Let
me try to paint a picture in your mind of what the church at Corinth
was like at the time Paul wrote this letter. It was filled with angry,
jealous, proud, and sinful people. It had groups of people who sat together
in different parts of the church. And never would they sit with any
of the other groups. It would be like if the section you are sitting
in today, was reserved exclusively for those who are now sitting around
you, and you were not allowed to speak to those sitting in the other
3 sections.
Not only was there division, but there was also a man who wasn't trying
to hide the fact that he was living with his step-mother in a sexual
relationship. To make matters worse, the church did nothing to stop
this relationship. In fact, it appears that the church was even condoning
the relationship.
Now as bad as all that seems, there was also a large group of people
who no longer believed in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And they
were going around telling the rest of the church that since Jesus wasn't
raised from the dead, then there is no resurrection for us after we
die. Which meant that there was no sense in living pure, moral lives.
After all, why bother when there is no payoff for denying the pleasures
of the flesh?
You don't have to be a very smart person to come to the conclusion that
the church at Corinth had major problems. I doubt very seriously that
if this church had those kinds of problems, that not many of you would
stay here very long. And if other people heard that we had those kinds
of problems, I also doubt if we would have many visitors.
What was going on in the church at Corinth at this time, had to break
Paul's heart, for this was a church he had planted some 4 yrs. earlier.
Paul spent a year with this church, and he was very proud of her because
she was the most spiritually gifted church he had started. The Corinthian
church had more of the Spirit's power, and manifested more of the gifts
of the Spirit than any other church. But now, this church had become
the most carnal, sinful church in the world. The most elite church had
fallen to the rank of being the worst. So why should we study a letter
that was written to such a sorry church? The reason is because the things
that were going on, not only in the church, but also in the city of
Corinth, are the same things we are facing today.
Everywhere you turned you were confronted by violence, drunkenness,
and immoral sex. Divorce was the norm for marriage! Homosexuality was
on the rise! And materialism was the Number 1 god! You would have thought
that this was the perfect place for the church to be salt & light. But
sadly, the Corinthian church was not only in the world, but the world
was in the church.
So to prevent the world from invading not only this church, but also
our lives, we are going to study this letter that will teach us how
to life holy in an unholy world. As we look at the mess that was going
on in the church at Corinth, we will find hope knowing that even though
God's standards of right & wrong are being attacked by the philosophy
of political correctness, that this hostility provides a very fertile
soil to declare the good news about Jesus Christ. But in order to do
so, we have to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit has the power to transform
lives by the way we live our lives as we go throughout our daily routine.
This morning we are just going to look at the first part of Paul's introduction.
One thing I noticed about this introduction is that in it he gives us
subtle hints to what he going to be talking about in the rest of the
letter. So it is very important for us to look at how Paul starts off
this letter, rather than skipping over it because we don't think it
speaks to us. Look first at Verse 1, and underline the word apostle.
One of the biggest problems Paul faced within the Corinthian church
is that false teachers had crept in and were teaching that since Jesus
Christ wasn't raised from the dead, then it didn't matter how they lived
while they are on earth. They were teaching that God isn't concerned
with what we do with our physical bodies. Rather, the only thing God
is concerned with is the spiritual aspect of us.
Therefore, they could do whatever they wanted with their physical body.
The teaching was if you wanted to get drunk, go ahead. If you wanted
to indulge yourself sexual with the numerous prostitutes in the city,
go ahead. And in their attempt to get the people to buy into their lies,
the false teachers were challenging Paul's calling as an apostle. In
doing so, these false teachers were telling the people to ignore Paul's
teachings about living holy. Paul knew that any time you throw away
the rules of conduct you end up with a society that is in chaos, because
everyone will be doing what is right in their own eyes. And any time
you throw away the rules of conduct in a church, you end up with people
using grace as a license to sin. So right off the bat Paul reminds his
readers that he is an apostle.
