1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.
           
Paul now turns the argument back to the Corinthian Christians, telling them to “consider your calling,” that is, your conversion to Christ. Since “calling” is synonymous with salvation (cf. 1:9, 24), Paul is saying, “…consider your salvation.” The “called” are contrasted with those to whom the gospel is preached yet who reject it. Both hear the gospel, but “the called” are summoned to faith in Christ by the grace of God. As with all who believe, there were many who were called, yet not because they were “wise according to the flesh… mighty… [or] noble” (v. 26). Paul is thus telling the Corinthian believers to look back on their lives prior to salvation. Few, if any, had the outward, typical human traits that caused them to stand out from their peers.
           
But God, in His grace, “has chosen the foolish things of the world…” (27a). The “foolish things” in this context are the foolish Corinthian Christians who were once lost in worldly wisdom and immoral living (cf. 6:9-10). Not only that, “God has chosen the weak things of the world… and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen…” (vv. 27-28). Three times Paul uses the word “chosen” in vv. 27-28 with respect to the salvation of the Corinthian Christians, solidifying that “called” in v. 26 is synonymous with salvation. This further confirms that God’s call on the life of one of His elect children is an effective call to salvation.

God therefore did not send the gospel to Corinth through the Apostle Paul to save wise, wealthy socialites. On the contrary, God sent Paul to call out His elect from Corinth—unwise nobodies with little to no pedigree, in order to give them the greatest grace one can receive through faith in Jesus Christ. These elect, found all over the planet, chosen from before time began (Eph. 1:4-5), were the ones God spoke of when He spoke to Paul in Acts 18:10, telling him, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you to harm you, for I have many people in this city” (italics mine).

God’s purpose for calling the not-so-wise is also revealed in vv. 27-28. It was “to shame” (kataischynō), or disgrace, all who claim to be wise and powerful. This “shame,” however, was not meant to exist in the present, for the wise and cultured who rejected the gospel were not shamed by their rejection. They in fact shamed those who actually listened to and followed Paul. No, their shame is eschatological disgrace (cf. Rom. 9:33; 10:11)—shame they will endure in the future and for eternity in hell following the return of Christ. This being the case, Paul rebukes the Corinthian Christians for admiring or even mildly seeking such worldly wisdom.

The second part of God’s purpose in exalting lowly things and despising highly regarded things is in v. 28 where the verb is not “shame” but “nullify” (katargeō), meaning “to render inoperative.” The things “that are” God will “nullify.” Having depicted the lower classes as foolish, weak, and despised, this was how they were when God called them to salvation. In so doing, God nullified what the world believed was worthy, namely wealth, pedigree, and worldly wisdom. But in choosing the base things of the world and rejecting what the world considers worthy of God, God rendered the worldly notion ineffective and inoperative. Here Paul has the future in mind, when Christ returns. On that day God will nullify the wisdom of the world, bringing to nothing those the world counts as socially esteemed. Why does God do all of this? So that “no man will boast before God” (v. 29). God, and God alone, will be glorified for salvation.

Food For Thought
            God shows no favor to the wise over simpletons. In fact, God loves the simpletons of this world! This doesn’t mean that He favors slackers over hard workers; it means that the learned are not above the not-so-wise of this world. How do we know? Luke tells us that Jesus “…rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight’ ” (Luke 10:21). Of course “these things” God the Father had hidden in Luke’s context were the things related to the simple message Christ came to announce, namely that His kingdom had come, for He was the Messiah.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:20-25 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolish-ness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
           
In v. 20, Paul summons all who think they are wise by the world’s standards—those who think they can write and those who think they can debate. Challenging them to a debate with him regarding God’s wisdom, Paul says that God has made their worldly wisdom foolish. Explaining this in v. 21, he says that God, in His eternal wisdom, ordained that no human could ever personally know Him through human wisdom. If anyone could, and who could teach others to know God through human wisdom, such would exalt himself and create a self-exalting people. Instead, God made the gospel message, which is “foolishness” (mōria) to worldly-wise people, so simple that they would deem it absurd, both then and now. Truth is, the gospel of salvation comes through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (cf. Eph. 2:8-10). Pretty simple! And Paul says that God was “well-pleased” (eudokeō) through the so-called “foolishness of the message” that is faithfully preached by apostles like him, to save those who will simply believe.
           
In this world, then and now, various people seek various forms of wisdom. As for the Jews, they “ask for signs” (v. 22). This makes sense given their history—from the Egyptian exodus to the miraculous signs given by Elijah and Elisha, the Jews were accustomed to phenomenal signs from God. When Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jews required signs from Him (Mark 8:11), signs He repeatedly gave them in His teachings and miracles, though they rejected Him. What they desired was a Messiah who would appear in the clouds and descend upon their enemies. Although Jesus will do such, His first appearance was absurd to them, coming in humility. As for the Greeks (aka, Gentiles), they “search for wisdom”—seeking what they deemed rational, intellectual, logical, and computational reasonings. Now although God is logical and reasonable, He has ordained that these cannot lead the unsaved to salvation. That requires faith in Christ.  
           
So what was Paul’s divine message that leads the lost to saving faith? Answer: Christ crucified. Why is this a “stumbling block” (skandalon) to Jews and “foolishness” (mōria) to Gentiles? Because “Christ” (Heb. Messiah) is God, and logically speaking, God cannot be “crucified” (stauroō). God, by definition, is eternal and unable to die. Even if He could die, to die by crucifixion—the most humiliating and debasing form of death, would be all the more absurd. So, the very phrase “Christ crucified, to Jews,” is akin to “fried ice.” To the logical mind, it cannot happen. It is therefore a skandalon, or offense, to Jews, and it is moronic to Greeks.

In spite of its seeming absurdity, “Christ crucified” is the gospel message from the Almighty, Eternal God. God Himself became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth who lived our life, died our death, and rose from the dead. It is those who are “the called” (klētos) who stand in stark contrast to those who claim the gospel message is offensive or absurd. The “called” are the saved, namely the ekklesia—“called out ones.” They are those who readily receive the simple message of “Christ crucified.” These “called” ones are God’s elect, summoned to believe in Christ from “both Jews and Greeks” (v. 24). To them, Christ crucified means “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” After all, “the foolishness of God,” if there is any, is still “wiser than men”; and the “weakness of God,” if there is any, is still “stronger than men” (v. 25).
            

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1 Corinthians 1:17-19 Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in clever-ness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. 18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 It is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise… the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
           
While Paul does not minimize the importance of water baptism following conversion, he prioritizes the preaching of the gospel in v. 17. Truly, baptism means absolutely nothing apart from the gospel. Whereas the modern pastor is taught to preach with colorful metaphors, skits, overhead pictures, and drama, Paul stresses the position of gospel preaching in v. 17 not in “cleverness of speech,” or “wisdom of words.” To do so would be to void the cross of Christ.
           
In AD 51 Paul brought the gospel to Corinth, entering in the midst of a time when the Sophists ruled the day—eloquent Greek philosophical skeptics who denied absolute truth. One of their own, Gorgias (d. 375 BC), attacked the existence of the finite while concurrently upholding the notion that the infinite is unattainable by the human understanding. But this is absurd, for in rejecting absolute truth (nihilism), he made truth claims. Such where the Sophists who allegedly loved wisdom but who had none and never attained it. Into this context, the Apostle Paul entered.

When Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, he rejected the worldly “wisdom of words.” This means that Paul was not concerned with preaching as the Corinthian Sophists taught. It was content with which Paul was concerned, namely the message of the cross of Christ, not philosophical double-talk. Paul believed Jesus is God in flesh, that He lived and died to the pay the penalty for the sins of all who believe in Him, and that if one will simply confess with the mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, they will be saved (Rom. 10:9). Whether he preached with a stutter or eloquence, it was thus powerful!

Paul adds in v. 17 that he spoke with simplicity about the gospel “so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” The “cross” of Christ was of course was the instrument of torture and death for Jesus. It was a painful, humiliating way to die. Yet Jesus willingly did so as a display of His love. Paul thus believed strongly that Christ’s gospel needed no help from him—not in lofty words or in complicated speeches. To do so would be to make “void” (kenoō), or empty, the fullness of what Jesus accomplished. The point being is that what Jesus did in His life and death needs no embellishment. It only needs to be announced as the truth. This is what Paul did.

In v. 18, Paul stresses how “foolish” (mōria) the “word of the cross” (i.e., the gospel) is to the world that rejects Jesus as the Christ. Such are those who “are perishing”—who are being destroyed in their unbelief. These stand in stark contrast to Christians—those who are “being saved,” who believe the “word of the cross” is the “power” (dunamis) of God for salvation—transferring believers from the darkness into the light. Elsewhere, Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16).

In v. 19, Paul quotes Isaiah 29:14 to illustrate his point. The context of this OT passage concerns the northern kingdom of Israel who are surrounded by the Assyrian army in 722 BC. Believing they were doomed, instead of repenting of their sinful, rebellious ways and seeking God, they followed human wisdom and sought the help of a pagan nation, Egypt. So, rejecting godly wisdom, they opted for worldly wisdom. The result? Israel was overtaken by the Assyrians, killed, and dispersed among the nations (cf. 2 Kings 17).

