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Tag: Proverbs

A popular saying, regarded as conveying wisdom. Scripture records a great number of didactic proverbs and also preserves some popular sayings.

Proverbs – Biblehub.com Proverbs topical index

I have finished my course – the Apostle Paul
The Apostle now closes his final letter to Timothy noting that his course redirected by Christ on a road to Damascus so many years before — his marathon race of missions into all the world — indeed even the end of the Apostle’s mortal life is at hand.

δρόμος – I am spent
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in the N. T. σπένδεσθαι, to be offered as a libation, is figuratively used of one whose blood is poured out in a violent death for the cause of God
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Paul, with Timothy about five years earlier, had written to the church in Philippi:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to boast because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

But even if I am being poured G4689 out G4689 as G4689 a G4689 drink G4689 offering G4689 upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.

And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

Epistle of Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi 2:14-18 LSB

The Apostle had then sent Timothy and Epaphroditus to the church at Philippi.

~ A.D. 66

And now Paul again writes to Timothy:

ἐγὼ γὰρ ἤδη σπένδομαι καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἀναλύσεώς μου ἐφέστηκεν

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

2 Timothy 4:6 – Greek NT, LSB:

Although Paul was formerly housed in Rome for some time as a citizen having appealed to Caesar, the Apostle is now imprisoned with many others awaiting the whim of a merciless new Caesar Nero.

I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy 4:7 NKJV

I have fought the good fight

ἀγωνίζομαι – agōnizomai –
- to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary), or genitive case (to endeavor to accomplish something):—fight, labor fervently, strive.
That would be the Apostle Paul alright. Every saint of the church recognized his example which the Apostle expected them to follow, as they would Christ, who said:

“Strive G75 to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Gospel of Luke (the physician who traveled with Paul who had written his Gospel while accompanying the Apostle) 13:24 LSB

Paul had written to the saints in Corinth [~A.D. 55] some ten years ago:

Now everyone who competes G75 in G75 the G75 games G75 exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 LSB

I have finished the course

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Acts of the Apostles 20:24 NIV – Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

Paul, since his conversion by Christ on the road to Damascus is, if nothing else, consistent in his persistence for the Gospel, even though the Apostle’s mortal life seems always in peril.

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course..
2 Timothy 4:7a KJV

τελέω – teleō – finish
- to bring to a close, to finish, to end
  - to do just as commanded, and generally involving the notion of time, to perform the last act which completes a process, to accomplish, fulfill
Luke recounts what Jesus had told the Twelve prior to His crucifixion:

“I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished [or accomplished – teleō]!

Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division.

Gospel of Luke 12:49-51 CSB

And in his second account Paul’s physician reports of Christ’s crucifixion, where the Lord Himself spoke, “It is finished,”

When they had carried out [teleō] all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and he appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

Acts of the Apostles 13:29-31 CSB – from Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia

I have kept the faith

What does that mean to you?

Do you have the Apostolic faith of Paul.. or Timothy?

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure,

I am clean from my sin”?

Proverbs 20:9 LSB

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love;

just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love [agapē].

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you,

and that your joy may be G4137 complete G4137.

John 15:10 -11 LSB – JESUS

And PAUL personally addressed Timothy earlier in this second letter:

… I unceasingly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, having remembered your tears, so that I may be filled [plēroō ] with joy, receiving remembrance of the unhypocritical faith within you.

Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy 1:3b-5a LSB

At last the champion’s wreath

Paul finishes his final epistle:

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day,

and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8 NKJV

NEXT: Paul’s last personal pleas

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
February 28, 2026
2 Peter 2: Pernicious Preachers of a False Gospel
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you..

2 Peter 2:1a – King James Version

Accepting Apostolic Testimony OR Following False Prophets

After presenting his Apostolic testimony to wavering preachers, elders, and marginal followers of “The Way,” Simon Peter now alerts the church to dangerous heresies taught by some seeking to undermine the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word, reads the heading in this section of 2 Peter 1 of the Christian Standard Bible, also citing testimony from all the synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark & Luke].

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed..

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:17-21 excerpt KJV

The Apostle now warns of pernicious perils of false prophets and false teaching of those who deny Apostolic testimony.