Even though our English Bibles put the words "as an" in front of the
word "apostle," there is no definite article in any of the Greek texts.
When this occurs, it stresses that the person is a member of a special
class within a larger class. And since Paul is talking about apostles,
he is saying that he is not just an ordinary apostle, but a capital
"A" apostle. And as an apostle that is on the same level as the 11 apostles,
who had lived personally with Jesus, Paul had the divine authority to
establish the rules of conduct for the church of Jesus Christ.
A capital "A" apostle was considered to be a superstar in the early
church. If you were to meet one of these kinds of apostles, you would
be in awe of him. Like you would be if you met someone famous. Because
of the elevated status we give the elite, we have started to listen
to the opinions of today's superstars of movie, TV, and even the sports
world as they speak out on different issues of life. If you think about,
would any of us give a second thought to the rants & ravings of Barbara
Straisand if she wasn't a superstar? Yet her statement about leaving
the country if Bush was elected, was aired on all the newscasts. I don't
see CNN or Fox News coming to my door to ask me my opinion of Bush's
decision to go to war against Iraqi. But one statement, that one the
Dixie Chicks said about Bush, made national headlines.
Because we have people trying tell us out to run our lives, who haven't
earned or been given the authority to do so, many people no longer believe
that anyone has the authority to tell us how to live. And we take this
view even when it comes to the Bible. Since most people no longer believe
that what the Bible teaches has any relevance in their lives today,
they could care less about what Paul had to say.
What Paul is saying here is, "You'd better listen to me, because God
himself has given me the authority as an apostle to tell you how to
live!" Paul didn't just wake up one morning and decide to go around
telling us how to live. He was commissioned by God to do so. So, we'd
better wake up & listen to him.
Look next at Verse 2. In this verse, Paul makes some very interesting
statements about the Corinthian Christians, especially in light of how
they were living. First of all he says that they have been sanctified
in Christ Jesus. This label is probably not one that most of us would
consider putting on ourselves yet. That is because we equate sanctification
with never sinning. We believe that those who are sanctified wear long
white robes, have a halo above their heads, and sit around all day doing
nothing but praying or playing a harp. Sort of like how we picture ourselves
once we get to heaven.
Yet Paul tells us that being sanctified is not something that is going
to happen to us in the future, it is a condition that we are experiencing
right now. Underline the words, "have been." This means that right now,
each & everyone of us are sanctified.
Now I know what you're thinking. You're telling yourself, "Bob, you
just don't know what's going on in my life. For if you did, you wouldn't
say that!" What we have to keep in mind is that Paul is making this
statement about a group of people who are living the worst kind of Christian
lives in all of Christendom. If Paul can say they are sanctified, we
should have no problem believing that we are sanctified. Especially
since most of us aren't living as immorally as they were.
The word sanctified means to be set apart. It strongly stresses being
chosen. It comes from the Old Testament where certain items were chosen
from out of the rest of similar items, and set apart to be used exclusively
in the Temple. Since there is no morality in inanimate objects, it helps
us to see that being sanctified has nothing to do with how we live our
lives. The moment you trusted in Jesus' work on the cross, God took
you and set you apart from the rest of the people in the world to be
used exclusively for his purposes.
Almost 23 yrs. ago, Carol set me apart from all the other men in the
world to be her husband. I was the only one special enough for her to
want to spend the rest of her life with. When we stood before the justice
of the peace, he asked me if I would have Carol to be my wife. And I
said, "I do!" And when we turned around, and walked out of his office,
my life was radically changed. My identity changed because instantaneously
I went from being single, to being married. And from that moment on,
my life had to reflect that Carol had set me apart to be the only man
in her life, for the rest of her life. Which meant I could no longer
live like I was single. Instead, I have to choose daily to live like
I'm married.
The problem I have had in my marriage, is not that I go around trying
to impress other women, but I haven't been that diligent in impressing
Carol. When I forget how special I am to her, I have a tendency to take
her love for granted. And this is not good.