Food For Thought
            There are two kinds of people: those who are perishing and those who are being saved; the children of the devil and the children of God (1 John 3:10; cf. John 8:44). The former reject Jesus as the Christ, His words found in the Bible, and any thought of submitting their lives to Christ. The latter love, trust, and believe in Jesus as the Christ and spend their lives honoring God, repenting of sin, praying, and studying Scripture. It’s pretty simple to spot a real Christian and a phony one. And it’s equally as simple to spot a charlatan preacher who believes he (or she) must ignore the gospel in favor of worldly wisdom, make Jesus look cool, twist Scripture to the modern world, gut the Scriptures of anything offensive, and create a god from their own imaginations to get people to attend and keep attending their churches. Sadly, many who claim to be Christians cannot distinguish these false teachers from the true ones. This clearly distinguishes between the two kinds of people in this world.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:17a For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…
           
Though Paul readily admits to baptizing some Corinthians, namely Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanus (1 Cor. 1:14, 16), he did not recall baptizing anyone else. With so many conversions in Corinth during his 18 months there (Acts 18:11), one wonders why Paul did not baptize more. Clearly he is talking about water baptism, and since the early Church practiced this rite following a conversion to Christ, why wouldn’t Paul have baptized more? He answers this question in v. 17, saying that he was sent by Christ to preach the gospel, not baptize.

In his writings, Paul often speaks of baptism as a dry act. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, baptism has the sense of unite—all Christians being baptized by one Spirit (12:13), a dry baptism with the Holy Spirit. Also, in Romans 6:3 baptism is synonymous with the dry act of believing. Then in Romans 6:4, baptism is used in reference to death. In Ephesians 4:5, Paul speaks of baptism, saying, “there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” In Colossians 2:12, Paul speaks of being “buried with Christ in baptism,” yet when one is baptized with water, they are not literally buried with Christ. Coming up out of the water may signify rising from the dead, but baptism in Colossians 2:12 has to do with faith—the work of God done through dry baptism with the Holy Spirit. Likewise, Peter speaks of a dry baptism in 1 Peter 3:21, saying, “…baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Clearly Peter is using “baptism” for faith, not water.

In Jesus’ so-called Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, the main verb is “make disciples” (mathēteuō) which in context entails evangelism leading to conversion. But mathēteuō is also accompanied by two acts: baptizing (baptizontes) and teaching (didoskontes), two participles that modify the main verb. Those who “make disciples” are to be “baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” and “teaching [converts] to observe all that [Jesus] commanded.”

Notably, nowhere in the Book of Acts, or anywhere else in the NT, are believers ever baptized under Jesus’ Triune formula prescribed in Matthew 28:19. Believers are baptized simply in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38; 10:48; cf. Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). The reason for this seems to be that Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19 were not formulaic; rather, they revealed the means through which converts are made—dry baptism through immersion in the truth of the gospel of our Triune God. Perhaps hearing the gospel preached is the dry baptism commanded?
           
Like Paul, Jesus spoke of His own dry baptism in Luke 12:50 when He said, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished.” In Jesus’ context, His baptism was His future betrayal in Jerusalem, arrest, pre-crucifixion tortures, and His crucifixion resulting in death. His baptism thus entailed the worst agony any man has ever endured, Jesus enduring the penalty for mankind’s sins. His death is thus depicted not as a misfortune or tragedy but as God’s plan—a divine “must” (Luke 9:22) uttered by Jesus’ desire for fulfilling His mission, namely His dry baptism. Also in Luke 12:50, Jesus speaks of being “distressed,” a Greek term that speaks of being “gripped with fear,” meaning that the agony Jesus endured in Gethsemane (22:44) the night before He died was a perpetual agony that wasn’t new to Him by the time He got to Gethsemane. Yet His distress had an ultimate goal, for Jesus sought to accomplish the payment for sin (cf. John 19:30) in His death—His dry baptism.

So how could Paul seemingly shun Christ’s command to baptize? Perhaps the answer is that “make disciples” entails immersing unbelievers in the truth of our Triune God—baptizing them and teaching them all that Christ commanded. Paul seemed to think so. Why else would he say, “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel” when Jesus commanded it for all?

Food For Thought
            Baptism is certainly an important sacrament in the life of a Christian. Though it does not save and is not, in and of itself, essential for salvation, it is vital as an outward act of obedience to Christ after salvation. It may serve a purpose for parents dedicating their child to Christ soon after birth, but it should be done publicly as a decision from a convert to Christ after being born-again (cf. John 3:3). Since baptism means nothing apart from an outward confession of Christ as Lord and Savior, what is more important than baptism is the preaching of and received of the gospel. Without the preaching of the gospel first, and its reception second, baptism has no effect on the life of one who has been baptized. No wonder Paul prioritized preaching the gospel over baptizing converts. Let us do the same—making disciples through immersing them in the truth of our Triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:14-16 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
           
In vv. 13-17, Paul speaks of the rite, or sacrament, of Christian baptism (Gr. baptizō). In v. 13, he claims that no Christian was ever baptized in Paul’s name but “in the name of Jesus”— placing oneself under Jesus’ authority and into His possession. Paul’s point was to show the absurdity of following him, or any other apostle or preacher, rather than following Jesus Christ alone in whose name a true believer is baptized. Keeping in mind, the Corinthian Christians were divided, favoring certain preachers over others and perhaps boasting as to which one of those favored human preachers baptized them after their conversion (1:10-11).

To baptize is literally to immerse, indicative of spiritual cleansing (cf. Matt. 3:6). Though several forms of baptism are practiced today in various denominations (e.g., sprinkling, pouring), immersion is the only mode that signifies both death and resurrection along with cleansing. In the end, the symbolism of baptism constitutes an outward act of obedience following a profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ. The rite of baptism then publicly identifies a new believer with Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4), signifying that the believer is cleansed from his sins by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. From now to eternity!

In dealing with the issue of division within the Corinthian church in vv. 14-16, Paul makes it clear that he was not interested in how many of his converts rallied around him as their favorite preacher. In fact, although Paul had seen many converts to Christ during his 18 months in Corinth, having planted the actual church in that city, he only recalled baptizing Crispus and Gaius along with the household of Stephanus. Who were Crispus, Gaius, and Stephanus? Early converts in Corinth known by all, whom Paul baptized following their conversion—an act that would have stood out dramatically in that community. Yet in spite of how memorable and wonderful the occasions of their baptism were, Paul left the baptizing to others. Who baptized was of little importance to Paul; that they believed in Christ was of utmost importance to him.

Why would Paul bring this up? Was he not a proponent of water baptism? Did he not believe it was useful? The answer is that Paul absolutely believed in baptism. But he knew, even in his early ministry days in Corinth, that converts to Christ might become divided over the issue of baptism—as did indeed occur then and still occurs today. Paul’s ministry was simply to preach the gospel (v. 17), not baptize, “so that no one would say you were baptized in my name” (v. 15).

Baptism is a Christian rite, also called a sacrament, that always follows a conversion to Christ in the NT. In spite of Jesus commissioning His disciples to “make disciples… baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19), the early Church only baptized its converts in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38; 10:48; cf. Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). For Jesus, being God, is one with the Father and the Spirit. Being united, when speaking of one, one speaks of all. As elsewhere in Scripture, “the name” exemplifies the fullness of a person, joining all that that person is. When one believes in Christ and is made a disciple, he is baptized with the Holy Spirit—the one true baptism (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5). When he is afterward baptized with water, he is outwardly identified with all that God is, baptized in “the name” of Jesus. Paul thus had no heart for baptism in his name or in any other man’s name. Only the name of Jesus.

Food For Thought
Chuck Swindoll says, “Of all things to brag about—the Corinthians puffed up their chests over who laid their hands on them and spoke the name ‘of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit’ (cf. Matt 28:19). Clearly, they had lost focus. They allowed the act of baptism as their visible response to the gospel message to overshadow the message of the Father who sent His Son to die for their sins, rise from the dead, and give them new life by the Spirit. When conceited, quarrelling cliques erupt into controversy in a local church, pride stops at nothing.”
            

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1 Corinthians 1:13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
           
Obviously Paul was quite displeased with the divided church in Corinth. Whether they were rallying around him, Apollos, or Peter, it was divided. Yet Christ’s church is to be united! Paul therefore begins a series of questions that work to show the absurdity of the division in Corinth.
           
The first question in v. 13, “Has Christ been divided,” could, grammatically speaking, be a statement of condemnation: “Christ has been divided!” This fits the context in Corinth because Christ, though in and of Himself cannot be divided, within the church at Corinth He was divided. Since the next two sentences in Greek begin with “not,” expecting a “no” answer, there is no doubt they are intended as questions. “Paul was not crucified for you, was he?” The expected answer is “no.” Also, “You were not baptized into the name of Paul, were you?” Paul was not crucified for them, Christ was, and they were baptized in the name of Christ, not Paul. Though the first part of v. 13 does not have to be posed as a question demanding a “no” answer, most English translations do render it as a question. Either way, the meaning does not change.  
           
