Lord Jesus Christ in 1Corinthians

Verses within this Study.

1:1, 2, 2-LJC, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9-Son, 10, 12, 13, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31; 2:2, 8, 16; 3:1, 5, 11, 20, 23; 4:1, 4, 5, 10, 14, 15, 15-CJ, 17, 17-Son, 19; 5:4, 5, 7; 6:11, 13, 14, 15, 17; 7:10, 12, 17, 22, 25, 32, 34, 35, 39; 8:5, 6, 11, 12; 9:1, 1-LJC, 2, 5, 12, 14, 18, 21; 10:4, 9; 16, 21, 22, 26, 28; 11:1, 3, 11, 20, 23, 23-LJ, 26, 27, 29, 32; 12:3, 3-LJ, 5, 12, 27; 14:21, 37; 15:3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 31, 47, 57, 58; 16:7, 10, 19, 22, 23, 24.

Click on the following links to jump to a section within the study of this Bible Book: Lord only, Jesus only, Christ only, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Son

Overview of Names used.

Lord occurs 59 times total and 40 times by itself.

Christ occurs 59times total and 37times by itself. However, Jesus only occurs 24 times and only once by itself. These proportions of single name use show that this book is mainly dealing with basic concepts which relate to the roles of Lord and of Christ. That is because 1Corinthians was written to immature saved people who needed to learn basic concepts. They needed to learn that our Lord is always right and will bring judgment upon any and all who challenge His authority by doing things like ignoring His commandments to 'Stop our sinning!' They also needed to learn about the true spiritual maturity that comes through an ongoing personal relationship with Christ.

In addition, to those numbers, we see that Paul mentions God 109times in 88 verses, but our study is not about God the Father.

Going on, consider that Jesus occurs by itself only once compared to the number of occurrences of Lord and Christ. These people knew of the salvation in Jesus but needed to learn of the perfecting ministry of Christ and the legal consequences of ignoring their Lord.

When we consider the use of the combination of roles, we find that Lord and Jesus and Christ occur in 13verses while the exact phrase of Lord Jesus Christ occurs 9times. The phrase of Lord Jesus occurs 3 times (without including Christ) while Jesus is the Lord occurs once. The phrase Lord Christ never occurs while Lord and Christ occur in 16 verses, 3 times without including Jesus. The phrase of Christ Jesus occurs 5times, twice Lord is also included in the verse. The phrase of Jesus Christ occurs 16 times, 10 times Lord is also included in the verse. All of these numbers indicate that when Paul is dealing with doctrinal issues that involve more than one of the Son of God's roles (Lord / Jesus / Christ), he usually dealt with doctrines that involved all three roles. The more subtle doctrinal issues that only involve two of the Son of God's roles were not covered very much with this immature church.

Paul's basic purpose in this letter is to correct and clarify basic doctrinal issues. Basic doctrinal issues are usually related to only one of the Son of God's roles at a time.

Lord only

1Corinthians 1:31; 2:8; 3:5, 20; 4:4, 5, 19; 6:13, 14, 17; 7:10, 12, 17, 25, 32, 34, 35, 39; 8:5; 9:1, 2, 5, 14; 10:21, 22, 26, 28; 11:11, 20, 23, 26, 27, 29, 32; 12:5; 14:21, 37; 15:47, 58; 16:7, 10, 19

Paul uses God's name of Lord as many times as he uses God's name of Christ and both are used far more times than he uses God's name of Jesus or any combination on names. The Corinthian church was very immature spiritually, but thought they were mature. Paul wrote this letter to straighten out many problems including their view of God and spiritual matters. Newly saved people have no problem understanding the basics of God's role as Jesus. It's God's roles as Lord and Christ that they need to learn. Paul used Lord to teach these spiritually immature people that our Lord is King and that He deals with them through His role as King when He is dealing with them about certain matters. Specifically, when God deals with us about His Kingship, our Worship of Him, the Lord's Supper, His power to enforce laws, when He appoints men to roles, in governments, in legal matters, in judgment and as the role that provides true salvation as opposed to the religiously claimed false salvation that comes from praying to Jesus. Click here for all of the Verses in the New Testament that use Lord and here for the Summary on the name / role of Lord.

1Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

This verse is part of the same sentence as 1:30. Please see the note on 1:30 under Christ Jesus for most of the details about. Please also see the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians for how it is divided by punctuation and for other notes.

This verse is separated from the rest of the sentence by a colon, which makes it equivalent to the other part of the sentence. The other part is telling us what we receive in Christ Jesus because the Lord set it up that way before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This part of the sentence says to give the glory to the Lord because it was the Lord Who gave us everything that we should glory in. The Lord is the role of God that we are to worship. If we steal the Lord's glory (1:29), we will suffer the consequences. As we give the Lord the glory that he deserves, He gives us more wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption through Christ Jesus. Please note that while we receive these blessings in Christ Jesus, we are not told to glory in Christ Jesus but in the Lord because all Biblically proper worship is directed towards the Lord.

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1Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

This verse is a single sentence with a colon. Paul is comparing the princes of this world, on one side of the colon, to the Lord of glory on the other side of the colon. The princes of this world represent men's government and all of the power and wisdom and other things that governments collect and claim to provide. Paul is comparing what men's governments do and provide to that God's government does and provides. Since this is about government, Paul tells us that God's role as Lord is used.

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1Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

This verse is part of the argument that Paul started at the beginning of this epistle. The details of the context and argument are presented in the note for 3:1 under Christ. Please see that note.

In this verse, Paul is clearly saying that it isn't the man that the Lord assigned to minister that they should be concerned about but the Lord Himself who did the assigning. Paul uses Lord here because it is the Lord who assigns men to positions such as ministries. It is also the Lord who gives the message that is passed through the man. 2Peter 1:21 tells us For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. If you take a pen and write your name on a piece of paper, you move the pen and it is not the pen, but you, that determines what is written. If someone insisted that it was all done by the pen, and that you had nothing to do with it, then most people would agree to call that person a fool. Likewise, people who say that the word of God was written (or preserved) by men are fools because they deny that men were moved by the Holy Ghost just like this other fool denies that the pen was moved by the person holding it. Unfortunately, while a lot of people can understand this analogy, they get messed up when someone shows them where their favorite preacher or religion goes against the written word of God. They think they are spiritually mature, but when they choose the words of the man over the written word of God, they prove that they are babes in Christ as this section is talking about.

Notice that Paul what says in this verse. He says that it is not the man who gave them the message but the Lord gave to every man the message that they then passed on. Paul concludes this little section in 3:7 with So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. It is important that people realize that Paul uses Lord in this verse to name the source of the message because rejecting a message from the Lord brings judgment by our Lord. In 3:8 Paul tells us every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. The phrase shall receive his own reward is talking about a positive result of judgment. Notice that Paul goes on in the next few verses with an analogy that compares the church to the temple of God. In 3:16 we are told that not only is the whole church the temple of God but we as individuals are also the temple of God. Then in 3:17 we are told If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. If anyone thinks that him shall God destroy isn't judgment, then they don't know the basic definitions of English words. We defile the temple of God (make non-holy) when we sin as individuals or we encourage others in God's church to sin. That's why Paul starts this whole section with a warning that it is the Lord that we will answer to and our Lord will judge our sin (him shall God destroy), especially if we defile the temple of God.

Please see the note for 1Corinthians 14:24-25, for links to sentences within this epistle which use forms the word belief or the word believe along with links to several other notes with extensive links and explanations, the definition from Webster's 1828 and links from other commentators.

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1Corinthians 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Here, Paul is quoting Jeremiah 8:7-9. In the original passage, and this quote of it, Lord refers to God the Father. This verse starts with And again, which adds it to the prior verse which has a quote of Job 5:13. There are many other places in the Bible that Paul could have quoted such as Ecclesiastes which tell us that the thoughts of the wise (of this world) are vain (Per Webster's 1828: 'Empty; worthless; having no substance, value or importance. Fruitless; ineffectual. All attempts, all efforts were vain. Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; elated with a high opinion of one's own accomplishments, or with things more showy than valuable; conceited. 1Peter 1; Psalm 2; Psalm 39; Proverbs 12; Isaiah 1; James 1; Matthew 15; etc '). This verse uses Lord for God the Father because it is quoting Old Testament scripture and basically tells us that before man thought himself to have knowledge (Genesis 2:9), God warned that seeking such knowledge was sin. These religious 'experts ' are just proving that they are following their basic sin nature and that they are personally liable for committing 'original sin '.

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1Corinthians 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

This verse uses Lord because it is talking about judgment and judgment is limited to God's role as Lord. This verse is explained in the note for 4:1 under Christ and it is part of Paul's statement of the relationship between a steward and their personal master. Here, Paul is saying that his personal master is the Lord.

Notice that this verse starts with For. That means it gives the reason for what Paul said in the prior sentence where he was talking about ignoring being judged by men. The colon, followed by the word but, makes but he that judgeth me is the Lord the equivalent polar opposite to the first half of the sentence. While man can not judge, our Lord can and will judge.

Paul ignored being judged by men because their judgment didn't matter and the only judgment that did matter was his judgment by the Lord. However, we find some additional information in the first half of this sentence where Paul says yet am I not hereby justified. When Paul said I know nothing by myself he was saying that he did not claim to be the author of knowledge that came from, like other people were doing. (Taking what the Lord had reserved for Himself is a good way to get hurt by the Lord.) However, in this sentence, Paul said that he was not justified by just avoiding doing wrong because a steward is supposed to be pro-active in securing good for his master with the things that he has been given. There were people busy judging the apostles and Paul is telling these Corinthians that those people will face judgment by the Lord. However, Paul doesn't want these Corinthians to then think they are OK if they just avoid this error by others. He wants them to know that, in addition to avoiding giving offense, they must be pro-active in securing good for his master with the things that he has been given.

In Matthew 25 we read the parable of the talents and in Luke 19 we read the parable of the pounds. In both, Jesus taught that the steward who did not increase his Master's goods was punished. When we are judged by the Lord, we will be negatively judged for every time that we took something that the Lord reserved for Himself and we will be negatively judged for failure to increase our Master's goods (failure to add souls to His kingdom and failure to help spiritually mature others).

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1Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

This verse uses Lord because it is talking about judgment and judgment is limited to God's role as Lord. 'this verse is explained in the note for 4:1 under Christ and it is explained in the note above for 4:4. This verse is part of Paul's statement of the relationship between a steward and their personal master. Since it is the Lord who will judge His stewards, we will be taking something that he has reserved for Himself if we judge before we hear His judgment. As explained in the note above, that brings judgment by the Lord upon ourselves.

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1Corinthians 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

Paul wants to go to the Corinthian church and correct the errors being taught by certain people. However, he acknowledges that the Lord has final say. We might get away with not obeying Jesus or Christ, but not the Lord. We might deliberately sin, and get away with it because of grace, when we sin against Jesus or Christ. However, Hebrews 10:26-31 warns us that we won't get away with deliberately disobeying our Lord. That section, written to Christians, ends with It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Paul is acknowledging, as we all should, that our Lord has final say over everything in our lives if we want to be blessed and not be punished. Notice the next two verses where Paul says that he is coming in the power of the kingdom of God. The only way that he will have that power is if he is obeying a commandment from our Lord.

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1Corinthians 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

This verse has two sentences in it and it is important to understand the context of these sentences, along with the perspective that Paul is using, in order to understand what is really being said here. The note for the first sentence (Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them.) in the Book Study on 1Corinthians explains the context, perspective and proper interpretation of that sentence. Please see that note as the first sentence is not really involved in this Study on the use of the name of the Son of God. As explained there, these sentences must be understood from a spiritual perspective and this first sentence is just an example of the doctrine that Paul has been explaining in this chapter. That is: this first sentence shows us that someone has a totally wrong spiritual perspective if they allow any of the thing that pertain to this life interfere with their ongoing personal relationship with God.

Our second sentence is based upon that perspective because it starts with Now. Again, Paul is giving examples of the doctrine that he is teaching. Therefore, fornication is used in this sentence as an example of a sin which is done with our body and which does the most to interfere with our obedience to the Lord. Further, the second phrase of this sentence tells us that obedience to the Lord, and proper worship of the Lord, is the best way to take care of our body. I know that this interpretation might seem like a stretch, but only when people do not understand the context and doctrine of the entire chapter that this sentence is found within. Please see all of the notes related to this chapter in the Book Study on 1Corinthians in order to understand the very significant contextual and doctrinal considerations related to this sentence.

In several places in the New Testament meats are used to symbolize the sacrifice in the religion and several religions in Old Testament times used animal sacrifices for worship. When Paul says Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them, he is telling us that meats are for food and eating them does not mean we are participating in worship. (This doctrine is actually covered later in Chapter 8.) Additionally, some religions, especially in the area of Gentile churches, used sex for worship but proper sex is not participating in improper worship. Fornication represents a perversion of our private relationship with God because God limited sex to marriage and marriage represents the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). Properly used, these things are not improper worship. As Paul will explain later, we are to use our body to do service for the Lord.

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1Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

This verse is tied to 6:13 and that note applies here. Combined, Paul is saying that we are to worship and serve our Lord that God raised from the dead. That is, we are to worship and serve God the Son.

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1Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

This verse is part of a section where Paul is talking about how sex has a spiritual aspect to it. When we are saved, God gives us His Holy Spirit so that we can worship and serve Him properly. In this verse, Paul is reminding the reader of their initial profession when they agreed to join unto the Lord (Romans 14:10).

Many religious people say that we are saved by saying a prayer to Jesus. But, as shown elsewhere in this paper, true salvation is from calling on the name of the Lord (not Jesus) and God answering that prayer with His Spirit joining us when He gave us the earnest of the Spirit (2Corinthians 1:22, 5:5). Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. However, 1John 3:4 tells us for sin is the transgression of the law. Since God always deals with legal issues through His role as Lord, we have to have the Lord blot out our spiritual criminal record of sin before He can join His Holy Spirit to our spirit and make us spiritually alive (His sons [John 1:12-13]). In the Bible, a son has the same character as his father. For example, of all the preachers that Paul trained, he only called 3son. When we first get saved, we do not have the character of God the Father. That happened through the ministry of Christ that is part of our ongoing personal relationship with God after our initial profession. This, When we first get saved (received him in the past tense of John 1:12), God gives us the power to become the sons of God, (future tense) but are not the sons of God until Christ changes our character to be like God.

So it is the Lord that does what is necessary to make us one spirit with His Spirit.

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1Corinthians 7:10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

Paul uses command here related to the Lord who is giving this command. The use of Lord in this verse clearly demonstrates that law, government, judgment, etc all are related to God's role as Lord. While lots of people want to explain how their circumstances provide an exception, the Bible uses Lord for the role of God which refuses to consider us individually and provides no exceptions. However, this is a case where looking only at the verse leads to doctrinal error. This verse is only part of the full sentence and not including the rest of this sentence is following the way of error that Satan used when tempting Jesus. There was no problem with the scripture that he quoted. The problem was in what he left out. Likewise, leaving out the rest of this sentence leads to doctrinal error when doing interpretation. Therefore, please see the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians for all that needs to be considered.

There is a considerable amount taught in this chapter about the proper relationship in a marriage. In addition, there are preachers who preach a lot on this subject and others who deal with this subject as the main focus of their life. I will not try to compete with those people but will stick to the literal interpretation of what Paul says in this chapter and leave all of the enhancements to others. Please see all of the notes for this chapter within the Book Study on 1Corinthians as it says a lot on this subject.

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1Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord : If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

This verse is in clear opposition to 7:10 so far as authority goes. Paul is clearly saying that this commandment is not from the Lord.

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1Corinthians 7:17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

This verse is the start of a section that provides detailed application of the commandment in this verse. Notice the verbs in this verse: distributed, called, walk and ordain. Distributed is talking about the positions assigned by the Lord. Ordained is given a special purpose for worship and is definitely related to God the Son's role as Lord. Anyone who ever faced a draft into armed services understands a legal aspect of call, and walk is used in the Bible for how we actually live. We are to walk obedient to the law of our Lord (Please see the notes for 1 and 2Thessalonians for more details on this). The section that follows clearly shows that our Lord assigns different roles in this life to different people. This section strongly supports the claim that life roles of men are assigned by God through His role as Lord and no other role.

As the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians points out, this sentence is one of three sentences within this chapter which tell us the theme of the chapter. That theme is to accept the circumstances of life that the Lord put us into. Since God uses His role as Lord to do this, and not Jesus or Christ, what we are told here is not personal. Our chapter tells us that God gives each of us his proper gift of God. Then God puts is into circumstances which will exercise that gift and cause it to grow. However, any exercise which causes growth also includes some pain. Our flesh hates pain and motivates us to complain and try to get out of the painful circumstance. That's where the precept and lessons of this chapter come in. Within this chapter Paul deals with several different circumstances but the precept and the command from our Lord is the same for all circumstances. 'Stay where God put you. Deal with the pain and problems by using the gift that God gave you. The circumstances that you are in are intended to cause your personal spiritual gift to grow'.

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1Corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord : yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

Paul clearly connects commandment to the Lord in this sentence and other sentences in this chapter and epistle. His use exactly fits and supports the doctrine that law, commandments, and other legal matters come through God's role as Lord. In the second usage of Lord, within this sentence, Paul says that he obtained mercy of the Lord. Mercy of the Lord is legal mercy as opposed to mercy that comes from Jesus or Christ. Legal mercy means we don't receive the punishment that we deserve for violating God's Law (sin [1John 3:4]). Paul is saying that as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful, he understands the legal principals that our Lord uses in His judgment. While Paul can not provide a verse in the Bible to back his judgment, he can use his knowledge and experience to say how our Lord will judge this matter. In the second half of this sentence, Paul uses Lord because he is speaking about judgment, which God always deals with using His role as Lord. The two parts are equivalent because both are talking about judgment by our Lord. The first half speaks of judgment based upon a commandment of our Lord. The second half speaks of judgment based upon the principals of Law that our Lord uses.

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1Corinthians 7:32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord :

7:32 and 7:33 hold two sentences with the second starting in the middle of 7:32 and going through 7:33. It compares everything that a married man puts into pleasing his wife to the relative freedom of an unmarried man who is free to concentrate on pleasing his Lord. While some might think that Paul is talking about several subjects in this chapter, he is actually applying the same principal of Law to different subjects. That's why we see Lord used so much in this chapter. The note for 7:25 (above) mentions this principal. Basically, what we see Paul say applies to married and unmarried (7:1-16), the circumcised and the uncircumcised in (7:18-19), the servant and the freeman in (7:21-23), those who want to remain virgins and those who do not in (7:25-28) and many other conditions in (7:30). We see Paul tell us this principal in 7:17 and 7:19 and 7:20 and 7:24 and 7:29-31. Basically, stop worrying about what position you have in this life. Our position doesn't make us more spiritual or less spiritual than those who have the opposite position. Every position has certain rights and responsibilities. Anyone who wants or needs the rights is also taking on the responsibilities of that position and the Lord expects them to meet those responsibilities. Beyond our responsibilities, our Lord expects us to serve Him within the position that we have and not go seeking a different position because we think it. will make us more spiritual. It our Lord wants us in a different position ', he will give it to us.

7:32 and 7:33 is a single sentence broken by a colon at the end of 7:32 and 7:32 tells us about the position of the unmarried while 7:33 tells us about the position of the married. Before this sentence, Paul says But I would have you without carefulness, which means stop worrying about your position in this world. The unmarried has more time to care for the things that belong to the Lord than the married does but the married has less temptations to lust in the flesh. Now, obviously, there is a whole lot more in these verses that applies to the relationship of the married and of the unmarried, but as I said in an earlier note, I will not speak on that matter. Paul uses Lord in this verse for the role that the Son of God uses to appoint men to earthly positions.

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1Corinthians 7:34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Please see the note on 7:32 above. Paul uses Lord in this verse for the role that the Son of God uses to appoint men to earthly positions.

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1Corinthians 7:35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

Please see the note on 7:32 above. Paul uses Lord in this verse for the role that the Son of God uses to appoint men to earthly positions.

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1Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

Please see the note on 7:32 above. Paul uses Lord in this verse for the role that the Son of God uses to appoint men to earthly positions.

This verse clearly says that saved people are to marry only a saved person. As noted in many other verses and in the general summary, we are saved by calling upon the Lord, not Jesus or Christ. 1Corinthians 6:15-17 tell us that sex is spiritual, as well as being physical, mental and emotional. We all know that the Bible teaches that marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5). But, probably the most important thing that most Christians miss about marriage is that it is legally a spiritual covenant as well as a contract under man's laws. By using Lord in this verse, Paul is reminding the reader of the spiritual law of our Lord that is involved in all spiritual covenants. That covenant is enforced by the court of our Lord and not by men's courts. A saved couple may get a divorce in man's court, but that doesn't mean that they are divorced in God's eyes. Most of what is preached against being divorced actually applies only to those who divorce and then get remarried. Some things, such as the qualifications for pastor or deacon, apply to all divorced, but most of the condemnation preached by many people does not (Biblically) apply to divorced people who remain pure and avoid seeking marriage with another person other than their divorced mate.

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1Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in Heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

Notice that in this verse, Paul correctly uses a lower case 'l ' for lord as he is referring to a false lord, which is a devil. We also saw this change of upper case to lower case with lamb in Revelation. The Bible is consistent and always correct in that it uses the upper-case only for God and uses the lower-case for all other beings In our sentence Paul is comparing the power of God our Father and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to that of devils who claim to be lords and gods. Here we are told that they are no where near in power to deserve even the lower-case titles of lords or of gods. Please also see the section on Other Spirits in the Word Study on Spirit.

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1Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? are not ye my work in the Lord

This verse has 4 questions (sentences) in it and they continue through 9:2 where the answer is presented. Then the rest of this chapter deals with the proof. Please see the note on 9:1 under Lord Jesus Christ for the details on the third question. Many of the sentences in this chapter either directly mention the role of Lord or deal with subjects related to the role of Lord.

Lord is used in 9:1, 2, 5, 14.
Law is mentioned in 9:8, 9, 20, 21.
Power is in 9:4, 5, 6, 12, 18.
Ordained is in 9:14.
Free is in 9:1, 19.
Servant is in 9:19.
Apostle is in 9:1, 2, 5.
Seal is in 9:2.
9:7 uses terms associated with Lord such as warfare, vineyard and flock.

In addition, to everything covered in this chapter related to the role of Lord, this sentence, which introduces the subject of this chapter, uses Lord three times and apostle three times. It is doctrinally saying that Paul had the position of apostle given to him by the Lord and the seal of our Lord's approval was the saved people in Corinth and in all of the churched that our Lord started through Paul. Since God the Son uses His role as Lord to appoint positions and this sentence is about Paul's position as apostle, Lord is used in 9:1 and 9:2.

This chapter is telling us about the rights and responsibilities of church leaders such as apostles and pastors. The work in the Lord is work that results in people having their spiritual legal status changed from being children of the devil to being spiritually adopted children of God (saved). If Paul did not have the legal authority to represent Jesus Christ our Lord, then they had no basis for claiming the salvation which came only because Paul had this legal authority to represent our Lord. The charge against Paul was not that he had authority, but less than he claimed, because his accusers had no basis for such a claim. They were denying that Paul had any authority at all. Paul is pointing out that for the Corinthians to accept this claim they must also give up their claim of salvation which depends upon Paul having that same legal authority.

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1Corinthians 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ.

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1Corinthians 9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter.

Matthew 13:55 names the half-brothers of Jesus, but Paul does not use Jesus because he is not talking about the physical role of the Son of God. Paul uses Lord in this chapter because it is a discussion about legal rights. In this sentence, Paul is saying that just because he chooses to not exercise his legal rights, that doesn't mean that he lost them. Since Paul is talking about legalities, he uses God's role as Lord because that is the only role of God that deals with legalities. Please see the note for this verse in the Book Study on 1Corinthians and the chapter summary for this chapter in order to understand the context and how this verse fits within that context. The entire chapter is one single argument that deals with legal issues and could be presented in a court of law where Paul establishes his authority and proves others to be liars.

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1Corinthians 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter.

This verse uses Lord with ordained. Ordained is a legal religious function. Lord is used here in reference to God's role that deals with legal matters and because worship (and religious functions) are directed at the Lord (not Jesus or Christ) and because all appointments of men to positions God does through His role as Lord. The rights and responsibilities of those roles, including how men get paid, are also assigned by our Lord.

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1Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Paul is using Lord here to emphasize God's role that enforces laws and brings judgment and this is the role of God which provides our basic needs. Within our verse, the emphasis is on our Lord providing our basic needs. There is a spiritual warfare between God and devils. Consorting with the enemy during war is treason and will be judged accordingly. As for provision, just as a government provides the basic needs of soldiers, so also does our Lord provide the basic needs of saved people.

As all of the notes (in the Book Study on 1Corinthians) for 10:10-33say these verses / sentences are a single unit and all must be considered together. The emphasis on Lord, within this verse, are the cup and the table which belong to the Lord.

