The
church in Corinth was divided between people who were relying upon
their favorite teachers such as “Paul,
Cephas and Apollos”
rather than Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle shared with the
Corinthian church members how they were to
“glory in the Lord”
for His provision for their salvation and not in “wisdom, strength
and position” within the world. In
chapter two and verse one of First Corinthians, Paul the apostle
continued his letter by sharing how he “came
not with excellency of speech”
as he “declared the
testimony of God”
where we read:
And I,
brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom,
declaring
unto you the testimony of God.
The
verse begins, “And
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom,...” Paul
began with the words, “And I”
which means “and Paul the apostle”, “brethren”
which refers to “fellow believers who are united to one another by
the bond of affection” “when I
came”
which means “when Paul arose, showed forth and made his public
appearance” “to you”
or to the Corinthian church, “came
not” which
means “did not appear and arise” “with
excellency”
or “with elevated, preeminent and superior” “of
speech”
which means “utterance,decree, mandate or order which embodies a
conception or idea” “or of wisdom”
which means
“broad and full of intelligence, knowledge of very diverse matters
and skill in management of affairs”. When Paul came to Corinth to
share the “gospel”
of Jesus Christ, he did not use “elevated” or “sophisticated”
words or “intellectual knowledge”.
The
verse continues, “...
declaring unto you the testimony of God.”.
Paul added
the word, “declaring” or
“announcing, promulgating, proclaiming publicly, publishing and
reporting” “unto you”
which means “the Corinthian church members” “the
testimony”
or “evidential witness” “of God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. When Paul came
to Corinth, he “publicly proclaimed” the “evidential witness”
of Almighty God.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see how he desired to
remind the Corinthians of the way he came to them. He did not use
“elevated words” or worldly “wisdom” when he declared
the “witness” “of God”. The “gospel of Jesus Christ”
is meant to be simple and available to everyone, and the “witness
of God” shared by Paul to the Corinthians should be an example of
the way we should share about Jesus with others. Let us learn from
Paul, and simply share the “gospel” simply.
Next
time Paul shares how his sole message before the Corinthian church
was “Jesus
Christ, and him crucified”,
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.
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