A second interpretive issue in v. 13 concerns the meaning of the verb translated “divided” (merizō), different from the previous Greek term rendered “divisions” (schisma) in v. 10. This term not only means “to be or become separated into parts,” it also has the meaning of “to distribute.” Paul would thus be asking, “Do you assume there are pieces of Christ that can be distributed among yourselves?” Fee says, “Has Christ been distributed/apportioned out as one among many?” Taylor says, “If Paul is still thinking about the so-called Christ-party, then the meaning might be, ‘Has Christ been divided up and distributed only to some?’ ” He continues, saying, “Some think that Paul’s language here evokes the metaphor of the body of Christ, which he will develop later in the letter (12:12), and that Paul shocks them by portraying Christ’s body as torn to pieces.” If this was in Paul’s mind, then this imagery presents a shocking rebuke.

Now in Paul’s second and third questions, both of which clearly demand a “no” answer, he only refers to himself, not Apollos or Cephas. He does this in order to highlight his irritation with their attitudes and set aside any notion that he will take part in their conflicts. How absurd that anyone but Jesus Christ could be crucified on behalf of anyone! Yet the church in Corinth treated mere men as if they were on par with Jesus, the Crucified.

In sum, Paul is telling a divided church that there ought not be anyone in any church at any time who follows a mere man. Only Christ, the God-Man. Paul, as important an apostle as he was, was only a man (along with Apollos and Cephas) sent by Christ to preach the gospel, not to be the gospel. Since Paul was not crucified for the Corinthians, nor anyone except Christ, it was absurd for there to be any divided camp between a man and Jesus Christ Himself. Then or now.

Food For Thought
Those who were divided in the church at Corinth were proud people, very much like us in the modern Church. They believed, like us, that they were right while everyone else was wrong, no matter which pastor they favored. Some of their pride was fueled by who had baptized them, not who had been crucified for them. Ironically, it was their baptism by Christ with the Spirit (Matt. 3:11) that enabled them to believe and be baptized with the water that signified Christ’s death and resurrection. Yet they favored men alongside Christ. Chuck Swindoll says, “Amazingly, in the midst of conflict, this ordinance of Christ that should have marked the believers’ unity in one body (Eph. 4:4-6) had deteriorated into a basis for arrogant boasting.”
            

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1 Corinthians 1:11-12 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”
           
The information Paul had received about the Corinthian church from Chloe’s household while he was away from Corinth was that they were divided, apparently disagreeing on matters of doctrine related to the gospel of Christ. As a result, there were “quarrels” (eris)—a term that speaks of “strife; bitter conflict; heated and often violent dissension.” The term is among the vices in Galatians 5:19-21, in the same list as immorality, idolatry, and drunkenness. To the Galatians, Paul said that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (5:21). Quarreling was thus an extremely severe spiritual vice. In churches where it exists, it is the beginning of the end for that church, or any organization for that matter.
           
In v. 12, Paul apparently heard from Chloe’s household that the divisions centered around loyalty to certain preachers and the tendency of Christians to favor one preacher over another. Per v. 12, some in the church at Corinth favored their founding pastor and apostle, Paul, for they were saying, “I am of Paul.” Paul, after all, had brought the first wave of converts to faith when he visited the city in AD 51 and remained there for 18 months (Acts 18:1-17).

Others, however, were gathering around the second pastor of Corinth, Apollos, saying, “I am of Apollos.” Apollos was sent to Corinth sometime in AD 53 by Paul’s friends, Aquila and Priscilla after Paul departed. This event is described by Luke in Acts 18:24-28. While Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus, they met Apollos who was an Alexandrian Jew, a Jewish man raised and educated in Alexandria, Egypt. After helping him better understand the gospel of Christ, they sent him to Corinth with their commendation as Corinth’s next pastor. When Apollos arrived, “he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:27-28).

Others in Corinth were saying, “I am of Cephas,” namely Peter. Although there is no record in the Book of Acts that Peter was ever in Corinth, there are four references to Cephas in Paul’s first epistle to Corinth that reveal many there knew him and may imply that he was there for a time. Here in 1:12 Cephas is mentioned, along with Paul and Apollos, indicating that he and Apollos may have taken part in baptizing some believers there. He is mentioned again in 3:22, along with Paul and Apollos, suggesting that he was also a respected teacher by some in Corinth. Then in 9:5, Paul mentions the right of Cephas and others not only to be married but to receive financial support from the church. Finally, in 15:5 Cephas is highlighted as one of the apostolic eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection. Perhaps all of these references to Cephas point to the possibility that he spent some time in Corinth? Whether he did or not, some in Corinth were separating themselves from the Paul group and the Apollos group, saying, “I am of Cephas.”

Perhaps the last group Paul mentions, the “I am of Christ” group, was nothing more than a purist group who wanted no part of following mere men. They, maybe self-righteously, only cared what Christ spoke and taught. Gordon Fee says, “Here are some people who form no distinct group at all, but who in their own attempt to rise above the rest, those boasting in mere men, have fallen into their own brand of spiritual elitism that makes them no better than others.”

Mark A. Taylor says, “What is crystal clear is that a party spirit plagued the church in Corinth, and their boasting in men contradicted the very essence of the gospel. The root problem was pride, the worst of sins, especially for those identified with a crucified Christ.”

Food For Thought
            It is quite common today for folks in local churches to draw lines in the sand and divide with others based on the teachings and influences of mere men, with little and in some cases no regard for Christ. Though today it seems there are more Christian organizations, podcasts, writers, and wanna-be preachers than ever before, in some sense this is good. But Satan uses all this to divide us. Even some of the purists who believe only the words of Christ in the Bible are part of the problem, at times being self-righteous and divisive. If anyone is to disregard or hate us, let it not be because we are Calvinists, Lutherans, Baptists, Wesleyans, or Dispensationalists; let it be because we love Jesus Christ and follow His teachings found in Scripture in all the Gospels and through all His chosen apostles—the men God inspired when they wrote the New Testament. Let them shun and hate us for our love of Christ through the Scriptures. That, and that, alone.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:10-11 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.
           
I “exhort” (parakaleo) you in v. 10 is Paul “calling” the Corinthians with an earnest appeal. Paul is the “called” (klatos) apostle (v. 1), writing to the “called out” (ekklesia) ones of Corinth who, having been summoned by God to believe, are saints by “calling” (klatos) those who “call” (epikaleō) on the name of Christ (v. 2) for salvation. As are all believers in Christ, these Corinthians were “called” (kaleō) into fellowship by God (v. 9) for fellowship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Having acknowledged their genuine faith in Christ in vv. 4-9, Paul now “exhorts” (parakaleo) them, specifically “calling” attention to their sinful attitudes.
           
Paul’s exhortation is “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” in v. 10. This means that Paul is not venting his own frustration or giving brotherly advice; he is literally speaking for Jesus, exhorting exactly as Jesus would exhort His people. Paul, being in Ephesus while writing, had received a report informing him of “divisions” within the Corinthian church. This information had come from “Chloe’s” household—a group within in the Corinthian church. Apparently, Chloe’s household was a reliable source to Paul and a respectable group within the Corithian church. If they had taken the time to write Paul a letter, they had likely already addressed the issues within the church. But now, having had no success at bringing unity, they wrote to their founding pastor, the Apostle Paul who will himself call the church to unify.
           
In v. 10, Paul makes it clear that church members are to “agree,” not divide; to “speak the same thing.” This of course had only to do with matters of doctrine, for nowhere in Scripture are people to think alike in all matters. That would be a dangerous, brainwashing cult. They were to thus be joined together in the same mind and have the same viewpoints theologically, certainly with respect to the gospel of Christ. Problem was, the Corinthians were not saying the same things but were filled with disagreements about Christ, having “divisions” (schisma) that were splitting them into separate camps. Yet Paul, speaking for Christ, says divisions are not to exist within the church. Again, this is not an appeal to uniformity, but disagreement on the fundamental nature of the gospel is a division that cannot be permitted in Christ’s Church. Ever.
           
Instead of divisions, Paul writes, “You are to be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (v. 10). To “be” is a present active verb in the Greek text, specifically to be “made complete” (katartizō)—ready, suitable, or equipped in advance for a particular purpose or for some use or event. To “be” is the driving verb which entails ongoing action. To be “made complete” is the participial verb that modifies “be,” and it is a past tense verb with ongoing effects. Christians are “made complete” by God through faith in Jesus Christ, and are thus to “be” constantly in ready-mode to exhibit the fruit of knowing and loving Jesus Christ. One way to not “be” such is to be divided with one’s fellow Christians regarding the gospel.

Food For Thought
We as Christians must agree on is the fundamental nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  How can we do that? Answer: through an equally important fundamental belief which is to agree that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. If we accept as a church that what God has revealed is His truth, there can be nothing for which to disagree. In Corinth they had no New Testament, but they had an apostle who spoke for Christ. They thus needed to listen to Paul who spoke for Christ. Today, we just need to listen to Christ through Scripture. Only then can we be unified.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:4, 7-9 …the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus… 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul lists the kinds of sinful living that guarantee exclusion from the kingdom of God. He says, “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” Then he reminds the Corinthians, “Such were some of you; but you were washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” In other words, when Paul came into Corinth to preach the gospel, those who heard and believed the gospel were among the most heinous of sinners.
           
