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Tag: pride

To have and to hold Christian Love
Dearly beloved, Paul writes earlier – a greeting of agape love NOT inappropriate for a marriage, but the Apostle’s intent in this section addresses spiritual gifts and love of the CHURCH specifically.

we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV

ἔχω – echō
- to have, i.e. to hold
- to have i.e. own, possess
So think of it this way:

WE (referring to the Church) hold the mind of Christ. And WE possess the mind of Christ as HIS body, the Church.
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AND, of course, don't miss this application to our vows of Christian marriage as well, (not to mention our relationship to a dearly beloved local church family). 
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Do our marriage vows model a Common Era witness of christianity to an uncommitted world? 
 
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to HAVE and to HOLD

used of those joined to any one by the bonds of natural blood or marriage or friendship or duty or law etc., of attendance or companionship

Strong’s G2192 – echō

Dearly beloved,

Do you take this bond of your church (etc.) to:

have and to hold?

OR do WE just want to try out relationships of LOVE and church es — NOT having or holding any commitment to Christ Jesus and His body the Church?

But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have^G2192 his own wife, and each woman is to have^G2192 her own husband.

Paul has already pointed the Corinthians to a higher standard.

Abide in Marriage, Singleness and Christ – 1 Corinthians 7

Yet HERE the Apostle continues to apply this love to the body of the CHURCH.

So what is this agape LOVE?

The Lord Jesus had warned those who would follow:

And because iniquity shall abound, the love G26 of many shall wax cold.

Matthew 24:12 KJV

The Apostle had opened this section by listing what agape LOVE is NOT.

Love’s clear contrasts in the love of believers
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Paul now proceeds to list a few of the insufficient adjectives which describe the love of God in Christ Jesus - both what LOVE is and what agape LOVE is NOT. 
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Love Charity
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◄ 1 Corinthians 13:4 ►
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- is patient
  - long-spirited
  - forbearing
  - suffereth long
  - is long-suffering,
- is kind
  - gentle
  - gracious
  - benevolent
  - desires to do good to others
- does not envy
  - zeloi or jealousy
  - burn with zeal
  - 1 Cor 3:3
- does not boast
  - brag
  - vaunt itself
  - employ rhetorical embellishments in extolling one’s self excessively
- is not proud.
  - puffed up
  - inflated with self-importance.
  - arrogant
  - 1 Corinthians 5:2
◄ 1 Corinthians 13:5 ►
- Doth not behave itself unseemly
  - behave rudely
  - act unbecomingly
  - dishonor others
  - is not disrespectful
  - or inconsiderate.
- It is not self-seeking
  - seeketh not her own
  - himself, herself, itself, themselves
- is not easily provoked
  - irritable
  - resentful
  - angered
  - gets annoyed
  - aroused to anger
- thinketh no evil
  - does not keep an account of a wrong suffered
  - no record of being wronged
  - love that forgives and forgets
◄ 1 Corinthians 13:6 ►

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,

but rejoices with the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV
- ἀδικία – wrongdoing
  - injustice, of a judge
  - unrighteousness of heart and life
  - a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness
The Greek word for “truth” is “aletheia,” which signifies not only factual accuracy but also sincerity and integrity.

In the biblical narrative, truth is often associated with God’s character and His revelation to humanity.

John 14:6

source: BibleHub Study Bible

Agape rejoices with the truth;

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:7 BSB
- It always protects,
  - always trusts,
  - always hopes,
  - always perseveres.
- Love never gives up,
  - never loses faith,
  - is always hopeful,
  - and endures through every circumstance.
ἀγάπη agapē never fails,

1 Corinthians 13:8a
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And again, the Apostle's list and concern is for spiritual gifts.
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If I.. How NOT to worship

BUT..
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Paul continues, 
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- As for prophecies,
  
  they will pass away;
- as for tongues,
  
  they will cease;
- as for knowledge,
  
  it will pass away.
- 9 For we know in part
- and we prophesy in part,
- 10 but when the perfect comes,
  
  the partial will pass away.
1 Corinthians 13:8b-10 ESV
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And let's not forget, the Apostle's instruction to the Corinthians is to contrast these to our agape love in Christ as His body the Church. 

Now Paul, their teacher for a year and a half concludes his settling of their differences by essentially telling the Corinthian saints to:
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Grow up!

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;

but

when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV

Have YOU, dearly beloved, 21st century saint?

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part,

but then I shall know just as I also am known.

1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV

Take a look in the mirror

TalkofJesus.com post [2 min.] from September 11, 2013

and now abide
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νυνὶ δὲ μένει
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menō – not to depart
- to continue to be present
- to be held, kept, continually
to remain as one, not to become another or different
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These are just a few of the meanings when the Apostle pleas with his beloved church to have and to hold Christ -- the love of God for saints chosen to abide in the love of the Lord. 
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What Paul writes here sounds like a benediction — a closing thought. But is not since the Apostle has more to say about spiritual gifts.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love [ἀγάπη agapē].

1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
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NEXT: (with an interruption for Lent 2025 CE) in chapter 14 the Apostle Paul will conclude this section of his epistle on order in worship and spiritual gifts.
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Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
March 4, 2025
Spiritual Pride Immorality Judged 1 Corinthians 5
Does Spiritual Pride prevent christians who come to church on Sunday from offering more than a cup of coffee (very light with lots of froth) to Corinthians (or Cincinnatians) seeking the Lord Jesus?

Previously in this first letter to his beloved believers in Corinth the Apostle has suggested:

For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT
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True evangelism of Christ through all Scripture becomes a personal challenge to us.
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Pride in Preaching!

WE love our church — don’t we?

Our Pastor is more passionate about US than other preachers of competing gatherings on Sunday. (Or so WE tell some in evangelizing a consumer-friendly gospel of our loving Jesus.)

