49-Romans 11 – 2 Corinthians 4
Nov. 28, 2009
We will begin our study this week in the Book of Romans in Chapter 11. Last week we looked at the first ten chapters of Paul’s letter to the Roman church. This week we will start in Chapter 11. Paul reminds Israel that they have not been rejected by God in Chapter 11. Just as God saved seven thousand during the time of Elijah He has also chosen a remnant today for salvation. Paul then revealed that Israel had been put aside in order for God to bring salvation to the Gentiles. He used the illustration of the olive tree to describe what God had done. Israel is spoken of as the broken off branches of a natural olive tree. The Gentiles are wild olive branches that God has grafted into the natural tree. These branches will grow and someday be removed and the old branches will be grafted back in. Paul wrote in verse 25 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” There will then come a time when all Israel will be saved. Paul exhorts his readers to dedicated service in Chapter 12. He told us to become living sacrifices to the Lord, which is our spiritual service. God wants us to be different from the world. We all have a duty by the grace of God to obey Him and treat each other with the same love and mercy the Lord has shown us. Paul wrote in verse 19-21 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
In Chapter 13 Paul wrote that believers should subject themselves to government. We are to obey those that are over us. We are also not to owe anyone anything and to love our neighbors. Paul wrote in the text that anyone who loves his neighbor is following the law. He told us in verse 14 to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts”
Paul warned against judging others in Chapter 14. It is not for us to judge another. Paul wrote in verse 10-12 “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” None of us is to become a stumbling block to any man by judgement. In Chapter 15 Paul wrote that we should bear one another’s weaknesses. Those of us who are strong need to lift up those who are weak. He wrote in verse 7 “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Paul then told the Romans why he had not visited them yet. Paul was called by the Lord to preach the gospel to places that did not know the Lord first before he could come to Rome. He was on his way to Jerusalem with a collection for the saints. He then said he would come to them on his planned trip to Spain. Paul then concluded his letter to the Roman Church with personal greetings in Chapter 18. He asked the church to accept Phoebe, the bearer of his letter. Paul then greeted the people he knew on Rome and urged the believers in verse 17 to “keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” Paul also encouraged in verse 20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” This ends the Book of Romans. We will now move on to the Book of 1 Corinthians. The Book of 1 Corinthians is another letter from the Apostle Paul. This letter was written to the believers in the city of Corinth during the first part of 55 AD from the city of Ephesus during Paul’s third missionary journey. Paul had planted the church in Corinth during his second missionary journey with the help of Aquila and his wife Priscilla. The letter was necessary to address the carnal and worldly state of the believers there. Paul had to address them before returning to them after leaving Ephesus. In Chapter 1 Paul first greeted the people of Corinth, then went on and addressed the fractured state of the church there. The believers in Corinth had split up, some followed Paul, some followed Apollos, and others followed Peter. They could not agree on whom to follow. Paul wrote that they all follow only Jesus Christ and should have no division. Paul then said that the wisdom of God seems to be foolishness to the wise, but in verse 24-25 but “to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” He ends the chapter with verse 31 “so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
Paul then stated in Chapter 2 that what came from him that seemed superior speech or wisdom was not from him, but from the Holy Spirit. Paul realized that he had been made a conduit for God’s words to His people. He wrote from the Old Testament in verse 9 “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” Paul also wrote in the end of the chapter that only the saved can understand the Lord and His Spirit. To the unsaved it is foolishness, but to the saved it is understood because we have been given the mind of Christ.