God did three things with the Corinthian believers. First, He “gave” them His “grace” in Christ Jesus (v. 4). No works to merit this; just grace. Second, God “enriched” them with Christ, manifesting their spiritual gifts in both their speech and knowledge (v. 5). Third, God “confirmed” the “testimony concerning Christ” in the Corinthian believers, meaning that their faith was established as genuine. In all this one can see that it is God who calls the spiritually dead to life (cf. Eph. 2:1-5), drawing His elect children, chosen from before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5), to His Son Jesus Christ (John 6:44), enabling them to believe (John 6:65).
           
In v. 7 Paul makes it clear that based on all that God had given to the Corinthian Christians, they “were not lacking in any gift.” The Greek term for gift is “charisma”—a gift given as a sign of charitable favor. In chapters 12-14 in 1 Corinthians, however, Paul rebukes the way in which the Corinthians were abusing the gifts, specifically of speaking in tongues. So, although they possessed the gifts of the Spirit in abundance, their abuse of them was harming their testimony.
           
In further commending the Corinthians, Paul adds in v. 7 to their having no lack of spiritual gifts, they were “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This means that they were alert to the future prophecy of Christ’s return—His revelation. Being prophetically alert, they knew Christ could return at any moment, and they were therefore engaged in ministry and worship, faithfully anticipating His return.
           
Speaking of Christ, v. 8 says that He will “also confirm” (kai bebaioō) believers as “blameless” (anegklētos) when Christ returns—“in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The “also” is in addition to God’s confirmation of the genuine faith of the Corinthians in v. 6 at the outset of their faith. The additional confirmation means that God secures and establishes His people as “blameless”—without any accusation—to the very end. God thus confirms true faith at its outset and preserves it to our ultimate end, either at our death or when Christ returns. What a great passage for the eternal security of the believer! Paul continues this thought in v. 9, affirming God’s faithfulness to His gift of salvation to us: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Note again the verb “called” (kaleō) which speaks of a summoning of God’s elect for rebirth in Christ. Paul himself was “called” to believe and be an apostle (1:1) along with the Christians in Corinth—the “church” (ekklesia), or “called out ones.” God’s faithfulness to Christians means that He will never forsake us.

Food For Thought
            Being in Christ means that we came out of spiritual darkness and into the eternal light of Christ. God called us out, saved us in Jesus, and has guaranteed our eternal redemption. We rely daily on God’s faithfulness, using our spiritual gifts, as we eagerly await His return. Is that you?
            

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1 Corinthians 1:4-6 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you…
           
When Paul first arrived in Corinth sometime in AD 51, he came to a bustling city full of debauchery and paganism—seemingly void of any true prospective Christians. Even his fellow Jews rejected his preaching about Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ (Acts 18:5-6). In spite of this, God spoke to Paul and encouraged him: “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). For God to have “many people” in Corinth can only mean that God had many of His elect, although yet-to-be-born-again, people waiting to hear the gospel of Christ so that they could believe. And believe they did! Paul remained in Corinth for 18 months (Acts 18:11), aided by friends like Silas, Timothy, Aquila, and Priscilla. Then he departed. What emerged out of the Corinthian decadence was a church of Jesus Christ.
           
In v. 4, Paul informs the Corinthian Christians about his continual prayers for them, how he thanked God “always concerning you” for how God’s grace had brought them to faith in Jesus Christ. This means that Paul did not plant the church in Corinth and then forget about them; instead, he prayed for them and thanked God for them “always” (pantote). So, although the great majority of 1 Corinthians is pejorative, it is evident from vv. 4-9 that Paul was not rebuking unbelievers in the Corinthian church; he was lovingly correcting stray Christians. Paul was therefore being tactful at the outset of his epistle, acknowledging that the Corinthian Christians were indeed brothers in Christ, before attempting to lovingly correct their many sinful ways.
           
Note in v. 4 how Paul speaks of the “grace of God” and how it “was given you in Christ Jesus.” The verb “was given” (dotheisē) is a past tense Greek aorist in the passive voice. This means that God’s grace was foisted upon the believers in Corinth and not something they “accepted” of their own free will. It is God who acts upon His people in love to draw them to Christ (John 6:44). He loves first, we love Him in return (1 John 4:19). God gives us grace, and we receive Christ by faith alone. Salvation is thus all God; to Him alone belongs the glory.
           
In v. 5, Paul speaks specifically as to what he is so thankful to God for concerning the Corinthian Christians: “that in everything you were enriched in [Christ], in all word and all knowledge.” Note how thoroughly God had blessed them, causing them to lack nothing. The verb “were enriched” (eploutisthēte) means “to cause to become very wealthy in resources,” whether figurative or literal. Like “was given” in v. 4, “were enriched” is an aorist passive, meaning that the Corinthian Christians were the passive recipients of what God gave as their enrichment. That “enrichment” is specified as being “in Him,” that is “in Jesus Christ,” with two things. First, “all speech” (panti logos). This means that the Corinthians knew how to explain Christ and do so eloquently. They knew the gospel thoroughly and how to communicate it. Second, they had “all knowledge” (pasē gnōsei). This means that they fully understood who God is, what He has done in Christ, and what He is going to do. The Corinthians thus lacked nothing!
           
Note in v. 6 the verb “was confirmed” (ebebaiōthē), again an aorist passive verb. God thus was responsible for giving the Corinthian believers His grace for salvation (4), His enrichment for speech and knowledge (5), and His confirmation of their “testimony” (marturion). This verb refers to the miraculous signs that God used to confirm the gospel preached by Christ’s apostles (cf. Heb. 2:3), even in Corinth. Paul himself spent 18 months establishing and confirming a firm foundation for their faith (1 Cor. 3:10)—one that was genuine in its origin from an apostle and proven by God Himself who allowed Paul to see the spiritual fruits of his labor with the gospel.

Food For Thought
            We sometimes think that we lack certain spiritual gifts. It’s unlikely that any one Christian possesses all the gifts of the Spirit, but in spite of this, we truly lack no good thing. We might not have the gift of evangelism, but God can work through people who can barely speak! As for teaching, some of the most boring sermons have been the most powerful. Since the Spirit of God indwells us (Rom. 8:9-11), we don’t need to ask God to give us anything else, for we already possess what we need to glorify Him. Perhaps we should pray instead for God to enlighten us to our gifts, that we should strive to sharpen the gifts we know we already possess. But may we rest securely knowing we have all we need straight from heaven! And what we have, God gave us.  
            

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1 Corinthians 1:2-3 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Epistle of 1 Corinthians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul specifically “to the church of God which is at Corinth.” Paul had arrived in Corinth (Acts 18:1-18) on his second missionary trip (cf. Acts 15:40–18:21) in AD 51 when Gallio was proconsul (Acts 18:12). There Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, a husband-wife couple, who had been kicked out of Rome in AD 49 along with all Jews and Christians when Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54) issued an edict ordering their eviction from the city. They had tent-making in common and thus became friends.

Wherever he traveled, Paul’s custom was to go first to the Jews by preaching in a local synagogue (cf. Rom. 1:16), explaining to them that Jesus of Nazareth was their long-awaited Messiah, or Christ. After the Jews evicted Paul from the synagogue in Corinth, he went next door to the house of a Gentile convert to Judaism named Titius Justus who heard Paul’s gospel and believed (Acts 18:7). He was one of many in Corinth who trusted in Jesus as the Christ.

Corinth was not a city that one might anticipate many conversions to Christ. The ancient city had a reputation for vulgarity and sexual promiscuity. According to the Greek historian Strabo (64 BC-AD 24), the wealth and vice in Corinth centered around the temple of Aphrodite and its temple prostitutes which numbered at least one thousand. David Lowery says, “For a hundred years after 146 BC, no one cared to make the voyage to Corinth. The city was destroyed because of its revolt against Rome. Only a few columns in the temple of Apollo survived the razing. All its citizenry was killed or sold into slavery… But this favorable location did not go unused for long, as Julius Caesar re-founded the city as a Roman colony in 46 BC. In 27 BC it became the governmental seat for Achaia, from which seat Gallio as proconsul would allow Paul’s proclamation of the gospel. It was onto this new stage, which nonetheless preserved the vices of the old, that Paul stepped in AD 51.” In spite of Corinth’s immorality, Paul’s ministry there was successful enough to see many converts to Christ and the establishment of a Christian church.

The epistle Paul wrote is therefore to “the church” (ekklēsia), literally “the called out ones.” They are the gathering of believers who comprise part of the body of Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 1:18, 24), a local assembly in a specific city (cf. Rom. 16:1; 1 Thess. 1:1). Christians are specifically “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling…” Being “sanctified” (hagiazō), they are “set apart from” those who are not “in Christ Jesus.” To be “in Christ Jesus” is thus to trust, or believe, in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins. This in turn makes believers in Christ “saints by calling”—holy, elect ones summoned by God the Father (Eph. 1:4-6) to receive Christ the Son for redemption and forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7-12) and then sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of future redemption (Eph. 1:13-14).

Notably, the Epistle to the Corinthians is not just an ancient letter for ancient people; it is also for “all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” The letter is thus for every Christian in every era—from Paul’s day to the present.
           