The Apostle has challenged such thinking among divided christians within the Corinthian church — some who doubt his distant authority in the Lord.

Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

1 Corinthians 4:21b – NIV

NOW the Apostle REBUKES (judges) a specific evil known publically in the community of worshipers in Corinth.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you..
1 Corinthians 5:1a
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As is often the case, it's not necessarily the preacher who is the problem (Paul, Apollos or Peter).

The offenders are generally overlooked witness of fellow christians (with whom you sip coffee and break bread), men and women identified with YOUR CHURCH gathering with their continuing sin evident to all. 

THE LIFE THIS Corinthian christian leads, Paul suggests, is NOT so unlike the pagans WE hope to convert.
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“.. and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife.

It may be some other porneia [fornication] sexual sin, SOCIALLY ACCEPTED SINS generally known, perhaps prevalent in OUR church;

i.e. pre-marital sex, unmarried mothers, absent fathers, abortions, extra-marital affairs, divorces…

In Corinth (or Cincinnati, Chongqing or Chicago) our pride flaunts evidence of OUR indiscretions.

Yet sexual sin unconfronted as grace condones a witness of christian culture where unrepentance persists.
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Our Common Era flood of destruction flows from the sins of the church. 

The world sees christian sin witnessed as worship.
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The Apostle calls on leaders of the Church to judge and remove the offender of Christ.

5:2 “And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. – NKJV

“And you are proud! – NIV “

And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. – ESV
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PRIDE in PREACHING or IN THE PRAISE BAND or OUR CHOIR or OUR FESTIVALS; PRIDE in our COMMUNION or BAPTISM or LITURGY or CULTURAL INCLUSION or MISSIONS or PROGRAMS or SCHOOL or other 'church' identities WE CLAIM! 

ALL distract US from the humility of serving Christ Jesus as our Lord in OUR HOMETOWN "Church." 
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Such pride divided the Corinthian Church (as it continues to do in this Common Era).

Judgment between Christ and Satan

Several BIBLICAL HEADINGS added to 1 Corinthians 5 reflect the seriousness of the Apostle’s judgment.

Immorality Rebuked – KJV

Sin in the Church – NLV

Wickedness in the Church – International Children’s Bible

Deviant Behavior – New Catholic Bible

Immorality Defiles the Church – NKJV

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church- ESV

Throw Out the Evil Person! – NIRV

Paul Condemns Spiritual Pride – New Living Translation

Sexual Immorality Rebuked – NASB
- And also from the NKJV a Sub-HEADING to 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Immorality Must Be Judged

PAUL’S WRITTEN EPISTLE DOES NOT CONDEMN from afar, but informs.

Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man

1 Corinthians 5:3 NLT

The APOSTLE makes a personal connection to the church in Corinth and by the HOLY SPIRIT casts his authoritative judgment against a certain man who is part of their Corinthian church.

So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

the Apostle Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians 5:4-5 NIV

By the Authority of the Spirit the Apostle commands the leaders of this CHURCH to SHOW the Corinthian ‘christian‘ his choice between this SIN of the flesh and saving his spirit.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, .. with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 5:4-5 excerpt NKJV

Σατανᾶς – Satan

As we frequently fail to enlist the power of the Advocate (the Holy Spirit), so too we dismiss the danger and deception of the Adversary, that is: Satan.
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The Deceiver is an enemy of Christ and enemy of the Church.
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Σατανᾶς – Of Aramaic origin corresponding to Σατάν (G4566)

The KJV translates Strong’s G4567 in the following manner: Satan (36x).

adversary (one who opposes another in purpose or act), the name given to
the prince of evil spirits, the inveterate adversary of God and Christ
he incites apostasy from God and to sin
Σατανᾶς – Lexicon :: Strong’s G4567 – satanas
- What does Paul mean by ‘turning this sinner over to Satan for DESTRUCTION of his FLESH?
- And how can this sinner’s ‘spirit be saved in the day of the Lord’ by his church turning him over to Satan?
- As a matter of practice (church practice, if you like) HOW can he be saved?
the power of our Lord Jesus is present

Take Action, Church! Don’t overlook this.
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The issue is communion, purity of worship. 

Paul illustrates from the Hebrew Law of God concerning leaven and then applies it to worship of the saints in Corinth.
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6 Your boasting is not good.

Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?

7 Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are.
- Are you truly transformed in Christ?
- Do you count yourself in Christ as part of His body?
  - (Some may recognize this quote of scripture from the traditional church liturgy of Holy Communion.)
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

8Therefore let us keep the feast..

not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7b-8 BSB

Note the importance of the contrast Paul presents for communion of the saints of this new group of believers, the Corinthian Church (as they will be identified by the world).

When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit.. 1Cor5:4

Judging Outsiders

For what have I to do with judging outsiders?

1 Corinthians 5:12a LSB

PAUL rhetorically asks a MYOB question Christians hear frequently.

YET we know (and easily neglect) the Apostle’s point of his related question here FOR THE CHURCH.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people;

10 I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters,

for then you would have to go out of the world.

I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin,

or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.

Don’t even eat with such people.

1 Corinthians 5:11:20 New Living Translation

Do you not judge those who are inside?
1 Corinthians 5:12b – NKJV

Translations vary, but the Apostle’s pointed QUESTION for the Corinthians is no different than the Spirit commands of us:

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

1 Corinthians 5:12b – ESV

13 God will judge those outside.

“Expel the wicked man from among you.”

Seems so simple. Endure such dissentions or face a fellow saint in order to save their soul?

NEXT: Judging Problems Among Christians – 1 Corinthians 6

HEADING: International Children’s Bible
September 19, 2024