We find forms of the word cup occurring 68 times in 59verses of the Bible, 31 times in 28 verses of the New Testament, and in 1Corinthians, in: 10:16; our current sentence; 11:25; 11:26; 11:27; and 11:28. In every usage within this epistle, except one of the usages within our current verse, we see cup used for the cup of the Lord's Supper. The first couple of usages within the Bible are in Genesis where the cup is used for divination. In many places of the Bible, and in all places of the New Testament, we see cup used to symbolically connect our body and spirit to the spiritual realm and a being in it. Thus, our sentence is telling us that we can not be directly dealing with God's Holy Spirit and the spirit of a devil at the same time.

Our verse is divided by a colon, which makes the two sections equivalent, and we see Lord's table used in the Second Equivalent Section. Within the Bible, We find forms of the word table occurring 73 times in 70 verses of the Bible, 12 times in 11 verses of the New Testament, and only in our current sentence within in 1Corinthians. The first several usages are for the table within the Tabernacle. Within the Bible, the table is symbolically used to represent the source of provision and fellowship. Even today, people prepare food for when they wish to fellowship. Our verse is telling us that we can not fellowship with our Lord and with devils at the same time.

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1Corinthians 10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Within this context, Paul is telling us to consider how our Lord will react when our actions basically testify that he does not provide for our needs and that we need to go to devils to have our needs met. Look at the next sentence within our verse, which says are we stronger than he? Paul is warning that this type of action on our part is a direct challenge to our Lord's power and authority, which He can not ignore. Our Lord will hurt any of His people who do this and they can not stop Him from doing so because they are not stronger than (God).

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1Corinthians 10:26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.

In our current verse, Paul is stating that the earth legally belongs to our Lord (He is the creator). As Lord, He can make it legal for us to eat anything in the earth. However, as Paul said in 10:23, it's not a question of what is legal but what is expedient when it comes to giving God glory and in the summary of this practical application section (10:31), Paul tells us whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Therefore, in this verse Paul is admitting to a truth that people may use to argue against his advice. In the next couple of verses Paul answers their objection before they make it.

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1Corinthians 10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:

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Please see the notes on 10:4 and for 10:21 (above). The note for 10:4 gives an outline and context of the whole chapter, which is a single unit of thought. The note for 10:21 gives the spiritual symbolism involved in this entire section of the chapter. In addition, the notes within the Book Study on 1Corinthians provide all of the details for every verse and sentence within this epistle. As noted for this verse, in the Book Study on 1Corinthians,the verses / sentences for 10:10-33are a single unit and all must be considered together. With this sentence we are told how to deal with a saved, or lost, person who may misunderstand our spiritual freedom that is for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. When they say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, they are thinking that the meat belongs to the idol and not to the Lord. Therefore, they are admitting to not understand the spiritual freedom that Paul has told us about. In their ignorance, their conscience may be defiled because they thing that the spiritually free person is doing something other than what he is actually doing. Therefore, the spiritually free person has a god given responsibility to act within the framework of what they can understand.

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1Corinthians 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

This is in the middle of a complex discussion about authority which was discussed in the note for 11:1. As noted there, Paul is explaining our proper relationships to other people based upon the legal / spiritual structure that God created. Within that structure, God assigned positions for man (and women). This structure and these assignments are only done through God's role as Lord.

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1Corinthians 11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

This is in a complex discussion about authority which was discussed in the note for 11:1. As noted there, Paul is explaining our proper relationships to other people based upon the legal / spiritual structure that God created. Within that structure we find the ordinance called the Lord's Supper.

The Lord's Supper is one of two Biblical ordinances. As noted in Ephesians 2:21, and elsewhere, ordinances are laws that usually have to do with religion and worship. God deals with law and with worship only through His role as Lord. See Verses - Lord for more verses and notes that provide an explanation of these relationships. Please also see the note for 11:27-32 for judgment attached to the Lord's supper. Chapters 10 and 11 are really dealing with our relationship with God through His roles as Lord and as Christ. Legal judgment, including death, is limited to God's role as Lord.

The notes for 1Corinthians 11 show that the entire chapter is dealing with symbols which have a spiritual meaning. The symbols of the Lord's supper are the second example presented in this chapter to teach us about how to interpret these symbols and the consequence of mishandling them. The notes for each sentence in the Book Study on 1Corinthians 11 examine each sentence on a detailed level and explain all that is presented within this chapter on the Lord's supper. In particular, as noted there, 11:17 starts with the word Now changes the subject being discussed to the Lord's supper. This subject continues through the end of the chapter. As all Bible believers know, the Lord's supper is a symbolic representation of our spiritual relationship with the Son of God. Therefore, these sentences are a unit and all of them need to be considered together for the symbolic and spiritual teaching that is here. Please note: these symbols are spiritual in nature. What is said here must be taken literally, but the meaning is literal in the spiritual perspective and the physical is literal only in that it represents the spiritual truth. Please see those notes for more details on these spiritual symbols and how we are to handle them.

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1Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

This verse contains a reference to Lord and to Lord Jesus. See the note under Lord Jesus for additional comment.

Matthew 26:26-30 and Mark 14:22-46 and Luke 22:19-20 and 1Corinthians 11:23-34 all tell the about the Lord's Supper. Please see the note for Mark 14:22 which gives details on the Lord's supper. In that note is the explanation that the original death of Jesus Christ was to provide a spiritual conversion then the memorial is to remind us of that same spiritual conversion. However, the people who insist that the Lord's supper is anything more than a ceremonial reminder, also reject the spiritual conversion that the original death was to provide. In addition, the notes in the Lord Jesus Christ Study explain why this sentence uses Lord Jesus and Lord, and how those usages are different.

Within this verse we see Lord used to say that Paul received what is said here directly from the Lord. He did not receive it indirectly through another person but Paul personally received it when he personally saw our Lord in the flesh and was trained by Him. However, our sentence uses Lord Jesus to say what the Lord Jesus did at the Lord's supper. As explained in this note and in the note under Lord Jesus, He acted in His role as Lord to gave us an ordinance to follow and in His role as Jesus to tie this ordinance to what He did in His physical body. Other religious people want to claim that they can give us additional ordinances, but they do not have the authority because they can not take His office as Lord.

This verse follows several verses (17-22) where Paul is telling them that they are doing wrong and 11:19 says there must be also heresies among you and he ends 11:22 with I praise you not. Then Paul starts this sentence with For, which means here is why Paul will not praise them. Paul then reminds them the proper order for the Lord's Supper, tells them why it was given, then warns them of the consequences of hot observing it properly. Since failure to observe this ordinance properly brings judgment, Paul uses Lord for everything that he says about it.

In this sentence, Paul is telling them the right way to keep the church ordinance called the Lord's Supper and he is telling them that his instructions come directly from God's role as Lord. We can not be sloppy in our obedience to our Lord without suffering consequences even though we are the children of God. Cain was rejected for bringing a sacrifice the wrong way. Almost all of Saul's family was killed because Saul violated God's law on worship. God killed Uzzah for touching the ark to keep it from falling. 11:30 says For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. That is, because people don't have proper respect for the Lord in the areas of God's law about worship, God is making people sick, crippled and even killing them.

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1Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Please see the note on 11:20. As explained there, 11:17 through the end of the chapter is a single unit and all of the sentences need to be considered together. That note has the explanation and links to more detailed notes. This section uses Lord because it includes judgment and failure to obey can result in death to God's children.

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1Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

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1Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

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1Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

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1Corinthians 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

As Paul often does, he first states a general rule then applies the rule to the problem that he is dealing with. The general rule was in 12:1-3 and told us that salvation makes a difference in spiritual matters. Since these people received salvation, they had to learn about how God dealt with spiritual gifts, which is different from how devils dealt with the lost people. Then Paul switched from talking about the differences to telling saved people about spiritual gifts in 12:4-7. We see this because our sentence starts with the word Now.

Within these sentences, Paul mentions each of the persons within the Trinity (Spirit, Lord [Son], and God [Father]). Hopefully everyone agrees that there is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost within the Trinity (God) but there is absolutely no division between the three persons of the Trinity. So when Paul associates gifts with the Spirit and administrations with the Lord and operations with God, Paul isn't saying that there are differences between the persons of the Trinity but that different persons of the Trinity deal with man in different ways. We saw the same thing with the doctrinal differences between the roles of the Son of God which are: Lord, Jesus, and Christ.

Since the different persons in the Trinity deal with man is different ways, They each have a different perspective while directing the church. You might look at the head of a coin while I look at the tail and another person looks at the edge, but our different perspectives does not indicate conflict. Likewise, the different perspectives of God does not indicate conflict and the message of this chapter is that these differences don't cause conflicts but accomplish different parts of a cohesive whole. Administrations has to do with government, areas of ministering and roles assigned to men, which is why God deals with administrations through His role as Lord. Basically, if God gave you one area to minister in and He gave me another area to minister in and we are both being submissive to our Lord then our ministering should not be in conflict but a complement and help to each other. If there is a conflict, then we both need to examine ourselves for pride and other fleshly lustful motivations and confess them and get rid of them.

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1Corinthians 14:21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

This verse is a direct reference to Isaiah 28, and Isaiah 28:11-12 in particular. Isaiah 28 tells us who God will teach knowledge and who God will make to understand doctrine (Isaiah 28:9). It also tells us how God does that and provides doctrine for the proper way to interpret the Bible. I would love to develop the doctrine in this verse, but there is not room and it is not within the limits of this study. Limiting this verse to this study, we can see that Paul says In the law...saith the Lord. The proper way to interpret God's Word is specified in His Law and using any other way will bring judgment upon the person using wrong methods. 2Timothy 2:15 says Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In this verse we are told that God says that people who are not rightly dividing the word of truth (dividing it God's way) needeth to be ashamed and our Lord will do that when we are judged by Him. Again, we see law and judgment limited to God's role as Lord.

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1Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

This entire chapter has been dealing with the proper order of public worship service. The first part of the chapter was telling us why correcting the wrong use of tongues in a public worship service and telling us why the gift of prophecy was better. All of that can be summed up with the statement that He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church (14:4). Our Lord wants to edify all of His people and not just one person at the expense of all others. After that discussion was a set of three commands which go against fleshly pride and command God's people to submit to God's authority. Interspersed within these commands are sentences which present God's reasoning, but the basic chapter is telling us to obey the authority of God, which is done through His role as Lord. In addition, to that, we can see that this chapter is dealing with the government of church services. As seen all through the Bible, rules of government are limited to God's role as Lord.

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1Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from Heaven.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look first at the note for 15:3 which gives the context of the entire chapter. Please also see all of the notes on chapter 15 and consider all of them along with the verses.

This verse is part of a sub-section that goes from 15:35 through 15:49 in which Adam and earthly bodies are compared to the Lord and spiritual bodies. 15:35-41 contains a general explanation of principals based upon things seen all around us. 15:42-49 applies those principals to our personal resurrection. In Chapter 15, Paul is telling us how that those who truly received the gospel which I preached unto you have a changed life due to God working through their lives. Some of these changes are received now in this life, but most of the changes that this chapter is talking about will occur after the resurrection when Christ and His saints will return to this Earth. In this sub-section, Paul is showing the difference between things such as a natural body and a spiritual body. We do not have this spiritual body now and will not have it in this life but will have it when Christ physically returns to this Earth to rule for 1,000 yearss. As already mentioned, the Sadducees taught the doctrinal error that Paul is correcting because that error was brought into the doctrine of some saved people. Jesus proved the Sadducees to be fools and we don't want to follow the example and doctrine of fools. When Jews received salvation, many held unto some of their prior beliefs, which were wrong. When someone uses the Bible to show us that our beliefs are wrong, we also need to give up that error and cling to the truth that is in the Bible.

As part of correcting doctrinal error, this section is telling us that we received a natural body from Adam and that we will receive a spiritual body when we are raised by our Lord. The previous couple of verses tell us that our natural body gives us corruption; dishonour; weakness while our spiritual body will give us incorruption, glory, power. However, it is obvious that we have not yet received this spiritual body. The spiritual body will be seen when we physically return to this Earth. Now, some people claim that 15:22 and surrounding verses apply to us today. However, just as we do not have our spiritual body today, but will have it in the future, so also are many of the other verses in this chapter talking about what we will have in the future but do not have now. We need to be careful of the time factor when interpreting the various verses of this chapter. Please also see the other notes for verses in 1Corinthians 15.

Lord is the role of the Son of God, or of God the Father, that is used for government, law, judgment, worship and similar things. In this verse, Paul's phrase of Lord from Heaven lets us know that the main concern is our being able to be in Heaven and belonging to this Lord from Heaven and not relying upon anything that is earthy. Since our present earthy (corrupted) body can not go to the Heaven, our Lord from Heaven, who provides us with all that we need, also provided us with the new body that we will need to live for ever with Him in Heaven and when He returns to this Earth to rule. The message is simple, since we will not keep this natural body, why would we want to hold onto it and do what it wants? Our Lord from Heaven who will provide all that we need to live there has already provided us with everything that we need to serve Him here and now. In addition, we will meet this Lord from Heaven at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11) and we will be rewarded or punished by the Lord from Heaven based upon how we served Him in this life. We should be using what He provided (to live by faith) so that our current life here shows His current provisions and our faith in His promises for the future. That is, we should be willing to suffer any loss or pain in this current earthy body on the basis (faith) that this body is temporary and He will replace it with a better spiritual body. This statement can be seen in Paul's conclusion of the chapter that is found in 15:55-58. Please also see the note for 15:57 under Lord Jesus Christ and the note for 15:58 under Lord.

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1Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

This verse follows 15:57 and starts with Therefore, which means that it is a direct result of what precedes it. It is a direct result of the summary found in 15:57 and is also a result of all the detail found in chapter 15 which 15:57 summarizes. Please see the note on 15:57 under Lord Jesus Christ.

Basically, God has provided us with everything that we need in this life. He has also given us a present time victory that is based upon a promise of a future-time uncorrupted spiritual body and a world of peace and unity under the rule of Christ. God expects us to labour by faith in the work of the Lord (spreading the gospel that Paul preached unto you).

God also expects each and every one of us personally (ye) to be stedfast, unmoveable as we labour by faith in the work of the Lord because of the promises that God gives us in this chapter. As we do this, if we do it God's way, then we will be always abounding in the work of the Lord. (Always working 'without any limit: great or overflowing supply'.) The problem that people have is that we are limited in what we have in this physical world. Some people deny reality and call it faith, but that is not what this verse is telling us. We are to be 'without any limit: great or overflowing supply' while in the work of the Lord. Paul and Silas were beaten, in jail, in stocks within the jail And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (Acts 16:25). Later, Paul wrote to the church that was started from that incident: I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12). Thus we see that we are commanded to be always abounding in the work of the Lord regardless of circumstances because the work of the Lord is spiritual and not controlled by any physical circumstances.

While we obey this command, we need to be identified with martyrs (baptized for the dead) who died for this same gospel. We have to keep in mind that our Lord, who is no respecter of persons (We find the phrase no respecter of persons in: Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25 and 2:1. Also explained in the notes for Romans 14:10-LJC; Romans C7S3 and Romans C10S13. Please also see Romans C10S13 about the phrase no difference in people) will judge and reward or punish each of us according to our labour by faith in the work of the Lord. We are assured (forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord) and we are to continue to labour in a way that proves our faith in that promise. We are to serve our Lord because He has already given us evidence that His laws and judgments, in the Bible, are more reliable than the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow. Paul uses Lord in this verse because our Lord has established (Genesis 41:32) His promises by having Paul uses Lord twice in this verse. We can know that this is doctrine to be believed by all saved in all churches for all time.

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1Corinthians 16:7 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.

Paul is telling of his plans but qualifies his plans with if the Lord permit. Our Lord has final, and complete, say over what we do and we will not argue with the Lord if we know what's good for us and if we want His blessings. Many opening and closing verses make a distinction between saved, lost, saints, servant, apostle and other roles and titles given by God. The associated notes (and notes for other verses) explain these differences. In general, the higher someone is in the organization of our Lord, the more power and authority and rewards and blessings they have. However, we also find that our Lord increases His direct control with every promotion that we receive. With greater power, we have more influence and can do greater damage if we do not do what our Lord wants or do the right thing the wrong way or at the wrong time or with any other error. Our Lord delayed Paul's planned return and some people used that to try to say that Paul was unreliable and didn't care about them and told many other lies to discredit Paul so that they could take his place. However, 2Corinthians 1:23-24 says Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. Our Lord had more direct control over Paul's life than He had over new and immature saved people's lives. They believed that Paul had as much freedom as they had and didn't understand that when Paul said if the Lord permit in this verse, he literally meant that. Our Lord delayed Paul's return to extend the time of mercy upon the disobedient. It's like a parent hollering at two children fighting in another room and telling them Nock it off you two because if I have to come in there you're both going to get it!! Just as the parent delayed judgment for mercy's sake, so also did our Lord delay Paul's return. One way to know where you stand in our Lord's kingdom is to see how real and personal the phrase if the Lord permit applies to you personally.

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1Corinthians 16:10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do.

Paul is telling them that they are to give Timothy the obedience and respect due to an emissary from their Lord and King. Fighting against him could bring there judgment of God upon them, especially if they were fighting about something that the Lord had instructed His pastor to do. Please also see 16:11 which instruct on the treatment of a pastor.

Basically, there are times when our Lord choses someone for a job that we would not have chosen within our flesh. We tend to think that the older person is wiser and better for a leadership position. However, God is most concerned with who will respond to His leading and how easy it is for God to direct the life, attitudes and actions of a person. Regardless of God's reason, we have no right to challenge the choice of God and are to respect the person within the office that the Lord gave him because that is a direct respect to our lord. Refusal to respect a person who has been placed within that position by our Lord is a refusal to respect our Lord and His right to decide whom He wants within a given position.

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1Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

Paul is using 'tongue in cheek ' (I think) here when he says that other churches salute you. The Corinthian church deserved very little respect for their personal testimony, based upon all of the problems listed in this book, but other churches still acknowledged them as belonging to the same Lord. This is much like having a boss that is a scum-bag. We may not be able to give them any respect as a person, but we are expected to give them respect because of the position that our Lord gave them. To deny them that respect is to disrespect our Lord as Peter and others teach us.

As much as our brethren may embarrass us and as much as we may want to disown them, we are to recognize that they also belong to the same Lord and greet them with as much encouragement as we can. In the final say, it isn't our say that makes them brethren. It's the Lord Who says who is our brethren.

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Jesus only

1Corinthians 12:3

There is only one verse in 1Corinthians with Jesus by itself. This verse uses Jesus as "God in flesh". Click here for all of the Verses that use Jesus and here for the Summary on the name / role of Jesus.

1Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

This verse is easily misunderstood because it needs to be understood from a spiritual perspective and not from a physical perspective. In Mark 5:7, a devil called Jesus thou Son of the most high God. In Acts 16:16-18 tell us about a certain damsel that was possessed by a devil and that devil had her cry out saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. Many people don't understand the difference between what these devils are saying and what Paul is saying in this verse and if they were given the explanation, they would reject it as splitting hairs. However, the difference is important because there are no conflicts in the Bible and refusing to see the difference can make someone believe that there are conflicts.

The first part of this sentence is clear. If anyone says that Jesus is accursed, then that person is not following the leadership of the Spirit of God. Jesus is 'God in human flesh ' and the Jews called Jesus accursed because He clearly claimed to be the Son of God and equal to God. That's why the Jews demanded that Jesus be crucified and why they claimed that He was cursed. People don't make that direct claim so much today, but they still deny His Deity, which is the same thing (spiritually speaking). In the Law (Deuteronomy 21:23) the Bible says that anyone who is hanged is cursed of God. Galatians 3:13-14 teaches us that He became a curse to redeem us from the curse of the Law. However, the resurrection shows that Jesus Christ is no longer cursed. Therefore, people who claim that Jesus is cursed are denying the resurrection and denying that He died as God's Christ to pay the price that would free us from sin. There's a lot more involved here, but basically calling Jesus cursed is to deny the Gospel of Your Salvation.

Notice that this verse is separated by a colon. That makes the two sides equal. Saying that Jesus is the Lord is to be interpreted as confirming the Gospel of Your Salvation. This is a personal statement as in Jesus is my personal Lord. As mentioned elsewhere in this study, salvation is from calling on the name of the Lord, not 'saying a prayer to Jesus ' or something else. Saying Jesus is Lord as, Paul uses the phrase in this verse, is claiming the Gospel of Your Salvation. It is to say 'God in the flesh died to clear the legal record of sin and become my personal Lord'. In this verse, Lord is used in reference to legal matters and Jesus is used as 'God in human flesh '. This isn't saying that no man can say the words Jesus is Lord from their mouth but that no man can say those words from their heart, unto salvation, without the leading of the Holy Ghost. This can also be seen in the context. After this sentence, which establishes salvation, Paul is talking about differences in spiritual gifts among the saved within the church. Each has a different spiritual gift but the same salvation.

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Christ only

1Corinthians 1:6, 12, 13, 17, 23, 24; 3:1, 23; 4:1, 10, 15; 5:7; 6:15; 8:11, 12; 9:12, 18, 21; 10:4, 9; 10:16; 11:1, 3; 12:12, 27; 15:3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23

Christ = fulfillment of OT promises: 1Corinthians 1:12, 13; 4:1; 15:3, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23

Christ = God's role that deals with saved while they are still alive in order to bring spiritual maturity (perfecting) to them: 1Corinthians 1:6, 17, 23, 24; 3:1, 23; 4:1, 10, 15; 5:7; 6:15; 8:11, 12; 9:12, 18, 21; 10:4, 9, 16; 11:1, 3; 12:12, 27; 15:14;

Click here for all of the Verses that use Christ and here for the Summary on the name / role of Christ.

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1Corinthians 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

This verse is part of a complex sentence that goes from 1:4 through 1:8 and is the first thing Paul says after the initial greeting. This complex sentence has 2 colons, which breaks it into 3Equivalent Sections. Please also see the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ and the notes for 1:7- 8 under Lord Jesus Christ. The breakdown of this sentence, by punctuation, is in the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ.

Revelation uses the phrase the testimony of Jesus Christ three times in 1:2, 9 and 12:17. There is a significant difference between what goes on in Revelation and what goes on in our personal lives. We can see that difference in the Bible because this verse uses the testimony of Christ for what is confirmed in you and Revelation uses the testimony of Jesus Christ. This difference shows what this study has continuously claimed, that the Bible deliberately uses different names of the Son of God to make a difference in doctrinal issues.

Returning to our verse, we noted in the note for 1:4 that this testimony of Christ is supposed to be in our past (was confirmed is past tense) even while we continue to receive the grace of God in present tense. We are given grace of God today so that the testimony of Christ will be seen by others today and when we wake and pray for a now supply of the grace of God tomorrow, the testimony of Christ will still be in our recent past to encourage God to give us more grace. The Bible teaches that those who don't use grace of God for the glory of God but use it for an excuse to sin will eventually find that God removes that grace and we suffer the consequences of our sin. This is also something that Paul is teaching in this epistle.

In the context of this sentence, Paul says That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. In the Bible even as is (often/always) used for 'equal'. If you think of a balance scale, when they are even the items on each side of the scale are equal in weight. So in this sentence, Paul is saying that the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you is like (as) being equal to That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge. We are each and every one of us personally (ye) enriched by him (Jesus Christ), in all utterance, and in all knowledge so that the testimony of Christ will be seen in us by others (thereby confirming that it is in you). This fits with Galatians 2:20 and other verses found under Relational Prepositions - in Christ and under Verses - Christ in where we found that God puts under Christ in us so that Christ can minister through our bodies and as Christ ministers through our bodies, we end up becoming more spiritually mature and being enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge, just as this verse says.

Not only is what come before the phrase of the testimony of Christ important, but what comes after this phrase is also important and part of the context of this sentence. See, Paul said the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you...Who shall also confirm you unto the end. This is an ongoing ministry of being confirmed, which gives us the assurance of our salvation. We can't loose our salvation once we get it, but as 1John and other places teach, we can loose the assurance of that salvation if we leave our ongoing personal relationship with Christ. The ongoing continuous ministry of being confirmed by having the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you gives us the assurance of our salvation and much more.

Part of that much more is given to by Paul in this sentence when he says Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The parables of the pounds and of the talents and many other places in the Bible teach us that God gives varying amounts of gifts to different saved people based upon what they can handle. They also teach that God takes away these gifts (at judgment time) if we use them for our own flesh (burry the coin in the ground) instead off for God's glory and the person who does the most for God gets the additional gift (coin). If we live for our flesh, the testimony of Christ will not be confirmed in us and we will loose (come behind) our gift from God. However, if the testimony of Christ is confirmed in us, then we not only will not come behind but may actually gain a gift because it is Christ and the testimony of Christ in us that gives God the profit that He is looking for.

Finally, Paul tells us Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please see the notes for 1:7 and 1:8 under Lord Jesus Christ about this event.

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1Corinthians 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

This verse is part of a subject that started in 1:10 and continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together.

Here, people were claiming to have received a message from Christ, but the context says otherwise. These people could not be delivering the same message as Christ gives because then they would have been pointing people to Christ, which Paul would not have objected to. No, these people were doing the same thing as the other people in this sentence. They were saying 'follow me because I got my message from Christ'. They then led the people a different direction than Christ leads people.

We still see this today especially in the teaching in the Bible about the spirit of antichrist. (1John 2:18; 2:22; 4:3; 2John 1:7). anti means opposed or alternate. the Bible tells us to follow Christ personally and not someone who claims to be following Christ but does not point you directly to Christ and a personal relationship with Him.

The guy in Revelation is called the beast and the son of perdition (2Thessalonians 2:3-4). He is similar to true Biblical antichrists in that both opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. However, the relationship between a man and his wife is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). Since the church is 'Rapture'd off the Earth, the beast can not be opposed to this relationship between Christ and any people on earth. The true Biblical antichrists get people to look at the beast so that they won't see the danger that is in pulpits today.

John 1:1 says the Word was God. Since the beast and true Biblical antichrists both opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, we find both following a spirit that exalts itself above the Bible. Incredibly, we have people today who call themselves Christians while opposing what the Bible literally says.

At the time that this epistle was written, the New Testament wasn't complete and there were still prophets receiving revelation from God. In context, those who saith, I am...of Christ were disputing with those who claimed to have a word from human leaders. They were claiming to have greater authority than the God appointed human leaders by claiming to have directions directly from Christ. However, our God never goes against His written Word and never goes against the authority that He established. Anytime that a person in authority needs correction, God uses someone to point out what the word of God says and not someone who claims to have a word from God that is outside of the revelation of God's Word. In addition, 1Timothy 5:1 tells us Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; and down in 5:19 we are told Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. The context of our verse lets us know that these people who claimed to be of Christ were not quoting scripture and were not bringing two or three witnesses. When they said I of Christ, the I is singular (plural is 'we ') and, therefore, they did not have two or three witnesses required to back their claim. In addition, when they said I of Christ they were making themselves be their own authority (I) and not using the authority of the word of God. 'therefore, these people who claimed to be of Christ were actually in rebellion to their God appointed authorities and following a spirit of antichrist.

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1Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

This verse is part of a subject that started in 1:10 and continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together. Please pay extra attention to the notes for 1:9 and 1:12 as they directly relate to this verse. In 1:9, we talked about how God is faithful and how his Son Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful and how those who truly answered God's call unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord are also faithful. Those that are faithful to God and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord will not be in disagreement with others who are also being faithful to God and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. After 1:9, Paul added further in the statements which followed it in 1:10 through the end of the chapter with 1:26-31 returning to the subject of our calling and the sentences in between giving us clarification of the concept.

In this verse, Paul is continuing the statements of 1:10-12. Here Paul is pointing out that God is in a different class than man and that man can't be compared to God. In addition, Paul is using the name / role of Christ because it is in the role of Christ that God deals with us in this present world. Basically, Paul is using sarcasm to point out how ridiculous it is to claim that God is the author of present religious divisions between believers or to claim that any human's opinion can compare to the word of God.

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1Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

This verse is part of a subject that started in 1:10 and continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together.

In 1:13 Paul says were ye baptized in the name of Paul? and then basically puts in a side note that he couldn't be bothered recording or remembering exactly whom he baptized. That gives us the relative importance of baptism. But then Paul returns to the main subject: which is to stop arguing about these things that cause divisions and concentrate on the thing most important to Christ: namely the gospel. That's the essence of this verse and Paul uses Christ twice in it to talk about God's ministering in the present world. It was Christ Who gave Paul his instructions as to how he was to minister. That ministry was to present the cross of Christ or the changes that God brings into the lives of saved people after profession. Indeed, this whole book is to people who have not submitted, in faith, to the ministry of Christ after their initial profession but fell into multiple sins because they were relying on the wisdom of words that Paul says he didn't use.

Please note that this verse directly ties the cross of Christ with the gospel. This is the gospel of Christ, which is an application of the basic gospel of God but which emphasizes the 'good news that God changes saved people after their initial profession'. Think about some junky whore or multiple murder and what their reaction would be to being told that they would be in church 24-7for eternity and that they would always have to be good and not sin. You might think that your sinful nature wasn't that bad, but you would eventually have the same reaction over time. In addition, the Bible teaches that we do our changing before we die. Therefore, our eternal happiness is directly tied to how much we become like Christ in this present world.

In addition, we have the legal principal of jurisdiction. Basically, Jesus died to blot out all of our sins in the great white throne court system. That changed our relationship with God and required nothing from us except our accepting God's gift of our own free will. However, that sacrifice does not apply to sins done after our initial profession. Those are at the judgment seat of Christ and require us to 'confess and forsake' in order to receive forgiveness. Basically, the payment made by the cross of Christ pays for these sins done after our initial profession. We still can not pay for those sins and Christ wants us spending our time becoming like Him, instead of paying for sins, so that we can 'Stop our Sinning!'.

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1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

This verse is part of a subject that started in 1:10 and continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together. This verse is also part of a sentence that goes from 1:22 through 1:24 and the outline of the sentence, along with contextual and other considerations, can be found in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians. This sentence contrasts Christ crucified and Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God to the wisdom of this world as the source and evidence of true salvation.

Back in 1:18 Paul started with For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Then he proves this claim by starting with a quote from the Bible about the wise of this world and from there he builds a logical argument one sentence upon another whereby he proves that there is an irreconcilable difference between the wisdom of this world and the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Paul finishes this argument in 1:29 with 1:30 starting a related, but different subject in the sentence which starts with But. We can see this in reading these verses and realizing that almost every sentence (except for the questions of 1:20) starts with For, and the two that don't start with For do start with Because and But, which are also used in in the Bible to connect sentences together. Thus, we see all off the sentences of this section connected, which makes it all related and dealing with a single logical unit of thought.

The wisdom of this world tells a person how to live their daily life. Therefore, Christ crucified and Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God must do the same for this context to make sense. Christ is used because that is the role that God uses to bring spiritual maturity to the saved and to teach them how to act spiritually while they are in this life.

Christ crucified is best explained by Romans 6, especially 6:6 (our old man is crucified with him) which is supposed to result in our being dead (non responsive) to sin and alive to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Crucifixion was not only the most physically painful way to die, but it also brought God's curse on a person (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). And, yes, Jesus Christ went to Hell to pay for our sins. While man can not separate different roles that a person has when more than one is involved, God can. As such, God makes a distinction between Jesus crucified and the Christ crucified. The Son of God died as Jesus to blot out all of our sins that were recorded against us in the great white throne judgment system for criminals. After completely removing our criminal record, God adopted us as His children (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5). However, even after that God only gave us power to become (future tense) the sons of God, even to them that believe on (present tense) his name (John 1:12-13).

As children of God, we still sin. Those sins are not handled in the great white throne judgment system, because God blotted out the record of all sins within that criminal legal system. However, because God is always righteous, and therefore must judge sins done by his children after their salvation, He uses the legal principal of jurisdiction and handles those sins in the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11).

In the family court (the judgment seat of Christ), God uses the crucifixion of Christ separately from the crucifixion of Jesus. Remember that Christ only deals with people after their initial profession and that Christ provides spiritual maturity and causes us to 'Stop or Sinning' after our initial profession. In this case, Christ crucified is talking about how He took all of the shame and punishment for sins done by the children of God so that they don't have to spend their lives in punishment and payment for sins but spend their time learning to become the sons of God. Think about a child that breaks something expensive in a store. The parent pays for the item and teaches the child to act better. That is the concept of Christ crucified and Christ crucified is part of gospel of Christ.

Please remember that Christ crucified is joined with Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God to show us how to live after our initial profession. Our sentence, and the context of this sentence within the chapter, contrasts these things with the wisdom of this world, which also tries to tell saved people how to live after their initial profession. Remember, 1Corinthians is written to spiritually immature people who were positive that they were spiritual leaders. They had spiritual gifts, but the power of God had not caused them to 'Stop their Sinning!'. Also, they were still following the wisdom of this world, as Paul has already started to explain and will explain more in further verses of this epistle. As the context makes clear, the wisdom of this world is opposite to the wisdom of God. Therefore, these saved people did not have the witness of the wisdom of God in their life. As a result of this lack in saved people, Paul wrote this epistle to get these saved people to get the power of God, and the wisdom of God effective in their life by applying the ministry of Christ to their life after their initial profession.

Christ crucified causes an ongoing series of changes in our lives whereby He makes us less and less responsive to sin and more and more responsive to the leading of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Also, Christ the power of God means that He gives us the power to overcome the addictions of sin. Christ the wisdom of God means He uses the word of God to show the child of God how to do the will of God. What we are supposed to preach is a changed life that is the result of an ongoing relationship with Christ (Christ crucified). This causes religion all kinds of problems (unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness) because religion the wisdom of this world while true Biblical salvation uses the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

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1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

This verse is part of a subject that started in 1:10 and continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together. This verse is part of the sentence in 1:23-24 and explained in the note for 1:23 above. Please see that note.

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1Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

This verse starts out with and because Paul is going to add another layer to the argument he was building at the end of chapter 2. In Chapter 1, Paul argued that there were divisions among them and those divisions weren't due to God or the preaching of the cross but were due to men putting their trust in various preachers (religion versus spiritual authority). When given a choice between what was literally written in the word of God and what their favorite preacher said, they chose to follow the man even though they were saved. In Chapter 2, Paul argued that there is a separation and difference between the spirit of this world and the Spirit of God and a separation and difference between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God. He also equated having religion (preacher) as your final authority to the spirit of this world and the wisdom of this world while he equated having the word of God (Bible) as your final authority to the Spirit of God and the wisdom of God. He was showing them that by choosing their favorite preacher's word over the written word of God, they were choosing the wisdom of this world and rejecting the wisdom of God. Paul ended all of this teaching at the end of chapter 2 with But we have the mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16). Now in Chapter 3, Paul is going to apply the earlier arguments to their current divisions. Paul is telling them that no matter what their physical maturity, they are still babes in Christ and their status is proven by the divisions among them and what they are divided over. This should be obvious to anyone who reads the next several verses in 1Corinthians 3.

In this chapter, Paul adds to that prior teaching (And) when he tells them that he could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Obviously, saved carnal people are babes in Christ. Therefore, we can say that those saved people who choose what a preacher says over what is literally written are carnal and babes in Christ. Paul goes on and provides them proof in 3:3-7 where he says For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? and goes on with examples of their envying, and strife, and divisions. (Please see the note for 3:5 under Lord.)

Notice that Paul also equates carnal with walk as men in 3:3. Of course, walk as men is another way of saying that their lifestyle (walk) is the same as (lost) men who follow the spirit of this world and the wisdom of this world. Paul provides another measuring stick in the verse we skipped (3:2) when he says I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. Milk is pre-digested food given to babes because they not able to bear it (meat) while meat is given to those who can handle things that are hard to digest. Back in 2:2 Paul said For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. People who can only handle the basic 'plan of salvation ' and who haven't spiritually matured to the point that they can handle the deep things of God (2:10) are still babes in Christ. Since some saved people are babes in Christ and others are spiritual who able to bear the meat of the Word, we can see that the Bible teaches that there are different levels of spiritual maturity among saved people.

Again, we see that Christ is used for the role of the Son of God to give blessings that come only to saved people, but not to all saved people and not in equal amounts to each saved person. We also find, in the Bible, that this spiritual maturing varies over time. Spiritual maturity, wisdom and control by the Spirit of God are the main blessings that Paul is talking about and we definitely can see that these things vary among the saved.

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1Corinthians 3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

This verse is part of a sentence that goes from the middle of 3:21 through 3:23 and is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians. This sentence summarizes chapter 3 of 1Corinthians.

This verse uses ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's to say that each and every one of us is a personal possession of Christ's and that Christ is a personal possession of God's. 6:20 and 7:23 both tell us Ye are bought with a price. In the Old Testament a man bought his wife when he paid the dowry. Ephesians 5:23 equates the relationship between a husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. Christ has more right to be possessive of us than any married person has to be possessive of their mate because no married person paid a price that comes close to what Christ paid and marriage ends at death while our relationship to Christ is eternal.

All of chapter 3 has been about God increasing our spiritual wisdom in this present life through our relationship to Christ. He ended the prior chapter (2:16) with we have the mind of Christ and ended this chapter with ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's and in between he explained how all of our future rewards were based upon the ministry of Christ. In summary, Paul is saying it doesn't matter who Christ uses to teach you spiritual wisdom, you belong to Christ and, therefore, Christ can use whomever He chooses. Since Christ is God the Father's minister, the person providing the teaching from Christ is actually God the Father's choice of a teacher for us and God's choice is coming through Christ. Christ is used in this verse because that is the role of God that deals with our spiritual maturity in this present life after our initial profession. Christ is used instead of Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus because there are saved people who will not receive these blessings because they refuse the spiritual maturity which goes with them.

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1Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

This verse is a transition from the subject of chapter 3 into the subject of chapter 4. In chapter 3, we saw that all of chapter 3 has been about God increasing our spiritual wisdom in this present life. In the summary of chapter 3 Paul is saying it doesn't matter who Christ uses to teach you spiritual wisdom, you belong to Christ and, therefore, Christ can use whomever He chooses. Since Christ is God the Father's minister, the person providing the teaching from Christ is actually God the Father's choice of a teacher for us and God's choice is coming through Christ. Now in chapter 4, Paul starts talking about the rights and responsibilities of a minister of Christ. So, prior to this verse he was talking about the authority of a minister of Christ, and now he starts to tell about the role itself. Paul starts out saying that the ministers of Christ are to be accounted as stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards had certain rights and responsibilities. The most basic responsibility of all stewards was that they be faithful to their own master (4:2) and their own master would be the one to judge how faithful they were (4:3-4). No other person's opinion mattered at all because the relationship between a master and their steward was completely dependent upon personal trust. In 4:1-4 Paul explains all of this. Then in 4:5 Paul says Therefore judge nothing before the time because there were people judging Paul and the other apostles because the apostles didn't meet their standards. However, as a stewards of the mysteries of God, the apostles weren't supposed to meet the standards of religious people but were supposed to meet the standard of their own master. Then in 4:5 Paul tells us all that the Lord is the master that will judge us all and in 4:6-13 Paul explains how the religious people were judging the apostles wrongly and how the apostles responded. And in 4:14-21 Paul warns them of their own judgment if they follow the religious crowd who are judging the apostles. No one can be instructed by someone that they are busy judging and claiming that their instructor is wrong. In this verse, when Paul says that he and the other apostles are stewards of the ministers of Christ, and of the mysteries of God, he is saying that they are the ones that God has given these mysteries to. When a master turns some possession over to a steward, people have to go to that steward to receive the possession and you can't get it any other way that is proper. (With God, that means can't get it any other way at all.) When Paul says that the apostles are stewards of the ministers of Christ, and of the mysteries of God, he is saying that in order to learn how to develop our personal relationship with Christ and in order to get any understanding (mysteries) from God, people have to go to the apostles. Ephesians 2:20 tells us And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. While the gospels teach us about Jesus Christ while He lived on Earth, the epistles tell us about the ministers of Christ, and of the mysteries of God and the epistles came from Paul and the others that were being judged. While the gospels teach us that Jesus fulfilled the prophetic requirements to become Christ, we don't see Him acting in that role until after Acts 2:36. Thus, we don't really learn of the ministers of Christ until we get into the epistles. We also don't learn the mysteries of God that apply to the church age because He hid them until the apostles became the ministers of Christ. This verse uses Christ for the role of the Son of God that deals with saved people after their initial profession and provides spiritual maturity as they build their personal relationship with Him.

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1Corinthians 4:10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

Paul is using sarcasm in this verse when he says but ye are wise in Christ. Look at 3:18-23 and see the difference between the context of those verses and how the context shows that these people were acting. The context makes the sarcasm obvious. He is using sarcasm to show them how foolish they are acting. Yet, even in his sarcasm, Paul correctly identifies Christ as the role that God uses to deal with saved people while they are in this present life. Look at 4:1-4. There Paul claims that the apostles are the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Yet, here, Paul says that these people considered the apostles (4:9) to be a fools for Christ's sake. They obviously weren't following the apostles and weren't considering the apostles to be the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Since the apostles are the source of wisdom in Christ, and theses people obviously weren't following the apostles, it is impossible for them to truly be wise in Christ. Thus, this verse should be considered to be sarcasm. In addition, the we of this verse was not just Paul but all of the apostles. Going forward, we see Paul explaining how the true leaders of Christ are treated in this world. Then in 4:15 Paul explains the difference in the relationship that these other instructors (who spoke against Paul and the apostles) had with Christ compared to Paul's relationship with Christ (please see that note). And he continues with 4:16 which says Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. Paul finishes the chapter by telling them that he is sending Timotheus (4:17) to instruct them and includes a warning for those who don't want to listen. Therefore, the entire context makes it obvious that Paul is being sarcastic off their extreme foolishness in turning away from Paul and the apostles and their initial instructions when Paul led them to their salvation.

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1Corinthians 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

This sentence is part of Paul's message to those who were being very foolish in leaving the instructions about Christ that they had earlier received. Please see the note for 4:10 above, which presents the context of that sentence and of this sentence. Please also see the note on 4:15 under Christ Jesus, which divides this sentence by punctuation.

The phrase ten thousand instructors in Christ clearly shows that Christ is the role that God uses to minister to (teach) the saved in this life. An instructor, obviously, is ministering to someone still in this life and someone who is (spiritually) matured to the point that they are not newborn babes. A true instructors in Christ is going to teach us how to be like Christ. Christ was not proud and puffed up like these false so-called instructors in Christ taught them to be. The Son of God is the Truth (John 14:6) and Christ is a role of the Son of God. Therefore, anyone who claims to be an instructor in Christ and teaches people to be puffed up proud liars is not really an instructor in Christ but is an anti-Christ (alternative/against Christ).

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1Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

5:7-8 holds two sentences with the second starting in 5:7 and continuing through 5:8. All of chapter 5 is a single subject that needs to be considered together in order to be doctrinally correct. Please read the entire chapter together. This notes for 5:4 under Lord Jesus Christ and the one for 5:5 under Lord Jesus are for the same sentence. Those notes, along with this one, are the only notes in this study related to this subject. Everything involved in church discipline is well beyond the limits of this study and will not be covered. Only what is needed to see how the names off the Son of God are used will be covered. The first sentence can be divided by punctuation as:

Purge out therefore the old leaven,
that ye may be a new lump,
as ye are unleavened.

The second sentence can be divided by punctuation as:

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
We should replace sins of malice and wickedness with sincerity and truth in order too celebrate our salvation (passover).

We should remove sins of malice and wickedness in order too celebrate our salvation (passover).

Therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;

but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul uses the Old Testament illustration of Passover and Leaven as an example of how God expects us to act as a result of our salvation. We read about the first Passover In Exodus. The Jews (children of God like us) were in Egypt (type of the world like we live in) and were suffering because they were different religiously (like we should be) and they refused to compromise and be assimilated by the surround culture (like we should). Because of their problems with the world, they cried to God and God separated them from the world (their Exodus). God had them sacrifice a lamb (our Christ, also see verses under Verses - Lamb). God did not divide the 'saved ' from the 'lost ' by religion or nationality or anything else but by the blood. (There obviously are lots of types and things to preach in this analogy by Paul.) After God separated thee people and saved some while bringing destruction on others, He lead them through a desert so that they would learn to depend upon Him. The mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38) lead the complaining and demands to return to their former life of sin in Egypt. Those who followed the lead off the mixed multitude (that whole generation) were also destroyed (1Corinthians 10; Hebrews 3:8-19; Jude 1:3-5) and those who separated themselves from the mixed multitude (the next generation: Nehemiah 13:3; Matthew 11:28-29; Acts 2:22-27; 2Corinthians 4:8-10; Hebrews 4:1-11; 11:24-31) were blessed by God.

At Passover, the Jews cleaned their houses physically and symbolically and removed all leaven and all corruption from their houses. The removal of all leaven from the house was symbolic of removing all pride from their lives and from all of their surroundings. The removal of all corruption from the house was symbolic of removing all sin from their lives and from all of their surroundings. This symbolic removal was to show that they were going to live separate from pride and sin and all sources of pride and corruption (including the religious influences of the mixed multitude). In this verse, we are told to do the same. In this chapter Paul is talking about church discipline and removing people that act like the mixed multitude because they will have the same influence upon us today as they had on the children of God in the past. Their influence brings pride and corruption that always results in judgment from God upon His children.

The first sentence in these verses is clear: remove this influence from the church so that each person in the church is personally (ye) a new lump because (as) each and every member of the church (ye) is without the sins of pride and corruption (are unleavened).

The second sentence of these verses is divided at the colon. That makes Christ our passover equal to neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, which I said was 'We should replace sins of malice and wickedness with sincerity and truth in order too celebrate our salvation (passover) '. Many places in the Bible teach that w can't just remove sin because worst devils will come back into the empty room. We must replace the sin with the influence of Christ and He will keep the sin and corruption from returning. It takes the ongoing ministry of God, after profession, to remove malice and wickedness from our lives and replace those sinful lifestyle s with sincerity and truth. That's why this ministry is done by the Son of God's role as Christ.

In addition, please consider that we are told that Christ is our passover (and) is sacrificed for us. The passover was sacrificed before God led His people into a new life that included a changed lifestyle . However, they were already God's people when this was done. Likewise, the sacrifice of Christ is applied after we are God's children because we still sin while saved. Thus, these sins need to be paid for so that we can concentrate on learning how to act right instead of spending our time paying for our ongoing sins. While the sacrifice of Jesus is applied to the great white throne judgment to get us out of God's 'Criminal Court' and change our relationship to being adopted children of God, the sacrifice of Christ is applied to the judgment seat of Christ to pay for our sins done after our initial profession so that they don't come up in God's 'Family Court'. One critical difference is that we do nothing but accept God's plan of salvation when we are under God's 'Criminal Court' but we must 'confess and forsake our sin' in order for it to be forgiven in God's 'Family Court' (1John 1).

This sentence uses Christ by itself and not in combination with any of the other names / roles of the Son of God. That is because this sentence is talking about changed done in the lives of saved people after their initial profession and these changes are not dependent upon our profession and they vary from saved person to saved person with some saved people refusing these changes which also cause us to spiritually mature after our initial profession. That makes these changes the exclusive ministry of Christ.

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1Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

This verse is in the middle of verses that are talking about our interaction with the Lord. However, it isn't the Lord that deals with us on a personal level but Christ. Here, and in the next few verses, Paul is saying that sex involves the spiritual as well as the physical, emotional and mental. To ignore the spiritual aspect of sex is a perversion. The next verse is also part of what Paul is saying here. Since it should be assumed that a harlot is not saved and, therefore, has a dead spirit or has a devil, to have sex with a harlot is to join Christ with a dead spirit or has a devil as the spiritual part of sex. Since Christ is the role that the Son of God uses to deal with saved people, on a personal level, after their initial profession, and since sex is very personal, Christ is the correct role of the Son of God to use in this verse.

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1Corinthians 8:11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

The first key to understanding this verse (this part of the sentence) is the word brother. A true brother is saved and therefore can't go to Hell. However, perish and saved are used in the Bible for more than our salvation. In this same book, in 11:12, Paul says For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep and in 5:5 Paul said To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. In both verses, Paul is saying that sometimes there are physical consequences to spiritual sins. Remember Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) and the verses that tell us that sin causes death (Romans 5:12, 21; 6:16, 23; 7:13; 8:2; 1Corinthians 15:56; James 1:15; 1John 5:16-17). So, from all of these Bible references, we can conclude that Paul's phrase of shall the weak brother perish is not talking about someone going to Hell.

The next key, in this verse, is that Paul uses Christ died. A complete study on Christ died versus Jesus died will show that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins which was required for our initial salvation while Christ died to pay for the sins we do after our initial profession and for our perfecting after our initial profession. While some might claim this is splitting hairs, the Bible really makes this distinction and most of the complaints will come from those who want to hold onto the doctrinal error of using Jesus and Christ interchangeably. The Bible makes a 100% division between these two roles of the Son of God. Yes, the Bible does teach that the man named Jesus has the role of Christ, but you NEVER find the Bible saying that Jesus exercises any of the rights or responsibilities of Christ. Jesus did pay the costs associated with the role of Christ, but that is different than exercising the rights. It is similar to a man paying a dowry before marriage but not exercising the rights of marriage until after the ceremony. The Son of God ALWAYS exercises the rights and the responsibilities of Christ as Christ.

Paul uses the phrase of the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died to identify someone who made their initial profession and hasn't spiritually matured much yet. Therefore, they still do a lot of sin that Christ has to pay for (Christ dies) in order to clean them up enough for them to learn spiritual maturity. When we continue is sin and don't respond to blessings and corrections from Christ, then He has to start punishing us and, if necessary because we won't stop sinning, will kill us.