Wishing “grace” (charis) and “peace” (eirēnē) to the saints in Corinth “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul understood that God had already granted unmerited favor to them and the peace that accompanies His grace. So, the Corinthians, as do all Christians, enjoyed God’s daily portion of grace to cover all their sins, with no exceptions. Moreover, they had God’s divine peace to go with it—mitigating the guilt of all their sins—past, present, and future.

Food For Thought
            What is the Church? It’s not a building but a group of saved people, individual persons who come together having trusted in Jesus as the Christ who saves them by His grace. These people, being the universal Church of Christ, have been “called out” (Gr. ekklesia) from the world of unbelief, gathering together in local churches to worship God through Jesus Christ our Lord. All of us are, according to Scripture, are sanctified saints—holy ones, having been justified by God through faith in Christ, set apart from the dark world to be sons of the living God. This is why we gather together as the Church in a local church—to worship our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
            

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1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother…

The writer of 1 Corinthians is “Paul,” originally known as “Saul” (Acts 7:58; 13:9). If anyone has ever had a radical transformation of their lives, it was Paul. His own testimony of his life prior to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ in Acts 22:3 speaks for itself, for he was “a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia” meaning he was a Diaspora Jew (born outside of Israel). Yet he was raised in Jerusalem and “educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers”—the Jewish Law and traditions. As such, Paul was extremely “zealous for God” (cf. Gal. 1:13-14).
Though zeal for God consumed Paul, not knowing who Jesus truly was, he hated Jesus and especially His followers. Calling the Christian faith “the Way” (cf. John 14:6), Paul wrote, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons… I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished” (Acts 22:4-5).

Paul was no atheist but a Jew who believed strongly in the God of creation, passionate for the Law of Moses. Anyone whom Paul felt was a threat to Judaism was literally in danger of losing his life, for Paul had it in his heart to hurt all who opposed his version of Judaism (cf. Acts 7:58). Though his zeal was admirable, his spiritual eyes were blind to the truth, that is, until Jesus confronted him. Paul’s testimony was, “It happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground” (Acts 22:6-7a). Once Jesus appeared to him, Paul was never the same.

Paul responded to Jesus by asking, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Jesus replied by telling him that he had been appointed as a minister and a witness to the things he had seen and that he was being sent to preach the Christian gospel to the Gentiles—people not of Israel; non-Jews. Though all who are “sent” are apostles, Paul, along with some select others held the office of apostle. The term refers to a “herald,” or “envoy.” Literally, it means one sent to perform a specific task. This commission was a unique honor given to only 13 men in the NT— Jesus’ 12 disciples (Matt. 10:2-5), minus Judas, plus Matthias (Acts 1:26). Paul, who was also “called” to the office of apostle, became number 13. Theologically, “called” (klētos) refers to an elect child of God, summoned by God to believe in and serve the risen Lord Jesus (cf. Rom. 8:28-30).

Although Judas Iscariot was replaced by Matthias after his death, once those 13 apostles died, the office died when them. Those who held the office had not only seen the risen Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 9:1), they performed specific, apostolic works (2 Cor. 12:12). Paul later wrote that Christ “gave some as apostles…some as prophets…some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). Christ did this “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (4:12). That foundation of truth laid down by the apostles is what evangelists and pastors build upon today. Christ is the cornerstone of that foundation, and believers are “living stones…being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5).

With Paul was “Sosthenes,” mentioned only twice in the NT, here and in Acts 18:17 when Paul was in Corinth. There, Sosthenes was the “synagogue ruler” who was beaten by the Jews when the Roman proconsul Gallio refused to hear their complaint against Paul. If this is the same man, then perhaps he was converted to Christ by the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians. What role he might have played in the writing of 1 Corinthians is never stated.

Food For Thought
            Since the Church’s foundation equates to the words of Christ and His apostles (Eph. 2:11-22), there is no need for apostles like Paul, Peter, or John today to lay another foundation. With their words in Scripture preserved for us, we don’t need new revelation from an apostle. We simply need to read their words in the New Testament and build upon that foundation one convert after another, for the structure is built upon the foundation. So, when someone gives themselves the title today of “apostle,” you should run the other way. All we need today are pastors, teachers, and evangelists to teach and exhort us in the apostolic word—the Bible. Paul still speaks today because, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, he spoke for Jesus Christ. His words, along with every word in the New Testament, should thus be written in red. It’s all from Jesus!
            

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Acts 18:1, 11 After these things, [Paul] left Athens and went to Corinth… And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia on NW end of the Peloponnese peninsula next to Greece. Situated on an isthmus overlooking the sea routes east and west, it was an affluent commercial center, famous for its multinational character and notorious immorality. Aphrodite’s temple was there, replete with cult-prostitutes roaming the city in honor of her. To be immoral was to be “Corinthian,” a term that came to signify immorality.

In AD 49, the Roman Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54) expelled all Jews and Christians from Rome, among them were Aquila and his wife Priscilla who then came to Corinth (v. 2) where they met Paul. This husband-wife team, friends of Paul, would later play an instrumental role in sending Apollos to Corinth as its new pastor after Paul departed (Acts 18:24-28).

As was Paul’s custom, he went into the Jewish synagogue upon arriving in Corinth and reasoned with the Jews sharing with them about Jesus of Nazareth, showing them from their Scriptures that He was the Messiah, or Christ. After the Jews rejected Paul’s gospel, he “shook the dust off of himself” as an outward symbol the innocence of their blood (cf. Ezek. 3:18-21).

After leaving the synagogue, Paul went next door to the home of Titius Justus, a man whose name indicates he was a Roman and thus a Gentile. As a “worshiper of God,” he was a convert to Judaism, awaiting the Messiah. Along with Crispus and his entire household—the ruler of the synagogue, Titius Justus trusted in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah after Paul preached. Others also were in fact converted following Paul’s preaching (18:8), but only these men are named.

One night while Paul slept, the Jesus appeared to him in a dream to encourage him not to be afraid, “for I have many in this city who are my people” (18:10). As Acts 13:48 says, “And all who were appointed to eternal life believed,” God had many in Corinth who were appointed for salvation but who simply needed an evangelist to preach the gospel (cf. Rom. 10:13-15). Paul thus stayed for 18 months preaching Christ in the first church of Corinth (18:11).

At some point, the Jews rose up against Paul and brought him before Gallio, the proconsul who governed there for one year beginning in July of AD 51. Being the younger brother of Seneca of Rome, Emperor Nero’s tutor, Gallio is known to have been a very fair proconsul. When Paul was brought before him, Gallio told the Jews that their accusation against him had nothing to do with his position. He thus let Paul go, driving all the Jews from the tribunal. In anger, the Jews turned on the sitting synagogue ruler, Sosthenes, and beat him. If this particular Sosthenes was Paul’s companion in 1 Corinthians 1:1, then he too became a follower in Christ.

When Paul departed from Corinth 18 months after he arrived, he traveled back to his home base in Syrian Antioch. Along the way, he stopped in Ephesus where they asked him to stay, but he refused, promising to return. When he did return to Ephesus, he wrote a non-extant letter to the Corinthians, referenced in 1 Corinthians 5:9. From this one reference, it seems that Paul had written to tell them not to associate with immoral people. The Corinthians, however, mistook his words, shunning all who were immoral. Paul thus wrote to clarify this in 1 Corinthians 5:10-13.

Paul also got word from the Corinthians, specifically members of the household of Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), that, among other things, many divisions had appeared in the church since Paul’s departure. People were divided over preachers (1:1-17), what to do with a man in the church who was sleeping with his step-mother (chap. 5), how to handle lawsuits (chap. 6), about marriage and divorce (chap. 7), whether to eat meat sacrificed to idols (chap. 8), roles of husbands and wives (chap. 11), abuses of the Lord’s Supper (chap. 11), abuses of the charismatic gifts (chaps. 12-15), and the absurd claim by some that Christ was not resurrected from the dead (chap. 15).

Food For Thought
            The fact that God has predestined some for salvation (cf. Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:4-5, 11), having appointed some for faith (Acts 13:48), means that our evangelism has a fighting chance. Corinth was the most immoral city in the Roman Empire, yet some there were God’s people just waiting to hear the gospel so they could be born again (Acts 18:10). What was true then is true today. Let us therefore be about the task of sharing Christ, even when we think people are too evil to receive the truth. Our job is to preach the word; God’s task is to draw His elect to His Son (John 6:44, 65) and save them in His time and for His glory.
            

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Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
           
In 6:1 Paul imagines a situation in which a Christian is “caught in any trespass.” To be “caught” is to be “overtaken” by something, and in this case the something is “any trespass,” that is, any ongoing sin. Since the verb for “caught” is in the passive voice, Paul imagines one who, as a result of not walking by the Spirit (5:16, 25), has been acted upon by his rebellion. One should not imagine one who was caught in the sense that they were found out; instead, Paul has in mind someone who has fallen to temptation and is suffering as a result of his sin. They are “caught” like an animal in a trap, overtaken by sin and unable to find release from it.
           
