Tag: romans

  • 1 Corinthians 3 Meat for Ministers

    1 Corinthians 3 Meat for Ministers

    and Milk for New Babes


    In his letter to the Corinthians the Apostle typically begins with encouragement.

    I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 1:4-5 CSB

    And Paul will, as is his custom, close this epistle written in Greek with the same personalness of the Lord Jesus.

    The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

    I Corinthians 16:23-24 CSB

    However HERE in the meat of his message Paul addresses the Corinthian church most pointedly, especially its ministers and leaders.

    AND the Apostle also will close with a CURSE of those who would divide Christ by their own means.

    blessing of curse you can choose

    If anyone does not love the Lord [does not obey and respect and believe in Jesus Christ and His message], he is to be accursed. Maranatha (O our Lord, come)!

    1 Corinthians 16:22 AMP

    1 Corinthians 3:

    Lest we take a more common casual contemporary approach let us begin with the King James Version.

    And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

    I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

    1 Corinthians 3:1-2 KJV

    for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

    1 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV

    There it is: the Apostle's initial summary of the problem reported to him of the Corinthian church. 

    NOTE a few of the HEADINGS various Bibles use for their serious doctrinal issues:
    • The Church and Its Leaders
    • Divisions in the Church
    • Sectarianism Is Carnal
    • Jesus Christ, Our Foundation
    • But I cannot yet call you spiritual

    Are you Spiritual? OR Carnal?

    Christian, (brother, as Paul addresses the Corinthian readers, who would also read the Apostle’s letter to the whole church, including women) — Dear MINISTER to your Corinthian community — HAVE YOU RECEIVED CHRIST?

    or DO you just lift up the preaching of one minister over the teaching of another?

    For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?


    HEAR in your heart Paul's CONTRAST of those gathered together as the Corinthian church.

    πνευματικός – pneumatikos

    Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit

    1 Corinthians 3:1a NIV

    AND the Apostle has already brought our consequent condition IN CHRIST to the forefront.

    1 Corinthians 2

    These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual…

    But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

    1 Corinthians 2:15 NKJV
    Judge ALL things, 
    yet judge NO ONE.

    Are you and your church doing any better than the Corinthians?

    Fleshy Carnal christians

    Paul points to those unbelievers from the world who join us to worship God.

    WE ought to influence those who are BABES in their FLESH and FAITH without including their carnality so as to be like them.

    CARNAL iS NOT a nice enough word to describe someone sitting next to you on Sunday in your evangelical 21st century C.E. church‘ is it?

    Never-the-less, WE all know what WE are by NATURE 
    and what we were before confessing Christ.

    Some translations of the BIBLE describe our carnal ‘worldliness‘ as IN THE FLESH.

    The KJV translates Strong’s G4559 in the following manner: carnal (9x), fleshly (2x).

    • having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites
      • governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God
      • having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature
      • human: with the included idea of depravity

    The Humanist by embracing ALL humanity denies our demonstrable depravity as godless creatures of desire.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    PAUL had nurtured the Corinthians with SPIRITUAL MILK as babes at the breast. The Corinthians, a NEW church of Hellenists, naturally admired oratory and great emotional appeals. Christ through Paul adopted these children (though they were adults) drawn even as Greeks to this JESUS of the JEWS.

    Luke describes Apollos’ preaching as eloquent

    I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.

    1 Corinthians 3:2-3a NKJV
    IS IT STILL THE MILK YOU REQUIRE, BELOVED EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN OF THIS COMMON ERA TIME AND PLACE?

    What makes US Carnal?

    Paul tells the Corinthian believers what to judge — how to identify in others MINISTERS claiming Christ.

    • ζῆλος – zēlos – ENVYING
    • ἔρις – eris – STRIFE
    • διχοστασία – dichostasia – DIVISIONS among you

    After sending a second letter to the Corinthians next year, Paul will write to the Romans in A.D. 57:

    Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

    Romans 16:17 NKJV
    In essence, give them back to the world and the enemy of Christ.

