1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Is Christ Divided?

1 Corinthians 1:10-17  I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.  My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.  What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ."  Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Were you baptized into the name of Paul?  I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.  (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul indicates his disappointment with the Corinthians because they are allowing factions within the church, which interferes with their primary purpose as members of the body of Christ: to reveal the One True God, Creator of all things.  As Paul told the church in Ephesus: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called —  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:3-6)  When believers openly disagree, they detract from the truth that God loves them and desires for the church to live in unity through Jesus Christ his Son.  In the Corinthian church, rather than simply lifting up the name of Jesus, some were claiming Paul as their leader, others looked to Peter, another group followed Apollos, and yet others were saying they accepted only Christ's teaching as revealed to them.  By choosing to follow the doctrines of men, even as they interpreted Christ's teachings, they were allowing the effects and the force of their message to dissipate the power of the Good News of the gospel of the living Christ brought by the Holy Spirit.  They were divided, and such divisions did not come from hearts fully yielded to the will of God.  When Paul describes to the Ephesians the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to individuals in the body, he mentions the separate gifts, but then he says they have been given to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:12-13)  This is the maturity and unity in Christ that Paul wants from the Christians in Corinth.  He realizes their emphasis upon individual leaders rather than upon Jesus Christ their Savior has caused quarreling and will lead them down a path to destruction.  As he writes in Galatians: If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  (Galatians 5:15)

Paul appeals to the church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because he wants peace for them in the church, and he wants them to shine as a testimony for the Lord.  When Jesus was preparing to go away, He told his disciples: A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  (John 13:34)  Love would be the distinguishing feature for recognizing the sons and daughters of God, those who name the name of his Son and call themselves Christians.  A careful reading of the New Testament reveals this message of love.  In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul said, May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  He went on to say, Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  (1 Thessalonians 3:11 & 4:9)  Peter gives this description of the church of the living God: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1 Peter 2:9)  This is who we are in Christ who truly has brought us from the darkness to the light, from the kingdom of the evil one to the kingdom of our glorious Lord.  We are the people of God, and we should show forth his praises and not the petty grievances and divisions of this world.  Peter makes this very clear when he writes: Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.  For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.  He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it."  (1 Peter 3:8-11)  This is not a church divided.

With love, compassion, and humility as our calling, we have our marching orders; and we do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The only way any of us will accomplish what we have just read is to love unconditionally as Christ loved us and to serve his church.  When James and John asked Jesus if they could sit on his right and his left in glory, He told them they did not know what they asked, and He went on to say: Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  (Mark 10:43-45)  If we are to be as Christ was on Earth and to love as He loves, we must lay down our lives and take up the cross and follow him.  We must be willing to be servants, giving our lives freely to the work of God's kingdom.  Sometimes we say our prayers so easily, but can we really pray and mean the words, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven."  Are we able to pray with our Lord, "Not my will, but thine be done."  Yes, that is the desire of our hearts, but our flesh gets in the way; the world gets in the way.  We have forgotten the power of the cross, our purpose in life.  When Jesus first appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, He first rebuked them for not believing those who had told them He had risen; then He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  (Mark 16:15)  In other words, Jesus was not daunted by their unbelief.  He chastened them for not believing but immediately sent them out on their mission.  That is exactly what Paul is doing with the Corinthians.  He is correcting their inappropriate behavior, but he is reminding them of the power of Christ at work in them.  Today, dear friends in Christ, be reminded of your position in Christ, the call to love one another, your mission to spread the Good News.       

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 God Is Faithful!

