Theo1689
Well-known member
Part of my testimony is that in my first year of being a Christian, my church taught Arminian "free-will" ism. But I loved the gospel, I loved the Scriptures, and so I loved reading and studying the Scriptures to learn more about my faith. But even though I was a rabid anti-Calvinist at the time, the more I read Scripture, the more I was being convinced that it taught that theology nicknamed "Calvinism". It seemed to be literally on every page.
And since there is a lot of discussion about the proper interpretation of 1 Cor. 2:14, and since I beileve you need to study the context to understand a particular verse, I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts about the text surrounding 1 Cor. 2:14. So I will be walking through at least the first two chapters of 1 Cor., and I may or may not continue, we'll see. After all, it takes a fair bit of work to do this, and investment in work is usually not appreciated by the A-side.
1Cor. 1:1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
Paul was called by God, not only to be a Christian, but to be an apostle as well.
1Cor. 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
"called to be saints". The Christians in Corinth were called by God, just as Paul was called by God.
This is election.
"both their Lord and ours". We share one Lord. We are to be united. This is a theme in this epistle.
1Cor. 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Cor. 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Grace of God given them...
not lacking in any gift.
Paul thanks God for all the gifts given to God's saints.
1Cor. 1:8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"sustain you to the end".
This is perseverance (or "preservation") of the Saints.
1Cor. 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reminding us again that we were "called" by God.
1Cor. 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
Paul calls for unity. We share one Lord, we should share one gospel (and we do).
Of course, it is impossible to be united on everything, but as the saying goes:
"In essentials, unity;
In non-essentials, liberty;
In all things, charity."
IMO, there is far too little "liberty" and "charity" in this forum.
We need to do better.
1Cor. 1:12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul goes on to talk about "babes in Christ". And it is only natural to look to leaders in your church who seem to understand theology better than you. But while it's not wrong to have human teachers and pastors, we have to make sure that doing so doesn't divide us. Having our theology named after men is unfortunate, but it does not mean that we "follow" Calvin, or you "follow" Arminius or Wesley. They are simply convenient labels to easily convey to others what we believe. I like many others prefer the term "Reformed" as it doesn't have someone's name in it.
Paul is going to continue talking about not being able to understand the things of God unless you are given the Spirit (which indicates, and comes after, regeneration). I think Paul's point here is that we are to follow the Spirit, rather than following a man. We can hear the teachings of man, but we have to evaluate them according to the Spirit and Scripture.
I liken it to the difference between near-sightedness (eyes on a man) and far-sightedness (eyes on God). It also reminds me of a driving error. Sometimes I see cars driving who are too near the right shoulder or lane line, or even past it. I notice that they've lined up their car so that the driver is in the centre of the lane. This is a great indication that the driver is looking at the road directly in front of him. To have the entire car centred in the lane, he needs to look far down the lane, maybe 20-30 car lengths or more. Others get freaked out on the highway because they see the dashed lane lines or telephone poles going past too quickly. The solution again is to look far ahead, so the perception of speed is less noticeable.
In terms of Paul's message, we have to stop looking at our teachers as the destination, but look past them to see and comprehend God through the Spirit.
(to be continued...)
And since there is a lot of discussion about the proper interpretation of 1 Cor. 2:14, and since I beileve you need to study the context to understand a particular verse, I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts about the text surrounding 1 Cor. 2:14. So I will be walking through at least the first two chapters of 1 Cor., and I may or may not continue, we'll see. After all, it takes a fair bit of work to do this, and investment in work is usually not appreciated by the A-side.
1Cor. 1:1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
Paul was called by God, not only to be a Christian, but to be an apostle as well.
1Cor. 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
"called to be saints". The Christians in Corinth were called by God, just as Paul was called by God.
This is election.
"both their Lord and ours". We share one Lord. We are to be united. This is a theme in this epistle.
1Cor. 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Cor. 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Grace of God given them...
not lacking in any gift.
Paul thanks God for all the gifts given to God's saints.
1Cor. 1:8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"sustain you to the end".
This is perseverance (or "preservation") of the Saints.
1Cor. 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reminding us again that we were "called" by God.
1Cor. 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
Paul calls for unity. We share one Lord, we should share one gospel (and we do).
Of course, it is impossible to be united on everything, but as the saying goes:
"In essentials, unity;
In non-essentials, liberty;
In all things, charity."
IMO, there is far too little "liberty" and "charity" in this forum.
We need to do better.
1Cor. 1:12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul goes on to talk about "babes in Christ". And it is only natural to look to leaders in your church who seem to understand theology better than you. But while it's not wrong to have human teachers and pastors, we have to make sure that doing so doesn't divide us. Having our theology named after men is unfortunate, but it does not mean that we "follow" Calvin, or you "follow" Arminius or Wesley. They are simply convenient labels to easily convey to others what we believe. I like many others prefer the term "Reformed" as it doesn't have someone's name in it.
Paul is going to continue talking about not being able to understand the things of God unless you are given the Spirit (which indicates, and comes after, regeneration). I think Paul's point here is that we are to follow the Spirit, rather than following a man. We can hear the teachings of man, but we have to evaluate them according to the Spirit and Scripture.
I liken it to the difference between near-sightedness (eyes on a man) and far-sightedness (eyes on God). It also reminds me of a driving error. Sometimes I see cars driving who are too near the right shoulder or lane line, or even past it. I notice that they've lined up their car so that the driver is in the centre of the lane. This is a great indication that the driver is looking at the road directly in front of him. To have the entire car centred in the lane, he needs to look far down the lane, maybe 20-30 car lengths or more. Others get freaked out on the highway because they see the dashed lane lines or telephone poles going past too quickly. The solution again is to look far ahead, so the perception of speed is less noticeable.
In terms of Paul's message, we have to stop looking at our teachers as the destination, but look past them to see and comprehend God through the Spirit.
(to be continued...)
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