|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
September 17
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Paul has been talking about the difficulties that he faced in the ministry, including the fact that every day of his life he was in danger of being killed, whether by an angry mob or by religious or governmental authorities. He says in the middle of verse 32 that there is no benefit to him for doing this if there is no resurrection. John MacArthur wrote this:
"The only thing that makes Christians willing to work hard, willing to suffer, willing to be abused and ridiculed, willing to endure in the work of Christ, is that Christ's own supreme finished work, the redemption of sinners, will last past this present life. What would be the purpose of suffering for Christ if we would never see Him face to face? What would be the purpose of winning others to Christ if they would never see Him face to face? Where would be the good news in such a gospel? Where would be the incentive for preaching or believing such a gospel? Why make this life miserable if this life is all there is? Why be in danger every hour, if we have no security to look forward to? Why die daily, that is, risk your life in self-denying ministry, if death ends it all? Paul says vehemently, 'You who deny the resurrection make a shambles of Christian service. Nothing makes sense if there is no resurrection.' If Christ's resurrection was the only resurrection, as some of the Corinthians believed, then His being raised was no victory for us. He would not have conquered death but only made death a greater mockery for those who put their trust in Him."
So Paul then says, if there is no benefit to serving the Lord, then we might as well just have a good time because we're going to die someday and there is nothing else to look forward to.
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die",
is a quote from Isaiah 22:13. In that passage, God has pointed out the sins of His people and called them to weeping and repentance. However, rather than respond as God called them to, Israel wanted to enjoy themselves with feasts and mirth. They were more concerned with their entertainment and enjoyment than they were with making sacrifices in order to be right with God. Paul says that if there is no resurrection, then there is no reason to obey the Lord's call to serve Him, and all the sacrifices that he and the other apostles were making were a waste of their time.
In verse 33 Paul gives a warning to the Corinthian church. He tells them that "evil communications corrupt good manners". Another way to say this would be, "bad companions ruin good character". The people in the church who were denying the resurrection were adopting the "eat, drink, and be merry" philosophy, and their evil thinking and actions would potentially corrupt the other church members. Proverbs 27:17 states,
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
Paul knew that false doctrine would result in sinful behavior, and the sinful behavior of one part of the church would ultimately have a negative impact on the entire body. He warns them to "be not deceived". People in their pride often think that they will be the exception to the rule. They know that others have been affected by sin, but they assume that it will never happen to them. Jesus told Peter in Matthew 26:41,
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak".
Peter truly believed that he could handle whatever came his way, but the Lord knew that Peter's flesh could easily go astray. In essence, Paul is saying, "Don't trick yourself into thinking that it can't happen to you. If you continue to maintain fellowship with these false teachers, you will wind up in rebellion against God yourself."
Tomorrow we will see Paul's solution to this problem. For today, let's ask ourselves this question: are the people that we choose to spend our time with helping us to be stronger and more Scriptural Christians, or are they gradually turning us away from Biblical doctrine and practice?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