2 Peter 2:

There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.
2 Peter 2:1a – Christian Standard Bible

Peter, Apostle of Jesus, provides familiar examples from the Jewish Bible (Old Testament):
- and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah v.5a
- and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes v.6a
- and if he rescued righteous Lot, v.7a
Compare yourself to Noah. Or compare yourself to Lot, Paul suggests, a righteous man living in Sodom surrounded by every wickedness conceived by evil men in charge of his community.

Are Sodom and Gomorrah not the cities of our home churches to whom Simon Peter writes once again?

And doesn’t our world reminiscingly resemble that near to destruction in the time of Noah?

Take heed that we have survived thus far only be saved from the final judgment of fire by Christ’s righteousness!

How do the Apostle’s examples from Genesis apply to us?

The believers to whom Peter writes live in Asian and Roman and new worldly cities not unlike Sodom — as do we in our towns and churches susceptible to every evil tolerated and encouraged by leaders of every gathering in our home community.

Destructive Doctrines
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HEADING from the New King James Version 
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WATCH OUT! warns the Apostle in his second epistle.

.. even as there will be false teachers among you, – v.1b – NKJV

You know these preachers and elders who CLAIM JESUS.

Some saints succumb to their subtle sweet tolerance. For their deceptive doctrine suggests Christ while discounting His lordship over our saved SELF’s still flourishing in the flesh of this life.

Pernicious Preachers of Their Own Doctrines

ψευδοδιδάσκαλος – pseudodidáskalos, psyoo-dod-id-as’-kal-os; from G5571 and G1320; a spurious teacher, i.e. propagator of erroneous Christian doctrine:—false teacher.

Lexicon :: Strong’s G5572 – pseudodidaskalos
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No, it isn't only the preacher in the pulpit who purveys false doctrine, though some succumb at times as the Apostle fears. 
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They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

– 2:1c CSB

.. who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.

2 Peter 2:1c King James Version

And many shall follow their pernicious ways
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Time to define a key word Paul uses FIVE TIMES in his Second Epistle (translated in 2 Peter 2:2 KJV as "pernicious ways").  
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ἀπώλεια – apōleia –

The KJV translates Strong ‘s G684 in the following manner: perdition (8x), destruction (5x), waste (2x), damnable (1x), to die (with G1519) (1x), perish (with G1498) (with G1519) (1x), pernicious (1x).

The Apostle Peter chooses STRONG language to describe these sins against the Lord.

And in fact, Jesus had spoken the same to describe Judas Iscariot!

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;^G684 that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Gospel of John 17:12 KJV – the words of Jesus
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What must Peter — one of the Twelve — have thought when Judas took the cup the Lord shared at their last Passover meal? 
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The Lure of their Depravity

Common Era preachers may draw in the multitudes to gatherings of those seeking an advantage in the life of proclaiming Jesus.

(Judas, who minded their money, was like that.)

Peter continues in his second epistle warning the faithful:

And in their greed they will exploit you with false words, their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

2 Peter 2:3 LSB

The Apostle describes how to spot false teachers scemingly opposed to all Truth:
- Bold, arrogant people!
- They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones [2:10b LSB]
- go after the flesh in its corrupt lust
- and despise authority.
  - (even that of the Lord’s Apostles, Peter implies)
- Daring,
- self-willed,
- they do not tremble when they blaspheme [angels] glorious ones 2:10 LSB
  - (We’ll continue Peter’s mention of angels momentarily.)
They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting.

With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.

2 Peter 2:18 LSB

The APOSTLE’S WARNING!

These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who are actually escaping from those who live in error.

2 Peter 17-18 CSB

Peter has already presented his powerful case of his authority as an Apostle of Jesus Christ — who IS the only Son of GOD the Father and One with the Holy Spirit.

Won’t you obey an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ?

“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased,”

2 Peter 1:17 ESV

OR

Will you subtly slide back into the vomit of your former overindulgence in every sin of this world?

What the true proverb says has happened to them:

“The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

2 Peter 2:22 ESV

Like a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly.