    Mere Men, Mere Ministers

    NKJV 3:4 
    For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

    The rhetorical QUESTION of personal accountability in Greek reads:

    οὐκ ἄνθρωποί ἐστε

    (I imagine that you will recognize the word.)
    more literally:

    eimi [are you] ou [not] anthrōpos

    • LSB v.3 for you are still fleshly [sarkikos]
    • .. are you not fleshly [sarkikos]
    • are you not walking like mere men? [anthrōpos]?
    • are you not carnal [sarkikos] and behaving like mere men [anthrōpos]?
    • v.4 .. ARE YOU NOT anthrōpos?

    The Apostle goes on to point out through his apologia that PERSONALITIES do not matter OR who it was that BAPTIZED you (where you publically confessed to ALL that JESUS CHRIST is LORD!)

    Ministers of Christ

    5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?

    1 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV

    The Apostle had pointed to their divisions by minister and he will mention Peter [Cephas] even more in his rebuke of their schisms.

    • Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” – 1 Cor. 1:12
    • whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, – 1 Corinthians 3:22 LSB

    Paul uses imagery of sowing [planting a new church in various places] and watering [the very symbol of baptism, cleansing and in a sense the milk of pure nourishment required for growth].

    I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

    So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

    8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one..

    one? (as opposed to divided?)

    What does the Apostle mean by this?

    Paul will later emphasize the ONENESS of spirit in ministers of the church writing later in this letter:

    But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

    For even as the body is one G1520  and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one G1520 body, so also is Christ.

    1 Corinthians 6:17; 12:12 LSB

    3:8b ..and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

    9a For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field..

    the Reward of your Labor

    The Apostle now changes the metaphor and picture of faith for the Corinthian church to visualize in his Epistle.

    For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. - 1 Cor. 3:9 NLT

    ..and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

    θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί θεοῦ γεώργιον θεοῦ οἰκοδομή ἐστε

    1 Cor. 3:9 TEXTUS RECEPTUS
    For those of us who do not understand Paul's eloquent GREEK text, rather than leaning on a single ENGLISH translation let's observe some of what we know from Paul's Greek words in this verse.

    For we are laborers together

    synergos – συνεργός

    • Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers G4904 in Christ Jesus – Romans 16:3
    • Timotheus my workfellow, G4904 – Romans 16:23a

    with God [THEOS], you are God’s

    geōrgionγεώργιον

    I didn't know this one. a (presumed) derivative of γεωργός (G1092) husbandman

    husbandry – a cultivated field, husbandry (as in the animal husbandry of tending sheep), tillage (tilling soil for planting and growth)

    It is the WORK -early work – BEFORE the harvest.

    You are God’s farming, translates the HNV and in most English translations: you are God’s field.

    SO Paul has been preaching that it does not matter to YOU THE SOIL in Corinth (or in your home church) the names of the MINISTERS who labored in you.

    EACH will have their separate reward.

    The Apostle then builds on this:

    You are God’s [Theos]

    oikodomē – οἰκοδομή

    metaph. edifying, edification

    the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness

    ..and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. 1 Cor. 3:8b RSV

    What wage have you earned for edifying other Christians?

    (Paul will speak more to this later.)


    NEXT: Christ’s Contractor

    According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation..

    1 Corinthians 3:10a NKJVPaulos klētos apostolos iēsous christos

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  • Sailing Home on the Aegean

    Sailing Home on the Aegean

    And when they had come to him, he said to them,
    “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials..

    Acts of the Apostles 20:18-19a LSB – The Apostle Paul bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders

    As you know Paul and apostles of his third missionary journey have set sail for Jerusalem.

    “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock.. – Acts 20:28a – the Apostle Paul’s parting advice to the elders of the church.
    Anatolian Peninsula - Turkiye
    Anatolian peninsula

    Reflecting back on a Third Missionary Journey

    Paul had begun this third mission in about A.D. 52 setting out on land from Antioch to visit churches all along the Anatolian peninsula until reaching the Aegean at Ephesus, a distance of more than 500 miles.

    A.D. 57

    In addition to starting and nurturing an important church in Asia Minor, namely Ephesus, the Apostle had then crossed the Aegean into Europe and done the same for churches in Thessalonica, and Berea; the important Achaian city of Corinth, returning to Thessalonica once more then traveling to the Roman stronghold at Philippi.

