What Most Christians Miss About Grace — 1 Corinthians Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. This afternoon, and we finished Paul's letter to the Romans, of course, in our last taping. And we're going to be starting now our study of the two letters to the Corinthian church. But before we look at Corinthians, I'm going to have you turn with me to 2 Timothy 3-16. 2 Timothy 3-16. Now this will be an introduction to Corinthians, and I'll show you why in just a moment. But 2 Timothy 3-16, where the apostle writes, "...all Scripture," and that means Genesis through Revelation, "...all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for corruption, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God, the believer, may be perfect, or brought to a place of maturity, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." And of course, that's what we looked at in our last chapters in Romans. Now then, if you'll come back with me to 1 Corinthians, which you might want to keep your hand in 2 Timothy 3, and see what I'm trying to bring out. But now in 1 Corinthians, beginning with chapter 1, it's another letter of the apostle Paul, or one of the epistles. But I don't remember if I put it on the last set of programs or not, but anyway, I've come across the statement that of all the manuscripts of the New Testament that are still out there, that are in museums and libraries and what have you, every one of them may have the New Testament in various orders. In other words, it isn't always like our present New Testament. It isn't always Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in that order. Acts isn't always where it is, nor are the other later epistles of Peter and John in the same order. But, and this is what got my attention, the epistles of Paul, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and so forth, are always in every one of these manuscripts. They are always in the same identical order as we have them in our Bible today. Now that just shook me up. You know, I'm always lifting Paul somewhat over the rest of the writers, because I feel that he is next to Christ Himself, the greatest human being that ever walked this planet, and I think that just sort of puts the frosting on the cake. Whereas all these other New Testament books may be jumbled up in various places, yet Paul's epistles are always in this order. And of course, the amazing thing is, this is not the order in which they were written. In other words, Romans was not the first letter written. Thessalonians were written first, and then even other letters were written before Romans. Galatians was written before, and I think even Corinthians was written before Romans were. So the order as we now have it in the New Testament is not in the chronological order that they were written, but rather as the Holy Spirit saw fit to put them into our New Testament for their doctrinal sequence. Now this is what I want you to be emphasizing. Romans is the absolute right epistle to be first. Romans should be studied first. And then I think as we just saw in our verse back there in 2 Timothy, we're going to find that Romans is indeed the book that is profitable for doctrine. Now go back and look at that verse again. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. That's Romans. Then the next word is it's profitable for reproof. That's Corinthians. And then the next one is correction. That's Galatians. And so it's so beautifully—and see, this is as long as I've been teaching, even back in Genesis, I try to help people to understand that this book is not just a bunch of Jewish myths. This is not just a bunch of stories that were concocted around a campfire, but this book has been intrinsically put together by the work of the Holy Spirit. And so it's indeed right that we studied Romans, the book of doctrine. Now I'm not going to teach these other letters of Paul as verse by verse as I did Romans, but nevertheless we're going to look at them in the order in which they are now in our New Testament, which we feel is the order that should be read in our study. And now we're going to look at the Corinthian letters as reproof. And why a book or letter of reproof? Well, now first I'm going to have you turn to chapter 7 in Corinthians, as well as chapter 8, the first verse of both chapters, and this gives the cause or the reason for Paul writing the Corinthian letters. All with me? First Corinthians now, chapter 7, verse 1. Now most people just read over this and don't even catch what it's saying. He says, "...now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me." Now what do you suppose they wrote? Questions! They had questions, and they were things that were popping up in the Corinthian church, and they didn't know how to handle it. So they had written to the apostle Paul, delineating these questions, and that gave rise to this epistle. Now the other one of the questions that they must have written comes up then in chapter 8, verse 1. Here is the other dilemma. Now Paul says, "...as touching things offered to idols, we know that we have all knowledge." So what do you suppose they had also asked? Well, what are we supposed to do with this meat that's been offered to idols? Can we eat it, or can't we? And so that too prompted some of the things that will be covered in this letter to the Corinthian