1Cor 1:1-3 | KingComments | STEP | In the first letter of the New Testament, the letter to the Romans, you have seen that it is foremost about your personal relationship with God. If you have not read that letter yet, I advise you to read it quietly first. In the first letter to the Corinthians you will see that the church and your place in it receive the most attention. That is why this letter connects very well to the letter to the Romans. As a believer you are not supposed to search your way apart from other believers. It is important to discover that believers belong together. At least, that is how God sees it. This letter shows clearly what it should look like in practice. In this letter you will find a wide variety of topics. Most of them are about how the church should function in practice, in other words how everything should happen in the church. And because you are a member of the church of God, everything that is written in this letter is also important for you. Outwardly, the church is no longer a unity. Sadly, this has been true for a long time. There are numerous groups and churches. I suppose you are asking yourself now the great question: ‘Where can I find the place where the church gathers?’ It is not that I am going to name a place for you where that happens, but I would like to examine together with you what this letter says about the gathering of the believers, for together they form the church. When you have discovered what the Bible, God’s Word, says about all this, it will be much easier to find that place. Let us therefore first take a look at what the Bible tells us about it. Attending a Christian meeting is something you cannot do without. You cannot be a Christian on your own. The choice you have to make is not easy. In many places you might find good things, but also bad things because in all those places fallible people come together. When I started looking for this place, I asked myself a few questions: 1. Is the Lord Jesus in the center there? 2. Can the Holy Spirit work freely there? 3. Is it the Word of God that has authority there? 4. Is it the church that gathers there or is it a group of people who maintain their own rules, which you first should agree to before you can join them? Some other important questions are: 1. Do those coming together love each other? 2. Do they have the desire to preach the gospel to those who are still lost that they may be saved? By the grace of God I have found this place. Yet I do have to keep these questions in mind because there is always a chance that something happens which can cause that the gathering of the believers is not in accordance anymore with what God has said about it. God does not change His thoughts, but we can change and deviate from His Word. Unfortunately, the latter has been happening time after time throughout church history; hence the great divisions in the church that you see all around. It is sad that the world sees it and also that the Lord Jesus Himself sees it. Even when you meet believers who want to gather just as believers, nothing more and nothing less, yet you can still come across things that are not in accordance with the Bible. You will not find the perfect church on earth. Although that is true, it is vital that in the church the Bible has authority, which means that when mistakes have slipped in, the believers should be willing to be corrected by God’s Word. That is what Paul is doing here in his first letter to the Corinthians. If you think that the church in Corinth is the perfect example to which Paul can point and say: ‘People, behave like the Corinthians’, you are mistaken. In the church in Corinth, things were far from perfect. The brothers and sisters of Corinth are not the ideal example of how a church should gather and live together. It was all pretty unseemly and disorderly. Marriage and the Lord’s Supper, just to mention two things, were issues which they certainly did not deal with in a Christian way. Paul shows this very clearly in this first letter he writes to them. Still, even though it may sound strange, in a way we should be thankful that the believers in Corinth behaved so badly. Do you know why? Because we are no better and we now have a letter in the Bible in which we can read how to deal appropriately with each other and with issues like marriage and the Lord’s Supper. Fortunately, we can see from the second letter Paul wrote to them, that the Corinthians listened to him. That is how it still works today. Everything that is written in this first letter is as relevant as it was back then. Many Christians think that it is no longer possible to gather in the way Paul tells and prescribes here. And what is more: they think that this letter only applied to the Corinthians and that we are free to do things our own way. But God’s Word is clear about this. If you believe that God’s Word is for all times – and why wouldn't you believe it? –, it will be a challenge for you to experience that it is really still possible to gather in the way this letter tells us. . The first three verses show immediately how far-reaching the contents of this letter are. It is written “to the church of God …, with all , in every place …”. So, what is written to the believers in Corinth, applies to every local church on earth where believer call on the Name of the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, it is the church of God and not of some person. If it is the church of God , it is logical that He determines the way things should go, right? If people in the church of God set their own rules, confusion is inevitable. That is what you clearly see around you in professing Christianity. But there is another reason why things were going so badly in the church in Corinth. They did not keep themselves separated from the world. In they are called “sanctified” and “saints by calling”. That is what you are as well. And the result should be that you behave like one as well. If you forget that God sees you as a saint, there is a strong chance that you will allow worldly things into your life again. This also applies to a local church. If it forgets that it is a church which belongs to God and that it does not belong to the world anymore, all kinds of influences of this world have opportunity to enter. We have plenty of examples of it in this letter. Now read 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 again. Reflection: How do you know for certain that you are in a place where the church gathers?

