God is Faithful
Notes
Transcript
God is Faithful
1 Corinthians 1:4–9 (ESV)
4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift,
as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8
who will sustain you to the end,
guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reminder
The main thrust of 1 Corinthians is exhortation for pure, godly living.
if you want to live a pure and godly life or you have a friend and you want to see them live a pure and godly life
what would you do? what would you say? so here we have the apostle Paul giving us an example of what to say and do.
Paul’s foundation for this exhorting the Corinthians to live a pure and godly life is the fact of the believers’ sainthood.
They have been sanctified by Christ because they trusted in Him.
What does it mean to trust Jesus?
They have been declared holy
and have been given a holy nature,
he pleads, they should act holy. [1]
What kind of life does a person live who is trusting Jesus?
We don’t lie, steal, covet, or commit any other sin—because all sin is inconsistent with who we are in Jesus Christ.
The new person is be conformed to the image of Christ
. Because He is holy, we are holy, we are saints. Because we are in Christ, we should act like Christ.
We should never think of anything He would not think, say anything He would not say, or do anything He would not do.
Because Jesus is holy our lives should be holy. That is the foundation of Christian living.
The Greeting
Compared to traditional Greco-Roman thanksgiving and parallel sections in Paul’s other letters,
Paul’s omissions in 1 Corinthians may speak as loudly as his words.
His thanks are directed to God for his faithfulness, not to the Corinthians for their commitment to Christ. [2]
The Background
Not all was well with the congregations of the Corinthian church.
There were problems of schism division and cliques among them.
Christians were suing one another in the secular courts and dishonoring the name of Jesus. imagine going to church with someone that your suing?
There was sexual immorality of such perversion that even the proverbially debauched pagans of Corinth would not name the offenses plaguing the Christians in their city.
And for all their immorality, nevertheless, they still found room to practice some spiritual snobbery and elitism,
claiming that their unique giftedness made them the elite of the church. speech and knowledge
There was theological confusion,
chaotic worship, and a general failure of love.
And behind all that, giving force and power and fueling all of their confusion stands an even more profound confusion about
how the Corinthian believers ought to relate to the culture of their day, Just as in our day
the culture out of which they had been converted and still lived each day.
The value system, the cultural expectations, the social norms, the language, and the rhetoric of the world had a massive pull upon them, and it was wreaking havoc in their lives and their churches.
I wonder if that’s how you think of Grace Covenant Church if that’s your default setting if those are the first thoughts and the first words in your mouth and in your mind as you think about our church. Are you thankful or have a critical and complaining spirit that betrays a lovelessness that makes you more like the Corinthians than the apostle Paul?
Here’s what grace has done in them, is doing in them. Here’s what grace may yet be doing or still do among us.
Thanksgiving
1:4 “I always thank my God.”
This is what you and I can pray for
Thanksgiving flows from recognizing that a gift is given, and a debt of gratitude is owed.
he has eyes to see that God has given his grace.
Just because people don’t do the right thing with the grace given doesn’t mean that it isn’t God’s grace.
Thanksgiving was not diminished by the problems flourishing among the Corinthians;
the problems were caused not by God’s generous gifts
but by the church’s misunderstanding and misuse.
Grace
“because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” - the church the body of Christ
Grace is the undergirding foundation for every statement Paul makes and every church experience.
To be “in Christ” is to be part of the community that belongs to Christ and recognizes his lordship.
To Paul, the suggestion that one could be Christian without belonging to the Christ community would be as odd as to suggest that one could be a Jew without belonging to Israel.[4]
It is the disposition, stance, and orientation of God's heart towards us when we are in Jesus Christ and when we are brought into personal union with His Son.
He is filled with grace towards us. you and me - all of us together
Or look down at the other end of the passage, verse 9. The same emphasis in slightly different language. “God is faithful, who has called us into the fellowship” – the word really means “participation; sharing; communion” – “of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.” God’s irresistible call in the Holy Spirit empowered preaching of the Gospel, brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light – from death to life; from being men and women in Adam to being men and women united to Jesus Christ. And there, we have fellowship and communion with Him. To be a Christian at all, do you see, means to be a man or a woman “in Christ.”
Riches
1:5 “ that in every way you were enriched in him
in all speech and all knowledge.”
Riches that matter flow from our relationship with Christ.