1 Corinthians 1:4-9  I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.  Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Paul's introduction in this letter of correction states a basic tenet in the lives of Christians: For in him you have been enriched in every way.  Paul desires for them to remember that their very existence as believers depends on the life of Jesus Christ.  They are not just following a philosophy or idea about living for God, but in God's eyes, they are literally immersed in Jesus Christ.  Their righteousness is Christ's righteousness.  As Paul wrote at another time: For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:3)  God sees the purity of Christ instead of our purity, for we are encapsulated or hidden within his eternal life.  As the scriptures indicate, we died in him at the cross, and we are resurrected in him.  Therefore, Paul can confidently say, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  We are children of God equipped to endure the world's onslaughts and trials through Christ himself.  Our life is his, we are hidden WITH HIM.  With that fact, the mind in us is also susceptible to the Spirit of God's influence.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?  In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)  Paul goes on in this passage and says by the will of the Holy Spirit: The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)  Even with the reality of having the mind of Christ in us, as free and living souls, we can override the Spirit's unctions and will in our lives.  Paul says THE SPIRITUAL MAN lives with the mind of Christ operative, but the carnal man who does not know or care about his special place IN CHRIST will still function and think as a worldly person.  His works will be burned up at the judgment seat, for his life has been based on the temporary and not the eternal.  His storehouse in heaven will be empty. 

Paul also desires the Corinthians to know that because they are IN CHRIST, with his Spirit embedded in their souls, God will not abandon them.  He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  They will be in Christ, with Christ, all their lives, even to the judgment day.   Jesus told his disciples He had made provision for them: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and WILL BE IN YOU.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  (John 14:16-18)  Jesus will always be with us, for we are part of him in the body of Christ.  We also know that when we die, He will come to receive us home.  We will see Jesus first, for He is the great lover of our souls.  He paid the price for our redemption; He pleased the Father by bringing many into the Kingdom of Heaven, to be present with God forever.  When Jesus said we should trust God for everything, He said, Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  (Luke 12:32)   God loves us so much, He made us blameless in Christ.  His plan for our salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has brought us into fellowship with God the Father and guaranteed us eternal life in our heavenly home.  Until that time, we have the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us.  After promising to send the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (John 14:26)  Jesus knew they would need the Spirit's help as they went forth to spread the Good News in a world that would not treat them well.  He wanted them to realize they were not alone: they could call upon the Holy Spirit at all times and in all situations, and He would faithfully serve them and remind them of the truth they had learned as they had been with Jesus.  This is the same Spirit Paul depended upon to work in the Corinthian church, to enrich them with spiritual gifts and to confirm Christ's work in them.

In the modern church, we do not have elder statesmen such as Paul to write letters from distant places, encouraging and correcting us.  Perhaps it would be to our benefit if we did.  Maybe that spiritual elder would ask us to take inventory of our walk with the Lord and check whether or not we lack any spiritual gift or if we are allowing the Lord to keep us strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Surely, since we are not without help, for we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, we should not need someone from afar to keep track of our spiritual progress and to spur us on.  As John wrote: As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.  But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him.  (1 John 2:27)  As we remain in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to teach and to motivate us, we will grow in Christ and move forward in our spiritual journey.  We will also grow as we share Jesus with others and see people come to a saving knowledge of our Lord.  As we see others coming to Jesus, we are motivated to help and to encourage them, and this brings us closer to the Lord.  If we remain in him, we will desire to pray and to read the Word more; we will spend more time pursuing God's will and not our will.  There is a peace that the world does not know and cannot give that comes into our lives as we yield more and more to the Holy Spirit, allowing God to control us and to lead us.  One of the verses to the hymn, Blessed Assurance, describes this so well: "Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love."  Many of the writers of the old hymns caught a glimpse of what it means to be totally lost in the love of the Lord.  When we begin to embrace our Lord and to give ourselves to him without reservation, we will experience profound fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and we will realize afresh and anew that our God is faithful!  Bless you today dear readers.   