What exactly is the responsibility of a Christian walking by the Spirit who sees a brother or sister overtaken by sin and caught in its trap? Should he look the other way? Should he call the pastor of the church and have him deal with it? Should he consult with wise people and talk about the sinning believer? None of the above! Paul gives the proper course of action, reveals whose responsibility it is, and discloses how it is to be done in Galatians 6:1-2.

First, Paul reveals that it is the responsibility of you who are “spiritual” (Gr. pneumatikos), that is, the one walking in the Spirit (cf. 5:16, 25). This entails any Christian who is actually living out his or her faith. It does not mean that they are perfect or seminary-trained. Second, they are to “restore” the Christian caught in sin. The verb for “restore” (katarizō) is used outside of Scripture as a medical term for setting a broken bone. So in restoring a sinning believer, the mature believer is to set straight the one overtaken by sin, relieving him or her. The sin cannot be neglected, and it is not, at this stage, to be publicly rebuked. Third, the restoration of the sinner is to be done “in a spirit of gentleness,” gentleness being a fruit of the Spirit (5:23). The sinner is not scorned or belittled but lovingly assisted. Finally, the mature believer who seeks to help is to look out for himself, for while assisting one caught in sin, they too could be tempted in their own weakness. For no matter how spiritual one is, no one is immune to the temptations of sin.

Watching over the children of God is not just the responsibility of the pastor and the church elders and deacons; it is the responsibility of all God’s redeemed people. We are to look out for one another and “bear one another’s burdens” (6:2). To “bear” is “to pick up; to carry.” Paul uses the present imperative verb here, meaning it is a command to always bear one another’s burdens. By so doing, one will “fulfill the law of Christ.” Of course the “law of Christ” concerns love for God and love for all people, especially Christians (John 13:34; 15:12; cf. 1 John 3:23).

Certainly the Scriptures teach believers to cast their burden upon the Lord so He can sustain them (Ps. 55:22; 1 Pet. 5:7). For Jesus called those heavy-laden to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28). After all, Jesus bore the sins of all believers on the cross. But the other burdens Christians carry—temptations to sin, worries, doubts, sorrows—require spiritual people for true comfort. God clearly works through His people to love and care for them, a truth the Apostle Paul attested to through his friendship with Titus and others (cf. 2 Cor. 7:5-6).

Food For Thought
If we walked by the Spirit we would love one another more, and if we loved one another more we would bear one another’s burdens, and if we bore one another’s burdens we would not shrink from seeking to restore a brother who has fallen into sin… If we obeyed this apostolic instruction as we should, much unkind gossip would be avoided, more serious backsliding prevented, the good of the Church advanced, and the name of Christ glorified   —John Stott.
            

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James 5:19-20 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
           
There are some in our churches today like the Sadducees whom Jesus denounced, saying, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matt. 22:29). Jesus also warned of “…false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Paul and Peter said, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Tim. 3:13)… forsaking the right way, they have gone astray…” (2 Pet. 2:15). These in Christ’s Church will eventually reveal their true selves as apostates, those who go out from the Church after a time. John says of them that they go out “from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).
           
Yet there are others in the Church, genuine Christians, who are “sick” (5:14) and in need of restoration from sinful practices. These weak-stricken believers are like sheep that “stray” from the flock, except here they “stray” from “the truth” (Gr. alētheia)—from holy Scripture (Jas. 1:18). The English “planet” comes from “stray” (Gr. planēthē) to express how the luminaries were “wandering stars” (Jude 13), not fixed like the rest. Such straying might result in apostasy, or it may result in repentance and thus restoration. The difference between the two kinds of people is that true Christians, though they may stray for a time over the course of their lives, can be brought back into fellowship with Christ. False believers, however, will always be like wandering planets, unwilling to return to the truth of the gospel.  
           
In 5:14-18 James put forth a plan of prayer for those within the Church who finally recognize that they are either unsaved or saved yet have backslidden to the point of being powerless to help themselves return to fellowship with Christ. Whereas strong believers regularly pray for one another, the weaker ones need the help that those in fellowship with Christ can offer them through prayer and encouragement (cf. 5:14-16). Since truth is a way of life, those who turn from it must be turned back to it. A Christian walking in the truth can aid in this.

Verse 20 speaks of the result of turning a sinner from the error of his ways. Since restoring those who stray from the truth is a labor of love, then like the return of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, there is celebration if the straying one finds his way back to the truth. Now since all who from their faith are “sick” (5:14-15)—spiritually weak, then evangelism is not the solution, restoration is. It is revival that the straying believer needs, not redemption. They would thus be like the one lost sheep in a fold of 100 sheep that Jesus illustrates in Luke 15:3-7. Once the shepherd rescues it, the sheep is not saved; it is restored to the fold. “He who turns a sinner from the error of his ways” (v. 20) is therefore the Christian who leads a straying brother back to the truth. That he “will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” is a reference to the straying sinner, not the one who restored him. With his sins covered (cf. 1 Pet. 4:8), and his fellowship restored, the Christian who strayed is no longer in danger of death related to his rebellious sin. In Paul’s context in 1 Corinthians 11:26-30, he highlighted the fact that some in the Corinthian church had died—they “sleep.” This was the result of their sinful disregard for the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, those who repented of such rebellion could avoid an untimely death.

Food For Thought
Some wander from the Christian faith doctrinally, erring in their beliefs—perhaps becoming legalistic or charismatic over time. Yet others maintain healthy doctrine but stray from the truth in lifestyle. Their profession is orthodox, but their lifestyle is ungodly. Either way, such people need the loving confrontation of a brother in Christ to restore them. The NT is replete with exhortations for such: “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1). “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak” (1 Thess. 5:14). “…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:25). “…save others, snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 23). Swindoll says, “The intervention of loving Christians through prayer, patience, and perseverance will not only save that person from accumulating more sin and making a greater mess of this life, but also spare the church from the damage done by a wayward brother or sister.”
            

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James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Previously James spoke of the prophets and Job (vv.10-11) to illustrate suffering and endurance. Now he reminds of Israel’s most popular prophet, Elijah, a man who also suffered in difficult times under the most ungodly pagan rulers Israel ever knew: Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah illustrates how “an effective prayer from a righteous man can accomplish much” (v. 16).
The first note about Elijah is that he “was a man with a nature like ours” (NIV, “just like us”). He was thus a sinner who, though he performed miraculous feats, was a mere human who got hungry, tired, scared, confused, and at one time just wanted to die out of dejection (1 Kings 19:4). But though a man, he was righteous, a man faithful to his God and his task.

The account of Elijah’s life is seen from 1 Kings 17:1—2 Kings 2:11. He prayed effectively in bringing a widow’s dead son back to life (1 Kings 17:17-24), calling down fire from heaven in a grand display of God’s power working through him (1 Kings 18:36-45), and of course his prayer for drought in Israel (1 Kings 17:1) that lasted over three years. In vv. 17-18, James focuses on that prayer, for Elijah “prayed earnestly”—literally “prayer praying,” that rain would be withheld from the land of Israel for three and a half years. Then he “prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced fruit” (v. 18; cf. 1 Kings 18:41-46). Clearly, Elijah’s prayers were in keeping with God’s will as He judged Ahab and Israel. But the fact that God used a normal man “with a nature like ours” (Gr. homoiopathēs) to work His providence is the very point James is making. Prayer is effective when faithful believers utilize it well. Elijah’s effective prayers thus stand in direct contrast with the weak prayers James rebukes in 1:6-8.

One wonders why James only mentions Elijah’s prayer for the drought in light of his other more spectacular prayers—like calling down fire from heaven or raising the dead. In fact, 1 Kings 17:1 does not even mention the prayer of Elijah; rather, it simply pictures Elijah making the declaration to Israel that the rain would be withheld for three years. But in James’ context, this particular feat makes sense. For James is illustrating a Christian whose life has become a barren wilderness of weak faith—just like the land of Israel was during those three-plus years of drought, circa 850 BC. Such a one has thus become spiritually weak, or “sick,” and is in need of prayer to restore his ineffective faith. Like a dry land suddenly flooded with rain, so is a Christian whose soul is prayed over by the effective prayer of a righteous person. He will be restored, raised up, and if his sins have incapacitated him, God will absolutely forgive (v. 15).

The life of Elijah is indeed a spectacular life to reflect upon for many reasons. His prayers were effective only because he placed himself in the center of God’s will. Part of that included stern denunciations against the sins of Ahab and Jezebel—the ruling elite of that day. As such, Elijah was hated, his life in constant danger. That in itself would cause any man to become prayerful, looking to God for protection and direction. Once Elijah was translated into heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:11), later prophets spoke of him reappearing in the future, coming again to pave the way for the Messianic age (Mal. 4:5-6; Mark 9:12; Luke 1:17). Jesus said the near-fulfillment of this occurred when John the Baptist came in the power and likeness of Elijah (Matt. 11:11-14) but was rejected. Elijah will apparently appear again just prior to Christ’s return, perhaps as one of the Two Witnesses the Book of Revelation depicts in chapter 11.  