I know I'm not the only one guilty of this crime. How many of you men
no longer worry about what you wear around your wife? Is burping the
only noise that comes out of you after a good meal? When was the last
time you opened the car door for your wife? One of you told me the cutest
story of a time when your father opened the car door for your mother
one Sunday after church. It had been so long since he had done that,
that his wife went to the other side and got in the driver's seat.
Let me ask you women if when your husband walks in the door after a
hard day's work, will he find that you have spent hours fixing your
hair, putting on makeup, and choosing that right outfit to impress him?
Didn't you do those things in the early stages of your courtship? Do
you still laugh at his silly jokes? Do you still pretend to love to
watch football, basketball, baseball, & even NASCAR?
The way we treat each other would be radically different if we could
just remember how special we are to that person. For they chose you
from out of the rest of the people in the world to be their spouse.
The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God. All of
us need to live in light of the fact that the moment we were born again,
God made us special because he chose us, he set us aside from the rest
of the people in the world to be his sons/daughters.
And this is a fact, not some sort of feeling. So you can't wake up tomorrow
and say that just because you don't feel special to God, that you're
not going to live a life that you know would please him. Instead, you
need to say to yourself that because I am set apart, because I am special
to God, I am going to choose to live exclusively for him. No longer
are we living to sin. Instead, we should live in such a way that God
is honored & glorified by our lives.
Paul understood the truth of Proverbs that says, "For as a man thinks
within himself, so he is" long before psychologists came up with what
is called a self-fulfilling prophecy. That occurs whenever a person
is told over and over again, something that he believes strongly enough
to make it come to pass. For instance, if you tell a child he/she is
stupid enough times, they won't even try to do well in school. If you
tell a child he/she is bad enough times, they will gravitate towards
those who do bad deeds.
So what Paul is trying to get us to do is to see ourselves as God sees
us. In God's eyes you & I are just as special to him as his son Jesus
is. And Paul wants us to continually tell ourselves this truth. Because
if we do it enough times, eventually we will believe it. And as you
believe you are special to God, you will have the desire to tap into
the Holy Spirit's power to live holy in your everyday life. I believe
that because Jesus knew how special he was to the Father was the reason
he only did what the Father showed him to do.
Notice also in Verse 2 that Paul tells the Christians at Corinth that
God has called them to be saints. I doubt in any of us will ever be
given the title of saint. I doubt if any of us will ever have a statue
made in our honor that people place on the dash of their car, or a medallion
they were around their neck. Or if any of you will ever have a day set
apart to honor your life, where men will spends lots of money buying
candy, cards, & flowers to give to their girlfriend/spouse.
But that doesn't mean that you are not a saint. I say this because the
word "saint" in the Greek is a noun that is used as an adjective. Which
means you would use it to describe someone. Therefore, the proper interpretation
of this word is saintly ones.
A saint, from God's perspective, is not a Christian superstar. It is
not a person who has achieved an exceptional level of holiness. Nor
is it a person whose life is characterized by exceptional acts of service
for God. I want to remind you again that the church of Corinth was not
full of Mother Teresa's. It was full of people who were struggling with
sin, just like you & I do.
The reason Paul could calls them saints is because sainthood is how
God chooses to see us, and it has nothing to do with what we do for
him, or his kingdom. In other words, as God looks at each of us from
heaven, he sees us as through the filter of who we are in Jesus. So
he doesn't see as a sinners. Instead he sees us clothed in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ!! Therefore, in God's mind, we are saints!
You are a saint, not because of what you did, or will do in the future,
but simply because God loves you. There is something inside of us that
finds this so hard to believe. We tend to base God's love on the way
the world bases its love for people. But God doesn't love you because
of the way you look. He doesn't love you for how smart you are. He didn't
look down the corridor of time and see what you became, and said, "Wow!
