First Corinthians 15; Part 3: Believers Stand Fast in the Gospel, Unmovable in the Glorious Hope - Eager Anticipation, of Resurrection, i.e., The Rapture:
Volume 5, Number 56Our two previous studies covered the first 49 verses of the fifteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians. We’ll continue here at verse 50 but first we need to look at two words in the first 4 verses that were not addressed earlier. As noted previously, the first 4 verses summarize the Gospel (Good News) of salvation to eternal life preached by the Apostle Paul; that Christ died for mankind’s sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day, according to Old Testament (OT) Scriptures. The Corinthians, and all mankind since, are assured eternal life in Heaven with The Lord Jesus... Continue reading →
First Corinthians 15; Part 2: Baptism for the Dead? Resurrection, The Believer’s Hope but the Unbeliever’s dread:
Volume 5, Number 551 Corinthians 15:1 - 31 was the subject of the last study where believers are assured that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and everyone who has ever lived will someday be resurrected. The next resurrection will be the Church, which is The Body of Christ consisting of all believers since Paul, that will be caught up (raptured) to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven for eternity. The 7-year Tribulation will follow the Rapture; at the end of which all believers prior to Paul as well at those who die during the Tribulation will be raised from the... Continue reading →
First Corinthians 15; Part 1: The Believer’s Hope of Resurrection is Not Vain:
Volume 5, Number 54King Solomon observed: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2, referring to the works of man. On the other hand, First Corinthians Chapter 15 teaches there is nothing vain in the Works of God.Our last study examined the 3rd and 4th occasions of the word “faith” in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. The word faith is not found in the 14th chapter, which deals with the gifts of prophesy and tongues and the need for orderly worship in the Corinthians Church. “Faith” occurs twice in the 15th chapter: “And if Christ be... Continue reading →
First Corinthians, Chapter 13, Part 3; Now Abideth Faith, Hope & Love but the Greatest of these is Love:
Volume 5, Number 53It has been helpful and meaningful for me to review 4 key words in 1 Corinthians 13:13, i.e., faith, hope, greatest and love, by comparing their use in other Scripture and I hope this study is meaningful to you as we conclude the 13th chapter of First Corinthians.“Faith:” occurs twice in the 13th chapter of Corinthians: 1) “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing.”, 1 Corinthians 13:2; 2) “And now abideth faith,... Continue reading →
Faith In First Corinthians, Chapter 13, The Way of Love, Part 2:
Volume 5, Number 52Our previous study highlighted and characterized the Greek noun “agape” (G26), (pronounced Uh-GAH-pay) translated “love” 86 times, “charity” 27 times, “dear” once, “charitably” once, and “feast of charity” once in the King James Version (KJV) of the New Testament (NT). The verb form “agapa’o” (G25) occurs 142 times, translated “love” 135 times and “beloved” 7 times and the adjective form “Agapetos” (G27) occurs 62 times translated “beloved” 47 times, “dearly beloved” 9 times, “well beloved” 3 times and “dear” 3 times. Agape describes God’s immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind; it is perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, and pure.Today we’ll examine more about... Continue reading →
Faith In First Corinthians, Chapter 13, The Way of Love & It’s Attributes; Part 1:
Volume 5, Number 51While watching an NFL football game on TV recently the cameras focused on the words “Be Love” printed on the back of helmets worn by some players. This seemed a bit contradictory in several ways. I looked up the meaning of this slogan on the Internet and found an article that postulates the “Be Love” moniker worn by NFL players to be “virtue signaling,” which is often defined as an action that shows care towards a cause without making a difference. I won’t pass judgement on the motive/s of the players displaying this slogan but thought about “virtue signaling” in... Continue reading →
Faith In First Corinthians, Chapter 12: The Body of Christ vis a vis Kings and The King of Kings and Lord of Lords:
Volume 5, Number 50The Apostle Paul goes into more detail about the Body of Christ in First Corinthians than in his other epistles, 1 Corinthians 12 - 27. I’ll quote the first and last of this passage: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one... Continue reading →
First Corinthians, Chapter 12, Part 3: The Corinthian’s Spiritual Gifts vis a vis the Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding Available to Believers Since Then:
Volume 5, Number 49Our last Faith Study described 9 Spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit gave the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12:8 – 11: (1) the word of wisdom; (2) the word of knowledge; (3) faith; (4) gifts of healing; (5) working of miracles; (6) prophecy; (7) discerning of spirits; (8) tongues; (9) interpretation of tongues. These gifts were necessary because Paul’s epistles were not complete at that time, that is, the Word of God to Members of the Body of Christ was not complete, thus the Corinthians could minister Truth to others. Note that Paul also wrote: “I thank my God always on... Continue reading →
Faith In First Corinthians, Chapter 12; Spiritual Gifts - Part 2; The Nine in Corinth:
Volume 5, Number 48Our last study examined the first 7 verses of chapter 12, which indicate that the following verses deal with the spiritual; that the Holy Spirit enables the believer to recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God and distributes gifts to individual believers, accomplishing His work through the believer. This is validation that the believer is an earthen vessel manifesting God’s Word and Work, 2 Corinthians 4:7. We continue today with 1 Corinthians 12:8 - 11: (8) “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; (9)... Continue reading →
Faith In First Corinthians, Chapter 12: Spiritual Gifts; Part 1:
Volume 5, Number 47Having dealt with the first occasion of the word “faith” in 1 Corinthians; “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:5, we continue to the 2nd occurrence, found in the 12th chapter: “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:9. Faith is included here with a number of other spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit gave to individuals in the Corinthian church. This study will cover the first 7 verses of chapter 12: Verse 1 “Now concerning... Continue reading →