Food For Thought
            Elijah’s prayer for both drought and rain fits the context of his day when Baal, the pagan god of rain, was relied upon by Israel to fertilize crops—in Israel! Elijah thus prayed that God withhold rain to prove to Israel that only God can provide rain. Thus, praying that it rain today or not rain has no context outside of our desire that a prolonged drought might end. We should, however, pray that our world leaders come to realize that Jesus is God (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-2). God has absolutely called us and equipped us to pray effectively by praying according to His perfect will in the name of Christ. When we know His will, we ought to pray His will. Jesus calls us to pray for our persecutors (Matt. 5:44), for God’s kingdom to come (6:10), for daily provision of food and water (6:11), for overcoming temptation (6:13), and for forgiveness of our sins (Luke 11:4). The Apostle Paul recommends praying for the advancement of the gospel (2 Thess. 3:1) and for our earthly rulers to rule wisely (1 Tim. 2:1-2). And James instructs us to pray for wisdom (1:5), spiritual maturity (5:16; cf. Eph. 6:18), perseverance while suffering (5:13), and for wayward Christians (5:16; cf. 1 John 5:16). Now you’ve got a biblical prayer list in order to pray like Elijah, a man who was just as human as any one of us.
            

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James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Perhaps what James means in v. 16 is that Christians ought never allow themselves to backslide to the point that they actually need to call church elders for prayer. If Christians would simply “confess…sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed,” they could avoid calling the elders to pray over them and restore them to a healthy fellowship with Christ. After all, if sins are “confessed” through regular accountability with other believers, and if they pray for one another, they need only to pray daily to be healed of their various weaknesses. It is only after one drifts away from their faith through long periods of time out of fellowship with God that they need to call the elders to restore them to spiritual vitality.

Although the term James uses for “healed” (iaomai) in v. 16 can speak of physical healing (Matt. 8:8, 13; 15:28; Mark 5:29; Luke 5:17; 6:18, 19; 7:7; 8:47; 9:2, 11, 42; 14:4; 17:15; 22:51; John 4:47; 5:13; 12:40; Acts 9:34; 10:38; 28:8), it is also used for spiritual renewal in the NT (cf. Matt. 13:15 John 12:40; Acts 28:27; Heb. 12:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:24). Being apart from Christ does not mean the loss of salvation but loss of fellowship. So James uses “healed” specifically to refer to God’s pardon for sin, restoring the repentant Christian to fellowship with Christ.

The means through which God’s healing is accomplished is evident in the passage: through prayer. It is the prayer of “a righteous man” that is “effective” and “can accomplish much.” First, the “righteous man” is one that is declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22). This is he or she who professes faith in Christ and whose faith is backed by fruitful works (cf. Jas. 2:14-26), not ongoing sinful living. After all, the “weak” believer in v. 14 is a righteous man through faith in Christ, but since he is not growing in his faith through obedience to Christ, he has become weak and is in need of righteous men to help him, namely the church elders.

Second, the means of healing for the weakened Christian takes an “effective” (Gr. energeō) prayer—one that is in accordance with God’s will. It is always God’s will that His people be restored to fellowship with Him, but it is not always God’s will that physically ill people be restored to health or even live. Effective prayers are therefore only “effective” when they are prayed “in the name of the Lord” (v. 14; cf. John 14:14)—for His purposes and glory.

Third, the effective prayer of a righteous man can “accomplish” (Gr. ischuō), a term that means “be strong.” The addition of “much” (Gr. polus) means “great strength.” Hence, “The prayer of a genuine, born-again Christian in fellowship with Christ has great strength.” Note that although James instructs the spiritually weak to call for the elders of the church, this is only because church elders are expected to be above-reproach men in fellowship with Christ. The truth is, any “righteous man” or woman can pray with great strength. As long as God’s people remain in fellowship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through obedience, confession, and repentance, they will never fall into the kind of sickness that James describes in 5:14-16.
 
Food For Thought
            Perhaps you’ve become entrenched in a sinful lifestyle over time? You didn’t plan for it, but it happened. Now you’re living in a state of depression and anxiety. Maybe you fell into looking at filth, seeking wanton pleasures, using lewd language, flirting with people not your spouse, or drinking too much. Your life is a mess, and you know it. If so, count today as a gift from our merciful Lord! After all, He is giving you the opportunity to seek Him—again perhaps. Simply confess your sins, admit that you are powerless in and of yourself, and humble yourself before Christ in prayer—again. If need be, call a righteous man or woman for help. You’ll be healed.

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1 Corinthians 11:26-30 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
           
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-34, the Apostle Paul is addressing the abuse of the Lord’s Supper—the commemoration of Christ’s death and future return. He rebukes some of the Corinthians who came to the Supper and consumed most of the food before everyone arrived for the sacrament. They were thus partaking of the Supper “in an unworthy manner” (v. 27), “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” For Christ, in bearing the penalty of mankind’s sin upon the cross, was being mocked by those who abused the Supper, though not intentionally. Though some gathered to honor Christ, their behavior did the opposite. The rich abused the poor by eating all the food and drink, revealing that they had not gathered to remember Christ but to gorge themselves.
           
If partaking of the Lord’s Supper was meant to remember Christ’s death and future return, then any conduct apart from that equates to doing so in an “unworthy” (Gr. anaxiōs), or careless, manner. In the context of Paul’s rebuke, the specific sin entailed, not only the failure to observe the true meaning of the sacrament, but of defaming it by treating it as if it were a normal meal to assuage one’s hunger as opposed to commemorating Christ’s death and future return. The guilty parties were thus “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Their “guilt” was that they were not only liable for Christ’s death, they were putting themselves under the same penalty as those who actually crucified Him. They profaned the meal itself by scorning the poor, being gluttonous, and getting drunk. In so doing, they profaned the message of the cross of Christ.

What happened to the guilty souls, those who partook of the Supper in an unworthy manner? Paul lists three results: some were “weak” (asthenēs), some were “sick” (arrōstos), and others “sleep” (koimaō)—a euphemism for being “dead.” The “weak” are clearly distinguished from the physically “sick.” And the most horrifying result of abusing the Lord’s Supper was death. It is therefore clear that God takes sin very seriously, especially as it relates to profaning the sacrament that recalls the Lord’s death and anticipates His future return. Let us beware.

The solution for all Christians coming to observe the Supper and steer clear of partaking unworthily is to “examine” (Gr. dokimazō) ourselves (v. 28)—to put ourselves to the test to see whether our motive in partaking of the Supper is to proclaim the Lord’s death before He returns (v. 26). Any other reason is risky, so risky that Paul explained in v. 29 that the early deaths of some in the church came as the result of partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner.

Food For Thought
            We Christians have the privilege of observing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (aka, Eucharist, Communion). But because of what the Supper commemorates, we must observe it for the right reasons and under the right conditions. First, we must be professing, baptized Christians in fellowship with Christ. Second, we must come to honor Christ by proclaiming His death through the Supper—partaking of unleavened bread and wine (or juice). Although some Protestant churches celebrate the Supper with small juice cups and broken crackers, the message is the same: the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of those who receive Him by faith alone—a proclamation of man’s redemption for those who place their trust in Christ alone for salvation. So, each time we partake of the Supper, we worthily proclaim Christ’s death until He returns.
            

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James 5:15b-16 …and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

The context of James’ instruction in 5:14-18 is prayer for the “sick” within the church. Yet the “sick” who are to summon the elders of the church to pray over them are not those with physical ailments; they are those suffering under spiritual weakness. Such weaknesses are depicted throughout James’ epistle. They are perhaps living in sin—grumbling about their lot instead of rejoicing in their trials (1:2-4), doubting God’s abilities (1:5-8), being led by their sinful temptations (1:12-18), being hearers of God’s word but not doers of it (1:19-27; 2:14-26), showing favoritism to the rich, prejudiced toward others (2:1-13), not controlling their tongues (3:1-12; 4:11-12), lacking wisdom (3:13-18), having become friends with the world and thus becoming spiritual adulteresses (4:1-10), living presumptuously (4:13-17), bilking the poor out of their pay (5:1-6), and swearing presumptuous oaths as if they could control the future (5:12).

Such a one in any or all of these circumstances, upon realizing their sinful state, is to call upon the elders of the church to pray over him or her in the name of Jesus Christ—the Lord. The kicker here is that James says “that the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” In other words, the weakened Christian is guaranteed deliverance from his spiritual hindrance causing his weakness. Saying that the Lord will “raise him up” implies that the sin that weakened the person has taken him down physically. Once the weak man is healed, he is “raised up.”
           
In keeping with this, note the additional phrase, “and if [the sick believer] has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” This means that a spiritual weakness can indeed overtake a Christian if they have become entrenched in sinful living. For example, if one commits adultery, he sins against the Lord Himself (Ps. 51:4) and will suffer the consequences of his sin. Worse, if he refuses to confess it and repent of his sin, he will suffer even worse, living without fellowship with God and in turmoil (Ps. 32:3-5). This is likely the kind of sin James has in mind, in addition to all that he addresses in his epistle. In short, unrepentant sin can destroy a person’s life, even a Christian. This reminds of the situation Jesus dealt with in Matthew 9:1-8 (cf. Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26) with the paralytic. When Jesus forgave the man’s sins, he was able to walk again.

The term for “forgive” (Gr. aphiēmi) means “to send away.” David wrote, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12). And once the sin that has brought on the spiritual weakness has been confessed and forgiven, it is sent away. Paul says, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Tim. 1:15; cf. Jer. 31:34).