  

1 Corinthians 1-3 Called To Be Holy!

1 Corinthians 1-3  Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's introduction in his letter to the Corinthians reveals his beliefs about Christians.  First, they are sanctified in Christ Jesus or set apart as Jesus' holy body, known as the church.  They are made holy by Jesus Christ, for they are hidden within his holiness.  They are not only made holy by the work of Christ; they are also called to be holy in their interactions with all people, especially when dealing with everyone in the body of Christ.  As Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5:14-16)  We are made holy through the work of the cross.  Our faith in HIS FINISHED WORK at the cross makes us acceptable to God.  Because of Christ's work, all of us are brothers and sisters IN CHRIST.  But for us to be holy or right in our daily lives, we must live as Christ lived, with love and concern for others and integrity in our actions, doing that which we know is acceptable and pleasing to God.  To be holy in our daily lives is a process and an action, not just a condition.  Yes, we are saved, but we must be righteous.  Do our acts of goodness or rightness save us or make us acceptable to God?  No, only Christ is pleasing to God.  The voice of God from the cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!  (Matthew 17:5)  Our faith and reliance in Jesus pleases God.  Vicariously we live through Jesus Christ's work and not our own works.  But that does not permit us to be irresponsible in our daily lives.  We are to live in a holy manner: called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This same demeanor of right living should be seen by the secular world surrounding us.  They should know that we are Christians by our love, our choices, our actions, and our willingness to do good to others, regardless of who they are or their circumstances.

There is no substitution for God's miraculous work, for what Jesus accomplished for us: He makes us holy, acceptable to God.  Hebrews tells us the law did not accomplish holiness: “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.  By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  (Hebrews 10:8-10 NKJV)  People might behave correctly, giving the appearance they are holy or good, but their outward appearance does not mean they are intrinsically holy and pleasing to God.  Only Jesus Christ is the gate to that domain of holiness.  Good works, sacrificial works, will not make you right with God.  God's work in a Christian is a transforming work.  A spiritual lobotomy has been performed to separate the old man from the new creation.  Our minds change, our attitudes change, our focuses in life change when we accept Christ.  We no longer live for ourselves, for our will; we now live for our Lord, to fulfill his will.  We are no longer living the old man's life of entrenchment in this world.  We have a heavenly point of view, an eternal perspective.  We do not speak the negative, despairing talk of the world; we sing new songs: songs of praise, deliverance, life everlasting.  We know we are aliens, here for a while, waiting for our heavenly home.  When the writer of Hebrews describes the life of Abraham, telling how he and his descendants lived in tents, the Bible says, For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  (Hebrews 11:10)  Abraham had faith in the promises of God, but he was the citizen of a heavenly city.  Likewise, we understand that we have been made new, formed by the Creator himself: Christ Jesus.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The old is gone and the new has come because we now are in the household of God, an integral part of the Body of Christ, designed to function efficiently and effectively.  Because of our new position IN CHRIST, Paul can say to us as he said to the Corinthians: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  God is satisfied with us.  Breakfast reader, God is pleased with you!

The template for our living here on Earth is the life of the Son of Man.  He alone fulfilled God's plan for humankind.  He always did God's will.  When Jesus prepared to go away, He told his disciples the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.  (John 14:31)  Jesus lived in fellowship with God: He lived every day for the Father.  The Son of Man lived a perfect, sinless life: the epitome of a righteous man.  He alone fulfilled the covenant of righteousness that God made with man: the law.  He was the perfect "faith" man.  Nevertheless, the perfect man, legitimately the Son of Man, perfection from the womb, was given over to death on the cross that we might find life eternal.  When He died, He set the captives free and loosed those who were bound.  We became free to become children of the Most High.  The perfect man, the Son of God in the flesh, was raised from the grave, his work finished.  We, also, will be raised when our work is finished, forever known as the children of God.  Paul knew in this letter of correction to the Corinthians, that those who were living by faith were sons and daughters of the Most High.  But the theme of this letter is about their need to be holy in their daily lives, to live out the holiness Christ has planted within them.  Without such lives of holiness, they were becoming an anathema to the message of the cross.  Paul wanted the best for them in Christ.  He wanted them to understand Jesus as he described him to the Colossians: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Colossians 1:17-20)  If he was nothing else, Paul was a reconciler.  He wanted to remind this body of believers of who Christ is and who they were in Christ.  He wanted to stir up their faith in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May the Lord grant increased passion for Jesus as we study the Word.