Next, in this verse, we have a weak brother in comparison to a listener who is assumed to be stronger. That is, one brother has matured in Christ more than another. Within the context, we read that the more mature brother understands that doing certain things (like eating meats offered to idols) isn't always sin. However, a weak brother doesn't necessarily know this. So, the weak brother sees the spiritually stronger brother doing something that he thinks is sin. The weak brother then thinks he can sin without consequences. See the next verse (8:12) and associated note for the explanation of wound their weak conscience. When this weak brother thinks he can sin and get away with it, he then ignores other warnings and does something like eat the Lord's Supper unworthily, and ends up sick or dead. That's what Paul is talking about with the weak brother perish.

In this whole thing, the main source of problem is the differences in spiritual maturity between the two Christians. The more mature brother knows that he is not sinning by eating meat that was offered to idols, so long as he is not participating in the idol worship. The weak brother sees the more mature brother eating this meat and assumes that not only is eating the meat OK, but participating in the idol worship is also OK. He goes ahead with participating in the idol worship and through thy (the more mature brother's) knowledge shall the weak brother perish (be judged and punished for participating in idol worship). Since the difference between these two brothers is spiritual maturity, and spiritual maturity comes from the Son of God's roles as Christ, Christ is used in this verse.

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1Corinthians 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

Please see the note on 8:11 above as it gives the details and context for this sentence. This sentence starts with But which connects it to the previous sentence and goes in a different direction. Where that sentence was talking about a weak brother, this sentence is talking about the spiritually stronger brother. Notice that this sentence says when ye sin...ye sin against Christ. As we've consistently seen. ye means 'each and every one of you personally '. This is a sin that is done personal against the weak brother and against Christ. Christ is the role that the Son of God uses for the spiritual perfecting received after salvation. When a stronger brother interferes with the spiritual maturing that the Son of God is doing in the life of a weak brother they are sinning against the role of Christ. Christ is used in this sentence for the role that the Son of God uses for the spiritual perfecting received after salvation.

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1Corinthians 9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter.

Paul has been talking about his legal rights since 9:1. Here, Paul switches to Christ because he is literally saying that he has not used his legal rights (power) because it might interfere with a non-legal goal, namely spreading the gospel of Christ. This verse clearly shows that the gospel of Christ in particular and the role of Christ in general are not involved in legal matters. If Christ was involved in legal matters, then Paul could not eliminate legal considerations, while preaching the gospel of Christ, by dropping any legal claim that he had. If Christ was involved in legal matters, then even if Paul dropped his own legal claims, there would still be legal considerations. Since the only legal considerations are Paul's, he can remove all legal considerations by dropping his own claims. This separation is one of the main reasons that Lord Christ is only found once in the Bible. Most verses that contain Lord and Christ are either referring to Lord Jesus Christ or are making a distinction between the roles of our Lord and of our Christ.

Also, notice that this is the gospel of Christ, not the gospel of Jesus Christ or the gospel of Jesus. Gospel is 'good news'. Christ deals with us after profession. Jesus is involved in salvation, but so is Lord. Considerations of the Lord and law can not be eliminated until after profession because we are not the children of God until God legally adopts us when he saves us. The gospel of Jesus Christ or the gospel of Jesus would involve our initial salvation and, therefore, not allow eliminating considerations of the law. In the Bible, Christ is the role of God that deals with saved people after profession on matters that require salvation (God's life in us) but which are not directly involved with our initial profession. Please also see the note on 9:18 below.

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1Corinthians 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter. Please also see the note on 9:12 above.

First, when Paul is saying when I preach the gospel he means 'when I preach the gospel of getting saved'. In this sentence, the gospel (without qualification) is deliberately distinguished from the gospel of Christ and is used as the most commonly understood meaning for the gospel (the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ). There are actually several gospels in the Bible, but when gospel is not qualified, it is understood to be the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Next, Paul is saying I may make the gospel of Christ without charge. That is, the gospel that Paul preaches after people are saved (the gospel of Christ ) was given by Paul without charge. In this verse, Paul said that the reason that he gave the gospel of Christ without charge was that I abuse not my power in the gospel. Paul's power in the gospel was presented earlier in chapter 9, and discussed in the note of 9:12. That is, Paul had several legal rights due to his bringing the Gospel of Your Salvation to people. Those rights included the right to live of the gospel or have his physical needs met by the people that were saved by the Gospel of Your Salvation. However, Paul chose to not take what was rightfully his so that people couldn't falsely accuse him of preaching for money (abuse his power). Also see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ and on 9:12 about how this power is a legal power.

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1Corinthians 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord and under Lord Jesus Christ which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter.

This verse is part of the same sentence as 9:20. In this verse, when Paul says To them that are without law, as without law, he is referring to the Mosaic Law as already qualified in this sentence. However, when Paul says but under the law to Christ, he is clearly referring to a different law than the Mosaic Law. Look at his use of but, which clearly says that we are still under a law.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that the Mosaic Law is the only Law in the Bible. Others mistakenly believe that there is no Law for saved people, in the New Testament, and believe the lie that Biblical liberty means that there are no consequences to any action that they chose to do. However this is not true and these erroneous beliefs are due to people believing religious liars while not verifying their doctrine with the Spirit of God and the word of God.

The note for Romans 6:15 gives us the definition of law along with links to every verse in Romans which uses any form of the Word law. The note for 3:31 gives links to places in the New Testament which talk about laws which apply to saved during the Church Age and there are about 14 of them including the law of liberty. As explained there, these people who insist that Christian liberty removes all laws need to go to the top of a 25Story building and jump off where there is nothing between then and the cement below and where they have no artificial means of defeating gravity. After they have proved that God's law of gravity no longer applies to them then we can discuss any other laws that they want to claim do not apply.

Here are some of the laws that have been identified and some of the notes about law which exist at the time of updating this more:

the law of faith: Romans 3:27.
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus: Romans 8:2.
the law to Christ is in our current verse.
the law of Christ: Galatians 6:2.
law of her husband: Romans 7:2.
law of righteousness: Romans 9:31.

law of my mind

: Romans 7:23.
the Law of Moses: (The church is required to keep only the 'moral' part of the Law of Moses): Luke 2:22; Luke 24:44; John 7:23; Acts 13:39; Acts 15:5; Acts 28:23 and 1Corinthians 9:9.
the Law of the Lord: Luke 2:23-24; Luke 2:39.
the Law of God: Romans 7:22.
the Law of life: Romans 7:25. 1John 5:11-12.
the Law of liberty: James 1:25 and 2:12.
the law of the fathers: Acts 22:3.
the law of the Jews: Acts 25:8.
law of evil: Romans 7:21.
law of sin: Romans 7:23.
the law sin and death: Romans 8:2.
'Mosaic Law added': Galatians C3-S22.
'law and faith': Romans C3S25.
'righteousness of the Law:': Ephesians 4:7-LJC.
'religious part of Moses' law': Hebrews 19:29-LJC.
'law of works': Romans C3S27.

Thus, even though the list above is incomplete, we can see that the New Testament has a lot to say about law. With that in mind, we must look at the context of this verse in order to understand what Paul means by the law to Christ.

The note for this sentence in the Book Study on 1Corinthians explains the meaning of this sentence within the context of that epistle and chapter. This note deals with the difference between this verse and phrase when compared to others within the Bible. We already saw that there are several laws which apply to saved people. Most of the laws mentioned above are a law of something with of meaning 'belonging to'. Thus we can see one of the major the differences in these laws by looking at the being / thing that they 'belong to'. However, one of these particular laws can be easily confused with our current sentence. Therefore, the difference must be clarified.

There is law of Christ which is different from our current sentence but easily confused with it. Please notice the difference between of and to in the law of Christ and the law to Christ (our current sentence). The law of Christ is 'the law that belong to Christ'. Most Christians know it as 'the Law of sowing and reaping'. Saved people only reap blessings from God when they sow obedience and saved people reap cursing from God when they sow disobedience. This Law is definitely something that is learned and better understood with spiritual maturity after profession. That's why God uses His role as Christ to teach us this Law. However, the important thing about this law, within our current context, is that a person has to get to Christ before they can get this law from Him because it 'belong to' Him.

Our current sentence / verse says the law to Christ. Hers law is the 'God ordained method that encompasses all of the other aspects of a legal system' (please see Definitions in Psalms 119). The word to 'links a destination with the method for reaching that destination'. Thus, our law to Christ is the 'God ordained method that encompasses all of the other aspects of a legal system and allows a person to reach a personal relationship with God that the Bible describes as Christ'. Where the law of Christ is learned after a person reaches that personal relationship with God, the law to Christ says how a person gets to that ongoing personal relationship.

Hopefully the reader can see that this is a major difference between the two and that this difference is realized only by paying attention to words which most people read over without thinking about. That is, the difference between how the Bible uses to and how it uses of is significant and can cause a major doctrinal difference.

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1Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Chapter 10 continues the lesson from Chapter 9 but now provides a different perspective which is in addition to the prior perspective while also being above it. (This chapter starts with Moreover). In the prior chapter Paul explained how the people who examined him violated several laws and other standards of right-and-wrong that are used by all societies. These standards come from God. Thus, God's people were fools to continue to follow those other people who violated God's law in order to get their selfish way. Paul also explained that his motivation for ministering to them without getting financial support in return was so that he would receive a greater reward from God. Thus, as our example, Paul shows us that we should be serving God for the eternal reward even if there is no reward in this world. Now in this chapter Paul will use the history of God's people to warn the reader that God brought judgment and death upon His people who refused to do His will. Thus, Paul is warning us that we can serve God and be rewarded or we can refuse to serve God and suffer a judgment that can include death.

In this chapter Paul is explaining the spiritual perspective versus the physical religious perspective. First, he says were all (of the Jews) baptized unto Moses. That is, they were spiritually identified with Moses. Only they didn't understand the spiritual significance and they were idolaters, and fornicators and they murmured and complained and did other things with spiritual significance that caused God to kill a whole generation. Our God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) and this chapter warns us that God will do the same to us if we also do these sins. 1Corinthians 10:6 tells us Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

This chapter uses Christ four times in the beginning and then uses Lord five times in the end. Three of those times use Lord's, which means Paul is talking about things that legally belong to the Lord's kingdom. It is like someone joining the U.S. Armed Forces and then taking weapons provided to the U.S. Armed Forces and giving the weapons and other provisions to the enemy during a time of war. This chapter is teaching that the Son of God personally provides for our needs and training in the Lord's army. He does this personal training as Christ. We are expected to learn what Christ teaches us and act like Christ teaches us to act. Those who refuse training by Christ and continue to act like the enemy get destroyed by the Lord. Those who turn traitor and mishandle the things provided by the Lord also get destroyed.

This verse ends a sentence that started in 10:1 and is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians. That note explains the details about what Christ did according to this sentence. Please see it for details that will not be repeated here. In this sentence, Paul asserts that God's role as Christ included being in the Old Testament but that His physical appearance was the Rock that followed them in their wandering through the desert and provided them with water. The note for 1John 1:42-LJC deals with every occurrence of any form of Rock in the Bible. As shown in that note, every use of the word rock, in the Bible, is a direct or indirect reference to Christ or to true Biblical antichrists. In addition, our sentence says that what Christ provided were spiritual things. The note for Galatians 6:1 in the Word Study on Spirit lists every verse in the Bible that uses the word spiritual. As explained there, the term spiritual is 'applied to physical things which are, or should be, controlled by the spiritual reality. These things are almost always controlled by God and used to teach us lessons about the spiritual reality'. Thus, Christ provided the things that should have taught then spiritual lessons but they refused to learn and were destroyed by God instead.

There is much symbolism involved in the details of this verse. However, we will only look at the most important symbolism contained here in order to better understand this sentence. We see in this verse that Christ is a role, not a physical person (a Rock can not be a physical person). Further, God the Son was doing the responsibilities of the role of Christ even in the Old Testament and even though He was not recognized for His actions. This was also before He was born as the physical man named Jesus. That is, after our fathers became the people of God, the Son of God provided spiritual maturity through His role as Christ, even though they did not understand nor appreciate that role of the Son of God.

We can see the consequences of disobeying Christ in the destruction brought upon our fathers and in Moses not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because he struck the rock a second time. In Exodus 17:6 God told Moses thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. This sentence tells us that Rock was Christ and John 7:38 says He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. The living water is a type of the Holy Ghost that has been given after Christ was crucified and Moses striking the rock before they received water was symbolic of the crucifixion that had to occur before we received the Holy Spirit. Then in Numbers 20:8, Moses was told 'speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give fourth his water, and thou shalt bring fourth to them water out of the rock. This is symbolic of our receiving spiritual refreshing through the Holy Spirit from Christ and because of our prayer after our initial profession. Then in Numbers 20:11-12 we are told And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Because Moses smote the rock when he was told to speak ye unto the rock God said therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Hebrews 6:1-6 explains this. Once the crucifixion has been applied (the rock was struck) it is impossible...to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame (Hebrews 6:4-6). Moses symbolically crucified Christ a second time when he struck the rock a second time. He was denied entering the promised land, which was God's rest (Hebrews 3:17-19). So also, those religions that believe in multiple salvations or losing their salvation can never enter into Christ's rest (Hebrews 4).

As I said, there is a lot of symbolism in this sentence and developing it completely is beyond the scope of this study. Hopefully, the reader understands why Paul said that Rock was Christ.

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1Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

This is a reference to Numbers 21:4-9 which says the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way...and the people spake against God. They had just seen a great victory and deliverance from God as recorded in Numbers 21:1-3. We were just told that God dealt with His people through His role as Christ (Please see the note for 10:4 above). Tempting Christ, per this verse, is complaining about circumstances here that are given to help mature us spiritually. They refused to grow spiritually and insisted on the best circumstances here in this life and God killed many of them for refusing the ministry of Christ in their lives. The phrase look and live comes from this section. In reality, it's not look at the cross of Jesus and live spiritually (get saved) but the truth is God's Child; look at the cross of Christ and live physically. If we refuse to acknowledge the price that Christ paid (cross) to make us new creatures, we won't grow spiritually and may end up dead early (Exodus 10:17; Deuteronomy 21:22; 22:26; 24:16; 2Kings 14:6; Isaiah 53:12; Romans 5:12, 21; 6:16, 23; 7:13; 8:2; 1Corinthians 15:56; James 1:15; 1John 5:16-17). This is what Paul is warning us about. Refusal to grow spiritually can result in God causing physical sickness or death. Looking at the cross of Christ and truly appreciating what it meant for the pure holy Christ to become sin for us (snake on cross) will motivate us to learn what He is trying to teach us and will result in a changed life. A non-changed life proves that the person doesn't truly appreciate the price paid by Christ, no matter what they say.

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1Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

This is a direct reference to the Last Supper where Jesus told us this do in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19). We celebrate the Lord's Supper in this flesh after being saved and before death. That is when God deals with us through His role as Christ. In addition, Christ is the role that God uses to perfect the saints after profession. We are warned of the consequences of taking the Lord's Supper unworthily in 1Corinthians 11. 10:9 warned us that Christ will bring judgment upon saved people, such as causing sickness and death, for ignoring the teaching of Christ and refusing to allow Him to bring spiritual maturity into our life after our initial profession. So, in every way, Christ is the proper role of God to be used in this verse.

We find the words Christ and blood used in the same verse in:

Our current sentence says that the blood and body of Christ provide communion between Christ and us. The note for this verse in the Book Study on 1Corinthians has links to the only three places where communion is used in the Bible, along with the definition from Webster's 1828. Basically, we see that this communion is 'a formalized ongoing fellowship'. (Please see the note for 2Corinthians 6:14 for an explanation of why this definition includes the word 'formalized'.) In order to maintain this 'ongoing fellowship', Christ must remove the sins that we do after our initial profession. Remember that God is always righteous. As such, God always does things righteously, such as apply proper 'jurisdiction' to His court systems. God used the blood of Jesus to blot out all record of our sins in the great white throne legal system so that He could adopt us as His children. All of our sins were blotted out of that court system at the time of our initial profession. However, God then put us into the judgment seat of Christ court system and our sins, after becoming children of God, are dealt with there. Our sins after our profession are dealt with individually and require us to 'confess and forsake' them. The blood of Christ blots out the record in the judgment seat of Christ court system, but only after we allow the change in our life which restores spiritual communion.

Ephesians 2:13 says But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Please notice that out verse starts with But now. The but . means that this sentence has the same subject as the prior one while going in a different direction. The now means that the change is due to a time factor. In all, the context of this verse is critical to getting a proper interpretation of this verse. However, all of that is explained in detail within the notes of this sentence, and others surrounding it, that are in the Book Study on Ephesians. However, the bottom line is that this verse tells us that Christ shed His blood so that saved people could have present-tense peace with God. This is added to our lifer after our initial profession.

Hebrews 9:14 says How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?. As explained in the note for this verse (reached with the link), Christ shed His blood to sanctify us in purging your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. This is another present-tense work that is done after we become children of God.

1Peter 1:2 says Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.. This verse actually uses Jesus Christ and not just Christ. As explained in the note reached from this link, Jesus provided the election, which is God's plan for saving us and then changing us through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood. Christ provides the personal direction of the sanctification, which is given to us personally through the Spirit. This also is done after we become children of God.

1Peter 1:19 says But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:. This is part of a sentence which goes from 1Peter 1:17through 1:21 and is explained in the note for 1Peter 1:17-21 within the Book Study on 1Peter. For our limited present look, we see that our sentence says that each of us personally (ye) were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ. This redemption (bought out of the control of religion and addictive sins (from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers) happens after we become children of God. People do not 'stop their sinning' the instant they make a profession but do it over time as they allow Christ to change their life.

1John 1:7 says But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. The first half of this sentence is in the prior verse, which says If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:. The context makes it clear that this fellowship occurs after we become children of God. The colon followed by but, which separates the two halves of this sentence makes them polar opposites and this sentence clearly says that we must walk in the light, as he is in the light if we are going to have fellowship with him (Jesus Christ). We can not walk in the light, as he is in the light until after we receive the ability by becoming children of God. Therefore, once more we see the blood of Christ used to provide sanctification (our changed walk) after we become children of God.

1John 5:6 says This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.. This is a verse in which the meaning is contested by well meaning men. However, those who study their Bible, instead of just arguing what other men tell them, know that the water is talking about physical birth and blood provides spiritual birth. Life changes and grows after birth. Two verses prior, in this chapter of 1John says For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. This victory that overcometh the world definitely happens after we become children of God and accept the spiritual maturing that comes through Christ.

Revelation 1:5 says And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,. This verse is part of a sentence which goes on to say And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. Lots of people who don't study their Bible 'claim this promise', even though the Bible makes it clear that being a priest or being a king requires passing several tests, the least of which is proving to have matured. This book goes on from here to warn of judgment upon those saved people who refuse to do what God demands from people whom He saves. The context of this verse definitely is talking about spiritual maturity after becoming children of God.

As shown in each of the notes above, the blood of Christ is used to give sanctification to people after they become children of God. In addition, to the short notes provided above, the notes that are reached by clicking the links provided are more extensive and provide greater details supporting what is said in the short notes above. Please also see the note for this sentence in the Book Study on 1Corinthians for more about this verse including the use of the word bread within this verse.

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1Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

It can be argued that when verse and chapter divisions were added to the original epistles (or copies at that time), this verse was put into the wrong chapter. While the Bible teaches us that the words and punctuation of the Bible are from God and preserved by God, there is no indication that the division by verses is from God. In addition, use of verses has led to a lot of doctrinal error while people ignore the God provided punctuation. This verse is actually the final conclusion of chapter 10 and 11:2 starts with Now, which is used to start a new subject. Chapter 10 gives us the historical basis of our relationship with God through His roles as Lord and as Christ. It tells us how to do our religious duties based upon the relationships God established long ago and has not changed. Chapter 11 tells us how to deal with other men in this present life based upon established relationships. It also tells us more about how the relationships between people (man and woman, etc) are a picture of our relationship with God. Therefore, when we neglect to consider the spiritual significance of these pictures, such as the Lord's Supper, we can be judged for doing spiritual wrong. Christ is the role that the Son of God uses to teach us these things and you will find Paul switching between Lord and Christ in both chapters. While this verse does also apply to chapter 11, I personally feel that it better applies to chapter 10.

Please see the notes on 10:4 under Christ and all of the other notes for chapter 10 as they are all speaking about the same subject, which this note summarizes. the note for 10:4 gives an outline and context of the whole chapter, which teaches us that we must go beyond the demands of the Law if we want God to bless us for being expedient. As we saw in the notes for chapter 10, it is through the ministry of Christ that we learn to be expedient. This is part of spiritual maturity which we receive through the ministry of Christ. We first learn how to follow Christ by following men whose lives show that they are following Christ such as Paul and godly pastors. Paul is here telling us to look at his life to see how to apply the teaching of the Bible in our everyday life. Again, God deals with us in this life through His role as Christ and the main function of that role is our spiritual maturity.

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1Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

In 11:2, Paul said Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. Then in this verse, he starts with But. That connects the two verses and makes a difference between them. The difference is that 11:2 is talking about ordinances or law. 11:3 is the opening verse on following God in areas not covered by law. That is why God the Father is leading us through God the Son in His role as Christ. In this verse, Paul is telling us that God the Father has set up an authority structure and that God works through this structure and does not circumvent His own structure. God will not lead a woman to go against her husband in areas not covered by law (written Word or Bible). God is not going to lead a man to go in opposition to the Bible or the character of God the Son, which are used by Christ to lead men. God the Father is not going to lead Christ to go against God the Father. So, some man that's claiming that Christ led him in opposition to the revealed word of God or the revealed character of God is wrong.

Please also see 1Corinthians 3:23; 15:27-28; Isaiah 49:3-6; 52:13; 55:4; 61:1-4; Matthew 28:18; John 3:34-36; 5:20-30; 14:28; 17:2-5; Ephesians 1:20-22; Philippians 2:7-11 for other verses that teach the same thing about God being the head of Christ.

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1Corinthians 12:12 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.

Most of 1Corinthians 12 is an illustration where the body is used to explain how the Spirit of God works in the church. This same thing is taught in Colossians 1:18, 22, 24; 2:11, 17, 19, 23; 3:15 and Ephesians 1:23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30. This illustration uses different body parts to explain how God gives different spiritual gifts to different people in the church but expects each of them to use their gifts for the good of the whole church, just like body parts work together for the good of the whole body. That is what this sentence is saying. The colon makes so also is Christ equivalent to the rest of this sentence.

Stop and think about this. A lot of people believe that Christ is the name of a person while this entire study keeps showing that it is the identification of a relationship which we have with the Son of God, and also identifies His role within that relationship because the relationship is entirely dependent upon Him. This entire chapter of 1Corinthians is teaching that we are part of His body, but we can not be part of a physical human body. We are the physical parts of a spiritual body. As such, Christ can not be the name of a literal physical human man, like Jesus is. As Ephesians 5:23 and Ephesians 5:31-32 teach, the relationship between a man and his wife illustrates the relationship between Christ and the church. Therefore, in the Bible the word Christ is used to identify a relationship and the role of the Son of God within that relationship and is not a name of a human man like the name of Jesus is. It is doctrinal error to teach and use Christ and Jesus interchangeably.

I don't think anyone can make 1Corinthians any clearer than Paul wrote it. Just like we see elsewhere in the Bible, Christ is to identify the additional spiritual gifts that God gives to saved people after their initial profession. These spiritual gifts vary between saved people and their functioning are entirely dependent upon our maintaining our relationship that is in Christ.

After our initial profession, we join the church and are given a ministry to do (administrations of 12:5) and are given a spiritual gifts to be used for the good of the whole church (But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal in 12:7). These spiritual gifts are not given for us to use for the lusts of our flesh. In the parable of the pounds (Luke 19), Jesus said that the pounds were delivered to ten servants (Luke 19:13) and at judgment time the Lord (Luke 19:25) said about seven of them: But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me (Luke 19:27). That means that the other three were not slain (sent to Hell and the Lake of Fire), including the servant who returned the single pound and suffered loss (Luke 19:24-26). When this parable tells us that the servant said he kept (the pound) laid up in a napkin it is talking about him keeping the pound in himself and not using it for the good of God's church.

In the parallel parable of the talents (Matthew 25), we see that the servant who returned the single talent said that he went and hid thy talent in the earth, which is a picture of someone using God's spiritual gift for the lust of his own flesh. God made Adam of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). We see this servant saying basically the same thing as the servant who returned the single pound and receiving basically the same result except in Matthew 25:30 we read the additional description of punishment when Jesus says And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not being cast into Hell like some people would claim because of the erroneous doctrine of no tears in Heaven. I will not fully develop the explanation here, but the key is the term outer, which is a relative term and not an absolute term. God does not wipe away all tears until after the Great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11) and there have to be tears for God to wipe away. There is no sun in Heaven (Revelation 21:23) for the glory of God did lighten it. Those who serve our God more in this flesh will have greater glory of God and will be closer (inner) to God than those who are saved but refuse to serve. Those who are saved but refuse to serve will be in outer darkness where Jesus says that there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth until God wipes away all tears.