    Aegean Sea

    The Aegean Missions by Sea

    Although these missionaries have bypassed Ephesus on their return to Jerusalem, note Paul’s APOSTOLOIC LETTERS encouraging CHURCHES during these same years:

    Paul sends two Epistles to the Thessalonians from Athens
    Epistles to the Thessalonians
    • 2 THESSALONIANS (possibly)
      • (if it had not already been delivered during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey along with 1 Thessalonians and an epistle to the Galatians.)
    • TWO LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS
    • PAUL’S LETTERS TO THE ROMANS,
      • including the major theological epistle preserved in the Bible
      • and no doubt other letters to individuals in Rome as in other cities.

    Acts of the Apostles 21:

    Paul's 3rd missionary journey - sailing home - a map from Aegean ports toward Tyre

    Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos..

    and the next day to Rhodes..

     and from there to Patara;

    .. and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

    Phoenicia along the coast of modern-day Lebanon with the important ports of Tyre and Sidon

    And when we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo.

    Land Ho! Almost Home

    Acts 21:1-3 Paul's route returning from his third missionary journey, landing at Tyre

    We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days.

    Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

    Acts of the Apostles 21:4 – New International Version

    a word of warning

    Note three things Luke is about to tell us about their arrival:
    •  μαθητής (mathētēs) – they sought out OTHER followers of Christ and stayed with them (seven days here in Tyre)
      • disciples in every port AND on various parts of Paul’s missionary journeys various disciples become apostles also sent out to other churches.
      • SEE the list: These disciples are both men and women.
    • They spoke to Paul in the Spirit.
      • λέγω – legō
        • conversation between believers, exhortation in this case they must have thought received through the Spirit
        • (We’ll come back to this..)
      • πνεῦμα – pneuma
        • Let Christ-followers reading Spirit‘ 70 times in Acts understand that this is the Holy Spirit who joined in these conversations.
    • disciples Prophesied to Paul through the Spirit what would happen if the Apostle ‘set foot’ in Jerusalem (as he had planned).
      • Soon other disciples will provide addition detail of these prophesies though the Spirit.

    When it was time to leave, [Luke tells us] we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

    6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

    Does the intimacy of their parting not remind us of the Ephesian elders as these apostles crossed the Aegean and Mediterranean?

    διά – λόγος – [dia – log]

    'dialogue' of 'Christians' -literally, dia logos, dia legō 
    • discourse
    • to say, to speak
    • through
      • by the means of:

    the HOLY SPIRIT or HOLY GHOST!


    And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

    “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

    “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

    Acts of the Apostles 2:43, 10:43, 15:11,
    references to Strong’s G1223 – dia – meaning “through

    DO NOT DISMISS or overlook frequent intimate conversation between 1st century followers of Christ AND their continual dialogue through the Holy Spirit.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    The Apostle Paul has RECENTLY [A.D. 57] written in a letter to Roman Christ-followers:

    .. the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

    Romans 5:5b excerpt [the context could not be more important]

    NEXT: The apostles continue their return from Paul’s Third Missionary Journey and the Holy Spirit reveals more details through prophesy of what will take place in Jerusalem.

    Talk of JESUS .com

    Let's have some dia-log here, dear brother/sister in Christ.

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  • and fear fell upon them all – Phobias from the enemy

    and fear fell upon them all – Phobias from the enemy

    FEAR descends upon us without warning when we least expect it. This is what has just happened in places distant from our secure homes and times more near these last days.

    TODAY we return to Ephesus in the first century of our Lord and then quickly jump forward to fearful times ahead and even now in this 21st century of the Common Era.
    
    IF you missed the account of Paul's previous preaching of Jesus Christ you might want to look back first.

    What do we fear?

    Disgrace, as these men ran away from a situation over which they claimed to have power?

    DEATH perhaps, IF the enemy should prevail?


    The Apostle Paul [Saul of Tarsus] was a RELIGIOUS man once feared by Christians as he pursued the unrighteousness of men and women turned from Almighty God.

    But a more powerful JESUS and the Holy Spirit had intervened most unexpectedly. NOW Paul in Christ demonstrates God’s POWER!

    6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them..

    .. some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude..

    11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul..and the evil spirits went out of them.

    16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them..

    Acts of the Apostles 19:16a NKJV

    PAUL HAD POWER! Unseen power. The Jewish priests observed reactions of people who had witnessed this mysterious unseen power and sought such control of the crowds as well.

    18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.