Philippians 4:14-23 Treasures in Heaven

Philippians 4:14-23  Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.  Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.  Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.  I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.  They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus.  The brothers who are with me send greetings.  All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen.

In concluding his letter to the Philippians, Paul reassures them that their love for him expressed in the giving of money for his support will not be forgotten by him or by God.  He wants them to know their gifts to him over the years will be credited to them in their accounts in heaven.  Their offerings to him were a tangible expression of their love and by extension a sign of God's love for him.  God is love.  Their actions of giving reflected God's nature: his love and care for all He has created.  The Philippians' generosity, even giving out of their own personal need, was a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.  By giving generously, they were building on Christ, the cornerstone, and his sure foundation of love.  Their actions were pure and right with God.  Paul warns us that each one should be careful how he builds.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.  (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)  The Philippians' service to Paul imitated Christ's nature.  Such acts are definitely ones of gold, silver, and costly stones.  In their giving to Paul, the Philippians were laying down steadfast acts of love on the sure foundation of Christ and his nature.  Jesus Christ was and is the servant to all.  When his disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest, He told them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”  (Mark 9:35)  We who are IN CHRIST are to reflect our Lord in everything that we do, even in our gifts to others.  

The Philippians knew they might never see Paul again.  They understood he was in prison and might never again be free to minister to them.  They were giving their gifts without expecting reciprocation from Paul.  When we give without expecting something in return, even a thank-you, we are beginning to move into the arena of God's love rather than human love.  Jesus told his disciples there is no credit in loving and doing good to those who love and do good to them, for even sinners do that.  He went on to say, But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  (Luke 6:35-36)  If we love like that, we begin to fulfill Jesus' teaching on love from the Sermon on the Mount. After telling the people to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them, Jesus says, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  (Matthew 5:48)  As humans, when we love, we expect reciprocation: a smile, a thank-you, a hug, a word of endearment.  But God's love for humans has always been an unrequited love.  In general, humans do not want to recognize his position as creator of all life.  We reduce him to what we know or understand, our finiteness, our frailties, not to what He really is: The Eternal God, The Almighty God, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  God's love for us endures despite our fleshly thoughts, actions, or deeds; for such love is God's love.  He loves the unlovely as well as the lovely, the sinful as well as the righteous, the hateful as well as the loving.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)  When we were lost, undone, blind and deaf, enemies to God himself, desiring only to do our will and not his will, God allowed Jesus to die for us: his unthankful creation.

In view of all that God has done for us, what fragrant offerings are we bringing to him?  Are we indifferent to the world and their needs?  Are we willing to sacrifice for others?  Are we willing to forgive those who hurt us?  Are we willing to go the extra mile with our enemies?  Or are we so disinterested in the people around us that we are concerned only about ourselves: our lives, our friends, our relatives?  Maybe when we are involved with others, we are more concerned about bringing justice to our lives than loving others as God loves them.  Oftentimes when we become involved with justice, what we perceive as right or wrong, we justify in our minds our hurtful words or damaging actions towards others.  When we commit ourselves to defending our rights, we sometimes forget to reflect God's love.  Paul gave the church at Galatia a serious warning when he wrote to them about their freedom in Christ: You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  (Galatians 5:13-15)  As believers, we must use our freedom to share the love and mercy of God.  Paul wanted the Philippians to know that their actions of love were recognized in heaven.  He wanted them to know that their account in heaven was being enlarged: they were storing up treasure in heaven.  Today, may we all be mindful of what Jesus said, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6:19-21) 
   

 

Philippians 4:10-13 Don't Shadow Box--Fight the Good Fight!