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:11,12 ESV

GOD, Angels, Men, Apostles, creatures & authority
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FOLLOW PETER'S LOGIC: 
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- In the beginning, God [ĕlōhîm] created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1
- The apostle of Jesus Christ.. stands [in] the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: – 2 Peter 1:1
- Jesus is associated with righteousness, highlighting His sinless nature and the moral perfection that He imparts to believers.
  - sou r ce:
- 2 Peter 2:1 The term “Master” is used in the context of false teachers denying “the Master who bought them.” It underscores Jesus’ ownership and authority over believers, as well as the cost of redemption.
  - ibid.
  - Peter introduces himself as a servant [doulos] of Jesus
    
    2 Peter 1:1
  - and in his first epistle the Apostle instructs those chosen in Christ:
Servants [oiketēs, a domestic], be subject to your masters [despotēs – also translated as Lord or used for husband] with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

1 Peter 2:18 ESV

The Apostle Peter, as servant of the Lord and witness to God in the flesh embraces great responsibility for the faith of those chosen as elect saints in Jesus Christ.

Creation, its creatures and Angels

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

… The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2 Peter 2:4,9 KJV

The Apostle connects evil men affecting the righteous like Noah and Lot within a lengthy tirade citing angels that sinned. Though we know little of the unseen messengers (evil or good), Peter reminds us of a comparison of Jesus to Adam, who was tempted into our fall by a most-powerful angel.
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Once again: 
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FOLLOW PETER’S LOGIC:
- God did not spare angels when they sinned – v.4
  - .. and his angels he charged with folly: – Job 4:18b KJV
- .. but cast them into hell..
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“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer,[lit. Day Star] son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations! 

For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
.. 
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit. 
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Isaiah 14:12-13a,14 NKJV
- and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment…
- [2 Peter 2:4b NASB]
These cunning false teachers speaking against Apostolic Authority — granted through the same Holy Spirit of God by which the Prophets spoke — do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties [Doxa] – ‘they blaspheme the glorious ones’ – v.10

FALSE TEACHERS, who are no better than evil men who refused to listen to GOD’s Prophets speaking by the Holy Spirit and less powerful than angels, will also suffer the judgment of angels who turned against the Creator.

.. whereas angels, though greater in might and power,

do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

2 Peter 11 ESV

Balaam, False Prophets and Pernicious Popes!

YES, we are still addressing the warning of the Apostle Peter in his second epistle to the 1st century church.
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If you have noted in 2 Peter 2 that I quoted Scripture including men the Apostle lists as negative examples, but I missed a false prophet mentioned only once, you would be right. 
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Peter’s full list (chronologically) includes:
- Angels – vs.4 & 11
- mankind, except Noah – v.5
- community of mankind in Sodom and Gomorrah, except Lot – v.6
- the Prophet Balaam – vs. 15-16
ALL these are WARNING SIGNS from the LAW of Moses — cited by the Apostle Peter, servant of God and JESUS Christ, sent by true direction of the Holy Spirit — to BELIEVERS in the first century churches AND those including a Lot from Common Era elect yet to be born into the body of Christ before the Day of Judgment.

I have nearly bogged down in the mire of Moses’ serious warning in the book of Numbers concerning Balaam.

Moses, Prophet and Lawgiver of Israel, sheds light enough on such men and women who cunningly lead communities of the faithful away from the Lord our God — from then nearer the Beginning until the Day of Jesus Christ.

What Popes, you may ask?

Which false prophets since Jesus, you may wonder?

AND what do these have to do with the Apostle’s example of Balaam in 2 Peter 2?

NEXT – We will examine the timeless application of Balaam to Peter’s prophesies of false teachers and HERESIES already evident to the Common Era church.

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
November 25, 2025
Rebuke of ministers that perish without the Cross
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1 Corinthians 1:11 KJV
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Contentions (from the KJV) 

Sounds rather serious doesn't it?
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1 Corinthians 1 – Contentions between Christians

In our previous look at Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we looked at the REPORT from Chloe’s household and the Apostle’s brief summary.

NO Divisions in our Church ?

ἔρις – ἔρις, er’-is; of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, i.e. (by implication) wrangling:—contention, debate, strife, variance.