Bottom line, use the spiritual gifts from God for the good off the whole church and don't neglect them or use them for the lusts of your own flesh.

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1Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

This verse is the end of the illustration started in 12:12. Please see the note on 12:12 for details of this verse. As explained in that note, Christ is the identification of a relationship which we have with the Son of God, and also identifies His role within that relationship because the relationship is entirely dependent upon Him.

This sentence starts with Now, which means 'after what was said before this'. Therefore, according to this word and according to the context of this chapter, this sentence provides a summary of the explanation and illustration that was given before this within Chapter 12. This chapter has been explaining that the body of Christ is the church and that each of us is a member of that body and that every member is important and is to be primarily focused on the good of the whole body and that God decided what type of member each of us is. Therefore, God decided what job we have within the church and we are not to complain about God's choice. That is the main focus of our second phrase (and members in particular).

The note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians has the definition for the word particular, which can be summed up as 'A single instance; a single point.' That means that we are a 'single' member. We are not the whole body. It is not our job to tell other members how to do their job within the body. (That job belongs to Christ and He passes many of His messages through the pastor.) What our phrase, and chapter, is telling us is to concentrate on being our job within the body, don't look down on or put down other members and let Christ lead the body.

That leaves us our first phrase of ye are the body of Christ. The word ye means 'each and every one of you personally'. This sentence must be understood spiritually because it is saying that we are each personally the body of Christ while also (at the same time) being only a member of the body of Christ. Simply put, Christ works through our personal life singularly, such as when we tell the Gospel, and Christ works through our life as a member of His Body, which is the church. When Christ works through our life as a member of the church, we are to do our job as directed by Him and let Him direct the actions of others without our interference.

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1Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

Paul starts chapter 15 with Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. Paul is clearly declaring that part of the gospel that he preached and that saves people and that saved people are to stand in is dependent (if) upon a critical requirement, which is if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. Plain and simple, the God of the Bible says that it is possible to believed in vain and those who do believed in vain have not met His requirement for salvation which is if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. The rich man and the Pharisee both prayed and only one had his prayer answered. People are not saved because they did any religious act, including saying a prayer of salvation. People are saved when God answers that prayer and puts His life in them because He judged their heart and determined that their prayer wasn't a lie but that they meant it from the heart. If God puts His life in a person, they will be different and will meet His requirements because it is Him working through the person's life to fulfill those requirements. The only thing we have to do is give Him permission to act through our life (Ephesians 2:10). However, a person is not saved, even though they said a prayer, if God judges their heart and determines that they will never allow Him to act through their life. This sentence for 1Corinthians goes on to say that Christ died for our sins. The context of every Bible reference to Christ died clearly shows that the phrase Christ died is talking about a changed life after profession. This is also true here. As I already showed, those people who do not allow Christ to change their life after their profession do not meet God's if of 15:1-2 and are not saved.

All of 1Corinthians 15 is talking about a changed life caused by the resurrection of Christ and of our hope (15:19) and faith (15:14, 17) in the resurrected Christ. Both hope and faith are action words in the Bible and anyone who claims to have either and doesn't act upon them are vain (15:2, 10, 14, 17, 58). Both hope and faith requires us to act now as if we already have the promise of God which we have not seen yet. In Chapter 15, Paul is telling us how that those who truly received the gospel which I preached unto you have a changed life due to God working through their lives. Some of these changes are received now in this life, but most of the changes that this chapter is talking about will occur after the resurrection when Christ and His saints will return to this Earth. Since we are to act in hope and faith that means that we are to believe, and act upon, the promise of a new resurrected body that we do not see yet. In this chapter, Paul shows the difference between things that we have now versus those that we will have. One of those differences is the difference between a natural body and a spiritual body. We do not have this spiritual body now and will not have it (on this Earth) until after Christ physically returns to this Earth.

In Matthew 22 and Luke 20 we are told about the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection and Jesus proved them to be fools. When Jews received salvation, many held unto some of their prior beliefs, which is why we have the Bible telling us about the controversy within the church about keeping the Mosaic Law after receiving salvation. In addition, to the doctrinal error that taught keeping the Mosaic Law for sanctification (Galatians), some of these saved Jews still believed the error of the Sadducees and preached that there was no resurrection. Paul is dealing with this doctrinal error (from the Sadducees) in 1Corinthians 15. He is teaching that if we truly believe the gospel that he preached, and follow it to the conclusion, we must believe in the resurrection and act in hope and faith of a new spiritual body that will be part of the resurrection, even though we do not have it now.

This chapter starts out telling us the gospel that Paul preached and goes on to show how those people who truly believe that gospel must believe in the resurrection and the physical return of Christ with His saints. This return is a literal physical return and the saints will not have their earthly body but will have a spiritual body. Those who reject these truths have not truly believed the gospel that Paul preached or have been led into doctrinal error. When we read and interpret this chapter, we also want to avoid doctrinal error.

Returning to our base verse, we see that this sentence, which starts with For, gives us the primary (base) reason for our faith in the gospel that Paul preached. 15:3-6 is a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

The Bible tells us that two or three witnesses are required to establish a truth (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Ruth 4:11; Matthew 18:16, 20; 26:60; 2Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28; Revelation 11:3). In addition, we find in the gospel of John that Jesus refused to answer any challenge of His authority but answered every demand for witnesses to what he said. Every reference in the Bible for Jesus (except the ones that mean Joshua) is speaking about a literal physical man Who is God in human flesh. When God Himself submits to the demand for witnesses, we are wrong and sinfully proud to refuse to do the same. Paul is following the example of Jesus and the command of the Bible here. Paul provides three different sets witnesses with each set having more than one witness in it. The next couple of sentences tell us of even more witnesses. These witnesses are meeting the Biblical requirement of two or three witnesses in order to establish something as doctrine for all saved people. God has clearly established legal evidence that what follows in this chapter is doctrine for all saved to believe.

Chapter 15 can be further divided into sections which discuss the main subject from different points of view, but all of the sections are talking about the subject that Paul gave us in 15:1-2. Even our current sentence is based upon 15:1-2 because it gives the reason (For) for what Paul said there. So I will take a minute to talk about that sentence.

In 15:1-2, Paul says:

Moreover (on top of what Paul taught in 1Corinthians 13 and 14 about living your claims) , brethren, (saved people, not lost) I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you (the good news that I preached and not this error that many now believe) ,
which also ye have received (It didn't go in one ear and out the other. You were living it.) ,
and wherein ye stand (The gospel is the only legal basis [stand] for a claim in God's court and each and every one of you personally [ye] need to use it in your day-to-day life.) ;
By which (the gospel which I preached unto you) also ye are saved (you have God's life in you right now that is actual and not just positional),
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, (If you personally don't keep in memory and act upon what I preached unto you then you didn't receive the true gospel and you are lost.)
unless ye have believed in vain (A belief that does not result in action is an empty lie [vain]. Someone who claims salvation and never acts upon it has believed in vain while those who are truly saved by faith act upon that faith [James 2]).

Many places in the Bible tell us to 'put up or shut up '. Yes, we all have times of stumbling and disobedience but the Bible clearly teaches in many places, including these chapters, that someone who claims a salvation which does not result in a changed life which shows the work of God in their life believed a false gospel. The only way that these people will keep in memory what I preached unto you is if they have Christ active in their life and He causes them to remember it. If they truly have Christ active in their life then other living people will see Christ working. If they do not have Christ active in their life then 1John 2:18-19 becomes evident in their life. While I could go on, we will return to our main sentence, which tells us why a true belief results in action that shows the influence of God in the believer's life and a vain belief eventually results in the person leaving true believers.

In our breakdown of this sentence we saw Paul list three groups of witnesses (Cephas, the twelve and above five hundred brethren at once) to the gospel which I[Paul] preached unto you, which includes a resurrected Christ. Additionally, we see more witnesses in the next sentences. While I could go into the different witnesses, what is really important is that all of them back Paul's claim that Christ died for our sins...and that he was buried, and that he rose again. Here is why our profession of faith must be backed by a changed life or ye have believed in vain. The Son of God didn't leave Heaven to become human and fulfill prophecy and put up with sinful religious men and die and go to Hell and then resurrect from the dead just so that we could believe the lies of sinful religious men that were around before Jesus was born. This chapter tells us the same thing as Romans 8 tells us only this chapter says it a different way and gives different details. However, the message is the same: true salvation results in a changed life that shows a lost world the changes that only God could make. A claimed 'positional ' change that is never seen by men does not match the teaching of the Bible when it comes to true Biblical salvation.

The sub-section started in 15:1 continues through 15:10 where Paul says But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Notice that this verse equates was not in vain and but I laboured. Further, Paul says yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. It is God's grace in us that labors or makes the changes in us that allows God's Spirit to work through us. God will not take away our free will, even as His children. We have to give Him permission to work through our lives, and all of the spiritual righteous work that is done through our lives is done by Him. This is the same thing as taught in Ephesians 2:8-10, Galatians 2:20 and many other places. Think of a car starter switch. It's easily destroyed if someone tried to put all of the power required by the starter motor through the switch. Instead, the switch is connected with a little wire to the solenoid (big switch with a big wire) and turns on the solenoid (gives the solenoid permission to act). It is actually the solenoid which handles all of the power used by the starter motor to start the car. The solenoid does the work when given permission by the starter switch. God never takes away our free fill. When we obey Him with our own free will, we give Christ permission to turn on the power of God in our life. Christ does the work but we get the credit with God and we receive spiritual maturing every time that we let Christ work in our lives. It is this spiritual maturing that others see. Notice that Paul says his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain...but the grace of God which was with me (laboured more abundantly). God's grace shows us reasons to let Christ work in us. We have to labour only to choose God's grace over the sinful lusts of our flesh and even then God's grace makes it easy labour as it shows us all of the blessings for obedience. If God's grace that is in you doesn't labour to get you to give Christ the permission to do the actual spiritual work, then your faith was in vain. If all you ever want is lust and sin and God's grace isn't making you want to let Christ change your life, then your faith was in vain.

Returning to the conclusion of this sub-section (15:10), we see Paul say But by the grace of God I am what I am. The grace of God does not make someone live for sin and Hell but makes them live to bring glory to God. If God's grace doesn't change you, then it isn't God's grace that is in you and your faith was in vain. In our original verse, we read Christ died for our sins. The rest of this sentence is talking about a change that was seen by physical men in this life as a result of Christ dying for our sins. The context of this sentence shows us that Christ died for our sins so that the grace of God can labour more abundantly and cause a change in this physical life after profession. While the Bible teaches that the death of Jesus paid to blot out the record of our sins (Romans 3:26), and makes us 'positionally ' saved, every place that we find the cross of Christ or that Christ died, we find the Bible saying that Christ did it to change our life after our initial profession.

15:11 concludes this first section by telling us that it doesn't matter who preached to us but what matters is that we believed and people saw a change in our life.

15:12 starts out with Now, which means 'After we have settled this argument about the truly saved having visible evidence of Christ working in their life versus those who have no evidence and have really believed in vain '. Following the Now, Paul asks if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? He then goes on to prove that our personal salvation is dependent upon the resurrection of Christ and concludes this sub-section in 15:19 which says If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Since God doesn't want the saved to be of all men most miserable, it should be obvious that there are further blessings for the saved after this life that are in Christ. Please see the notes for 15:12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 15:19 under Christ.

In 15:29 through 15:34 we have some verses that are really distorted and taught as a major doctrinal error. There is one international organization that calls itself a church and that others say does not meet the Biblical definition of a church. They are dunking their members so that some 'ancestor ' (who is assumed to be in Hell or 'Purgatory ' for hundreds of years) can get out because somebody else got dunked for them and thereby saved them. Paul is really saying that people are identified with (baptized) the dead (martyrs) because (for) they are preaching the same message. As a result, Paul says we in jeopardy every hour. He goes on to say that every day he determines to be willing to die for preaching the gospel that has already cost people their lives and challenges these saved people with the message top Awake to righteousness, and sin not. Basically, because of future spiritual promises (which were mentioned in the verses just prior to this section) we should act in righteousness and stop our sinning, which is another way of saying live by faith. Please see the note for 15:28 under Son.

In 15:35-49 Paul is talking about different types of bodies and the consequences of God changing our body. Again, this change is a future event and does not apply to saved people who are in this life. Please see the note for 15:47 under Lord.

15:50 starts with Now which means based upon the understanding that there are different bodies and different consequences of having different bodies . Based upon that understanding, 15:50-56 tells us about the 'Rapture' and says that regardless if we are taken in death or in the 'Rapture', we shall all be changed. Part of that change in the elimination of sin, death and the Law (15:56). As a result, the people who are changed and have a new body to return with Christ will not sin (see the notes for 15:19-26 [15:19, 20, 22, 23]). That means that during the 1,000 years reign of Christ we will not have (what some people erroneously claim happens today) people who are 'positionally 'in Christ but not abiding in Christ. (As the note for 15:22 explains, that claim is doctrinally wrong.) Anyone who is supposedly 'positionally 'in Christ but not abiding in Christ is in sin (James 4:17). No saved person with a new uncorrupted spiritual body will be abiding in sin during the 1,000 years reign of Christ. Sin corrupts and we will not be able to corrupt (do sin) in our new uncorrupted spiritual bodies. Therefore, the time of all saved always being in Christ and never doing sin is a future event and is not part of this life.

15:57-58 concludes this chapter. Please see the notes for those verses under Lord and Lord Jesus Christ.

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1Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

15:12 starts out with Now, which means after we have settled this argument about the truly saved having visible evidence of Christ working in their life versus those who have no evidence and have really believed in vain. Following the Now, Paul asks if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? He then goes on to prove that our personal salvation is dependent upon the resurrection of Christ and concludes this sub-section in 15:19 which says If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Since God doesn't want the saved to be of all men most miserable, it should be obvious that there are further blessings for the saved after this life that are in Christ.

Notice that Paul is using Christ again in this verse. In fact, Paul uses Christ 15times, in 14 verses, within this chapter. This is the last chapter in this epistle where Paul is teaching doctrine. Chapter 16 tells of Paul's future plans and of other things going on. Yes, Chapter 16 contains things that are good for doctrine, but it was not written specifically to teach doctrine. Paul is concluding his doctrinal teaching to this church full of saved carnal people with the message that all saved people need to have a testimony of a life changed by the grace of God or they may have believed in vain. After establishing that basis in 15:1-11, Paul says 'based upon (Now) what was preached to you and that you really believed (if), how can you claim that the opposite is true? '

That is, he's saying 'Since God in His role that changes us after profession is preached that He rose from the dead, and since the truly saved experience the changes brought by a resurrected Christ, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? ' If Christ wasn't raised from the dead, then He can't be making changes in our lives after our initial profession. If you read Paul's argument from 15:12 through 15:22 with the realization that Christ means God in His role that changes saved people after profession and before death, you will see how impossible it is for someone to say that there is salvation but no resurrection. (All of Chapter 15 deals with this subject, but is divided into two different arguments at 15:23.) You will also see how impossible Easy Believism is if someone has a salvation that matches the truth presented in the Bible. These beliefs are possible only if someone is using a wrong definition for Christ or they are using a non-Biblical definition of salvation.

Paul concludes this argument with For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. There are two types of death and two types of made alive and, therefore, two levels of interpretation of 15:22. Because of Adam, we physically die and those in Christ will be made physically alive. Also, because of Adam, we spiritually die and those in Christ will be made spiritually alive. However, just as Adam's physical and spiritual death concluded at different times, so also will our physical and spiritual death end at different times. The same time difference applies to being made alive. This time difference is critical to proper interpretation. We are born spiritually dead and we will physically die. We are made spiritually alive when we get saved but we will not be truly spiritually alive until we get out incorruptible bodies which can not physically die again. According to this chapter, that will happen some time between the 'Rapture' and when the saved physically return to Earth with Christ when He will reign for 1,000 yearss. I hope all readers understand these statements without the Bible references and proof.

In our natural sinful fleshly state (Adam), we do not respond to the prompting of God (all die spiritually). Those that are truly Biblically saved (in Christ) shall be made alive (be made to respond to the prompting of God). This spiritual life starts at our salvation and, like all life, grows the longer we feed the life. Like all forms of life, the more we feed it the more we grow it and the more we starve it the less it grows. This growth continues while we are in our physical body with further changes stopped once we leave our physical body.

Yes, there are people that Peter teaches about which the Bible calls unjust and are the people who, if truly saved, are starving their spiritual life. The unjust apparently were saved and, after receiving evidence of salvation, abandoned God like Lot did (2Peter 2). However, Paul is not dealing with the unjust in this chapter and there is a difference between never receiving evidence of salvation and losing it because you walked away from your personal relationship with Christ. In this chapter Paul is telling us that there is no in-between: you are spiritually dead or you have responded, at some time since your profession, to the promptings of God here in this life now. We have not been truly made spiritually alive yet and will not see that happen until we get our spiritual body.

This verse clearly teaches that Christ rose from the dead and that those who are in Christ will also rise from the dead. There is further clarification on this statement that is in the notes of other verses in this chapter. For this verse, we definitely say that any who claim salvation and deny the resurrection were never Biblically saved or their faith has been corrupted by doctrinal error.

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1Corinthians 15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

1Corinthians 15:13and 15:14 form a single sentence which can is divided by punctuation in the Book Study on 1Corinthians. Please also see the note for 15:14, that is below. It is part of this sentence and provides different doctrinal considerations from this note. It gives links to several places where the Bible promises resurrection from the dead.

The logic of this sentence is simple and so flawless that anyone arguing against it proves themselves to be a fool. It is absolutely impossible for Christ to have rose from the dead if there be no resurrection of the dead. In the first part of this sentence, Christ is used for the role of the Son of God that fulfills prophecy. The fact is that if God wouldn't keep a prophecy for His only begotten Son who lived a perfect sinless life, then there is absolutely no way that anyone else can rely upon a promise of God. This is a lie from the devil.

Paul goes on in this sentence and uses Christ in the second half for the role of the Son of God that spiritually changes us after our initial profession. Notice that Paul says if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain. Paul's preaching, as he just described in the prior two chapters and in this chapter, was preaching that true Biblical salvation resulted in a changed life. However, that change was due to Christ working in our lives. Therefore, if Christ be not risen, then Christ can't work in our lives and we do not have true Biblical salvation. His conclusion of your faith is also vain means everything that you put into your faith is a waste and accomplishes nothing.

Please notice that the two parts of this sentence (two verses) are separated by a colon, which makes them equivalent. That is, God prophesized that Christ would rise from the dead and had Him rise from the dead so that godly preachers could preach the resurrection and so that we could put our faith in the resurrection. If we did not need the evidence of resurrection from the dead that Christ provided, He would have gone straight the Heaven. He would not have wasted His time here on this corrupted world when he had all of the glories of Heaven waiting for Him unless we needed the proof that would only come from witnesses that saw Him bodily resurrected and living a changed life. Just as Christ provided proof of His resurrection that other men could physically see, the preaching of Christ includes a requirement that we have proof of our spiritual resurrection which other men can see.

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1Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

Please also see 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 and associated notes where we are told that all of our promised future rewards are based upon the resurrection of the Son of God. Without that basis, we have nothing, as is also said in this part of 1Corinthians 15. Further, as already seen, the resurrection of Christ and of all men was prophesied in several places within the Bible. Please see the Prophecy Fulfilled Section of the Doctrinal Study called Significant Gospel Events for links to those places. In addition, there are also links to where the Bible tells us about the resurrection of the dead.

In John 5:28-29 Jesus offers the prophecy, and proof, of the dead rising at His command and testifying of Him. We see this fulfilled in:

Jesus raised the dead in: Mark 5:22-43 (Daughter of Jairus); Luke 7:11-15 (Son of the widow in Nain); John 12:9-11 (Lazarus);
Dead saints rose from the grave after the death of Jesus: Matthew 27:53.
Spiritually dead in: John 5:24 lost that are truly saved will testify of Him.
Eternally dead: In John 5:29 Jesus said they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, which matches Revelation 21:1-5. In John 5:29 Jesus also said and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation The eternal dead are raised and cast into the Lake of Fire according to Revelation 20:11-15. (Also see Revelation 19:20 and Revelation 20:10.) As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:9-11) means that the eternal dead will recognize Him as God before they are cast into the Lake of Fire.

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1Corinthians 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ : whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

When someone claims that the Bible supports a falsehood, they are false witnesses of God. If someone is a true witnesses of God, then they can show the Biblical evidence to support their claim, like I did in the notes mentioned above. Starting in the note for 15:3 I have shown where the Bible provides multiple witnesses for all of the claims in this chapter about the resurrection from the dead. Many people will make false religious claims and call the Bible and God's true messengers liars. They need to provide proof. The fact is that no one can prove that Christ did not rise from the dead. The proof that we have today is that the Bible proclaims it in so many places and the Bible provides so many evidences that it is the infallible Word of a God who never lies. No person who opposes the resurrection can match the evidence that the Bible is truly the word of God and that it teaches resurrection from the dead.

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1Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians. Please also see the notes for 15:13 and 15:14 as they say the same thing as this sentence and those notes directly apply to this sentence.

15:16 and 15:17 form a single sentence that can is divided by punctuation in the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

This sentence starts with For, which means it gives the reason for the prior sentence. There, Paul basically said that if God didn't fulfill all of the prophecy and raise Christ then He has a bunch of liars representing Him and He isn't keeping any of His promises and we're all going to Hell and the lake of Fire no matter what we do. This is the second time in this chapter (15:14, 15:17) that Paul says these phrases, which is what is required for doctrine. As pointed out in the notes above for 15:13-14, this sentence has a colon in it which makes then is not Christ raised directly equivalent to your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Plain and simple, denying the resurrection is the same as admitting that you are lost. Saved people have no business listening to doctrinal error coming from lost people. There is a literal spiritual resurrection that happens in this life and a physical resurrection that will be evident when Christ returns to rule this world for 1,000 yearss.

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1Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Please look at all of the notes for the entire chapter that are in this Study and that are in the Book Study on 1Corinthians. Please also see the notes for 15:13 and 15:14 as they say the same thing as this sentence and those notes directly apply to this sentence.

This verse is part of the same sentence as 15:16. Please see the note above and the note in the Book Study on 1Corinthians for details.

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1Corinthians 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look first at the note for 15:3 which gives the context of the entire chapter. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Also the notes for 15:13- 17 explain that our salvation is directly related to the resurrection. Please also see all of the notes on chapter 15 and consider all of them along with the verses.

These people obeyed Christ and had a changed life which included many dying a martyr's death. The doctrinal error which Paul is disputing claims that they did this only for God to send then to Hell and the Lake of Fire. That does not match the character of the God of the Bible. That matches the lies that Satan tells about the God of the Bible. Those who believe and claim that there is not resurrection are blaspheming the God of the Bible and following Satan.

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1Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look first at the note for 15:3 which gives the context of the entire chapter. Please see the notes on 5:12 above as it provides the context of this subsection of chapter 15. Also the notes for 15:13- 17 explain that our salvation is directly related to the resurrection. Please also see all of the notes on chapter 15 and consider all of them along with the verses.

Prior to this verse Paul gave absolute proof for the doctrine that resurrection of the dead is directly linked to our salvation and that those who deny the resurrection are providing evidence that they are lost and following Satan. Now in this verse Paul starts to add unto what he previously taught. When Paul says If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable he is making it clear that there is more hope in Christ that goes beyond this life. As mentioned in the notes for 15:3 and 15:12, since God doesn't want the saved to be of all men most miserable, it should be obvious that there are further blessings for the saved after this life that are in Christ.

15:20 starts with But which means it is still talking about the same subject as this sentence while going in a different direction. In 15:20-26 Paul says that one of these future blessings is that Christ will rule everything and subdue all enemies including death. This obviously has not happened yet. Therefore, there are things which are in Christ that are not available to us in this life and anyone who claims that all of these things are for this life is in doctrinal error. Where the verses in chapter 15 have been talking about that way that the Son of God's role as Christ applies to this life as well as to future blessings, with this verse and 15:20 Paul transitions to excluding considerations of this life. It should be pretty clear to anyone who reads If in this life only we have hope in Christ that Paul is making a conditional argument (If) where those who meet the condition (in this life only we have hope in Christ) receive the results of the If, which is are of all men most miserable and anyone who does not meet the condition of the If receives the other consequences which are in 15:20-26.

As I show in my papers on Prove (How to Prove things in the Bible) and on Rightly Dividing (Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth [2Timothy 2:15]), God uses Pure Logic which is different than 'men's logic '. ('Pure ' means 100%. Pure Logic is 100% abstract logic with no consideration of the things of this world.) The only two applications of Pure Logic known to man are Mathematics and Computer Programming. In addition, buildings can be used to illustrate many concepts of Pure Logic. Both (Mathematics and Computer Programming) provide absolute results based upon the input. 2 + 2 is not 'kinda someplace around 4 ' but is absolutely = 4. In computer programming, when you don't meet the condition of an If you don't 'sometimes ' take the 'else ' branch but you ALWAYS absolutely take the 'else ' branch. Both of these absolute results are based upon the Pure Logic that God uses in the Bible. Therefore, this If in 15:19-26 gives us two absolutely mutually exclusive results based upon the condition of the If. If in this life only we have hope in Christ then absolutely, positively, no way around it we are of all men most miserable. However, if our hope in Christ is not in this life only then absolutely, positively, no way around it we are going to get the results of the But that starts 15:20 with the qualifier that those results do not happen in this life. If they happened in this life, then they would be on the other side of this If.