Philippians 4:10-13  I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Paul was content in whatever state he found himself because his deeds for Christ were more important than his mind's disposition or the physical circumstances of the flesh.  He was actively living out a life of faith, relying upon the Lord as his strength.  As James tells us: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.  (James 2:26)   We know by our Bible reading, Paul's deeds were many.  He was not a shadow boxer, fanning the air for no reason other than practice for the real event.  No, he was constantly in the ring fighting for Christ, for real life issues, not just this biological existence.  Therefore, his concerns about the body's needs were put on the back burner.  Notice, when he talks about deprivation, he is not talking about things that are not essential for existence.  He is talking about food, about whether his body has enough to eat or whether he is hungry.  I am sure he is also talking about shelter, whether he has a place to live this day, tomorrow, the next month, the next year.  He was always on the move, with no real certainty about the future and its provisions.  Of course, for the present he was writing to the Philippians from a place of imprisonment, but his concerns even in jail were not for his personal needs, but for the needs of others.  As we read last week, even in prison Paul encourages these believers to rejoice in the Lord and to set their minds on good things: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.  (Philippians 4:8)

Paul, as well as the other apostles, had little tolerance for those who allowed the flesh to dictate the way they thought and lived.  They were people of the Light, of THE WAY.  They talked about salvation, eternal life, and a better way to live.  They set an example for believers and unbelievers by living a life of love, loving others as you love yourself.  They gave grace, rather than judgment.  They became servants to all instead of demanding their will.  They considered the needs of others before their own needs.  The writer of Hebrews encourages Christians to care for others as they continue their walk of faith: Dear friends, we are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.  For God is not unfair.  He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do.  Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.  Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent.  Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and patience.  (Hebrews 6:9-12,14)  Paul and the apostles were willing to live this life of love as they cared for other Christians as long as life lasts.  This is why they were not concerned primarily about the needs of the flesh.  Their eyes were focused heavenward as they listened to the Spirit and performed the works of God.  They had work to do for God; this was their purpose for living.  As we look at their lives, we know we have work to do.  Our lives should not to be devoted to the mundane things of life or as Paul said, If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  (1 Corinthians 15:32)  If Christ did not die and rise again; if He did not win the victory over sin and death to bring us into the kingdom of God, Paul was without hope.  But we know that his life was not like that.  Paul was alive in Christ, and he had work to do for the kingdom of God.

What is our work for God today?  What has God called us to do through his mighty power?  Each of us has a purpose that goes beyond merely living this biological life.  We are members of the body of Christ, capsules of his divine light.  People should see this light radiating in our dark world.  This light will shine best when our attitude reflects the image of God as we work for him.  First and foremost, we should display the fruit of the Spirit.  For sure we should display God's unconditional love.  People should see how much we love the brethren and others.  John says, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)  The verb tense in this instance means his blood cleansed us yesterday, it is cleansing us today, and it will cleanse us tomorrow.  This is the total and complete efficacy of the shed blood of Christ our Lord.  Because we are cleansed and walk in this light, we will keep on loving others as long as life lasts.   John also says if we claim to be in the light but hate others, we are still in darkness.  Paul knew an active faith of loving and caring for others is one that God would bless.  An active faith, operating through his body the church, reveals God on Earth, his concern for the world and for the salvation of all people.  Abraham is an example of this kind of faith.  He put his faith in action by moving to another land, by willingly offering up Isaac as a sacrifice.  Abraham believed God.  We too should believe God by working for him, by displaying his image of love to the world.  Abraham's life was the example of true faith, trusting when we do not see the fulfillment of the promise.  As the writer of Hebrews says, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and patience.  The promise to Abraham is also ours: I will certainly bless you richly. . . Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.  (Hebrews 6:12,14-15 NLT)  Are you willing to live out this life for God, as Paul lived his life, being content in every situation you find yourself, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  Always remember Paul's dependency upon the Lord as he did the work God called him to do: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.