What will Paul do about such serious contentions over ministers and teaching in distant Corinth?

Before we proceed with Paul’s Apostolic approach, let’s briefly clarify terms of WHO ARE WE talking about.

ὑπηρέτης – hypēretēs – Ministers of Christ

Who is Paul addressing?

Certain Corinthian church members must have wondered, “Is HE writing to ME?”
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Later in his Epistle the Apostle appeals:
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Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers^G5257 of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Corinthians 4:1 KJV

SOME of us resist the role to which God calls us in Christ.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

A minister [ὑπηρέτης] from this context and application is a SERVANT
1. an underrower, subordinate rower
  - (Picture Paul and other prisoners later rowing a Roman ship toward Rome.)
2. any one who serves with hands: a servant
3. any one who aids another in any work
  - an assistant
  - of the preacher of the gospel
I might add that certain servants had the authority of Roman governors or military leaders to judge men under their jurisdiction and prescribe punishments.

The wisdom of the cross and Christian ministers – Rebuke
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Problem #1 - Paul reiterated the report of divisions over Christian ministers.

NOW the Apostle will REBUKE the Corinthian church divisions over Christian ministers.
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ἐπιτιμάω – Rebuke

LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,

And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
Psalm 38:1 NASB20

Better is open rebuke

Than love that is concealed.
Proverbs 27:5 NASB20

Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.
Gospel of Luke 17:1,3 NET
Ruins of the synagogue in Corinth

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
Paul’s Rebuke of the Church

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but to us who are saved, it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18 – Noah Webster’s 1833 Bible.

PREACHING
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The above 19th century English translation by Noah Webster of a 17th century King James Version, which also begins verse 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross...
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19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

WISDOM is a BIG THING to Greek thinking.

Pastor, Preacher or Minister?

Many prefer to think of ‘Preachers’ as ‘Pastors.’

A popular 20th century title for both was ‘MINISTER.‘

In fact, some English Bibles begin 1 Corinthians 1:18,

For the message of the cross..

OR more true to Paul’s A.D first century Greek,

For the word of the cross…

1:18 Ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῖς μὲν ἀπολλυμένοις μωρία ἐστίν τοῖς δὲ σῳζομένοις ἡμῖν δύναμις θεοῦ ἐστιν
λόγος logos https://www.blueletterbible.org/web/1co/1/1/t_conc_1063018

I can’t help but recalling the opening of John’s Gospel.
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The logos of Christ's Cross FOOLISHNESS? 
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The Apostle continues rhetorically asking WHO among you seeks some other WISDOM than Christ?
- Where is the wise?
- where is the scribe?
- where is the disputer of this world?
hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Paul’s answer:

For when in the wisdom [sophia] of God [theos] the world [kosmos] by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Corinthians 1:21 WEB

Signs and Sophia

Just as Paul’s WISDOM passages point to the Hellenists [GREEK-thinking] of the Empire, the Apostle’s earlier reference to the Scribes points specifically to the JEWS.

“This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of man be to this generation.
Gospel of Luke 29:11b-12

Paul points to BOTH, in that some JEWS and some GREEKS in the Corinthian church DO NOT believe.

For the Jews require a sign,

and the Greeks seek wisdom:

But to them who are called,
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Not ALL are called who gather in the Corinthian Church (or in yours).
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both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

That no flesh should glory in his presence.
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The Apostle Paul's REBUKE of Christian MINISTERS begins here. 
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Glory Only in the Lord

1 Corinthians 1:26- NKJV

For [consider] your calling, brethren, that
- not many wise according to the flesh,
- not many mighty,
- not many [well-born] noble,
are called.
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What think you, 21st century common era evangelical, of Paul's humbling rebuke?
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27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the [insignificant or lowly] base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen,

and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

NEXT: Further rebuke of CHRISTIAN MINISTERS.
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Paul will continue his rebuke of the wayward throughout his first epistle to the Corinthians up to Cor. 4:5.
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Headings from the NKJV
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- Christ Crucified
- Spiritual Wisdom
- Sectarianism Is Carnal
- Watering, Working, Warning
- Avoid Worldly Wisdom
- Stewards of the Mysteries of God
Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
June 19, 2024