In the Verses section labeled Relational Prepositions - in Christ, many other verses are listed which tell us of blessings that are given to the saved who are in Christ. Every one of those verses use the phrase in Christ and if we look at those verses with their associated notes we see that they tell us of things that we have in Christ. Many of these blessings are received in this life, but many are also not received in this life. Therefore, the reader is adviced to look at those verses and notes so that they will know that the condition specified in these verses is not a unique condition within the Bible.

Look at how Paul said that the apostles were treated in Chapter 4. Look at 1Peter and other places like 2Timothy 3:12 which says Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Those in Christ are promised to suffer in the flesh and that promise is made several places in the Bible. If there is no eternal reward to offset the persecution of living godly in Christ Jesus then we truly are of all men most miserable. By the same token, not all saved will live godly in Christ Jesus and not all saved suffer persecution. However, all through the Bible we see rewards directly linked to our service to God. For example, people who are not pastors will not receive the crown that is reserved for those who serve God as pastors. By the same token, those who do not live godly in Christ Jesus will not receive the reward for such service. Those who do not suffer persecution will not receive the reward for such service. Those who do not live in Christ in this life should not expect to receive the rewards promised to those who do live in Christen this life. Having said that, I will add that there are some people who support the doctrine that all people who are saved during the church age will be in the bride of Christ. There are others who support the doctrine that only some of the people who are saved during the church age will be in the bride of Christ. The argument revolves around the unjust, who are people that are claimed to be 'positionally saved ' but never abide in Christ and have no God given evidence of their salvation that men can see in this life. There are verses that support the contention that these people are lost and there are verses that support the contention that these people are saved. As I have explained elsewhere, God deliberately did this because their lost or saved condition is something that He reserved for His role as Lord and He told everyone to stay out of that business. We are just to warn these people that God is going to hurt them real bad if they die while still being unjust. In that consideration, there are many verses, especially in Revelation, that say the bride of Christ has done things that these unjust people have not done. So regardless of where you stand on the salvation of unjust people, they clearly do not meet the requirements to be in the bride of Christ. Since the promises that are made in the next few verses occur when the bride of Christ returns to this Earth with Christ, there is a problem claiming that these verses apply to the unjust.

This verse started with the condition of If in this life only we have hope in Christ. People have to be in Christ before that can claim hope that is in Christ regardless of whether that hope is in this life only or not in this life only. The fact is that there are too many people who claim to be saved and do not meet the Biblical requirements of being in Christ and do meet the Biblical definition of being unjust. The people who claim that that the unjust people are 'positionally 'in Christ, and don't have to have any visible evidence of being in Christ, end up with a non-visible 'positional ' resurrection, according to these verses. Read the verses and see where they say in Christ, such as this verse says. If you expect a literal physical visible resurrected body then you must have a literal physically visible changed life in Christ.

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1Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

In 15:20-26 Paul says that one of these future blessings is that Christ will rule everything and subdue all enemies including death. This obviously has not happened yet. Therefore, there are things which are in Christ that are not available to us in this life and anyone who claims that all of these things are for this life is in doctrinal error. Also, before Christ subdues death, He will subdue His bride. What these verses are actually teaching is that everyone who gets a spiritual body (15:44) will receive it in incorruption (15:42) and they will not defile that uncorrupted spiritual body with sin. We may be going in and out of abiding in Christen this life, but we won't do that in our uncorrupted spiritual body because not abiding in Christ is sin (James 4:17) and we will not in our uncorrupted spiritual body. Therefore, all who receive an uncorrupted spiritual body will continue to abiding in Christ. This section is not saying that all who are saved in this life are in Christ. It is saying that when we are no longer in this life and have our new body we will always be in Christ. As mentioned before, the time factor is critical to proper interpretation.

Returning to this specific verse (from all of the considerations of context), we see that the first thing which Paul tells us is But now (after leaving the considerations of things in this life) is Christ risen from the dead (Christ stopped being in this life at a time in the past and received a new life) and become the firstfruits of them that slept (and can therefore show is the results of life after we leave this life. Since He is a firstfruit, He shows the type of fruit that dead saved people will become).

1Peter 1:3-5 tells us that we have a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The firstfruits were the first of a crop since the last harvest of the prior year. After eating what was dead and preserved, the first fresh crops always taste best and give an indication of what the rest of the crop will be like. Since Christ is the firstfruits of the saved, He is the best but He is also an indication of what other saved are supposed to be like. Those who are not like Christ suffer the wrath of God just like a rotten wormy fruit would be discarded by a farmer during a harvest. I'm not saying that the unjust will or will not go to Hell but I am saying that they won't receive the blessings that those who tried to abide in Christ will receive.

After His resurrection, Christ had a body that was different than before He died. Mark 16:12 tells us After that he appeared in another form unto two of them and Luke 24:16 says that these disciples did not recognize Him. We can not change our form at will. Luke 24:36-40 tells us that He suddenly appeared in the middle of all of the disciples and showed them His hands and feet that still had wounds large enough for Thomas to stick his hand in, but which did not bleed. We can't instantly pop into the middle of a room. We can't walk around in a body that has no blood. The point is that His body was literally physically visibly different and was capable of things that our sinful body can't do. Since He is the firstfruits of them that slept, them that slept are also going to get a new body that is literally physically visibly different and was capable of things that our sinful body can't do. However, since the verses in this chapter directly linked resurrection (and the results of resurrection such as this new body) to being in Christ in a visible way while we are in this life, That is what every saved person should be trying to do. I make no promises to those who die unjust and never had any visible evidence of their abiding in Christ.

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1Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look first at the note for 15:3 which gives the context of the entire chapter. Please see the notes on 5:19 and 15:20 above as they provide the context of this subsection. Please also see all of the notes on chapter 15 and consider all of them along with the verses.

This verse is talking about being spiritually alive when we are in Christ, but it also puts this time factor in the future with the word shall. If you look at other verses that use the phrase in Christ (see Relational Prepositions - in Christ), you will see that many of the blessing for being in Christ are for the current time. However, both the Pure Logic of 15:19-20 and the word shall in this verse make the phrase be made alive a future event. In fact, be made alive is a future event phrase as are alive is the proper present tense form of this phrase. The context of this verse makes shall all be made alive an explanation of the condition of those who received their new uncorrupted spiritual body. Now I understand that many people use these verses to preach being made alive spiritually when we are in Christ in this present life. However, there are other verses in the Bible where the proper interpretation supports that doctrine. Using verses for an application that goes against the proper interpretation supports and justifies other people using the Bible in ways that goes against the proper interpretation. As Reformers Unanimous teaches, righteousness is doing the right thing the right way and God is always righteous and God wants His people to always be righteous. There are many doctrinal errors that the Bible had to correct because good people tried to justify doing a 'good thing ' the wrong way. God does not bless such efforts even if we appear to get good results in the short time.

Before he sinned, Adam had a body that did not get sick or wear out or have any of the results of sin corruption. He could do things that we can't do like talk to animals (Genesis 3:1-5). (Would you stand there and have a conversation with a serpent or would you run or would you try to catch it for a show?) Because of Adam's sin, our bodies suffer the results of sin corruption from the time of conception and scientists have documented it. When this verse says as in Adam all die, it means that all of us are current physically dying because of the results of sin corruption. The word even means in an equal fashion. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive means that in Christ, at some future time (shall) we will receive new physical bodies (all be made alive) that will undo (even so) the results of sin corruption that we currently have because our bodies are still in Adam. Only a few fools try to claim that the salvation of our bodies has already occurred. The proper interpretation of these verses is not 'soul salvation' or 'spirit salvation' or 'body salvation' but actual means all three. It should be obvious that the promise of 'body salvation' is a future time event. When we consider that our soul is our mind, will and emotions; and we seriously consider the condition of these within us as saved people; it should be obvious that the complete. 'soul salvation' is still a future event. However, the Bible does indicate that our 'spirit salvation' is a completed event at the point that we receive the Son of God as our personal saviour. Thus we can say that our 'spirit salvation' happened (Ephesians 2:6) at the time that we received the gospel. However, our 'body salvation' won't happen until we get our receive our new body (1Corinthians 15:53) and our 'soul salvation' (mind, will and emotions) happens now as we maintain our ongoing relationship with the Son of God that is in Christ.

Notice that this verse starts with For. That means it is giving the reason for the prior verse, which says For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. The context of this chapter make death and resurrection of the dead terms about all three parts of our being. In addition, that verse (15:21) also starts with For. As a result, these two verses stack one upon another to give the reason for what Paul said in 15:19-20. That is why the reader was asked to read the notes for 15:19 and 15:20.

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1Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

The doctrine taught in this chapter is not always understood properly because people tend to take partial sentences (verses) and full sentences out of the context of the entire chapter. For example, I have had people arguing very adamantly that some verses apply to all saved today and prove present day salvation. However, the context of this chapter clearly puts the fulfillment of those verses into a future time. The context puts the fulfillment after the saved return for the 1,000 years reign of Christ It should be obvious that ignoring the future time factor when interpreting prophecy leads to doctrinal error. Therefore, it is critical that everyone understand the chapter as a whole and keep the context of the entire chapter in mind when dealing with the verses in this chapter. It is also critical to look at the time factor that applies to each sentence and verse when interpreting it. Please look first at the note for 15:3 which gives the context of the entire chapter. Please see the notes on 5:19, 15:20 and 15:22 above as they provide the context of this subsection. Please also see all of the notes on chapter 15 and consider all of them along with the verses.

Paul starts this verse with But. That is, connected to the argument about how people get a new physical body, while going in a different direction with the discussion. Where Paul was proving 'body salvation ' will happen in the future, here he is telling us the order that people will receive that 'body salvation '. This verse uses Christ the firstfruits as a repeat of 15:20 and gives us the doctrinal basis (two verses saying the same thing) for saying that we will have a body like Christ has when we experience 'body salvation '. (Please see the note for 15:20 for more on firstfruits and 'body salvation ').

We have to be careful of doctrinal error which ignores the time factors of this chapter and claims that things said about the future applies 'positionally ' now. Much of this chapter is talking about actual things that will happen in the future and have not happened yet, not even 'positionally '. For instance, 15:22 says For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The word shall is a future tense time word. In addition, 15:23 is attached to 15:22 by the first word of But. It says that these time events will happen to every man in his own order and that Christ is sequentially the firstfruits and afterward the saved (they that are Christ's) at his coming. The phrase of at his coming is clearly talking about the return of Christ to rule for 1,000 yearss. At his coming is not present tense. So those who argue that verses are to be interpreted for this present time are taking these verses out of context. The point is that we need to be aware of the time elements that are part of the context of verses in this chapter or we will be led into doctrinal error. God provides a curse for all who add to His Word or take away from it. When Satan tempted Jesus he quoted the Bible but took it out of context and left part out. I'm sorry for any pride stepped on but ignoring context when interpreting the Bible is the way of Satan. Those who want the truth do not ignore limits placed upon interpretation by the context.

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Jesus Christ

1Corinthians 1:1, 4; 2:2; 3:11

Every one of these verses teach a doctrine that salvation, is the ministry of Jesus which is then 'perfected ' through the ministry of Christ. These doctrines are given to all saved as opposed to the items provided through Christ Jesus, which are given only to saved people but which only some of the saved receive. Click here for all of the Verses that use Jesus Christ and here for the Summary on the name / role of Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

1Corinthians 1:1 through 1:3 form a single sentence which introduces this epistle and uses Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ our Lord and Lord Jesus Christ for the Son of God as well as mentioning God our Father, the will of God and the church of God. This sentence has a colon between 1:2 and 1:3, which makes 1:1-2 equivalent to 1:3. Please also see the notes for 1:2 and 1:3 within this Study.

This sentence is divided by punctuation, and notes on the context and the meaning of the entire sentence, can be found in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians. This sentence has two Equivalent Sections. In each Equivalent Section, Paul claims authority from every role of the Son of God in addition to authority from God the Father. In this first verse, Paul says that he is called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God which means that he is the highest authority in human flesh that there is. Since Paul includes the fact that his position is through the will of God, he is claiming that there is no higher authority for people to go to. In addition, Paul is showing that Jesus Christ found out the will of God before making Paul an apostle. If Jesus Christ finds out the will of God before making a choice for a personal representative, we can not claim to be following Jesus Christ if we don't also find out the will of God before making any choice for anything.

Paul talks about apostles in this epistle in 1:1; 4:9; 9:1-2, 5; 12:28-29; 15:7, 9. (Please see the note for this sentence within the Word Study on Apostle for the use of this word within the Bible.) Among other things, Paul says Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? in 9:1. This is not talking about some vision because every place that the Bible uses Jesus it is talking about a literal physical human man. As discussed elsewhere in this study, I believe that the Bible teaches that Paul received personal training from Jesus Christ our Lord for the same amount of time that the other apostles were personally trained by Him. Regardless, no one living today has seen the physical man who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus, anyone living today that claims to be an apostle is either deliberately lying or is so ignorant of the true Bible qualifications that they must be teaching major doctrinal errors and should be avoided by all who want to be approved by God.

This role of apostle and the qualifications is significant in this epistle because this church had a problem with divisions within the church caused by different people claiming to follow different human leaders. The significance can be seen in how many times that this position is mentioned in this epistle. This problem became the major problem in this church and was a problem of unqualified people claiming authority that they did not have and disrupting the teaching of truth by the God appointed authorities. Therefore, the first thing that Paul does is establish his personal authority as being the highest among human beings. He needs to do this since he is going to be correcting several doctrinal errors in this church. When identifying the Son of God, whom he represents, Paul first uses the most commonly used name in the New Testament of Jesus Christ because Paul is starting from " common ground ' when correcting problems.

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1Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

This verse is part of a complex sentence that goes from 1:4 through 1:8 and is the first thing Paul says after the initial greeting. This complex sentence has 2 colons, which breaks it into 3Equivalent Sections. Please also see the note for 1:6 under Christ and the notes for 1:7- 8 under Lord Jesus Christ. The breakdown of this sentence, by punctuation, is:

We are give God's grace by Jesus Christ so that it affects every part of our lives in a way that confirms the testimony of Christ in us (proves that Christ lives in us). This is the proof that we need when we are personally judged.

Paul thanked God because God gives grace by Jesus Christ

I thank my God always on your behalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

Everything that we do, say or know is to increase God's grace that is given to us by Jesus Christ

That in every thing ye are enriched by him,
in all utterance,
and in all knowledge;

Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

Jesus Christ will give us personal gifts too use in His service which will confirm that we have nothing to fear at our personal judgment.

So that ye come behind in no gift;
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ :

Jesus Christ will confirm our life, all of our life, so that we can know that we have nothing to fear at our personal judgment.

Who shall also confirm you unto the end,
that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Each Equivalent Section of this sentence tells us that Jesus Christ gives us things here in this life that we are to use to prove that He changed our life. If we use them as He intends, we will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, what is only implied, is that if we don't use them as intended, we will be blamed in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (at the Judgment Seat of Christ [Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11] and during the 1,000 years reign of Christ on this Earth).

This verse (1:4) is part of the first of three steps that make up the first of the Equivalent Sections. It tells us that Jesus Christ gives us grace (the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ) that is to affects every part of our lives and prepares us for meeting our God. This grace is initially given at salvation (Jesus), but then continues to perfect us through the ministry of Christ, which is the second step in this part. Notice that the first step says that this grace is (present tense) given you by Jesus Christ. This is an ongoing giving and not limited to just the one time event at our initial profession. The second step is also present tense when it says ye (each and every one of you personally) are enriched by him (Jesus Christ). This ongoing giving of grace is the ministry of Christ that is added to the grace given by Jesus at our initial profession. This statement is evident with the third step in this part which says Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Notice that this testimony of Christ is past tense. We continue to need and receive the grace of God even after the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. It is absolutely impossible to confirm the testimony of Christ based upon someone saying that they are saved. Indeed, all of us have met people who have made false professions. It takes a visible change in a person's lifestyle from sin to living like Christ in order to confirm the testimony of Christ in their life. So our three steps are: God gives the grace, we use the grace to let Christ Jesus change our lives and then others confirm the testimony of Christ in our life based upon visible changes. This is explained more in the other notes for this sentence but before moving on, look at the next sentence in 1:9 (along with the accompanying note). There Paul tells us ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The word fellowship definitely means an ongoing relationship, which is what I said Paul is saying in this sentence. He says it twice, two different ways, so that we know that it is doctrine and so that even the most slow-witted will get it.

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1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

In chapter 2, Paul is starting a new subject: the mind of Christ. He starts this by saying that he determined not to know or 'decided to not play expert on any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified '. Paul has just closed the prior chapter with the difference between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God where he also said that religion chose the wisdom of this world but the truly saved were supposed to choose Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Then Paul starts this chapter with his own testimony of how he acted among them. In 2:1-5 he tells them how he avoided the wisdom of this world but determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Paul then spends the rest of the chapter talking about the difference between God's Spirit and the spirit of man. Paul ends the chapter with But we have the mind of Christ (2:16). All of this talk about God's Spirit versus the spirit of man is sandwiched between Paul saying that the only thing that he knew was Jesus Christ and his saying that we have the mind of Christ is because we have the mind of Christ is a spiritually oriented mind. Salvation is given spiritually, not religiously (John 1:12-13, etc). The things of God are spiritual, not religious (this chapter, Galatians, etc). In this verse, Paul starts with the gospel when he says that the only thing that he knew (preached) was Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He ends the chapter with the mind of Christ, which only comes with spiritual maturity and in between he tells us how to progress from initial profession (receiving Jesus Christ, and him crucified) to having the mind of Christ.

Back in 1;23 we read about Christ crucified. Here we read Jesus Christ...crucified. There Paul was talking about how people get sanctification and the blessings of God, which come after we have a personal relationship with God. Here Paul is talking about the basic gospel which he preached, which includes what is required to make an initial profession as well as what it takes to get sanctification and the blessings of God, which come after we have a personal relationship with God. Paul uses Jesus Christ here in recognition that the true Gospel of Your Salvation requires the finished work of Jesus and the ongoing work of Christ.

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1Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Please see the notes for 3:1 under Christ and for 3:5 under Lord for the context of this verse.

This verse starts with For, which means it is giving the reason For what came before it. In fact, in 3:1 Paul started another phase of the argument which he started at the beginning of this epistle. (Paul started 3:1 with And, which means what he says in this chapter is added to what was seen prior.) Within the arguments of chapter 3, Paul gives an analogy in 3:8-23 where he compares the church and the individual to the temple of God. In 3:5 Paul told us that we were dealing with the Lord. Therefore, we are dealing with judgment by the Lord and in 3:8-15 Paul warns us of judgment when we get to Heaven and in 3:9-23 we are warned of judgment in this life. This verse (3:11) is part of the section on judgment when we get to Heaven. In it Paul tells us that the foundation of God's temple (us individuals and the church) is Jesus Christ and no man lay than that is laid. When these people at Corinth were arguing that they were of some man (1:12-13; 3:4-6) they were claiming a different foundation than Jesus Christ and Paul is telling them that they can't change their foundation and still be part of the temple of God.

This verse is part of where Paul is saying that all saved (individuals and churches) are part of the temple of God. God uses men to do His work, but it is God who works through men (3:9-10). The foundation, or basis, of the church is salvation, that comes through the ministry of Jesus, and the spiritual maturing that comes through the ministry of Christ. Likewise, our personal foundation as saved people is salvation, that comes through the ministry of Jesus, and the spiritual maturing that comes through the ministry of Christ. Paul is telling us here that if any man tries to claim any other foundation, then they are not doing the work of God and what they are building is not part of God's building (3:9). Working on our own building is not going to get us rewards when we face our Lord. We see this also taught in Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2. Please see those verses and associated notes. To receive a reward when we face our Lord, we need to be working on God's building which is built upon the person of the Son of God ass He ministers through His roles as Jesus Christ. This means that all of our religious acts (building efforts) are to be based upon the salvation provided by Jesus and upon the spiritual growth provided by Christ that comes after profession.

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Christ Jesus

1Corinthians 1:2, 30; 4:15; 16:24

Each of these verses are to saved only who have, or should have, spiritually matured after profession. Each verse is teaching something that emphasizes the maturity after profession above the salvation itself. Click here for all of the Verses that use Christ Jesus and here for the Summary on the name / role of Christ Jesus.

1Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

1Corinthians 1:1 through 1:3 form a single sentence which introduces this epistle and uses Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ our Lord and Lord Jesus Christ for the Son of God as well as mentioning God our Father, the will of God and the church of God. This sentence is divided by punctuation in the note for 1:1 under Jesus Christ. Please see that note and the ones for 1:2 and 1:3 under Lord Jesus Christ.

In this part off the sentence (1:2), Paul states that he is writing to three different groups including:

the church of God which is at Corinth
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord

The first two groups might seem to be the same, but they aren't. Paul is recognizing that there are people in the church of God who are not yet sanctified in Christ Jesus and he is specifically including these people because they are the spiritually immature people who are being led into error. Obviously, Paul is hoping that this letter will cause some of these people to mature spiritually enough to become sanctified in Christ Jesus. Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus have made an initial profession based upon their belief in Jesus (Romans 3:26) and who have enough spiritual growth that their maturing by Christ is apparent. Noticed that Paul uses Christ Jesus here and not Jesus Christ. As we have seen everywhere that Christ Jesus is used, The Bible is saying something that is meant to go to all saved but which requires spiritual maturity after salvation in order to be received as intended. Spiritual maturity is more important than making an initial profession. We can see that because there are things taught in this epistle that we still hear people say I don't believe that and they apparently believe that their refusal to believe the truth is going to make some difference. Webster's 1828 defines sanctified as 'Made holy; consecrated; set apart for sacred services '. While there is more that can be said about this word based upon a complete Bible study, this definition should be sufficient for the reader to see that there were people in this church at Corinth, and in most churches today, who do not meet this qualification. However, those who are not sanctified still need to hear what is in this epistle and be warned of consequences from their Lord if they disobey. Notice that Paul further qualifies who he is addressing with called to be saints but puts this qualifier after addressing the two groups within the church at Corinth. This is because all saved are called to be saints. Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus have answered God's call and those who are not sanctified in Christ Jesus have not yet answered God's call. That brings us to our third group. All that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord includes us.

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1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1Corinthians 1:30-31 is a single sentence with a colon separating the two verses. That makes the two verses equivalent. Please also see the note on 1:31 under Lord. This sentence can be divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on 1Corinthians.

Back in 1:10, Paul said Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing. Since then, Paul has been telling them the error of their division and expressing concern because their testimony did not match the gospel that he had preached to them. Starting in 1:13, Paul related their divisions to baptism and who they were being identified with. (Baptism is used for identification with your spiritual leader in the Bible.) These Corinthians were being divided by religious arguments and identifying themselves with different leaders and Paul told them that such religious differences were part of the wisdom of the world. Since God made foolish the wisdom of this world and it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, they were not saved by the wisdom of the world and should not let it divide them. That brings us to this sentence, which starts with But and tells us about the same subject while going in a different direction. 1:30 tells us some basic things that we have from God in our salvation and 1:31 tells us to glory in the Lord for His salvation and to not glory in the wisdom of the world.

The prior sentence (1:26-29) talked about how not many (wise/ mighty/ noble) men after the flesh are called: But God hath chosen the (foolish/weak/base/despised) things of the world that no flesh should glory in his presence. That is, God chose those things that are in opposition to the wisdom and power of this world. Therefore, we can know that when this sentence says But of him [God] are ye (each and every one of us personally) in Christ Jesus, it means that we should be in the things that this world considers to be foolish/weak/base/despised. Further, if we are in what the world considers to be wise/ mighty/ noble, we most likely are not in Christ Jesus. This verse uses Christ Jesus instead of Jesus Christ because when people first make their profession people can't tell the difference between them and those in the world. It takes spiritual maturity for the world to see a difference in your testimony and that of the world. Since this spiritual maturity after our initial profession is more important than the initial profession in what the world sees as our testimony, Christ Jesus instead of Jesus Christ.

Going on, when this verse says of him are ye in Christ Jesus, it is saying that God the Father is the one who put us in Christ Jesus. In the note for Ephesians 1:4, I explained how the Bible teaches that before the foundation of the world, God the Father made a law that is greater than the laws of nature. This law makes several blessings available to those saved people who are in Christ and denies them to those who are not in Christ. Lost people are obviously not in Christ but saved people can also be not in Christ if they refuse to do what is required to maintain their relationship. (Please see that note for more details.)

While most of the notes about our personal relationship with God use the phrase in Christ or the phrase Christ in, Our current verse uses in Christ Jesus. This is because every item mentioned in this sentence is given to every person at their initial salvation, bit it requires maintaining our personal relationship with God in order for these items to grow and mature within us. If we do nothing to grow our personal relationship then we may have these items, but they will be so weak and ineffective that there probably will be no real evidence of them within our life.

Please note that the word in is one of the prepositions that the Bible uses to describe our personal relationship with God. Please see the Study called Relational Prepositions for more details, for identification of more prepositions and for links to every verse in the Bible that uses these prepositions.

Going on, please notice the rest of this verse. Paul says that the result of our being in Christ Jesus is that who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. The who of who of God is made unto us is Christ Jesus. That means that Christ Jesus is the personification of wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

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1Corinthians 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Also see note on 4:15 under Christ. The Use of Christ Jesus by Paul in this verse fits 100% with the use of Christ Jesus elsewhere. Paul is saying that he not only lead them to the salvation that is through Jesus (Romans 3:26), but more importantly, Paul also showed them their need to mature spiritually and how to get that ministering of Christ that only occurs after our initial profession and happens through the ongoing personal relationship with the Son of God. Notice the colon in this sentence. It can be divided by punctuation as:

We can have only one father no matter how many instructors we have.

For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ
yet have ye not many fathers

for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel

Notice that the two sections of the first part (in Christ and fathers) are equivalent to the combined ministries of the Son of God as Christ Jesus, which is in the second part of this sentence. Also notice that I have begotten you is a very personal claim on several people while each section of the first part uses ye, which we have consistently seen used in the Bible to mean 'each and every one of you personally '. God works through people and the Bible teaches that the spiritually alive word of God is also called the seed of God (Mark 4:24-29; Luke 8; Romans 9:8; 1Peter 1:23; 1John 3:9). It takes living seen to produce life and we receive God's spiritual life (John 1:12-13) and become sons of God only be receiving that Spiritual life from the spiritually alive word of God / seed of God. Paul was their spiritual father because God used him to deliver the word of God which made them spiritually alive. This is part of the ministry of Jesus. However, the problem wasn't with them receiving spiritual life but with them spiritually maturing after their initial profession. Since the spiritual growth after profession more important, in this instance, than the initial profession, Paul uses Christ Jesus instead of Jesus Christ.

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1Corinthians 16:24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

After stating a final curse and blessing in 16:22- 23 (see notes on those verses) Paul states his love in Christ Jesus. Paul's love is for those that are spiritually maturing after profession. Since he just gave a curse for any man love not the [each and every role of the Son of God] Lord Jesus Christ, and since his entire letter was to those saved people who refused to spiritually mature (loved Jesus but refused to love Christ), Paul closes with an emphasis upon spiritually maturing in Christ after our initial profession.

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Lord Jesus

1Corinthians 5:5; 6:11; 11:23; 12:3

Each of these verses teach a doctrine that requires a combination of God's role as Lord with God's role as Jesus. Click here for all of the Verses that use Lord Jesus and here for the Summary on the name / role of Lord Jesus.

1Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

This verse is part of a sentence that goes from 5:3through 5:5and is divided by punctuation in the note within the Book Study on 1Corinthians. Please see that note for the details of context. Please also see the note for 5:4 under Lord Jesus Christ as it has different, but critical, doctrinal considerations related to this sentence. Please also see the note for 5:7 under Christ as it is the only other note on this chapter and note. This note only deals with the use of the day of the Lord Jesus.

The day of the Lord occurs 18 times in the Bible and is different than the day of the Lord Jesus. The day of the Lord is always presented like 2Peter 3:10 which says But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Notice that this says the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Revelation 20:11-14 tell of the great white throne judgment and the next verse (Revelation 21:1) says And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. I believe between these verses is when God destroys the Earth with Fire because John says for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away and we will all be going to the new Heaven and a new earth. However, this is talking about God the Father acting, and He is not our Lord Jesus, Who is God the Son. Also, the day of the Lord Jesus has different events happening.

Notice that 2Corinthians 1:14 says 'that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. A time of rejoicing is a time of reward. Also, 2Peter 3:8 tells us But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. I believe that this day of the Lord Jesus is when He will reign on this Earth for a thousand years and He will reward those who served Him in this life at the start of that thousand years by giving them positions of ruling under Him (Please see the parable of the pounds in Luke 19). These rewards will be given at blonde porn the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11) which occurs just before the 1,000 years reign of Christ. However, as explained in other notes for this sentence (see links above), there will also be punishment given to the disobedient at the same time. Therefore, this day of the Lord Jesus will not be as pleasant, for some saved people, as they expect.

1Corinthians 1:8; 5:5 and 2Corinthians 1:14 say it as the day of the Lord Jesus to clarify to this church that the one who will be bringing judgment is the Lord Jesus, not God the Father. Believers in this church had trouble with teachers claiming that they could deal with God the Father directly and bypass our Lord Jesus. Many places in the New Testament make it clear that God the Father is dealing with man only through our Lord Jesus and we can not get to God the Father any other way (John 14:6). This verse uses Lord Jesus because the physical man named Jesus, Who is God in the flesh and our Lord, will rule and reign on this Earth for that thousand years.

In addition, to the proper interpretation of the day of the Lord Jesus, we have to deal with the rest of this phrase. Paul says 'that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. We can't truly know if someone else is saved or not because we can't judge their heart like God can. We can only look on the outward appearances and there are many deceivers in this world. In 2Peter we read about the godly, the ungodly and the unjust. The unjust are those who claim to be saved and live for the flesh and this world. Peter concludes his statements about the unjust in 2Peter 2:21 where he says For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. As I said in my notes for that part of 2Peter, I believe that that God deliberately made it impossible for us to determine if these people are actually saved or not because that is a right and responsibility that he has reserved for Himself in His role as Lord and we will bring judgment upon ourselves if we take what He has reserved for Himself. However, he has given us a warning to pass onto these people to tell them that they don't want to come into His judgment with their record this way, regardless of if they are actually saved or not. Read 2Peter 2:21 again. Peter quotes Proverbs in the next verse where it talks about dogs, (which I believe are lost people but I'm not positive). Paul, in this verse, and Peter, in 2Peter, both warn against being judged by God while a person's record says they are a spiritual dog. Paul says it is better for Satan to destroy their flesh, and possibly drive them to beg God for salvation, than to let them die this way. Notice that Paul says that the spirit may be saved. It is not a given. Since nothing less than the destruction of their flesh by Satan will bring such a person to a proper relationship with God, Paul says the church has a responsibility to love them enough that the church prays regularly for them until they get right or get dead.

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1Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul starts a new subject in chapter 6 dealing with saved people seeking judgment by unjust and before the unbelievers. He then says Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another and goes on to say that we should be willing to be defrauded by a brother before we take wrongs before unjust and before the unbelievers. This is because we are supposed to take our wrongs before God and let God reward us for any wrong we suffer for His name (1Peter 2:20; 3:14, 17; 4:15-16, 19). Also, 6:9-10 basically says that the saved person who deliberately do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul is trying to tell us that there is far more at stake than anything that we can loose in this world and that it is better to accept any loss in this world that God allows than to loose spiritual things like the kingdom of God.

Paul starts in 6:9 with Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? and then provides more a detailed definition of unrighteous and ends by telling the Corinthians that none of the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God (end of 6:10). That leads into the And such were some of you that starts this verse. When Paul says were (past tense), he is letting us know that we are not to be acting unrighteous any longer. After detailing several sins that are unrighteous, Paul says but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Justified is a legal term, which requires God's role as Lord. This chapter started with go to law and the chapter starts out dealing with legal matters (which is why Paul uses Lord through 6:14) but turns to the righteousness that goes beyond the law. That is why Paul switches to Christ in 6:15. (We saw the same switching between Lord and Christ in Ephesians and Colossians for the same reason.) When Paul reminded us that each and every one of us personally (ye) are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, he is reminding us that the Son of God paid the price for our sin in His role as Jesus so that he could remove thee legal charges for our sin using His role as Lord. As He taught in Matthew 18:23-35, after he forgave us of so great a debt, He has the right to expect and demand that we do the same for a brother who couldn't possibly owe us as much.

Going on, Paul said but ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Our initial sanctification occurs at our initial profession and is done by the priestly role of Jesus (and not Christ) because this sanctification is given unconditionally to all saved and it is done completely by Jesus. We have no part in our initial sanctification that is part of our salvation. Paul goes on, in the next verse, to say All things are lawful unto me. Between the roles of Lord and of Jesus, God has completely removed the record of our sin and set us aside to live different than the world lives. Paul will go on, in the next verses, to tell us what happens if we don't follow God's plan, but our obedience or disobedience after profession doesn't change what God did at salvation.

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1Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

This verse contains a reference to Lord and to Lord Jesus. Please also see the note under Lord only for additional comment.

Paul is telling the Corinthians, and us, the legal way to worship God using the church ordinance of the Lord's supper. Paul deliberately uses Lord Jesus here to emphasize the legal authority of our Lord combined with the priestly duties of Jesus. A lot of people get bored while reading the Old Testament Law about priestly duties but God didn't waste all that effort for something unimportant. Since violating the proper way of doing this law of how to worship can carry a death penalty, and lesser penalties, we would be wise to pay attention and do it right. It is a spirit from a devil that tries to get us to be sloppy about our worship, especially that worship backed by the law of Lord Jesus. Please see the note for Mark 14:22 for details on the Lord's supper. Please also see the note for this verse in the Book Study on 1Corinthians for details on the spiritual symbolism involved here.

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1Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Please see the note on 12:3 under Jesus only.

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Lord Christ

1Corinthians 2:16; 4:17; 7:22;

Each of these verses actually use Lord and Christ separately, as opposed to other places in the Bible where they are used together. These verses have been grouped here to bring out the deliberate differences in the roles of God that Paul is giving us. Click here for all of the Verses that use Lord Christ and here for the Summary on the name / role of Lord Christ.

1Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

This verse is the summary of chapter 2. Paul had a different subject in chapter 1 and will start another subject in chapter 3. Here, Paul uses Lord in His role of government. It is the government that creates legal separation between functions and roles. For example, the rights and responsibilities of a citizen are separate and distinct from the government. If the government arrests and jails a person, that is the government's right. If an individual does it, they are violating legal boundaries of jurisdiction. In chapter 2, Paul was explaining the jurisdictional differences between spiritual and worldly as set up by God within his role as Lord. Paul is saying that we can't question God's decisions when he says For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him. However, Paul also includes But we have the mind of Christ. That is to say, while we can't instruct God, we can learn how God divided things. We learn how God set things up through the ministry of Christ. Only the saved can receive the teaching of Christ, as Paul will show in the next chapter. But not all saved receive this learning. Thus, Christ is used and not Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. This entire chapter was spent explaining the difference between God's wisdom and man's wisdom. Our concluding sentences tells us that people who have the mind of Christ can understand and do things that the natural man can not do. There is no way to explain what is really meant by we have the mind of Christ without considering all that is said in this chapter in detail. Please consider all that is in the Book Study on 1Corinthians for this chapter before claiming that you know what the Bible means by the mind of Christ.

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1Corinthians 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Paul started a new subject when he started this chapter. In 4:1 Paul started talking about all of the apostles (himself included) and said that they were the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. These responsibilities have been passed to preachers. In the next verse, he said it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. Then in the verses after that Paul used sarcasm to show these people how foolish they were being to turn from those that God had used to bring them everything spiritual that they had. They had turned to those who were trying to destroy the apostles. After showing the foolishness of there actions, Paul said Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me in 4:16. Now, in this verse, Paul says that Timotheus is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord. As we have seen throughout the Bible, son is used for someone who has the same spirit and character as his father. Paul is saying that Timotheus has the same spirit and character as Paul does and that they can trust and follow Timotheus just like they would Paul. In addition, Paul is saying that Timotheus is faithful in the Lord which he said was the first requirement of someone who is a steward of the mysteries of God and to be the minister of Christ (4:1). Therefore, Timotheus was qualified to lead and teach them whereas their present teachers were leading them into error.

Lord is the role that God uses for government, judgment, law, assigning roles and more. Here, Paul is telling them that Tim will faithfully teach them about the laws, government and judgment of our Lord. You can't obey a law that you don't know properly and you can't prepare for a judgment that you don't know properly about. In addition, Paul is saying that Timotheus has a role as pastor assigned to him by the Lord and that Timotheus is faithful in doing his God given job. That means that Timotheus will be concentrating upon pleasing God and on the judgment he will face when he meets his Lord. Timotheus won't change his message, methods or anything else to please men. In addition, Paul tells them that Timotheus shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ. Paul has no doubt about what Timotheus will do. He shall remind them of the true spiritual maturing that comes from Christ as opposed to the religious (fleshly) wisdom that they were practicing. For example, Timotheus would remind them that it is better to preach, teach, be a helper or exercise almost any other spiritual gift than it is to speak in tongues. Timotheus is being sent to clarify all of the teaching of Paul's letter and show them how to apply it to their present lives. That's why he's going to bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ.

Christ is the Son of God's role for dealing with us in this present world. In addition, there are consequences for obeying and for disobeying Christ. Those consequences affect this world and also affect our reward/punishment in Heaven. The note for 4:16 in the Book Study on 1Corinthians explains about being followers because that (the prior) sentence told us Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. Please see the notes for all of this chapter in the Book Study on 1Corinthians because all of this chapter is teaching about the same subject with the prior sentence being the conclusion of the chapter and this sentence being Paul's solution to their problem. A solution to a problem always makes more since when you understand the problem. There are spiritual consequences which are based upon our acts in this life after profession. Paul was sending Timothy to them so that they could have the best results. Those are some of the things that are in Christ that Timotheus is being sent to remind them of.

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1Corinthians 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.

This verse tells us that we are made free as the Lord's freeman. Once we realize that we are free, we then serve Christ by choice.

This verse is definitely playing on the differences between God's role as Lord and His role as Christ. Notice that this sentence is broken by a colon. That makes the two halves equal: saying the same thing from two different perspectives. First, look at where Paul says he that is called in the Lord . Paul uses Lord in this verse to say he that is called within his salvation the same way as he also used Lord in 6:17 (see note under Lord). So, in the first half of the sentence, Paul is saying 'if you're saved and a servant and called by the Lord then you're the Lord's freeman '. In Paul's day, a servant was close to a slave. They could be beat for disobedience where a freeman couldn't be beat. A freeman received pay only if they performed satisfactorily. Paul is reminding these servants that the Lord made them free from sin. They no longer have to obey sin and give their earthly masters the minimum service. They are freed from sin so that they can perform more than asked for and, thereby, cause their earthly masters to be willing to hear about their true Lord. The true Lord freed them from sin so that they could earn payment in Heaven for performing as He wants and leading their earthly masters to salvation. Likewise, Paul says likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. The (Earthly) free man doesn't have any Earthly master restricting his service to God. God expects such a person to become Christ's servant. There is no legally binding earthly thing preventing Christ's ministry in his life that results in spiritual growth. In Luke 12:44 our Lord said For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. If God made us free in this world, then God requires more service from us than He will require from someone that is restricted by a God appointed earthly master. Either way, we are free in one sense and a servant in another. All are equal in the Lord. Look at the next two verses which say Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. No matter what our Earthly position, rather than concentrating changing our Earthly position we are to spend all of our free time serving God. We are to let Christ show us how to serve God on an individual basis and let the Lord worry about what position we have among men.

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Lord Jesus Christ

1Corinthians 1:2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10; 5:4; 8:6; 9:1; 15:31, 57; 16:22, 23

Every one of these verses teach us about something that involves every one of God's roles as Lord and as Jesus and as Christ and that some spiritual things require all three of God the Son's roles working together. Basically, we can't refuse any of God the Son's roles if we want to be Biblically correct. Click here for all of the Verses that use Lord Jesus Christ and here for the Summary on the name / role of Lord Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:1 through 1:3 form a single sentence which introduces this epistle and uses Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ our Lord and Lord Jesus Christ for the Son of God as well as mentioning God our Father, the will of God and the church of God. This sentence is divided by punctuation in the note for 1:1 under Jesus Christ. Please see that note and the note for 1:2 under Christ Jesus and the note for 1:3 under Lord Jesus Christ (below).

After qualifying whom he is writing to, Paul reminds them that they are not in their own little world where they can make up their own rules. With the statement of with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Paul is reminding these readers that, first of all, Jesus Christ is our Lord. The first thing that Paul's declaration means is that our Lord can and does tell us what to do, our Lord can and does appoint people to positions of authority and our Lord will judge us for our obedience or disobedience to His commandments and according to how well we submitted ourselves to His authority structure. We know that our Lord's authority structure is involved here because Paul introducing his epistle and what he will say in it. Here, Paul tells us he is an apostle in this sentence and establishing his own authority that was given to him by our Lord. Later, Paul is going to tell his readers that those who oppose his authority can not do so because they have not been given their position by our Lord.

We also know that judgment is also involved in this sentence because almost every place that Lord is involved, judgment is also referred to directly or indirectly and Paul is going to get into judgment by our Lord within this letter.

Finally, after Paul says, Jesus Christ our Lord, he follows it with both theirs and ours. That means that while others may not follow our religious rules, they do have to follow Jesus Christ our Lord. Since the relationship between each saved person and Jesus Christ our Lord is personal, He can make different rules (in practice, etc) for different people and different churches and each will be judged according to how they obeyed the rules they personally received. For example, the saved Jews of the Jerusalem church were keeping the Mosaic Law while the Gentile church at Corinth was not. However, Jesus Christ was Lord of both and each would be judged according to how well they submitted to the commands and authority structure given to them.

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1Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:1 through 1:3 form a single sentence which introduces this epistle and uses Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ our Lord and Lord Jesus Christ for the Son of God as well as mentioning God our Father, the will of God and the church of God. This sentence is divided by punctuation in the note for 1:1 under Jesus Christ. Please see that note and the notes for 1:2 under Christ Jesus and under Lord Jesus Christ (above).

This verse is equivalent to 1:1-2. Where we said that 1:1-2 told us who the epistle was written by and who it was written to, this verse tells us the expected results of this epistle.

Grace and peace come from each of God's roles of Lord, Jesus and Christ and the difference in grace and peace that comes from each role is stated in for the opening and/or closing verses of more than one epistle. The results of receiving grace and peace from each of the roles of the Son of God are discussed in the notes associated with those verses and will not be repeated here. In addition, to offering Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul is specifying that his message is also from God our Father and that the resulting grace and peace is also from God our Father. This is so that someone can't come back later and try to claim that they received a different message from God our Father or from the Lord Jesus Christ some other way. The true message from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ will always result in God's grace and peace being given to those who truly receive and accept God's message. Those who do not receive God's grace and peace either have not accepted and submitted to His message or they received another message.

In the next sentence, we are told about the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ (grace by our Lord is not included in this list nor is the peace included). This grace includes:

That in every thing ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ)
in all utterance are enriched by him (Jesus Christ)
in all knowledge are enriched by him (Jesus Christ)
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) in the testimony of Christ
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) when the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) so that ye come behind in no gift
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) while and by waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) because Who (our Lord Jesus Christ) shall also confirm you unto the end
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ
ye are enriched by him (Jesus Christ) because ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord

It seems to me that the main problem that we have with the grace and peace that is from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ is that we fail to recognize them, and the source of them and end up losing them because we do not respond in the required manner.

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1Corinthians 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ :

This verse is part of a complex sentence that goes from 1:4 through 1:8 and is the first thing Paul says after the initial greeting. This complex sentence has 2 colons, which breaks it into 3Equivalent Sections. Please also see the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ and the note for 1:6 under Christ and the note below for 1:8. 'the breakdown of this sentence, by punctuation, is in the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ.

This verse is the second Equivalent Section and has two steps. The first step tells us So that ye come behind in no gift, which implies that some people will come behind in gift(s). This can happen two ways, we don't use the gifts given and we don't receive the gifts intended for us. While I won't give all of the references to back this statement, I will say that the Bible teaches that until we use the gifts that God gave us, He won't give us any more and may take away the ones given (at the judgment seat of Christ [Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11]). Therefore, in order to not come behind in gift(s), we need to let Christ live through our life and, thereby, spiritually mature us to the point that we are ready to receive the next gift. (Please see the note for 1:6 under Christ for an explanation.) We are to do this while waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This waiting is an active waiting where we are constantly looking and doing our best to prepare for the judgment that will happen when that day comes.

Paul uses Lord Jesus Christ in this verse to emphasize that the one coming, and the one we will each personally meet, is God the Son in every one of His roles. We aren't just going to meet Jesus who loved us as sinners and saved us. We are going to meet the Jesus who lived in the flesh as our example of how we are expected to live by the power of the Holy Ghost and who personally knows excuses when he hears them. We are also going to meet the Lord who wrote the Law and judges with power as seen in 2Corinthians 5:11. We are also going to meet Christ who died to change us after profession and who put up with our continuing to sin while in this flesh so that He could perfect us before taking us to Heaven where we will never change again. Paul is using his opening remarks to introduce the basis for all of the correction that he is going to give in this letter. We're not going to meet just Jesus that we sinned all over, but we're going to meet the Son of God in every one of His roles.

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1Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse is part of a complex sentence that goes from 1:4 through 1:8 and is the first thing Paul says after the initial greeting. This complex sentence has 2 colons, which breaks it into 3Equivalent Sections. Please also see the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ and the note for 1:6 under Christ and the note below for 1:8. The breakdown of this sentence, by punctuation, is in the note for 1:4 under Jesus Christ.

Each Equivalent Section of this sentence tells us that Jesus Christ gives us things here in this life that we are to use to prove that He changed our life. If we use them as He intends, we will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, what is only implied, is that if we don't use them as intended, wee will be blamed in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (at the Judgment Seat of Christ [Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11]).

This verse is the third Equivalent Section and has two phrases. The first phrase tells us Who (Christ) shall also confirm you unto the end, which tells us that the confirming by Christ will occur on an ongoing basis until the day we die or are taken in the 'Rapture' (unto the end). As demonstrated in the notes for 1:4 and 1:6, confirm means 'To fix more firmly; to settle or establish', which means getting tested and shown that Christ has produced these results in us. That is, Christ is going to put us into circumstances where we rely upon His gifts and let Him solve the problem through our lives, or we fail. If we fail, we get put back through the test only with harder circumstances so that we're more inclined to rely upon Christ. When we rely upon Christ, we grow spiritually and, after a short rest, move to a new test where we will have to rely upon Christ even more. When the end comes, the record of how we reacted during our whole life will prove that we are blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ because we let Him live through our lives. Or, we will be blamed for sin (James 4:17) because we failed to let Christ work through our lives. The day of our Lord Jesus Christ is the 1,000 years reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, as explained in the note for 1:4.

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1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

This sentence is justification for the doctrinal claim made in the previous sentence. Please see the notes on 1:4, 6, 7 and 8. This sentence says that we were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. God didn't save us to ignore us. Hebrews 13:5 tell us for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. In the prior sentence, it was pointed out that everything promised in that sentence required an ongoing personal relationship with the Son of God and could not be received by some single religious act such as saying some prayer of salvation. This sentence also says it is an ongoing personal relationship with the Son of God when it says ye (each and every one of us personally) were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

This verse also says God is faithful which means that if we aren't having fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord, it's our fault and not a faithful God's fault. Remember, we are still in the introduction of this epistle and God is mentioned 109times in 88 verses. In all that Paul is going to tell us about God, one of the first things that he wants us to remember is that God is faithful. All of the laws of creation are maintained by Him and we could not rely upon there being a sunrise tomorrow if God didn't make the laws of creation to reflect His nature. What God has said and done in the past that He also says He will do in the future, we can rely upon happening more than we can rely upon the law of gravity.

Further, Paul reminds the reader (in this verse) that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is only the ninth verse and the third sentence, but it is already the fifth time that we are told that Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul is trying to make this message clear at the opening of his epistle because he is going to say things that people don't want to hear and he wants to be sure that they consider who they are rejecting if they reject the message. We might get away with insulting and ignoring family and friends. We might get away with doing the same to Jesus Christ, but we won't get away with it when we face judgment of our Lord based upon the New Testament Law.

This sentence tells us doctrinally that Jesus Christ is the Son (of God) and that He is our Lord. That means that the nature of God the Father can be seen in the Son and that everything from God the Father comes through Jesus Christ and that God the Father will use no other avenue for providing blessings because of the relationship that God the Father has with His Son, especially after declaring Him to be Lord. Please see all of the verses and notes found under Verses - Son for more details on this claim. God would not be faithful (as this verse says that He is) if He allowed us to go around Jesus Christ after making Him our Lord (Acts 2:36).

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1Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

This sentence starts a subject that continues all the way through 1:29. Please consider all verses and associated notes together.

This is only the fourth sentence in this book and already God has been used 6 times, Lord has been used 6 times (including this verse), Jesus has been used 9times and Christ has been used 10 times. Paul is opening with a strong emphasis on who is actually sending this message. Even here, he literally says by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for those who can't understand the subtle and require blatant 'in-your-face ' clarification. In the Bible, by the name is used to mean 'by the power and authority of '. Paul is begging (beseech) these people by the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ to do what he is about to say. If they don't, they will interfere with each and every ministry that our Lord Jesus Christ wants to do through their personal lives In addition, they will lose the blessings and receive punishment from our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't want to do that but will if there is no other way to get us to obey.