    We may safely suppose that their confessions included the ordinary sins of every man and woman and their deeds being the evil against God and others so common in our everyday lives.

    19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

    Fear of the unseen enemy

    The LORD GOD is your enemy when YOU SIN against HIM!

    Satan and unseen spirits in which many of you do not believe are ENEMIES of the LORD GOD and His only SON JESUS CHRIST sent to SAVE you from the Judgment of your SIN.

    This CHOSEN NATION of GOD had sinned and fallen many times.

    AND they continued to deny Christ’s grace and power over sin demonstrated in JESUS.

    Priests and preachers had sinned against the SON of GOD sent to HIS OWN for forgiveness of SINS.

    The King of the Jews was sacrificed on a Roman Cross in Jerusalem.


    Paul who by now has confessed Christ witnesses to the gentiles of first century Roman Asia Minor. The Apostle once again demonstrates the power of Jesus Christ OVER sin.

    AND as always, there arose a great commotion about the Way. [v.23b]


    מָשִׁיחַ מָשִׁיחַ talk of jesus dot com
    מָשִׁיחַ מָשִׁיחַ
    PHOTO above from the 3-part Gospel Series: 12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches

    a Common Era parable – phobomai

    We interrupt these ACTS of the first century for 
    BREAKING NEWS from Israel in this 21st century of the Common Era
    and a parable of current events.

    A man with seven sons and seven daughters whom he had set over an inheritance of great wealth and influence sent them out to build new settlements for his grandchildren. One day his oldest son gathered all of their brothers and sisters for a great music festival of songs celebrating the culture of their fathers.

    So as a trumpet sounded from the besieged holy hill beyond the locked gate they departed toward this rave for the ages led by local guides into the valley of the shadow near the salt sea.

    In the diaspora, the first day is known by its biblical name, Shemini Atzeret. We still dwell in the sukkah, but without a blessing.

    To be continued…


    In the diaspora, the first day is known by its biblical name, Shemini Atzeret. We still dwell in the sukkah, but without a blessing. Yizkor, the memorial for the departed, is also said on this day.
    
    The second day is known as Simchat Torah, during which we complete and immediately begin the annual Torah reading cycle. - source: Chabad.org
    Photo via brand X
@visegrad24
·
Oct 7
BREAKING:

The woman whose body was seen on video in the back of a pick-up truck driven by Palestinian terrorists to Gaza has been identified. 

30-year-old Shani Louk was a German citizen visiting Israel to attend the music festival for peace held near the Gaza border fence.

    7 October, 2023 of the Common Era

    At the RAVE of the enemy in the valley of the shadow many fall victim.

    It was NOT a festival to the LORD God and the enemy provokes the spirit of evil in any who seek pleasure in sin and death.

    May God have mercy on their lost souls.


    FEAR

    φόβος phobos – From a primary phebomai (to be put in fear)

    • Fear, dread, terror
    • that which strikes terror

    And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. And fear [G5401 – phobos] gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying,

    “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

    Gospel of Luke 7:15-16 Legacy Standard Bible

    “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars,
    and on the earth anguish among nations,
    in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
    men fainting from fear [G5401 – phobos]
    and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world;
    for the POWERS OF THE HEAVENS will be shaken…

    Gospel of Luke 21:25-26 LSB
    We return now from the 21st c. C.E. to a FEAR in those witnessing GOOD in the Name of JESUS in the first century of the Lord in Ephesus recalling:

    And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear G5401 fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

    Acts of the Apostles 19-17 LSB

    Reaction against the Power of God

    IT ALWAYS HAPPENS THAT WHEN GOD WORKS MIGHTY ACTS OF POWER THAT UNGODLY MEN WILL DO EVIL AGAINST THE WITNESSES OF GOD AND CHRIST JESUS.

    ACTS 19:23 NKJV

    And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said:

    “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”


    Some men FEAR disgrace, most men and women FEAR death, yet many cling to tradition forged into idols of culture condoning our sin and denying our mortality.

    These would lead the leaven of life into a pit of eternal punishment.

    “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

    Paul later writes to the ROMANS, quoting PSALM 36

    Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying,

    “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

    29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.


    third missionary journey of Paul from Acts of the Apostles

    The Apostle Paul’s ACTS in Ephesus – To Be Continued, God-willing…


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