‏ 1 Corinthians 1:1-3

Introduction

In the first letter of the New Testament, the letter to the Romans, you have seen that it is foremost about your personal relationship with God. If you have not read that letter yet, I advise you to read it quietly first. In the first letter to the Corinthians you will see that the church and your place in it receive the most attention. That is why this letter connects very well to the letter to the Romans. As a believer you are not supposed to search your way apart from other believers. It is important to discover that believers belong together. At least, that is how God sees it. This letter shows clearly what it should look like in practice.

To the Church of God Which Is At …

In this letter you will find a wide variety of topics. Most of them are about how the church should function in practice, in other words how everything should happen in the church. And because you are a member of the church of God, everything that is written in this letter is also important for you.

Outwardly, the church is no longer a unity. Sadly, this has been true for a long time. There are numerous groups and churches. I suppose you are asking yourself now the great question: ‘Where can I find the place where the church gathers?’ It is not that I am going to name a place for you where that happens, but I would like to examine together with you what this letter says about the gathering of the believers, for together they form the church. When you have discovered what the Bible, God’s Word, says about all this, it will be much easier to find that place.

Let us therefore first take a look at what the Bible tells us about it. Attending a Christian meeting is something you cannot do without. You cannot be a Christian on your own. The choice you have to make is not easy. In many places you might find good things, but also bad things because in all those places fallible people come together.

When I started looking for this place, I asked myself a few questions:

1. Is the Lord Jesus in the center there?

2. Can the Holy Spirit work freely there?

3. Is it the Word of God that has authority there?

4. Is it the church that gathers there or is it a group of people who maintain their own rules, which you first should agree to before you can join them?

Some other important questions are:

1. Do those coming together love each other?

2. Do they have the desire to preach the gospel to those who are still lost that they may be saved?

By the grace of God I have found this place. Yet I do have to keep these questions in mind because there is always a chance that something happens which can cause that the gathering of the believers is not in accordance anymore with what God has said about it. God does not change His thoughts, but we can change and deviate from His Word.

Unfortunately, the latter has been happening time after time throughout church history; hence the great divisions in the church that you see all around. It is sad that the world sees it and also that the Lord Jesus Himself sees it. Even when you meet believers who want to gather just as believers, nothing more and nothing less, yet you can still come across things that are not in accordance with the Bible. You will not find the perfect church on earth. Although that is true, it is vital that in the church the Bible has authority, which means that when mistakes have slipped in, the believers should be willing to be corrected by God’s Word. That is what Paul is doing here in his first letter to the Corinthians.

If you think that the church in Corinth is the perfect example to which Paul can point and say: ‘People, behave like the Corinthians’, you are mistaken. In the church in Corinth, things were far from perfect. The brothers and sisters of Corinth are not the ideal example of how a church should gather and live together. It was all pretty unseemly and disorderly. Marriage and the Lord’s Supper, just to mention two things, were issues which they certainly did not deal with in a Christian way. Paul shows this very clearly in this first letter he writes to them.

Still, even though it may sound strange, in a way we should be thankful that the believers in Corinth behaved so badly. Do you know why? Because we are no better and we now have a letter in the Bible in which we can read how to deal appropriately with each other and with issues like marriage and the Lord’s Supper. Fortunately, we can see from the second letter Paul wrote to them, that the Corinthians listened to him.

That is how it still works today. Everything that is written in this first letter is as relevant as it was back then. Many Christians think that it is no longer possible to gather in the way Paul tells and prescribes here. And what is more: they think that this letter only applied to the Corinthians and that we are free to do things our own way. But God’s Word is clear about this. If you believe that God’s Word is for all times – and why wouldn't you believe it? –, it will be a challenge for you to experience that it is really still possible to gather in the way this letter tells us.

1Cor 1:1-3. The first three verses show immediately how far-reaching the contents of this letter are. It is written “to the church of God …, with all, in every place …”. So, what is written to the believers in Corinth, applies to every local church on earth where believer call on the Name of the Lord Jesus.

Furthermore, it is the church of God and not of some person. If it is the church of God, it is logical that He determines the way things should go, right? If people in the church of God set their own rules, confusion is inevitable. That is what you clearly see around you in professing Christianity.

But there is another reason why things were going so badly in the church in Corinth. They did not keep themselves separated from the world. In 1Cor 1:2 they are called “sanctified” and “saints by calling”. That is what you are as well. And the result should be that you behave like one as well. If you forget that God sees you as a saint, there is a strong chance that you will allow worldly things into your life again. This also applies to a local church. If it forgets that it is a church which belongs to God and that it does not belong to the world anymore, all kinds of influences of this world have opportunity to enter. We have plenty of examples of it in this letter.

Now read 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 again.

Reflection: How do you know for certain that you are in a place where the church gathers?