Look at the rest of this verse. We find all speak the same thing, no divisions, perfectly joined together, same mind, same judgment. Many people claim to be obeying our Lord Jesus Christ but they do not meet these qualifications when we look at their relationship with Christians. In most cases today, the reasons are the same as found in the people that this letter was written to, even while people deny this truth. This verse uses Lord because this is a legal requirement and our obedience to it will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11). It uses Jesus because this commandment requires us acting in the flesh in a personal way and Jesus shows us how to live in this flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus shows us how to apply this law in our personal lives and circumstances. This verse uses Christ because Christ teaches us spiritual maturity in a personal way and it takes personal spiritual maturity in order to obey this command when dealing with some saved people. This verse uses Lord Jesus Christ because it takes all three roles and the things provided through each roll all working together in order for us to obey this command.

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1Corinthians 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5:3-5is a single sentence which starts with For. That means it is telling us why the prior sentences of this chapter are true. Please see the note for this sentence in the Book Study on 1Corinthians for more on the context and for the definitions of words involved in this sentence along with links to related verses. Please also see the note for this sentence in the Word Study on Spirit for doctrinal concerns that are related to this sentence and the use of spirit within it. In addition, all of chapter 5 is a single subject that needs to be considered together in order to be doctrinally correct. Please read the entire chapter together. This note and the one for 5:5 (same sentence) under Lord Jesus and the one for 5:7 (next sentence) under Christ are the only notes in this study related to this subject. Everything involved in church discipline is well beyond the limits of this study and will not be covered. Only what is needed to see how the names off the Son of God are used will be covered. This sentence can be divided by punctuation as:

How the church is to apply church discipline.

For I verily,
as absent in body,
but present in spirit,
have judged already,
as though I were present,
concerning him that hath so done this deed,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when ye are gathered together,
and my spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh,
that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

This verse is in the section where Paul is instructing the Corinthian church to apply church discipline. He uses every role of the Son of God (that of Lord, Jesus and of Christ) and says it twice. He also uses Lord Jesus (please see that note). The two times is to make it perfectly clear that this is a doctrinal matter which means it applies to all churches of saved people everywhere. Paul uses every role of the Son of God because every role is involved. But before we show how each role is involved, we need to consider the context a little more.

Paul says in the first verse off this chapter It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. Now, some people try to claim that this discipline only applies to fornication and some even go so far as to say that it only applies to when a man has his father's wife, which would mean that nothing should be done if a father was raping his daughter or some other such thing. Notice that Paul says they are to deliver such an one. The phrase such an one means anyone doing similar sins. Most people agree with that statement but then we get fights over the definition of similar sins. That's where the Biblical definition of Lord gets involved. Every time that we see judgment in the Bible we see it done by the role of Lord except the couple of times that Jesus says that He will judge. However, the context of those few verses show us that Jesus will judge as Lord and will also being in His personal knowledge of being a human being. For God to judge us as God would be like us trying to judge the behaviour of a couple of germs. We'd just kill the germs and be done with it, but God is more gracious than us. Since Jesus is God in human flesh, He can bring the perspective of being human to the judgment. However, He still is the Lord who does not change and applies righteous judgment to every violation of God's Law.

Now that we know we are dealing with judgment by our Lord, look at 5:6-8 which teaches that a little malice and wickedness will cause malice and wickedness to spread throughout the whole church. Paul says that we need to remove that and use sincerity and truth. Well, we won't find sincerity and truth in anyone who is deliberately violating the law of the land and several places in the Bible tells us that our Lord appoints government officials and expects us to obey them as representatives of our Lord. That should show us how much more than just (a man having his father's wife) this discipline should be applied to, but let's look further. In 5:11 Paul added in if any man that is called a brother be a be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. The phrase any man that is called a brother means those who claim to be saved, even if they aren't truly Biblically saved. He also says in 5:11 with such an one no not to eat, which pretty much calls for church discipline except not including To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Notice that with the exception of extortioner, none of these things are against the law. Certainly, if we are told to remove non-felons from our company (and church), we should agree that felons should also be removed. I personally believe that this chapter says that we are not to just put out the felon, but to actively deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that they will get right or will get dead but either way, they will stop destroying the name of our God and destroying the testimony of the church. However, I'm not a pastor and that isn't my responsibility. So, I am just expressing a personal opinion.

Paul uses Lord show the judgment and authority of the church to discipline members. Paul also uses Jesus because Jesus shows us how to live in the flesh by the power of the Holy Ghost. Paul is talking about people who claim to belong to Jesus but their lifestyle proves that claim to be a lie. Paul uses the phrase that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus because the Son of God in His role as Lord combined with His role as Jesus will judge those who are His and reward or punish them in the day of the Lord Jesus. This phrase is a reference to the 1,000 years reign of Christ and the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10-11) will happen just before that. Please see the note for 5:5 under Lord Jesus for more details on that phrase.

Paul uses Christ in this verse because Christ is the role of the Son of God that teaches us spiritual maturity after our initial profession. In my opinion, they have offended the Son of God in His role as Christ more than they offended Him in any other role. The greatest curse that we find in the Bible and the worst judgment is applied to those who teach another gospel. These people have lied about their relationship to Christ and thereby taught others that they can do the same. In their own way, they are as bad or worse than those who led the Galatians into the religious error of sanctification by works. Paul is telling this church to remove the source of this spiritual error and spiritual poison as fast as possible and treat the source of this poison as they would a poisonous snake so that the spiritually immature learn to beware.

He didn't say to just put this person out of the church, which some think is the worst thing that the church can do and some think the church shouldn't even do that. No!! Paul said To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. When Paul says To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh he means we are to follow the removal with regular prayer (daily?) for the destruction of the flesh. This will warn others that tend to be unruly that there are worse consequences than they might have thought of. It will also tend to shut their mouths and end rumors and dissenting words of criticism of the leaders and sympathy for the law breakers. It should bring the fear of the Lord of the unruly as they hear of the Lord answering these prayers and the Lord tells us to fear Him so that we stop our sinning.

Jude and many others in the Bible tell us that we need to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). This is not just kick the source of error out of the church and forget them. This command from Jude requires active regular prayer (earnestly contend for the faith) by regular earnest prayer for the destruction of the flesh of such a person. Now, many will claim that this is not Christian behaviour. However, Paul completes his instruction with that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. As I said in the note for 5:5, the only way that such a person may be saved is if they truly turn from such wickedness and lying about the ministry of Christ in their life. Remember that saved people will receive the reward of sin (punishment) at the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore, at a minimum our praying for God to stop their sin will result in their being saved from greater punishment, even if that salvation requires their death.

Since all true Christians firmly believe that the spirit is far more valuable than the flesh, we are actually being loving Christians to pray for the salvation of the spirit by any means, even if it requires the destruction of the flesh. Paul uses Christ in this verse because such a person is lying about their relationship to Christ more than they are lying about any other relationship with the Son of God.

No matter how we approach God, He demands that certain sins be eliminated and accepts no excuses. People like this man expect God and man to accept their excuses while they continue in their lifestyle of sin. In addition, Paul says to do the judgment in the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Name speaks of authority. Power relates to enforcement of a judgment. We are not acting in our own power and authority but that belonging to the Son of God in each and every one of His roles. Any way you come at it, God is using Paul to say " Act now and no excuse will be accepted '.

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1Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

1Corinthians 8 is talking about a religious debate of that day, which isn't a debate today but which does give us the form for handling religious debates. In that day, God's people brought the best animals to be sacrificed in the Temple at Jerusalem. The devils had all copied God's sacrifice and, therefore, demanded that lost people who worshiped the idol representing the devil also bring the best animals for sacrifice. Only a small percentage of the meat from the animal was actually burned in the sacrifice. The meat than the priesthood could use, and the remainder was sold in the market. Since it didn't cost the priesthood anything, and since they were sure to have more every day in the future, they tended to sell at a low price to get a quick sale. Therefore, the best meat actually went for the lowest price.

There were saved people who believed that is you bought this meat (that had been offered), that you were actually participating in the worship of the idol 'after-the-fact '. Others called that idea 'foolishness ' and Paul even said we know that an idol is nothing in the world (8:4) and But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse (8:8). So there was nothing wrong in eating this meat, when considered by itself. However, Paul also warned that our doing so could cause the (spiritually) weaker to defile their conscience and, thereby, sin. Paul concluded with Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend (8:13). For a more modern day example, I've heard it preached that wearing wire-rimmed glasses was supporting 'the hippy rebellion ', and, therefore, it was a sin of rebellion to wear wire-rimmed glasses, even if you belonged to a church that didn't agree with that standard. We also hear of people telling their own pastor that they don't have to do what he tells them to do when he can't point to a place in the Bible that literally says to do what he tells them to do (such as avoid theaters). However, if you look at what the Bible says about liberty, we are told to not only reject what these other people say, but to actively fight against the restrictions that they are trying to impose. So, the question is what are we to do when the Bible doesn't literally tell us what to do on something that there is a religious/moral controversy. That's where the true message of this chapter is important. It tells us how to deal with these types of questions.

When it says one Lord Jesus Christ, and we by him, we are to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have our spiritual position (saved, sanctified, etc) by him (Lord Jesus Christ). Therefore, He is our authority and example. When outside people tried to impose their non-Biblical rules (such as the Pharisees), Jesus rejected their demands and pointed them to the Bible. However, when the God appointed high priest demanded something non-Biblical, Jesus shut His mouth and submitted to that God appointed high priest, even though he was the Son of God. So the first division is see if the person is in your God appointed authority structure, such as your pastor, and if so, then shut your mouth and submit to that God appointed authority figure in your life.

If they aren't a God appointed authority figure in your life, then see if they are going against what the Bible teaches. If they are going against what the Bible teaches, like those who were trying to take Christians liberties, then actively fight against their going against what the Bible says. If they are neither, then 1Corinthians 8 teaches that we are to see if we will offend the conscience of a weaker brother. If so, then don't do it whatever is allowed by the Bible so long as it offends a brother in Christ.

Jesus is our example of how to deal with other men. Christ gives us spiritual maturity that teaches us to put the needs of others before our own desires. As Lord, the Son of God guarantees our reward when we willingly suffer loss in this world so that His kingdom will be advanced. This verse uses by whim to tell us that we are to walk in this life the yay (by) that he tells us to walk and He will reward us for our obedience. We need to remember that everything that we have is from Him and everything that we will have is from Him, and he expects us to represent His desires first, foremost and always.

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1Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? are not ye my work in the Lord ?

Please see the notes on 9:1 under Lord which gives a brief comment on the context of entire chapter.

Paul starts a new subject in chapter 9. In this first sentence, he is defending his position as an apostle. When Paul says have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord, he is forcing them to agree with him on two points. First, Paul is saved and knows Jesus Christ. Second is that Jesus Christ is Lord. That means that His decisions and appointments are legally binding. If you try to sue a company based upon what you claim that a janitor told you, the courts will tell you that you have no legally binding claim. However, if you bring in the same claim on a written document that contains the 'notarized signature ' of the corporate lawyer, now the courts have to recognize a legally binding claim. By saying that Jesus Christ is Lord, Paul is claiming to have the 'notarized signature ' of someone that the court in Heaven must recognize as legally binding. Next, Paul says are not ye my work in the Lord? This also forces them to agree with two things. The first is that their salvation is dependent upon Paul's apostleship. If Paul didn't have a legally binding appointment by the Lord, then Heaven's not legally bound by the agreements that Paul made while representing Heaven and the Lord. The only legally binding claim that they have on Heaven and salvation is based upon Paul's appointment to a position that can make legally binding representation for God and Heaven. Secondly, they 'notarize ' Paul's appointment as an apostle by the Lord with their own lives. That is what Paul claims in the next verse only Paul uses seal and I am using 'notarize ' to emphasize the fact that this seal is a legally binding seal. God doesn't change the lives of lost people like He changes the lives of saved people. Before any ministry of Christ, the Lord must remove the legal restriction called a record of sin. Therefore, the changes in their own lives proves their own salvation and 'notarizes ' (provides legally binding witness) to God and Heaven accepting Paul's representation of them in a legally binding way called salvation. If you don't understand this explanation, just accept it or learn basic principals of law and you will understand it.

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1Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

The exact phrase of Christ Jesus our Lord only occurs 5times in the Bible. It would be a worth-while exercise to look at each of these occurrences, but be sure to consider the context of each. The following links to notes within this Study should Help. The other occurrences are in: Romans 8:39; Ephesians 3;11; 1Timothy 1:12 and 2Timothy 1:2.

This verse/sentence is in a sub-section of scripture that causes a lot of controversy because some people have really distorted them and taught them as a major doctrinal error. There is one international organization that calls itself a church and that others say does not meet the Biblical definition of a church. They are dunking their members so that some 'ancestor ' (who is assumed to be in Hell or 'Purgatory ' for hundreds of years) can get out because somebody else got dunked for them and thereby 'saved ' them. Paul is really saying that people are identified with (baptized) the dead (martyrs) because (for) they are preaching the same message. As a result, Paul says we in jeopardy every hour. He goes on to say that every day he determines to be willing to die for preaching the gospel that has already cost people their lives and challenges these saved people with the message top Awake to righteousness, and sin not. Basically, because of future spiritual promises (which were mentioned in the verses just prior to this section) we should act in righteousness and stop our sinning, which is another way of saying live by faith.

Chapter 15 up until here has been talking about how our life in this world has been changed because of the spiritual change called salvation. We are to walk by faith (2Corinthians 5:7), which means we are to act today as if we already had thee things that God promises to us in the future. Some of those things were covered in the verses just prior to this section. In 15:20-28 we were told about 'body salvation ' and other things that saved will receive when they physically return to this Earth with Christ so that He can reign for 1,000 yearss. Since we are going to get a new and better body, we don't need to be concerned with preserving our current corrupted body. Therefore, martyrs (the dead) were willing to die for the gospel.

Paul and others were identified with these martyrs (baptized for the dead) because (for) they preached the same gospel. In this verse Paul says I die daily because every single day Paul committed himself to being willing to die if that was what it took to present the gospel to someone. Further, he started this verse with I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is more below about this phrase, but here we see that these Corinthian believers were rejoicing because of how Christ Jesus our Lord worked in Paul's life. It was Christ Jesus our Lord working in Paul's life that caused him to be willing to suffer anything, including death, to bring the gospel to these foreign Gentiles. They personally knew and had witnesses Paul's commitment to the gospel and personally knew that Paul was personally identified with the martyrs (baptized for the dead) because he preached the same gospel that they had been killed for preaching.

You will not get this interpretation while ignoring the context of these verses. Many have been led into several doctrinal errors by ignoring context. I believe that considering the context of verses is critical for proper interpretation.

1Corinthians 10:2 tells us And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Part of those included in all baptized included Korah and his followers. Numbers 26:10 tells us And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign. Other places tell us that Hell is in the heart of the earth. Since Korah and 250 followers went straight to Hell, being baptized didn't save them. The Bible has several forms of baptism named in it and every one of them is a form of identification. Per Romans 6, we are baptized to be identified with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and with that identification we signify that we will live in this life as if we are dead to sin and resurrected to spiritual life that is in Christ.

In the Bible, for can often be considered to mean the same thing as because. Therefore, the phrase baptized for the dead means 'identified with the cause of the death of the dead '. The controversy is over the phrase the dead. Paul's statement of I die daily in 15:31 is obviously not saying that Paul physically died every day but that he was willing to die every day. His statement in 15:32 of If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus is obviously a physical death. Why should he be willing to die physically if the dead rise not?

Since baptized is something that is physically done and witnessed by people that are alive, the phrase baptized for the dead is identifying people who are alive and being identified with those who are already physically died for preaching the gospel. People who get saved but remain spiritually immature are not willing to become a martyr and are not willing to be identified with the message of those martyrs. So, the phrase baptized for the dead means these people are being identified with Christ because it takes spiritual maturity that only comes from a personal relationship with Christ to be willing to die for the gospel. Those who are willing to be identified with the gospel of martyrs (who have truly been baptized for the dead) have kept their vow that was made at their own water baptism. Those who are not willing to be identified with the gospel of martyrs have not kept the vow of their own water baptism to die to sin and rise to walk in the newness of life that is in Christ.

Paul uses the phrase Christ Jesus our Lord here for a very specific reason. This phrasing only happens 5times in: Romans 8:39; 1Corinthians 15:31; Ephesians 3:11; 1Timothy 1:12 and 2Timothy 1:2. In every case Paul is talking about something that is supposed to be done by all saved but which requires spiritual maturity after our initial profession in order to do it (Christ Jesus) and that will be judged at thee Judgment seat of Christ by our Lord. Only a fool believes that he will not have to answer to our Lord for how he handled the gospel and what he was willing to suffer in order to obey a personal order from our Lord to every saved person. I have shown throughout thousands of verses that ye means 'each and every one of you personally '. I have mentioned that the number one complaint against the KJV1611 is the pronouns (thy, thee, ye, etc) which are the personal version of pronouns and the number one complaint of religion is the personal version of the gospel and of salvation.

In (Matthew 9:13; 20:4, 7; 22:9; 25:6, 9; 28:19; Mark 14:13; 16:15; Luke 13:32; 19:30; 21:8; John 7:8, 19; 8:21-22; 13:33; 14:4) we find the phrase go ye. In every one of these verses we find a command for multiple people to personally go. (Please also see the Message called Go Ye.) In (almost) every one of these verses we find people accepting or rejecting commands to go and do something that is directly or indirectly related to spreading the gospel. In particular, in 28:19 and Mark 16:15 we have our risen Saviour giving His saved people a personal order to go to all off the world with the gospel. As I said in the beginning of this paragraph, with our own baptism we were identified with Christ. We are to be personally identified with the gospel of martyrs and we will personally answer to our Lord for how much we let Christ Jesus spiritually mature us so that He could spread His gospel by using our lives. This section of this chapter teaches that we are to be willing to do this and not care about the cost to our present corrupted bodies because we will receive an uncorrupted spiritual body.

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1Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is praising God for victory that we have over death, sin and mortality and for all that He provides to us in this life and for all that He promises to us for all of eternity. This victory comes through each of the Roles of our God, His role as Lord, Jesus and of Christ. This verse is part of the conclusion of chapter 15 where Paul details how each of God's roles are involved in providing this victory. Please see the note on 15:58 under Lord which starts with Therefore and tells us how to act as a direct result of the praise that this verse tells us to give and also as a result of the doctrine taught in this chapter. That doctrine is summarized in 15:57-58.

Basically, because we are promised a new uncorrupted spiritual body and because we are promised to live in a world of peace and unity when Christ rules this world, we can act without any concern for the consequences in this life. A lot of time people say 'I will act in a certain fashion when I get this thing that I believe I need to act that way '. Many single people believe they will stop acting 'wild ' when they get married. Many people in jail believe that they will act like law abiding citizens when they get out of jail. (The circumstances in jail prevent that behaviour, don't you know.) While many people are waiting to receive something, Paul is saying that those who have the true faith of the gospel that he preached have their victory right now based upon the promise of God. Notice that giveth us the victory is present tense. We right now have the victory by faith in God's promise of a new uncorrupted spiritual body and because we are promised to live in a world of peace and unity when Christ rules this world. Because of true Biblical faith in this promise from God, we right now have victory over sin, death, mortality, corruption, and everything else that this life uses to stop us from obeying the gospel that Paul preached and that our Lord Jesus Christ ordered each and every one of us personally to take to every creature. Since He gave us that command to obey personally, he also enabled us to obey that command personally and we are to personally thank God for the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is telling us came through each and every role of the Son of God as Lord, Jesus and as Christ we received victory and we owe God all praise and thanks for what He has provided. The Son of God not only left Heaven and became a weak human being (like we are) and died for our sins (because a weak human man had to pay for the sins of man). Because of His payment, we are now promised a new uncorrupted spiritual body that is far better than our current weak, corrupted and dying body. Then as Christ He rose from the grave to prove that He has power over death and went to Heaven where He is preparing to come and rule this world in righteousness. We will live in peace and harmony in this world (in our new body) because Christ will be ruling. As Lord He sets up laws and judgments that never change and He assures me that He is no respecter of persons (We find the phrase no respecter of persons in: Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25 and 2:1. Also explained in the notes for Romans 14:10-LJC; Romans C7S3 and Romans C10S13. Please also see Romans C10S13 about the phrase no difference in people) so that I can know that I will receive reward or punishment based upon service that I give him in this life. The more that I serve Him now the greater will be my reward for eternity and it doesn't matter what my position is in this life, only how I serve Him with what He gives me in the circumstances that he places me in. He also gives me many signs and evidences in this life so that I will know how He will act when I come before Him in judgment. All of this is taught in great detail by Paul in the last three chapters, which he summarizes here and tells us to say thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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1Corinthians 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

This concludes the book that Paul started by saying we will face God in each of His roles as Lord, Jesus and Christ. See note on 1:7. Paul is saying that people who emphasize and love one of our God's roles, such as Jesus, while deemphasizing and refusing to love God's other roles (such as His role as Lord or Christ) are to be cursed to the lowest level of Hell to receive the greatest torment for eternity.

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1Corinthians 16:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul gives this verse immediately after 16:22 in order to emphasize that he expects them to receive the grace that comes from our God through each of His roles. Paul opened this book with Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1:3. He just said to curse anyone who does not love God in every one of His roles. Those who reject Paul's instructions in this book fall under the curse of 16:22. Those who change their lives and submit to the instructions in this book fall under the grace of 16:23. You can't get a more clear distinction.

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Son

1Corinthians 1:9; 4:14; 4:17; 15:28

Each of the verses in 1Corinthians that use son tell us that the son has the same character as their father. Click here for all of the Verses that use Son and here for the Summary on the name / role of Son.

1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Please see the note for 1:9 under Lord Jesus Christ. As it explains there, God is faithful and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful and those who belong to his Son Jesus Christ our Lord are faithful because they also become sons of God (John 1:12-13). In the Bible, son is used for a person who has the same character as the father. A son is not always a physical descendent as evidenced by the three men that Paul called son. To be in fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, we must be willing to also receive the character of God.

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1Corinthians 4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. Paul uses sons here not because these people had his character but because he hoped that they would receive his character. It is a matter of faith and claiming what you hope will be.

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1Corinthians 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Please see the note for 4:17 under Lord. As it explains there, Timotheus has the same faith and character as Paul had.

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1Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

As has been noted several times for this chapter, many people are led into doctrinal error by ignoring the time factor of these verses. This verse starts with And, which connects it to the prior verse. That verse starts with For, which means it is giving the reason for what Paul said in 15:20-26. As said in the notes for those verses, people make a doctrinal error by ignoring the time factor of those verses. Those verses are talking about 'body salvation ' which will happen in the future but people use them to teach 'soul salvation' or 'spirit salvation' in this present time. When the time comes for 'body salvation ', all of the saved will be in Christ all of the time because they will not sin in their uncorrupted spiritual body. They are not going to sin by refusing to abide in Christ while they go out and do sin. This verse gives us the reason for that when it says all things shall be subdued unto him. The first thing that will be subdued is His bride which receive uncorrupted spiritual bodies as their 'body salvation '. Notice that this verse, like the others in this part of chapter 15, uses the future-tense verb of shall. At this present time, people are not in Christ all of the time. People use these verses to teach that the saved are in Christ all of the time at this present time, but that is not what this section is teaching. It is teaching that we will be subdued to Christ all of the time when we receive our new body. It is also saying that the Son also himself [shall] be subject unto [God the Father]that God may be all in all.

Right now we have confusion and wars and all kinds of terrible things because many are not subdued and God is not all in all. We have people demanding their rights, which destroy peace and causes things like people starving while food rots in warehouses. When all men on Earth are subdued to God the Farther, we will not have these problems. However, that is NOT true at this current time. These verses are talking about future events and to apply them to today is doctrinal error. The other part of this verse I can only guess as to the meaning and am not claiming that it is doctrinally correct. The phrase then shall the Son also himself be subject indicates that in some way the Son is not currently subdued to God the Farther. Now I realize that a lot of people would duck this one by ignoring it and pretending to not see it. I also know that a lot of people will react by trying to find some way of saying (indirectly) that there must be some mistake in the wording of this phrase. However, I am completely convinced that there is no error in our inerrant word of God and that all errors are in our own understanding. So while admitting potential error, I will guess that the Son is somehow accepting more personal suffering (to save souls or to make saved souls more like Him) than what God the Father will allow when this future time comes. Thus, the Son is not in disagreement with the Father, even though the Son is not yet subdued to the plan that the Father has for eternity. For example, Psalms 2:9 and Revelation 2:27; 12:5; 19:15 all say that the Son shall rule them with a rod of iron. He currently is not doing this. Thus, the Son currently is not subdued to the plan that the Father has for eternity. I am, of course, willing to receive Biblically based correction to what I admit is only a guess as to the correct interpretation of this phrase.

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