Look what he/she did. I've got to have him/her in my family!" If you
were to ask God why he loves you. The only answer you will get is, "Because
I wanted to."
This is powerful because most of have never experienced unconditional
love. Most of our parents showed us love & acceptance only when we behaved
ourselves, or when we made good grades in school, or when we excelled
in sports. And because of that we think we have to perform in certain
ways to get God to love us. Yet, as Paul tells us here, despite what
we do, God loves us so much that he calls us saints.
As Paul thought about what all that going on in the lives of the members
of the church at Corinth, he wanted to remind them that God still has
his arms wrapped tightly around them like a father does his child when
he wants to show them his love. In doing so, Paul is hoping that they,
and we, will respond to God's grace by living as saints. God wants us
to move beyond where we merely see ourselves as sinners saved by grace.
He wants us to see ourselves as people who were once sinners, but because
of his grace, are now saints. This is the only way we will ever live
holy lives.
Finally, look at Verse 3. In those days, the Greeks greeted each other
with a word which meant, "health to you." And the Hebrews greeted each
other with a word which meant, "peace to you." Both of them contained
the idea of a temporal comfort that comes from the absence of sickness/the
absence of strife in one's life. Paul wanted us to experience something
that has nothing to do with how we feel physically/emotionally. So he
changed the Greek word slightly to the word grace. Then he put the 2
wishes together to come up with the most powerful qualities of God we
can experience: His grace & His peace.
Grace has to do with the redeeming love of God towards all mankind,
regardless of their sinful condition, or of all their good works, or
whether or not they can pay him back for the gift of salvation. Grace
is all about "God so loving the world that He gave His only Son, in
order that whoever called upon Him will be saved and have everlasting
life!"
Notice that Paul coupled grace with peace from God. Ever since 911 it
is not only politically correct, but fashionable to say, "God bless
America." In reality, when people say that, what they are asking is
for God to protect them, and give them an inner peace of security. Yet
despite what the world thinks, apart from knowing God through his grace
that is found in the redeeming love of Jesus Christ, there will not
only be no world peace, but also no inner peace. The only way anyone
can ever experience peace is when they have been reconciled to God through
his grace that is found in his son, Jesus Christ. I love the bumper
sticker that says, "Know God, Know Peace! No God, No Peace!"
Which brings me to my conclusion. Notice in Verse 2 that Paul talks
about calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The concept of
calling upon the name of Lord comes from the OT. Whenever the OT saints
got into trouble, or whenever they felt all alone, or whenever the temptations
of the world were too great, they called upon the name of the Lord to
save them.
What Paul is wanting us to see is that the Lord of the Old Testament
is the Word that became flesh. He wants us to see that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the same Lord of the Old Testament. And as such, Jesus has
the ability to rescue us from any & all dangers.
If you are here this morning, and you need help getting out of trouble,
or you feel all alone, or if the temptations of life are getting to
strong for you to resist, I want you to silently cry out, "Lord Jesus
Christ, save me!"
Perhaps you are here this morning, and the main problem you have in
life is that you've never called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
to deliver you from the power of your sins, and rescue you from its
penalty. Please notice that I called Jesus Christ the Lord. This means
that if you want to be saved from your sins, then you must be willing
to put yourself under his authority.
Jesus is not like some foxhole you jump into for protection. He is God
made flesh, who came to this world to die to pay the penalty for your
sins. God raised Jesus from the dead to show you that Jesus is the only
way you can be saved. But you can't be saved unless you are willing
to let Jesus be the lord of your life. If you want to be taken out of
the mess your sins have put you in, and you are willing to make Jesus
the lord of you life I want you to silently cry out, "Lord Jesus Christ,
save me from my sins! Come into my heart as my Lord!" If you did that,
then right now God has set you apart. He has made you a brand new creature.
And you are special to him.
My closing challenge to all us is to live in light of the fact that
we are special to God, by living holy in our unholy world!
Let's pray!!
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