God’s Dwelling Within Us

The Apostle Paul uses a question to teach a two-pronged truth to the Corinthian believers.  He asks, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (I Corinthians 3:16)?  In this passage he is speaking to the church as a body of believers.  Collectively, theyContinue reading “God’s Dwelling Within Us”

Eating Meats Offered to Idols

The believers in Corinth questioned Paul in the matter of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  Corinth was a city given to idolatry.  Often the meat remaining from the temple sacrifices was sold in the temple district markets for consumption. There were different viewpoints among the believers as to whether or not theyContinue reading “Eating Meats Offered to Idols”

Do Not Rest in Privilege

A privileged position provides no protection from the chastening hand of God. Paul sought to convince the Corinthian believers of this very truth using the example of God’s earthly people, the Jews. He points out that the children of Israel all enjoyed God’s divine presence, power, and protection in departing from Egypt and marching throughContinue reading “Do Not Rest in Privilege”

Do All to the Glory of God!

The City of Corinth was permeated with the practice of pagan idolatry. Paul had warned his audience against eating of the sacrificial offerings made in these temples in the temple district itself.  To do so in such close proximity to these pagan temples would suggest the believers were sharing in the idol worship therein. HeContinue reading “Do All to the Glory of God!”

Dealing with Sexual Sin

One of the reasons that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth was to address sexual sin that was tolerated by the fellowship.  He wrote “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.  AndContinue reading “Dealing with Sexual Sin”

Building with My Life

The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us among other things that life is challenging, frustrating, often disappointing, but never meaningless!  Indeed, nothing is meaningless.  The Psalmist both encouraged and warned “Verily, there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Psalm 58:11).  Everything that a man or womanContinue reading “Building with My Life”

Believing All Things

Paul makes some remarkable statements in his description of love that is born from above. One of them is “love…believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (I Corinthians 13:7). When he says that love “believes all things” he is not saying that we believe everything we hear and, consequently, that we exercise noContinue reading “Believing All Things”

And Now Abideth…

Paul makes a remarkable statement in his concluding remarks about love to the believers in Corinth, “And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13). First, he sets these three spiritual gems – faith, hope, love – in surpassing beauty to the brevity of prophecies, tonguesContinue reading “And Now Abideth…”

An Expectation for Growth

The Apostle Paul had made clear to the Corinthian believers that God had given his children his Spirit “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (I Corinthians 2:12).  In spite of that blessed privilege, they had remained spiritually immature so Paul found it necessary to rebuke them forContinue reading “An Expectation for Growth”