church. Now again, by sake of introduction, you've heard me say it before, but I'll say it again in case you've missed it. Of all the churches that Paul and his cohorts, Barnabas, Silas, whoever, of all the churches or the congregations that Paul started and dealt with, none was as carnal and as filled with problems as the Corinthian church. Never lose sight of that, because that makes such an impact on some of the things that Paul brings out then in 1 and 2 Corinthians. They were a church that was beset with all kinds of problems. And that, of course, is why they wrote the letter to the apostle asking, what are we supposed to do with this? How are we supposed to handle it? And they were a church, as we'll see later in the book, in chapter 5, that was beset with gross immorality. And again, as you read the Corinthian letters, always remember, what was the setting? What were the circumstances? Well, Corinth was probably the most lascivious, the most immoral, the most wicked, morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire. Corinth was a double seaport. If you have a map in the back of your Bible, you may not want to look now, but sometime just look where Corinth is. It sat on an isthmus that jutted out into the Mediterranean Sea, and so it was really two seaports. The one to the east that took care of the eastern Mediterranean trade, and the western side took care of the trade to Rome and Spain and the other end of the Mediterranean. Now, you can just about imagine that a city probably, oh, for that day and time, rather large. I've had various numbers, but certainly not what we call a huge city today. But nevertheless, a city of probably 30,000, 40,000. But it was a city that was just rampant with all of this commerce, with all of the sailors from all parts of the world coming into Corinth. But it also was rampant with, of course, pagan worship. There was a great temple to one of the Greek goddesses that sat above a promenade above the city of Corinth. And as I've taught my classes here in Oklahoma, now you have to realize that the whole society was programmed to this. But our guide, when we were there in Corinth and were going through the ruins, made them known the fact that at the height of Corinth, this temple up there on the hill to which they worshiped the Athenian goddesses, up to 1,000, sometimes Merlin and I have been trying to remember whether it was 1,000 or 10,000, but it makes no difference. For a city that size, it was a humongous number. Prostitutes. But they were operating as the goddesses of the temple. And so it was just part and parcel of their religion to be involved in this immoral practice with the prostitutes of the city. And so into the very midst then of this gross immorality and yet this great activity of commerce and trade comes this one lone man. And every time I think back over Paul's travels and his journeys and all of his problems, I am amazed that Christianity ever survived. And I have to sit back and wonder, well, now why didn't God put the gospel in the hands of angels or at least in the hands of several hundred people, and why depend almost primarily on one man? And it's an amazing feat that physically he was downtrodden, he was beaten, he had physical problems, he was not a specimen of health, and yet in spite of it all, the man persevered and established churches every place he went, which of course brings us to Christianity as we know it today. So I think that's enough of an introduction to the city of Corinth wracked with immorality, and they were part and parcel of their whole society, they thought nothing different of it, and so into that comes Paul now then with the gospel of the grace of God. Well, you see, anything but grace would have never succeeded, but it was only by grace that God began to save these wicked Corinthians. But always remember, the spiritual life is a parallel with the physical. You do not get born into the family of God a full, mature spiritual person. We all come into a salvation experience as babes in Christ. I remember reading years and years ago to an old evangelist, and I can't remember which one it was, but I remember that of course it was back in the days when they traveled only by train, and he made note of the fact that as he would come into a city on his train, he could always tell which homes had little babies in them. Well, what do you suppose was the indicator? The diapers hanging on the clothesline, see? There were no washers and dryers in those days, any more than there was air travel, but as he would travel into the city, he would know his clothesline with diapers, and he'd know that in that home there was an infant, a baby. Well, it's the same way with the spiritual. We all had to begin as babes in Christ, and consequently there's going to be failures. We know that no infant comes into this world trained to go to the bathroom, and so it's also the same with infant believers. We can't expect them to all of a sudden be mature and to have the same spiritual apprehensions or not apprehensions, but the spiritual discoveries or whatever that we have had as longer and older Christians. And so as you study Corinthians, keep this in mind that these were folk saved out of abject paganism, idolatry, immorality, and there's going to be a time of nurturing and growth, but only by the grace of God. Now, here's the point I want to make, and I guess that's the main reason for my introduction. Every last person that's been saved by the grace of God at salvation experiences all of God's grace. All of God's grace is experienced the moment we believe, but we've got a long ways to go in our growth. So what do we do? Peter puts it so aptly in his little epistle at the back of your Bible, but grow where? In grace. See? We grow in grace. We don't grow into grace. You don't just begin to grow and then finally appropriate the grace of God. No, no. All of God's grace has been poured out on us the moment we believe, and from that position in grace we grow and we grow and we grow, if we do as God intends. But always remember, grace is not law, and so since we're under grace and not under law, nothing is forced upon us. That's the beauty of grace. Every individual is left with that free choice, and you've heard me say it, especially those of you here in Oklahoma and my daily classes, my goodness, there has never been the kind of freedom exercised as when you become a believer. That's when you understand true freedom, and that, of course, is what Paul is constantly saying. Be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage. Don't come under the heavy yoke of legalism. You've been set free from all that. But as I've said also as many times is that's not license. We are not given the freedom to live as we please simply because God has saved us by His grace. All right, now then let's begin to look at the epistle beginning with verse 1. Paul called to be an apostle. Now that's almost identical with his openings of all his other letters. In other words, the first thing Paul had to establish to whomever he wrote was the authority that was connected to his apostleship. Now as we come into the chapter a little more, probably in our next program we're going to see that one of the big problems the Corinthians had were divisions where some said, well, I'm a Paulist follower. I'm a follower of Paul. And another group said, oh, I'm going to listen to what Peter says. And then others said like we hear so often today, well, I don't care what Paul says. I'm going to do what Jesus said. Well, Paul was up against the same thing. But he had to establish the fact that now for believers in this age of grace, he is the authority through whom God is speaking to the whole human race. So he's always defending that apostleship, and of course especially to the Jewish people because they thought that he was a renegade to Judaism. He had turned on his background. And on top of that, since he hadn't had any experience with Jesus in his earthly ministry or with the Twelve, he was an imposter. And so always appreciate the fact that Paul never had any contact with the Twelve. He never had any contact with Christ in his earthly ministry. And so he receives all of his revelations from the ascended Lord after the finished work of the cross. And that, of course, is what gives him his power. All right, so he's called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ to the will of God. And of course, Sosthenes was the fellow that was at this time co-laboring with Paul, so he puts his name in here as well. And then verse 2, I'm always telling people, whatever portion of Scripture you read, always determine to whom was it addressed. Now, that doesn't mean if it wasn't addressed to you, you throw it aside, but it does have an impact on what it is saying and how it is being said because of to whom it is said. Now, here you see Paul is not writing to the nation of Israel as Isaiah would or Daniel or the other Old Testament writers, or even as the Twelve as they were ministering to the nation of Israel, but now Paul is addressing this epistle to the assembly. And I like the word assembly better than church because that's what the Greek word ekklesia really means. They called out assembly. And the word church is more or less a coin term, I think, and it's not really in the original Greek. And so assembly is so far more explanatory that he says, You who are at Corinth in the assembly, to them who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Now, in verse 2 then, he gives the graphic description of every believer, everyone at Corinth, everyone in the area around Corinth, but even right on down to us at this day and time, it is still in that overall description of the assembly of believers who are called saints and to all those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Now then, verse 3, Grace be unto you. Now, I think that must have been one of Paul's favorite words. He's always referring to the grace of God. So he says, Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. And again, as I've emphasized in all the years now we've been on television, very few church people, professing Christians, comprehend the grace of God. Very few. Most are under the implication that God is still demanding, that God is up there just being the rough lawgiver and that if we don't succumb to His commands and His laws, we're in trouble. Well, that's not grace. That's not grace. The vilest sinner is still the object of God's love and attention because of His grace. All right, now I'm going to come on down to verse 6, Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Now stop and think a minute again. What kind of a congregation have we got? Hey, we've got a congregation of carnal people. These people are not spiritual giants. These people are carnal, and we're going to see that a little later in the book. Now what does it mean to be a carnal Christian? Well, it's the very opposite of a mature spiritual Christian. So here he has these people recently converted out of paganism, still having their hang-ups with their immoral practices, the things that they really didn't think there was anything wrong with because after all, their families and their generations before them had been doing it, and so it was hard to break from the past. But in spite of all their hang-ups, in spite of all their problems, where are these believers? In grace. In grace. See? Verse 7, So that, he says, you come behind in no gift. In other words, all the gifts that God was ready to give were just as available for these carnal Corinthians as maybe for the more spiritual Philippians. Now that's why the letter to Philippi, the book what we call the letter to the Philippians, doesn't have all the corrections and the reproofs that Corinthians have, or even the book of Galatians. They were the very epitome and the joy of the apostle Paul. And I think even the Thessalonians were that kind of people. But Corinth? No, they're still beset with all these problems and all these hang-ups, but everything that God was ready to pour out was available to them as well as to spiritually giant type of people. All right, now, in spite of all their carnality, in spite of all of their moral weaknesses, what does Paul say they're waiting for? Huh? All the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what does that tell you? That in spite of their weaknesses, in spite of their failures, in spite of many times their gross sin, was the Lord going to forget about Corinth if He came? No. No. Now, the next verse throws a curve at a lot of people, and I know some people don't like it. But I can't help what you like or don't like. It's what the book says. And this is for some a hard pill, a large pill to swallow. But look at what it says. And that's all I can say. It's hard for me logically to comprehend it. But I have to come back and say, but listen, this is what God's Word says. And remember the setting. We've got these carnal, still immoral practices rampant in the church. And now look what he says in verse 8. That the coming Lord Jesus, speaking of the rapture, of course, who shall also confirm you unto the end. Now what does the word confirm really mean? He locks it in, doesn't he? Now when you confirm something, you do just exactly that. You lock it in. You confirm it. You settle it once and for all. Now look what Paul says. That he says, the Lord Jesus Christ will confirm you unto the end. In other words, until the time that Christ would come or whether they'd pass off the sin and death, which of course they all did. But whatever, the Lord Jesus had confirmed them as his own that you may be, oh, what's that next word? Blameless! Now that's beyond my logic. That's beyond my comprehension. That here the apostle by inspiration is telling these carnal, Corinthian believers that if the Lord should suddenly come so far as God was concerned, they would be blameless. Well, on what basis could God do that? The work of the cross. The shed blood of Christ. And you see, I always have to think of, oh, let's go back. All the way back. I didn't intend to do this, but these things come to mind and then I have to use them. Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12. And I imagine old Satan was working double time so far as the Corinthians were concerned. Revelation chapter 12 is a portion of Scripture that, again, is hard for a lot of people to swallow. But it's the Word of God, and we're not going to walk around it or compromise it. But Revelation chapter 12, and I hope we've got time enough. We take these verses through here, and we notice now that at the midpoint of the tribulation, that final seven years, there's going to be a great war in heaven. And Satan and his angels are going to be fighting against Michael and the other angels in heaven. And finally, Satan and his angels are defeated and they're cast out. And then come down to verse 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, And now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God. There's only three and a half years left now until Christ would return, set up His kingdom, the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ. For the accuser of the brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. What's the old devil doing tonight? He is accusing every time a believer sins. But what's the comfort that we come back with now? Turn back a few pages to the left to 1 John. 1 John, and oh, this is the comfort. Now this isn't licensed. That doesn't say, well, I can go ahead and do these things because I know I have an advocate. But if we fail, and every one of us do, and every one of us will, and old Satan is accusing us, and I'm sure like I said, he had a heyday with the Corinthian believers. But even Corinth had this as their backdrop. 1 John chapter 2, we've only got a few seconds left. Oh, he says, I write these things unto you, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One. That's our comfort. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.