, in prayer, and in obedience; in fellowshipping with the
body of Christ (the church), and in learning more of Jesus and his word, taught
to us within the church, we should soon move on past the elementary truths of
our salvation to maturity in Christ, and on to deeper spiritual truths. Yet,
not everyone does. Some people remain spiritual infants after many years of
knowing Jesus as Savior of their lives, though I suspect that some (or many) of
them may be Christians by profession only, who have never been born again
(transformed) of the Spirit of God.
So, what distinguished these
particular believers as still fleshly (or worldly) was that they were making
idols of human beings, and they were even fighting and arguing with each other
over what man should be followed, or over who they thought was better. And,
this still goes on today, for one says “I am Baptist,” and another says, “I am
Presbyterian,” or “I am Methodist.” So, not much has changed. And, some of them
argue and fight (down and dirty) with one another over whose doctrine is
superior to the other.
Now, we should stand for what
we believe is right, and we should correct doctrinal error, if we believe error
has taken place, and if it involves doctrines essential to our salvation and our
eternal security, but we should not fight and attack one another. Never! We
should, instead, present the Word of truth plainly, and trust the Holy Spirit
to speak to human hearts. And, we should be willing, when presented with
something in conflict with what we were always taught, to search the Word of
God, to make certain we are not the ones in error, instead of holding fiercely
to our Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian (etc.) doctrines, because we could be
wrong. I know I was taught some things wrong, and God has had to correct me, at
times.
One Body, Many Parts (vv. 5-9)
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants
through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I
planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the
one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the
growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his
own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are
God’s field, God’s building.
The church is worldly when it
raises one man (or woman) above another, as though some gifts of the Spirit are
to be given recognition above others; or when it demeans other gifts of the
Spirit and those servants who exercise those gifts; or when it follows human
personalities over following God and the witness of the Spirit within them. We
are all one body. We just have different parts (roles, assignments). We are not
to treat one as less than others just because we have different gifts from
them, and we are not to regard ourselves in that way, either. As well, we are
not to say to one part of the body, “I have no need of you,” though many
churches are doing this today, as they are being taught to do in their training
classes, so as to weed out those they don’t want in favor of those they think
will be an asset to their “church” (business of human making, and marketed as
such).
We need to see one another as
essential to the body of Christ and to the growth of his church. We need to
stop thinking with human reasoning and think like God thinks, i.e. have his
eternal perspective about his church and ministry, instead of buying into human
marketing schemes for how to build the church. The church has been turned into businesses
of human making, which definitely idolize personalities and particular gifts
(or talents). We have to view all of this through God’s eyes, though, which
says that all of us who serve the Lord are just servants, but it is God who
causes the growth. We can only boast in the Lord and in what he does through
us, and not in ourselves, for all we have and are comes from him, and not from
us.
How We Build
(vv. 10-15)
According to the grace of God which was given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it.
But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a
foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any
man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it
is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each
man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive
a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.
First of all, we need to make
certain we have the right foundation before we begin building. If the
foundation is wrong, the building will not survive at all, but will come
crashing down. For instance, if our foundation is a half-truth gospel or a
watered-down version of the true gospel, then that is a faulty (or false)
foundation, and we won’t be saved at all, no matter how we build. So, how do we
know if we have the correct foundation? We have to read the Bible, preferably
the New Testament, for that is where much of the foundation is laid, though the
prophets of old also laid some of this foundation. And, we have to read the
scriptures in context, and not pull scriptures out of context to make them say
what we want to hear.
So, what is the correct
foundation? Jesus Christ, God incarnate, though sinless, became sin for us when
he died on a cross in order that we might become the righteousness of God. He
died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might
no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He died,
too, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who
walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, for if we live
according to our sinful flesh, we will die (in our sins), but if by the Spirit
we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live (with Christ for
eternity). If we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk in darkness, we
are liars, and the truth is not in us. 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 to sin and self), we will gain eternal life (See: 2 Co. 5:15, 21; 1
Pet. 2:24; Ro. 8:1-14; Lu. 9:23-25; 1 Jn. 1:6).
When we truly believe in
Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are crucified with Christ
(of the Spirit) in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness
of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” “Our old self
was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin
might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he
who has died is freed from sin.” “For when you were slaves of sin,
you were free in regard to righteousness.” “But now having been freed from sin
and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and
the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6:1-23.)
Jesus did not die just so we
could be forgiven our sin, freed from punishment in hell, and have the hope of
heaven when we die, with no requirements for godly living while we await his
return. 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 his return (Tit. 2:11-14). Jesus said that his
sheep listen to him, he knows them, and they follow (obey) him, and they are
the ones which can’t be snatched out of his and the Father’s hands (Jn. 10:27-30).
Paul was sent to open blinded eyes, “so that they may turn from darkness to
light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of
sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in” Jesus (Acts 26:16-18).
God’s amazing grace did not
merely rescue me from hell, and give me the hope of heaven when I die. His
AMAZING GRACE freed me from the control of sin and Satan over my life, and
freed me to live to Christ and to his righteousness – all in the power and
working of God’s Holy Spirit now living within me. My eternal life with God
does not begin when I die. It began the day I met Jesus, and he cleansed me of
my sins, and he gave me new life in him to be lived for him – holy and pleasing
to him, which is my reasonable and acceptable worship of him (Ro. 12:1-2).
Amen!
Amazing Grace
/ John Newton
Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas Grace that taught my heart to
fear,
And Grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come.
'Tis Grace hath brought me safe thus
far
And Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His Word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
And when this flesh and heart shall
fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess within the veil
A life of joy and peace.
When we've been there ten thousand
years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we'd first begun.
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