James Kraft 74 year old retired pipeline worker

The church in Corinth was a mess. These were born again believers, Ephesians 1:13-14. But, some were still going to prostitutes, they were coming to communion drunk, and one of them was sleeping with his fathers wife. 

You think your church has problems? Paul called them saints. They were babes in Christ. They just had not grown. They were saved but living out of the will of God. We can get out of the fellowship of our heavenly Father, but never our relationship to Him. John 1:12 A child of God by faith alone is a child of God forever. Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Spirit of God, in whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 

So much for the fruit inspectors. But, there is a great lesson in that church. You can not tell by how a person lives whether they have trusted Jesus alone for the free gift of eternal life or not. 

People can do many good works in the eyes of the world, but have never done the will of His Father in heaven. John 6:40. They trusted in what they did instead of what Jesus did for us. Romans 4:2 If Abraham were justified by works, he would have something to glory in, but not before God. We can justify our selves before men by good works, but not before God. We can only be justified by faith alone apart from works. 

They were never born again. Ephesians 1:13-14.

June 12 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

One of the factors that testifies most powerfully to me concerning the truth and reliability of the New Testament is that it does not attempt to "whitewash" or "gloss over" internal problems experienced by the early church (even while Jesus was still present on earth), but presents a frank record of those difficulties and how they were dealt with. Among these would be:

Repeated arguments among the apostles themselves over which of them was the greatest (such as Mark 9:33-37, and even at the Last Supper (Luke 22:24-27))

Concerns among the apostles over non-apostles who were preaching and performing miracles in Jesus' name (Mark 9:38-41)

Dispute over the allocation of Jesus' time or activities (Mark 10:13-16)

Inequities in the distribution of food to widows based on their ethnicity (Hellenists versus Hebrews) (Acts 6:1-6)

Dispute over whether Saul's conversion from being a persecutor of the church to being a disciple was genuine (Acts 9:26-30)

Controversies about associating or eating with uncircumcised Gentiles, and extending salvation to them (Acts 10:1-11:18)

Argument over the necessity of the Jewish ritual of circumcision for Christian males (Acts 15:1-31)

Correction of Apollos and others, who were only aware of the baptism preached by John, but not the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 18:24-19:7)

Disputes among the Christians at Corinth over which Christian teacher was more prestigious (1 Corinthians 1:11-17)

Dealing with sin or enmity within Christian congregations (1 Corinthians 5-6)

Abuse of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

June 05 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report