As
Paul the apostle continued his letter to the Corinthian church, he
told them when he came to Corinth he did not come to them “with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto” them
“the testimony of God.”
In chapter two and verse two of First
Corinthians, Paul the apostle continued his letter by sharing how he
“determined not to know anything” among
the Corinthians except “Jesus Christ, and
him crucified”
where we read:
For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified.
The
verse begins, “For
I determined not to know any thing among you,...”
Paul began
with the word, “For”
which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and
therefore” “I determined”
which means “Paul chose, esteemed, resolved and decreed” “not
to know”
or “not to see, perceive, notice, discern or discover” “any
thing”
which means “any certain one” “among
you” or
“by or with the Corinthian church members”. There was one
“certain thing” Paul “resolved” to “perceive and discover”
among the church members.
The
verse goes on to say, “... save
Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”.
Paul
continued with the word, “save” or
“but or except” “Jesus”
whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God,
the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
or “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”, “and
him” which
refers to “Jesus Christ” “crucified”
or “driven down with stakes and palisade”. Paul purposed not to
share anything other than “Jesus
Christ crucified”
with the people of Corinth.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we realize how he determined not
to share anything other than the “simple” “gospel” of
Jesus Christ with the Corinthians. Jesus Christ came to the earth,
live sinless as a man, was crucified for man's sins and rose again on
the third day after His death. Now all a person has to do to obtain
“eternal salvation” is to believe, which means “to rely
upon, trust in and cling to”, Jesus Christ. Paul knew this to be
the truth, and this was the message of salvation he shared from God.
Perhaps we should learn from Paul when we share with others
concerning the “gospel” of Jesus Christ, and allow the
power of the “gospel” to penetrate their hearts and minds.
Next
time Paul shares how he appeared before the Corinthian church in
“weakness, fear and
trembling”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment