1 Sunday, May 15, 2016 I Crinthians 4:18-21: Crrecting the Crinthians Intrductin/Review Last week during ur time tgether we studied verses 14 thrugh 17. In summatin we bserved the fllwing regarding these verses. Verse 14 after speaking quit harshly t the Crinthians in verses 6-13, Paul tells them in verse 14 that he is nt writing these things t shame them. Rather, as his belved sns it was necessary that Paul warn the Crinthians. Verse 15 the Crinthians were listening t anyne and everyne and their divisins centering arund varius teachers was evidence f this fact. Paul was their father in that they were begtten f the gspel thrugh Paul s ministry amng them. It was n accunt f Paul s labr in the gspel f Christ that the Crinthians were saved. The Crinthians were behaving like wayward teenagers wh were ashamed f their wn parents but were heading the spiritual cuncil f everyne else. Verse 16 n the basis f the fact Paul had begtten the Crinthians thrugh he gspel in verse 15 he beseeches them in verse 16 t be fllwers f him. Verse 17 it was fr the cause f beseeching the Crinthians t be fllwers f Paul that Timthy was sent unt them. Timthy s jb in Crinth was ging t be t bring them int remembrance f Paul s ways which be in Christ. In rder t bring them int remembrance implies that they already knew these things and had frgtten them. In running after their ten thusands instructrs in verse 15 they had frgtten the very basic things that Paul had taught them. The Crinthians had been mved away frm Paul. They did nt want t cunt the cst alng with the Apstle Paul. I Crinthians 4:18 Nw sme are puffed up, as thugh I wuld nt cme t yu. This is the secnd time in chapter 4 that Paul has used the expressin puffed up when describing the Crinthians. A third ccurs in the next verse. I Crinthians 4:6 Accrding t Webster s 1828 dictinary the English wrd puffed means: driven ut suddenly, as air r breath; blwn up; swelled with air; inflated with vanity r pride; praised. The expressin puffed up is used elsewhere in Paul s epistles and it is never viewed as a gd thing. I Crinthians 5:2 Pastr Bryan Rss
2 I Crinthians 8:1 I Crinthians 13:4 Clssians 2:18 I Crinthians 4:18 describes sme f the Crinthians as being puffed up as thugh Paul wuld nt cme unt them. I take that t mean that they had a lt t say abut Paul behind his back. Expecting t never see Paul again they were talking a big game against the apstle. I Crinthians 4:19 But I will cme t yu shrtly, if the Lrd will, and will knw, nt the speech f them which are puffed up, but the pwer. Verse 19 begins with a cntrast. Paul s desire was t cme unt them shrtly. If Paul came unt them he wanted t knw the pwer f thse which had s much t say abut him. I take this t mean that Paul wanted t see if these flks wuld behave thusly if Paul was in their presence. If Paul came t Crinth he wuld endeavr t knw the reasns fr the inflated egs f these flks. I Crinthians 4:8 what was the surce f their influence? Paul wuld endeavr t knw if he came unt them again. There is n recrd that Paul ever made it t Crinth again. I Crinthians 4:20 Fr the kingdm f Gd is nt in wrd, but in pwer. In verse 19 Paul said that if he came unt them he desired t knw the pwer f them which are puffed up. By what pwer r authrity were they behaving in this manner? Galatians 5:19-21 their puffed up behavir and cnduct was the byprduct f their natural flesh prgramming. Galatians 5:22-24 in cntrast the fruit f the Spirits peratin in their lives wuld nt have been t be puffed up against Paul. Pastr Bryan Rss
3 I Crinthians 13:4 the charity prduced by the Spirit in the life f a believer is nt arrgant r self imprtant i.e., it is nt puffed up. I Crinthians 4:20 the flks Paul is addressing in chapter 4 were puffed up and behaving in a prideful arrgant manner. Their behavir was nt cnsistent with the ethical and mral functining f Gd s kingdm. Therefre, Paul wanted t knw the surce f the pwer upn which these flks were functining. I Crinthians 4:21 What will ye? shall I cme unt yu with a rd, r in lve, and in the spirit f meekness? Paul pens verse 21 with a questin, what will ye? In ther wrds, what d yu want? Having cnfrnted thse wh are puffed up, and having tld them that he is nt interested in their empty wrds and talk but in the presence f pwer in their lives, he nw gives them a chice. If they cntinue in their arrgant frame f mind, he will respnd accrdingly. On the ther hand, if they allw the Hly Spirit t replace their fleshly haughtiness with humility, he will cme unt them in a spirit f meekness. Much culd be said abut the wrd rd in scripture. It is clear in this cntext that Paul has the issue f crrectin in mind. The puffed up attitude f the Crinthians elicited crrectin. Prverbs 22:15 des Paul literally mean that he is ging t line up the Crinthians and spank them physically. On the ther hand, if their pride gave way t humility, Paul wuld cme unt them in lve and in the spirit f meekness. II Timthy 3:16-17 Paul is seeking t reprve and crrect the pr thinking and behavir f the Crinthians via the act f addressing the epistle f I Crinthians unt them. Chastisement During the Dispensatin f Grace Verses like I Crinthians 4:21 ften bring up questins fr peple regarding hw crrectin wrks during the dispensatin f grace. Hebrews 12:5-11 see whm the Lrd lveth he chasteneth. Scurgeth means t flg r beat with a whip Pastr Bryan Rss
4 Matthew 10:17 Matthew 20:19 Jhn 19:1 Hebrews 1:1-2; 2:1-4 the readership f Hebrews has a reference pint in Gd s prphetic histry. The writer f Hebrews is drawing his readers attentin t sme things they had already been taught. Ephesians 2:11-12 the gentiles d nt pssess the same histrical perspective as the readers f Hebrews because in time past we were strangers frm the cvenants f prmise withut hpe and withut Gd. Ephesians 3:3 the frmatin f the Bdy f Christ is the subject f the mystery, therefre, we have n prphetic reference pint like the readers f Hebrews. S the questin becmes if the bk f Hebrews is nt written t the Bdy f Christ des Gd still chasten believers and if s what frm des chastening take? Psalm 94:10-12 the first definitin is that f crrectin which takes the frm f instructin. The law prvided crrectin which is a frm f chastisement. Therefre, the first definitin simply means t educate r infrm with the gal f crrecting. Prverbs 3:11-12 the secnd definitin deals with keeping the law and fearing the punishment f Gd that is utlined in the Law. Deuternmy 28:1-14 delineate a series f blessings that wuld be given t Israel fr fllwing the Law. Deuternmy 28:15-44 delineate a series f curses that wuld cme upn Israel fr their failure t cmply. The Law cntract said they wuld be cursed fr disbedience. Deuternmy 28:45 these curses wuld designed by Gd t pursue after them until they were destryed. Deuternmy 28:46 this system f curses was t serve as a sign, that is a flag r indicatr that wuld tell the natin where they were at with their relatinship with Gd. Rmans 6:14-15 we are nt under the Law system. Therefre, we are nt under the sign prgram. The things that happen t us are nt indicative f Gd s favr r disfavr with us. Rmans 5:1 based n the merits f his sn Gd is at peace with us. If Gd is a peace with us he is nt ut t destry us when we mess up. Pastr Bryan Rss
5 Clssians 2:13 believers have already been frgiven all trespasses. Why wuld Gd punish us fr things fr which we have already been frgiven? I Crinthians 4:21 as members f the bdy f Christ we still need crrectin frm time t time as the bk f I Crinthians makes abundantly clear. The questin is what frm des that crrectin take? We will lk at that next time. Pastr Bryan Rss