1 Corinthians 2 Review: Day 2
Stand firm in the faith- στήκω (stékó) stand fast, stand firm, persevere; πίστις (pistis) faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness
Where does your faith rest? What do your words, thoughts, and actions reveal about your heart’s posture before God and his word? Do you stand firmly in the faith Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14?
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 2 that true saving faith originates from the only message the Holy Spirit uses to save men’s souls: “Jesus Christ and him crucified”. (v.2)
However, the priority of Christ and his cross is encapsulated in the knowledge that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and by the fruit it produces in a transformed life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Those who have repented of their sins and have placed their trust in Jesus as their only means and hope of salvation are no longer who they once were.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Genuine Christian faith begins the moment the Holy Spirit brings a dead soul to life by the preaching of the gospel. Though the transformation is spiritual, it is no less miraculous than any physical healing recorded in Scripture, primarily because it is only accomplished by the will and work of Almighty God.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 Peter 1:3
God is the initiator in our relationship with him, and our faith is upheld in the knowledge that he and he alone is its author and finisher. (Ephesians 2:1-8, Hebrews 12:2).
Why does this matter? Let’s examine a few important reasons:
1. It properly displays God’s (and man’s) character.
The doctrine that men are spiritually dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1-2), and utterly incapable of saving themselves (Isaiah 64:6) from its power and consequences (Romans 6:23), not only exposes their wickedness and absolute weakness (Romans 8:23), but it reveals the power, goodness, and wisdom of the only one who can rescue them.
We must come to terms with the idea that God is either sovereign or he is not, and be assured that this sovereignty, according to his word, extends into the origins of salvation and his redemptive plan for all of human history (Ephesians 1:7-14).
Faith, when granted, is solely administered by his will and power as a testimony to his goodness, mercy, and lovingkindness despite men’s rejection and rebellion.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7
2. It separates Christianity from all other forms of religion.
Sin’s advent in Genesis 3 introduced spiritual and physical death into the world, separating men and women from their Creator. From that moment, humanity would be spiritually dead and naturally bent and prone to rebel against God.
The Lord would initiate his plan of redemption to overcome sin’s curse (Genesis 3:15), but many have repeatedly rejected his mercy throughout history to suit their wicked desires (Romans 1:18-23).
That rejection, however, has never been able to override one of humanity’s most unique characteristics no matter how hard-hearted an individual might be. God has created each individual with an insatiable desire to worship, but sin has rendered it powerless to obtain true hope apart from him.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Without God, men will vainly choose to worship the only one they think can offer them life, joy, and peace: themselves.
Every major religion, including atheism (yes, that’s a religion), rests upon some form of human thought, word, and endeavor to atone for past failures, appease or measure up to a god’s or “higher power’s” laws or standards, or reach an idealized level of achievement, enlightenment, or fulfillment.
The gospel completely rejects this since the story of Christ and him crucified rests on the central premise that Jesus, God in the flesh, is the only one worthy and able to save sinful men through his sinless life and atoning death.
The Bible tells us in graphic detail that even on our very best days, our greatest efforts and most noble endeavors are the equivalent of used toilet paper compared to God’s holy standard.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6
3. It sharpens our message and mission.
Our ability to know and love God begins with his initiating love towards us, not the other way around (1 John 4:19).
No matter how tempting it might be to believe otherwise, the Bible tells us that no one seeks or looks for God by their own nature and volition (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:11).
The Bible also tells us that the “gospel is the power of God for salvation”.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16
Notice that this passage does not say that the gospel is “a” power, as though it were a supplemental instrument or tool in God’s arsenal to awaken and draw men’s hearts to himself.
No. The message is as singular and exclusive in importance as the one who acts as the lone mediator between men and God the Father.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
A holy God’s loving condescension to rebellious men is remarkable enough, but knowing he uses his former enemies as his primary agents for sharing the only message that can save men’s souls nearly boggles the imagination.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
2 Corinthians 4:7
God’s command to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19) should humble Christ-followers as much as it should galvanize them to action.
Though this mission is clear, temptations to deviate from the simple truth of the gospel message can and will result in damnable consequences if heeded.
For example, a false gospel is given when men are taught to rely upon their works, religious fidelity, or adherence to certain sacramental rites for salvation.
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection must be preached as fully sufficient to save or it will burden its hearers with legalistic rules that will lead some to despair and others to pride.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesian 2:8-9
Likewise, a message that omits the cross ultimately denies God’s holiness and the contrasting wretchedness of men’s sin and its resulting curse and consequences.
Repentance, mercy, and grace are thus rendered irrelevant as God becomes reduced to a kindly yet understanding grandfather who neither rebukes men’s twisted understanding of love and hate nor fails to accommodate their evolving definitions of truth and morality.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:1-7
Our faith, mission, and message must stand upon the finished work of Christ and him alone. The message that rescued the heart of the Apostle Paul, and his brethren in the Corinthian church, is the only one that rescues the lost today.
Questions for Consideration
Read Genesis 6, 2 Peter 2:1-7
In 2 Peter 2, the Apostle speaks about the emergence of false teachers in the last days who are dominated by greed and sensuality, along with an ominous warning of future judgment for the ungodly.
Read Genesis 6 and then carefully consider Peter’s reference to Noah in verse five as a “herald of righteousness”.
How does our world compare with that of Noah’s day?
How should God’s previous judgment shape our perspective toward the future, and how should Noah’s response shape and motivate our words and actions?
If God were writing your biography, would he describe you as a herald of righteousness during your time on Earth?