Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth “give
none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the
church of God”,
and in chapter ten and verse thirty-three
of First Corinthians, Paul told the Corinthian church members how he
was seeking, “the profit of many, that they
may be saved” where
we read:
but
the profit
of many, that they may be saved.
The verse begins, “Even
as I please all men
in all things,
not seeking mine own profit,...”.
Paul began
with the word, “Even as”
which means “according to, just, in proportion and degree that”
“I please” or
“Paul strove to accommodate himself to the opinions, desires and
interests of others” “all”
which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the” “
men in all”
“human beings whether male or female in each, every, the whole and
everyone of the” “things”
or “properties, belongings, happenings and activities”, “not
seeking”
which means “without looking for, craving, requiring, demanding or
aiming for” “mine own profit”
or “Paul's personal collecting, advantage, betterment, expedience
and good”. Paul's goal was to “accommodate” all people in their
own personal preferences rather than “looking” to require and
satisfy his own.
The
verse continues, “...
but the profit
of many, that they may be saved.”
Paul added
the word, “but” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “the
profit”
which means “the advantage, betterment, expedience and good” “of
many” or
“a great and large group”, “that
they may”
which means “so those people might or have opportunity to”“be
saved” or
“to be delivered from the penalties of the Messianic judgment”.
Paul desired that others be “accommodated” in their preferences
so they might come into a relationship with Jesus Christ that would
“save”
them from judgment to come.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we understand how he put aside his
own personal “gain” and “preferences” so other people might
“be saved”. The insinuation is that he had personal
preferences, and yet, he would not seek to “require” or “demand”
them by others for the sake of giving opportunity for people to know
Jesus Christ. Sometimes people within the church prefer one “thing”
over another and have “liberty” to enjoy that one “thing”,
however, if they follow Paul's example, they would not insist that
everyone follow their way or otherwise be excluded from salvation.
Jesus Christ came to save people from their sins, and as long as a
person's “preference” is not sinful, they are free to enjoy it.
However, when we examine Paul's example, the salvation of others
supersedes any personal “profit” to which believers in
Jesus believe they are entitled.
Next
time we begin a new chapter as Paul tells the Corinthians, “Be
followers of me, even as I also am
of Christ”,
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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