Even abilities they consider evidence of spiritual prominence and special endowment, their eloquence and insight, come as gifts from Christ and should therefore not give rise to boasting. its all a gift as we come to understand that everything we have is a gift of grace - not anything earned or deserved it changes who we are and how we look at others
God gave gifts to strengthen the church; the Corinthians have used them for self-promotion. totally misunderstood and misused the gift that God had given them
question for us is are we faithful with the gifts that God has given us? Do we use them without a air of pride?
Do we freely give because the gifts have been freely given?
To be holy is not to have a gift.
To be holy is to use the gift that you have been given for God’s glory and for the good of others.
Paul here warns against using knowledge as a lever for self-elevation (8:1). Skilled speakers can sound wise yet be without the depth of knowledge that God’s Spirit grants to those who are mature in Christ.
The test of spiritual quality for both speech and knowledge is love. (13:1–3).[5]
Psalms 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
enriched in him
Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that their relationship with Christ provides the necessary riches.
They don’t need to be chasing others down to get something from them.
They lived in a city where tariff income and trade allowed its citizens to become wealthy and influential. Corinth’s strategic location, with two harbors and the Diolkos that connected them, allowed the city to become very prosperous.
Testimony
1:6 “even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you”
He is grateful for the gospel’s work in their midst, but this same gospel must now become the measuring stick for their life and conduct.
The Word of God, the testimony that is confirmed among us that sustains and strengthens and nourishes us is a testimony about Christ.
And that for which we look and long at the consummation of all things, our final destiny, is the revealing of Jesus Christ. In a therapeutic age like ours, that always turns our attention inward, isn’t it helpful to be reminded that
the Christian life is centered elsewhere, not on the self but on the Savior.
Paul directs our gaze up and away to Jesus.
We are in Him.
The testimony is all about Him.
We wait for Him, he says.
Maybe you’ve been coming to church for years, and you’ve missed this. Maybe you’ve sought comfort, healing, personal wholeness, and human companionship. Maybe church for you is about finding a place and building a community. Well, fair enough. I’m glad. You can find those things here; I pray that you will.
But hear me carefully please, if that’s all you’re looking for, you are not yet a Christian.
Christians, whatever they find in the church, have found something infinitely more satisfying, more precious in Christ.
A Christian is someone “in Christ.” He is all in all to us.
Paul’s prayer here directs our attention to Him. He would ask you today the supremely urgent question, “Are you in Christ? Do you have Jesus? Does Jesus have hold of you?” That is the vital question we all must answer. The Christian life is oriented toward Jesus. It is in Christ. We are waiting for Him to come. It is a Christ-centered life.
Gifts
1:7 “so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
As the church waits for Christ’s return, God, as their patron, has provided everything.
Paul’s word choice speaks to several levels. Temporally, “not to lack” (mēhystereisthai; NIV: “do not lack”) means
The church will not be late or fail to be ready when Christ comes.
God’s people do not lack any of his benefits or have any need his grace does not satisfy.
In terms of significance, they are not inferior or unable to attain God’s purpose. [6]
“as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Their eyes are fixed on the final horizon line, the finish line.
A Christ-centered heart always results in – a heart captured by Jesus.
However much of Him we know here we long for the fullness of knowing Him hereafter.
We never get enough here.
We never see enough, know enough here.
There’s always more to come when He returns in His glory.
One day, the Lordship of Christ will be openly displayed.
Every eye will see Him, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess to the glory of God the Father,
and then our eternal business will begin – face to face with Jesus, reveling in His glory, delighting in His love, and adoring Him with all the Church and all the angels in His presence forever.
This here and now, this is the antechamber, the waiting room this side of eternity.
This isn’t home.
When Christ comes, that’s home.
that’s where we’re going, that’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we’re longing for, we who have Christ-centered hearts, who live in the grip of grace, enriched by His grace, whose Word is sustaining us and changing us and nourishing us. We’re longing for Jesus to come. This world is not our home.
Are you ready to go, or is this world your home?
Do you live waiting for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ
or are you still living in the past or living only for today when the best is yet to come?
Has Jesus Christ captured your heart?
That is the most important question you will ever answer.
I’m not talking about church. I’m not talking about tradition and routine and religious language. I’m not talking about that.
I’m talking about reality. Does Jesus Christ have hold of your heart? Are you in Him?
Has Jesus captured you so that you long for nothing so much as to be with Him and to see Him, to have more of Him?
Nothing else matters compared to how you answer that question.
Guiltless
1:8 “who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
God’s community will not be charged.
This should change the rules for life and fellowship and take away the need for the divisive self-promotion.
so prevalent in Corinthian society. Legal charges of all kinds may abound in Corinth, but
those who live in God’s eschatological community are protected against any ultimate accusation.[7]
What does that mean?
We’re going to make it.
Isn’t that good news? Some days, you wonder, right? Me too. We’re going to make it. God will do it.
He will sustain us transform us and remake us till we shine at the last day with the completed reflection of the character of Jesus.
Praise God! What a promise. But how will He do it?
How will we get there? How is He going to sustain us? The word “sustain” and the word “confirm” are the same. They both describe the effect of the Word of God in our hearts.
He will do it, sustain us as the Word is confirmed among us, as the testimony about Jesus grips our hearts, fills all our horizons, and motivates all our service.
It is as if the Word of God gets a hold.
Faithful
1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The church’s protection does not come from its ability to prove its own worthiness.
Instead, the God who lovingly and graciously has called them into Christ’s fellowship without requiring them to earn their right to his patronage will faithfully keep them there.
His people can rest assured that this covenantal love is steadfast (Rom. 8:38–39); his word and promises will not fail (Rom. 9:6).[8]
Fellowship
“you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Do you enjoy fellowship with the living Christ?
Is your life so bound together with His that you draw from him forgiveness, strength, hope, guidance, and joy while he draws from you faith, love, prayer, and obedience?
If so, then you have been called. [1]
[1]Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989). Desiring God.
Implications
1. Thanksgiving is the breath of a living faith. Thanksgiving refuses self-centeredness; self-centeredness eliminates Thanksgiving. The focus of genuine Christian faith rests on God and his work.
2. The Christian life is community life. The church is an alternative to the culture of secular society.
God enriches the church—the community of believers. Individualism runs counter to God’s kingdom purposes. In God’s community, individuals find significance as members of a body (12:12–26). The whole is more than the sum of the individuals; in fact, individuals find meaning and significance in their relationship to the whole
3. God’s gifts of grace are for the church to manifest Christ’s presence while they wait for his return. God has already poured out his Spirit and allowed the in-Christ community to experience the presence and gifting that belong to the kingdom. The end has already begun, though it has not yet fully come.
4. God is faithful. Thanksgiving, like faith, begins and ends with an affirmation that God is faithful and trustworthy. He keeps his promises. The destiny of his church is already determined. Those who call Christ Lord will stand blameless on the day of judgment. Faith must dare to confidently trust God’s grace. Doubt will cause humans to follow their own ways and will lead to strife and division[10]
Thanksgiving and gratitude are consistent with Christian living
Human Experience: With the art of saying “thank you” disappearing, gratitude may be a lost virtue. The thank-you note is a last bastion in what Mary Killen has called an “epidemic of discourtesy.” Even with the ease of communication via email or text messages, fewer and fewer people seem to be taking the time to thank others. And this discourtesy seems only compounded by the move away from the personal touch of hand-written letters. The next generation seems content to live in a letter-free zone, confining themselves to various forms of electronic messaging, which can rarely be described as articulate, memorable, or thoughtful. According to one survey, a third of those under thirty-five have never sent a personal letter to a loved one in their lives, a statistic that is shocking for many who are older. The arrival of mail for the younger generation means bank statements, parking fines, junk mail, and offers for credit cards.7 Amid such trends, thoughtful thanks can shape our hearts and speak powerfully to others. Gratitude expressed encourages grace-filled living, which goes a long way in holding back self-centeredness. And it is an inseparable part of being Christian—“give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18).[11]
[1]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (p. 9). Moody Press.
[2]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 19). Baker Books.
[3]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (p. 10). Moody Press.
[4]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 17). Baker Books.
[5]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; pp. 17–18). Baker Books.
NIV New International Version
[6]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 18). Baker Books.
[7]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 19). Baker Books.
[8]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 19). Baker Books.
[9]Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989). Desiring God.
[10]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; p. 20). Baker Books.
7 Valerie Grove, “I Appreciate Your Gift More Than I Can Say,” The Times Online, December 27, 2007, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1854809.ece.
[11]Vang, P. (2014). 1 Corinthians (M. L. Strauss, Ed.; pp. 20–21). Baker Books.