How is Paul going to get the Corinthians to change? Tell them off, criticise them. or inspire them?
The centrality of love
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Prophecy to be desired
1 Corinthians 14:1-11
Prophecy builds up the church
1 Corinthians 14:12-25
Orderly worship
1 Corinthians 14:26-40
Paul proves the resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 8-28
Objections answered
1 Corinthians 15:29-49
From mortal to immortal
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
The believer’s triumph
1 Corinthians 15:55-58
If you really want people to change, criticising them seldom works. Better to find something that will lift their thinking to a new level. Paul strives for it and finds it in his glorious chapter on love. He takes the highest Christian virtue and sings his heart out about it. It’s impossible not to be moved.
Moving on, he spends a long time talking about prophecy. Seems to me he must have heard reports about what worship in the church of Corinth was like. A din, basically. Everyone shouting at the tops of the voices, no one listening, women just chatting to each other and not even taking part (if they were following synagogue practice and sitting separate from the men). What would a visitor think?
So he tells them to speak intelligibly, to listen to each other, to use their spiritual gifts to build each other up, not make themselves feel good or sound impressive.
There’s one final issue Paul needs to address, and he’s left it to last. Why? Because I reckon he thinks it’s the most important. “how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (15:12) The one thing that all of Christianity depends on is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Take that away, and we might as well all go home. Seems that some people were questioning this very cornerstone of the faith, casting doubt on whether it happened, what it looked like, and so on. So Paul underlines how essential it is, how wonderful it is, and how these foolish misguided Christians must not lose sight of the most important aspect of their faith.
The centrality of love
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Prophecy to be desired
1 Corinthians 14:1-11
Prophecy builds up the church
1 Corinthians 14:12-25
Orderly worship
1 Corinthians 14:26-40
Paul proves the resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 8-28
Objections answered
1 Corinthians 15:29-49
From mortal to immortal
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
The believer’s triumph
1 Corinthians 15:55-58
If you really want people to change, criticising them seldom works. Better to find something that will lift their thinking to a new level. Paul strives for it and finds it in his glorious chapter on love. He takes the highest Christian virtue and sings his heart out about it. It’s impossible not to be moved.
Moving on, he spends a long time talking about prophecy. Seems to me he must have heard reports about what worship in the church of Corinth was like. A din, basically. Everyone shouting at the tops of the voices, no one listening, women just chatting to each other and not even taking part (if they were following synagogue practice and sitting separate from the men). What would a visitor think?
So he tells them to speak intelligibly, to listen to each other, to use their spiritual gifts to build each other up, not make themselves feel good or sound impressive.
There’s one final issue Paul needs to address, and he’s left it to last. Why? Because I reckon he thinks it’s the most important. “how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (15:12) The one thing that all of Christianity depends on is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Take that away, and we might as well all go home. Seems that some people were questioning this very cornerstone of the faith, casting doubt on whether it happened, what it looked like, and so on. So Paul underlines how essential it is, how wonderful it is, and how these foolish misguided Christians must not lose sight of the most important aspect of their faith.
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