The New Testament
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Devotional
Weekly Bible Devotion By Books
Nov. 13-18, 2023
Enter the presence of the Lord-
(All) The Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
(M) accept Lord’s words
and store up his commands within you,
(W) turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding
(All) Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
(M) For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
(W) Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
(All) They will be life for you.
Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding.
(According to Proverbs 2:1-2, 6, 9-11; 3:22, 13)
Confession
The Lord of knowledge and wisdom, we need to turn to you. We confess that the various opinions around us in our world are very confusing. Our souls are disturbed. We need wisdom and understanding to discern, to judge and to rest on. Open our ears to your word. Guide us and lead us to the path of life and peace. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Scripture Reading 1 Corinthians
1: 30-31 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.
1:24-25, 2:4-5, 7, 10,
1:24-251:24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
2:4-5 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
2: 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
2:10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
3: 10-11 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ....
3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
6: 18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
9:19,23, 25 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible....23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.... 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
10:23-24 23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
31b- 32 31b So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—
10:12-1412 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
14:20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Thoughts to Share: New Life in Transformation: Stand Firm in Faith
The first epistle to the Corinthians was a result of the Qs and As between Paul and a new church in Corinth. Surely the Holy Spirit supervised its completion, preservation and transmission in its process. What has this ancient book to do with us today?
Surrounded by materialism, immorality, gender confusion, folk deities worshipping, and performance culture, Corinthian Christians confused in two fronts. In the first front, there were the issues of adultery relating to lawsuit and eating the food worshipped to local deities. In the second front, there were the issues of preaching, role of sisters, church member relations and operation, Lord’s supper, and body death and resurrection.
Paul first reminds them of two ground truth. Firstly, because of God, they are in Jesus Christ and the Christ Jesus is their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. No one can boast in himself but only in the Lord. Secondly, The Holy Spirit who knows everything and the depth of God gives them the comprehension and interpretation of God’s things. (1:30-31; 2:7-10)
Practically, Paul patiently guides these Corinthian baby believers to see more fundamental gospel issues behind their confusions. Let us walk through those important issues.
1) What are we to look for in a preacher?
The Corinthian believers confused in: Who could be the preacher to them? What would they look for in the preaching? How should a preaching be delivered? What made a good preaching? How shall they evaluate a preacher? stage appearance? emotion-powered up speech? philosophical depth?
Paul answered them that a Gospel preacher is much more than an eloquent speaker. Each Gospel preacher has different role, function, and purpose to their faith journey. (1:22-25; 2:1-5, 7, 12-13, 10; 3:10-11). Each Gospel preaching has its specific foundation, content and way of delivery that align with the One who entrusted the Gospel to the preacher.
2) What is the place of our bodies in Christ?
The Corinthian Christians asked what to do with secual immorality and its related the lawsuit, marry or single. Paul saw the root of their confusion was in: how did they understand the place of their bodies? What was the spirituality of the body? Paul taught them, the body of a believer is the temple of God. God redeems us entire being, including body, soul and spirit. Therefore, we treat our body according to the God’s holy teaching on body. Once this base is clarified, take good care of our bodies, respect our own or other’s bodies, and use body in holy way will ultimately eliminate sexual immorality and related lawsuit, marry or single. (3:16; 6:13, 18-20,)
3) How do we use our freedom in the Lord?
Eating and drinking the food used for worshipping local deities was the common practice in the feast of Temple in Corinth. Those Corinthian baby Christians had good reason to know how to respond to the invitations to such occasions. Were they going to eat and drink or not? Paul understood their struggle. He dealt with it from the perspective of using the freedom in making such decision. He instructed them: they do have control on their use of freedom. They can ask: To what purpose and direction such freedom will lead you? Is it for the sake of the Gospel and the benefit of the Gospel? He warned them of temptation, which could be deceitful and lead them away from Jesus Christ. So, Paul pointed them to exercise self-control when needed. The true freedom is when one can have God’s wisdom to make a decision not leading him/her away from God’s will. (9:21, 23, 31b-32; 10:12)
4) How is Lord’s Supper to be performed?
Contrast to the eating and drinking of Corinthian temple feasts, Lord’s supper has completely different base, meaning, and purpose. Its practice shall follow the instructions of the Lord Jesus Christ. There should not have any confusion about it. (11:22-34)
5) How is the church - body of Christ- supposed to relate and operate?
The Corinthian temples had their own operation systems. But what were the uniqueness of a Church? Paul gave a vision of the church: body of Christ. This image clearly points to two basic things. Firstly, the church belongs to Christ. Christ is the head. It is not any god or goodness. Secondly, there are very close, fitting, functional relations among the parts of the church. Paul introduced the concept of “gifts” to open the members to see their functions and their connections. So the church is very different from the pagan temples around the Corinthia. The church is the being and doing of the members. Everything is overflowing from the head Jesus Christ and is connected to the Jesus Christ. (12, 14)
6) What does it really mean by believers’ body resurrection and death?
To the people in facing sick and dying, the bodily existence is a great concern. Death puts one’s body into forgotten, decaying, and non-being state. Body is important to everyone. Christ’s promise that we will be raised with him again is a desire fully resonant with our longing for long life. The Corinthian Christians wished to experience this promise quickly. Disappointingly, they did not see their loved one’s body coming back right away. They were sad and confusing. Paul came to assure that the promise of the body resurrection is true and it will occur in God's timing and way. In Christ, we have this sure hope. (15)
7) What do we do with those sisters among us?
At first, it was puzzling that sisters in Corinthian church were singled out for instructions. Yet, as we consider its surrounding cultures, it became clear that Paul was to instruct these sisters how to be distinct from the prevalent women culture. (11:5-16; 14:34-36)
After we read through Paul's first epistle to the Corinthian church, we may ask: is it a healthy sign to have such confusions in a believer or a church? are these confusions the part of new life in Christ? How are we to see these struggles in new ways? How can the church leaders sustain the faith among believers?
In fact, Christ’s seekers and followers as individuals and as the church in a real world will ask this question: what does the Gospel of Jesus mean to me in my real world today? Such an honest question is sincere and necessary in anyone’s faith journey. The reason is simple. Believing in Christ has changed the core of our being and has created a new human community. But we, as persons, still move in and out daily in our cultures. We subtly experience both a conflict and a revolution in us. Paul perceived that Corinthian Christians in need of pastoral guidance so that they could stand firm in their faith. He did so little by little, piece by piece, issue by issue. Paul shows us that either building a new life or building a new church, we will have to deal with the struggles of a particular people in a cultural context. Dealing with the confusions imposed by cultures on faith is indeed healthy and necessary in any believer' maturing and growing process.
Prayer Suggestions
What are our churches struggling in our time and in our cultural contexts? Do we have wisdom and courage to deal with them and guide our generation’s followers into the truth?
Jesus Christ, the Lord of our salvation, thank you that you are our wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption. We confess that our cultures put a great stress on us to follow you. But we know that we are not the first generation who encounter such struggles. You already had wisdom for us. Help us and keep us to walk in your ways and thoughts as we navigate in all the trends and winds of our own cultures. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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