In Chapter 3 Paul was disappointed in the spiritual state of the believers in the Corinthian church. He reminded them that when he founded the church in Corinth he fed them with the pure milk of the Word. He knew they were infants in the faith and could not accept solid meat. Now years later they had not progressed past infancy and grown eager for the meat of the Word. Instead of working together they created divisions and factions over insignificant things. Paul then contrasted the two types of men. Even though both had built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, one had built his house of gold, silver, and precious stones, where the other had built his of wood, hay, and straw. These last things could not survive the fires of judgement and would be burned up in the end leaving the first man with much reward and the second with loss. Paul then reminded the readers that they were the temple of God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We need to protect our body because as God is Holy, we also are Holy. Paul wrote in Chapter 4 that we are all servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. We have a duty to God and works to do for Him. Paul wrote in verse 15-16 “For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.” Paul got down to business in Chapter 5 and rebuked the immorality that was rampant in the Corinthian church. The believers there had trouble giving up the carnal and worldly ways of the city. Paul wrote in verse 3-5 that he had committed one man to be killed by Satan rather than have him corrupt other believers in his carnal ways. God sometimes has to remove sinning Christians early so they cannot lead the remainder of the church astray. Paul also told the people that he did not warn them to stay away from immoral people of the world as they knew they should, but they were to stay away from the worldly Christians within the church. He said that we are not to judge outsiders, but we are to look out for the church. In Chapter 6 Paul discourages Christians from pursuing lawsuits against others. Lawsuits go against the teaching of Jesus in that we are not to judge one another. We are instructed to love one another including our enemies. Paul stated that he is no longer bound by the law, that all things are lawful for him. Even with this freedom Paul knew there were some things he could not do because they would harm another. Likewise we should abstain from anything that could be a stumbling block to others. Paul wrote in the end of the chapter in verse 19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” Paul then taught on marriage in Chapter 7 and gave us some of his own thoughts on the subject at the end of the chapter. Then in Chapter 8 Paul addressed things sacrificed to idols. Paul wrote that there was no such thing in the world as an idol, there was only one God. He did acknowledge that for some idols could become a stumbling block to their faith. Paul purposed in his heart to abstain from anything that could cause a brother to stumble. In Chapter 9 Paul wrote on his own use of the liberty he had been given. Again he said that although he could do all things he had used his freedom in Christ to become a slave to all. In his ministry he placed others before himself. In the end he relates himself to a boxer that does not punch the thin air, but one who disciplines his body so he is prepared to win. He placed his own body into submission to further the cause of Christ. Paul then warned, in Chapter 10, believers in Corinth to avoid the mistakes of the Israelites. They were given every opportunity as recorded in the Old Testament to follow the Lord, but decided on legalism and to worship idols instead of God. Paul wrote in verse 31-33 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.” In Chapter 11 Paul then covered the seemingly difficult concept of Christian order. God, through His wisdom had laid out an order for man to follow. This order has nothing to do with superiority or ability, but it is to be able to have life proceed in a smooth fashion. Everyone involved in God’s order must completely fulfill their duty in order for the blessings associated with order to flow. Much conflict has come from misunderstanding God’s intentions concerning this order. Paul then uses the end of the chapter to describe the Lord’s Supper and its purpose. In Chapter 12 Paul addresses spiritual gifts. The Corinthian church had abused the gifts they had received at salvation so Paul needed to set their understanding right. Every believer is given one or more spiritual gifts from the Lord when they accept His Son as savior. These gifts are not some talent the believer already possessed but something new from the Lord. To be used in ministry. These gifts need to be used in cooperation between believers just as the body needs all its parts to function, so does the church. Paul then wrote in Chapter 13 that none of the gifts are of any use without love. Gifts are to be used to lift up, not to tear down. In Chapter 14 Paul showed that gifts have differing levels of importance. He wrote that the gift of prophecy is greater than the gift of tongues. Prophecy edifies others where one who speaks in tongues only edifies himself. My personal belief is that these gifts and the other sign gifts were for the apostolic era in the early church and became inactive after the apostles were gone. They were to complete the Bible and launch the new covenant but are not needed today. It is as Paul wrote in the end of the chapter in verse 33 “God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” And also in verse 40 “But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.” Paul then changed direction in chapter 15 and wrote about the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. If Christ did not rise all these words have no meaning. Paul then recited the gospel truth and who were its witness. It is by this truth that we can know that we too will be raised from the dead to eternal life in the future. Paul then revealed in verse 50-55 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”
Paul then ends his letter with greetings and instructions in Chapter 16. We will now begin the next letter of Paul to the Corinthian Church, the Book of 2 Corinthians.
The Book of 2 Corinthians is the third letter that Paul sent to the Corinthian Church. The first addressed problems with the newly planted church and has been lost to time. The second letter, the Book of 1 Corinthians, we just finished complemented the lost first letter and also addressed immorality in the church. The third letter now known as the Book of 2 Corinthians was written by Paul on about 56 AD and addressed some additional concerns possibly referred to Paul by Timothy. Certain false teachers had crept in to the church and were trying to undermine Paul’s authority to further their own gain. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to defend himself. This is a very personal letter that tells us much about the Apostle Paul. In Chapter 1 Paul began with an introduction and spoke about his suffering for Christ. He asserted his authority and reminded the people in Corinth that God is faithful and they should listen to Timothy and Silvanus. In Chapter 2 Paul told the Corinthians he did not want to return to them in sorrow, but with much joy. He asked the church to reaffirm their love for him and show forgiveness. The believers in Corinth needed to be aware of Satan’s devices and not be taken in by his schemes. Then in Chapter 3 he wrote that we are all ministers of the new covenant. The text in verse 2-3 says “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” We have been given liberty through the Spirit of God. Unlike the Israelites who could not look upon the shining face of Moses we are able in verse 18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Paul then began to explain his apostolic ministry in Chapter 4. He spoke in the chapter of how he has been sold out for Christ’s sake. He had no life of his own; everything he did was for the Lord. Paul wrote in verse 11-12 “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.” He concludes the chapter with these words from verse 16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish up the Book of 2 Corinthians then continue on ending up in the Book of Philippians.