1 Corinthians 3 Review: Day 3
Act like men- ἀνδρίζομαι (an-drid'-zom-ahee) to behave like a man; to be responsible and courageous by taking the initiatives God reveals through faith
Take a few minutes to reflect upon your thoughts, words, and actions over the past 24 hours. What does your behavior - both public and private - say about you? Does it match who you profess to be?
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
It is clear from Paul’s admonitions to his brothers and sisters in 1 Corinthians 3 that they were displaying fruits of the flesh instead of the Spirit after losing sight of their identity (v. 16) and purpose in God’s kingdom (v. 9).
In Romans 13:12-14, Paul perfectly explains how Christians are to act like the men and women they were called to be:
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
What did you see as you reviewed your behavior over the past 24 hours? Was it filled with victory over sin and temptation, or were there moments you failed to think, act, and speak as you should? How should God’s man or woman respond when wounded by their sin?
By God’s grace, he has given us the Scriptures to provide us with the following guidance:
Repent - One of the Bible’s most overlooked gifts is its numerous accounts of imperfect men. Remember that even though Paul counted the members of the Corinthian church as fellow Christians, he used this letter to show them just how far they’d strayed in their disobedience.
What was Paul’s motive? Was it to beat them down so they might straighten up and fix themselves?
His following letter points us both to his motives as well as God’s heart:
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:8-10
Paul’s words brought grief to the hearts of his readers but were delivered as the wounds of a friend who loved them too much to let them further descend into self-destruction (Proverbs 27:6).
Godly grief or conviction is a product of the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of a wayward believer to produce sorrow that leads to a place of repentance. The word repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia, which means to change one’s heart and mind on a subject. In essence, Christian repentance means that the believer agrees they have violated God’s laws according to Scripture, which then motivates them to come before the Lord in prayer to seek his forgiveness.
True repentance, though, is more than simply feeling sorry for our failures. Instead, it represents a turning away from sin through the power of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to walk in the opposite direction toward salvation without regret.
This sits in stark contrast to worldly grief primarily because the true child of God believes that forgiveness is only possible through the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death, burial, and resurrection.
Worldly grief or guilt is dependent upon man-made rules and religiosity, which may attempt to ease the conscience temporarily but can never lead to hope or redemption. Any thought or action that would either deny sin or one’s sinfulness or seek redemption through any means apart from the shed blood of Jesus leads directly to death.
However, the greatest news of all is that repentance is an immeasurable gift! The Bible beckons us to boldly draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Furthermore, our confidence rests, not in ourselves but in the divine power and promise of a trustworthy Savior:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Armor up - In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul elaborates even further on the crucial need for God’s people to put on the armor of light mentioned in Romans 13. It is here that he reminds them that the struggles they face go much deeper than meets the eye:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
It should be noted that one of our most dangerous tendencies is how easily we forget that believers in Christ are entrenched in a spiritual battle against the devil and his angels. The Bible commands us to be on the alert for a very real enemy who wishes to destroy those made in God’s image.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Knowledge, of course, is only useful if it is properly applied, and Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that our hope of withstanding the enemy’s attacks is only possible if we put on the armor God alone has provided.
This armor is first bound and fastened together by what he refers to as the belt of God’s absolute truth and our hearts are protected by the breastplate of righteousness (v.14). Once in place, God fits us with shoes ready to deliver the gospel of peace (v. 14). Faith then follows and serves as an essential shield that allows us to defend ourselves against the devil’s flaming attacks, and salvation functions as a helmet that guards our minds (v. 16, 17).
Get offensive - Spiritual warfare is not simply limited to a trustworthy defense. Though Paul writes about the key elements of a believer’s armor, he concludes his description by talking about their offensive weaponry:
[Take] the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Ephesians 6:18
Acting like the person God designed us to be, compels us to meditate upon Scripture and be in constant prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The Bible itself tells us it is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and that it not only exposes and convicts a man’s heart but also destroys the enemy’s arguments and schemes.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Questions for Consideration
Re-read Romans 13:14:
What does it mean when Paul tells his readers to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh to gratify its desires?
What activities or thoughts are you engaging in that give space or room for your mind and heart to wander from the things that please or honor God?
How are you spending your time when you are alone?
What are you reading, watching, or listening to that may not technically be sinful, but it allows your mind to go to places you know it shouldn’t?
Do you ever find yourself rationalizing or overlooking what you know to be grievous to God, to make excuses for something you know is sinful?
Are you allowing something to continue in your life that Jesus hates?