No wonder James 5:16 concludes, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” Confession of sins to “one another” in addition to praying for “one another” results in healing. And it does not take an entire church to pray for a weak Christian. It only takes “a righteous man.” What does it mean to be “righteous” (Gr. dikaios)? In and of itself, the term means to act morally and justly. But to be a righteous man is impossible, for “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10; cf. Ps. 14:1-3). Righteousness is granted, however, by God when we trust in Christ (Rom. 3:21-31). When we do, God declares us righteous. So who is righteous but he who trusts in Jesus Christ! Such a one praying for us “can accomplish much.”

Food For Thought
There is an absurdity in believing that James is actually referring to physical illness, namely that when we fall ill, we are to first call for the elders of our church to pray over us for healing. This has been tried on too many occasions throughout the centuries, and aside from a few wonderful stories of God’s grace, the James’ guarantee is anything but. Now if James were guaranteeing the healing of physical ailments, no sick Christian would ever remain sick and would thus theoretically never die! This is of course absurd, and it is why “sick” must be translated as spiritually “weak.” In such cases, the “effective” prayer of just one righteous person—one true Christian, not two or more gathered—“can accomplish much.”
            

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James 5:14-15a …call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up…

In the context of a spiritually weak believer who is tormented by sin and-or the harsh trials of life, unable to go it alone and in need of prayer, James exhorts them to “call for the elders of the church.” Notably, it isn’t the elders who are to seek out the sick; it is the sick who are to seek out the elders “to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

What is assumed here is that the weak Christian in need of prayer is actually a part of a local church, not one who calls themselves a Christian yet who fails to attend church and has no elders who pray regularly for him or her. “He must call for” (Gr. proskalesasthō) is a Greek aorist imperative which not speaks of urgency, it means that the weak person is to do the calling, not the elders. This implies that the person in need has recognized his or her weakness, confessed and repented of sins, and is prepped and ready for the aid that only the church elders can provide.

What the elders are called to do is pray “over” a weak Christian— “over” meaning “in proximity to”—beside, next to, etc. Now since nowhere else in the NT are church elders expected and called to “pray over” a weak person, it is likely that this action is the same as laying hands on the person while they pray for them as Jesus did in Matthew 19:13. In other words, this kind of prayer is done in person, not from a distance.

While praying for the weak believer, the elders are to be “anointing” (Gr. aleiphō) him with oil. This is a participle modifying the main verb “to pray over” (Gr. proseuchomai), also an aorist imperative of urgency. Although prayer by the elders is the main verb, “anointing” is the accompanying action, being subordinate to prayer. Since the Greek term for “anoint” (aleipsantes) means to “rub with oil,” not chriō which is used for ceremonial anointing, rubbing is in view. This aleipsantes is also used for the woman who “poured” perfume on Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38, 46) and for Simon who failed to “put oil” on Jesus’ head (Luke 7:46; cf. Matt. 6:17). James thus wants the elders, after being sought by the weakened believer, to refresh their subject by literally anointing them with oil while praying over them. Oil being a common source of refreshment in Israel’s hot, dry climate, it appears that the elders’ prayer “in the Lord’s name”—the name of Jesus, was accompanied by physical anointing for refreshment (cf. Pss. 23:5; 45:7). Thus, the elders had to be present for such prayer since physical anointing requires such.

Having firmly established that prayer accompanied by doubt is sinful (1:6), it seems evident why a repentant sinner would call for the elders to pray over them in the first place, for in their weakened condition, the believer doubts! But having recognized such weakness, the believer calls for the strong (elders), and he makes a wonderful claim: the prayer of faith from the faithful elders “will restore the one who is sick” (v. 15); it will revive the weak, doubting Christian. Astoundingly James does not say, “It might restore,” or “Perhaps God will show mercy”; he says “the prayer offered in faith will restore the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Such a guarantee means that James is not talking about physical illness but spiritual weakness.

Food For Thought
Even Paul’s prayer that he prayed three times for physical healing was denied by God, for there are times when God strengthens our weaknesses by keeping us weak (cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-9). Also, in 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul had to leave his sick friend Trophimus behind in spite of the fact that he possessed the gift of healing, being an apostle. Perhaps this means that God is not as interested in our physical comforts as He is our spiritual healing and well-being.
            

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James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up…
           
James says that when Christians suffer, they must pray; when cheerful, they must praise (5:13). In v. 14 he asks, “Is anyone among you sick?” These must “call for the elders” so that they can “pray over… anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” This oft misinterpreted passage led the Roman Catholic Church in AD 852 to justify extreme unction—praying over the dead. Likewise, it has led others to believe that prayer and oil will heal all diseases. A cursory look at the text might lead to such conclusions, but a more accurate view is much-needed.
           
At the heart of the issue is the term translated “sick” (Gr. astheneō) in v. 14. This term in its verbal form, as here, is used 33 times in the NT, 19 of which refer to some kind of physical illness (Matt. 10:8; 25:36, 39; Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; John 4:46; 5:3, 7; 6:2; 11:1-3, 6; Acts 19:12; Phil. 2:26-27; 2 Tim. 4:20). But 14 times in the NT, in its verbal form, astheneō refers to spiritual weakness (Acts 20:35; Rom. 4:19; 8:3; 14:1-2; 1 Cor. 8:11-12; 2 Cor. 11:21, 29; 12:10; 13:3-4, 9); being “weak.” As a noun or adjective in the NT, the Greek term is asthenēs, used 25 times. Paul uses the term for spiritual inability (Rom. 5:6), moral depravity (Rom. 6:19), the conscience (1 Cor. 8:7, 9; cf. Rom 14:1, 2), and his own physical form (2 Cor. 10:10). James almost certainly uses the term in the context of being “spiritually weak,” not bodily ill. Why? Simply because it is not true that when elders pray over the sick, they are guaranteed wellness.
           
In v. 15, James uses another Greek term (kamnonta), also translated “sick” in the English text, referring to the same one who was sick (astheneō) in v. 14 who needs prayer—two different words in Greek to refer to the same problem and issue. In v. 15 the term is kamnonta, used only twice in the NT, here and in Hebrews 12:3 where it is translated “grow weary” in reference to Christians under intense trial and persecution.
           
Since James is not talking about physical illness but spiritual weakness, those who find themselves in a spiritually weak condition have a cure for their sickness: call the church elders to pray over them. Church elders (aka, overseers and pastors) are spiritually mature men (cf. 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) in charge of protecting and feeding Christians in the local church (cf. 1 Pet. 5:1-4). They “shepherd,” or “pastor,” Christ’s followers (Acts 20:28)—His Church. Since elders are leaders recognized for their spiritual maturity, it is natural that they, with their firm devotion to Christ, should be called on to pray for Christians who are “sick”—who are spiritually weak. It is notable that though some in the early Church indeed had the apostolic gift of healing (1 Cor. 12:9), since James was not referring to physical illnesses, he did not call for them to heal the sick; rather, he specified the elders of the Church since the issue was spiritual, not physical.

So, when referring to the “sick,” James is not talking about one who has the flu or cancer; in keeping with the context of his entire epistle, he was encouraging those who had grown weary in their sufferings, who had become weak both morally and spiritually, to confess, repent, and to assertively call for the elders of the church for prayer—those with the God-given task of helping the weak. The guarantee in v. 15 is that “the Lord will raise him up” as a result of such prayer.
 
Food For Thought
Since prayer for the physically ill will not always raise them up, James’ teaching can only be true for spiritual weakness. So although it is perfectly permissible for Christians to call their church leaders to pray over their physical ailments, the guarantee of healing in v. 15, and in James’ broader context, is not that of physical recovery but of spiritual revival.
            

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James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
           
In vv. 10-11, James encouraged Christians, telling them to consider the prophets and Job— how they suffered for preaching God’s word and remaining faithful under trial. The writer of Hebrews speaks of them saying, “…the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight…tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings… chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated… wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (Heb. 11:32-38). Now in v. 13 James asks, “Is anyone among you suffering?” James knew they were and told them to “pray.” Now he brings the audience full circle back to the “various trials” he told them to rejoice in back in 1:2.
           
The answer as to what to do when we are “suffering” (Gr. kakopatheō) is prayer: we “must pray.” Though James mentions prayer in 1:5 for wisdom, here James emphasizes prayer. Since this is the climax of his epistle, prayer at this point is the logical conclusion to his entire epistle. In fact, the present tense verb signifies continual prayer— “he must continually pray.” Paul likewise closed some of his epistles with similar admonitions (Rom. 15:30-32; Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2-4; 2 Thess. 3:1-2; cf. Heb. 13:18-19), saying, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit… alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints (Eph. 6:18). “Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ” (1 Thess. 5:17-18). Although James does not specify what the suffering is that requires prayer, the entire context of his epistle was written because his audience was in turmoil and suffering. In v. 11, James also alludes to Job’s suffering. But the truth is, prayer needs no specific reason. Christians should just pray. In fact, prayer is the natural outpouring of every genuine believer in Christ.
           
Suffering Christians tend to pray for healing of bodily ailments, restoration of economic losses, and answers for why their loved ones suffer and die. Yet James does not teach us to pray for the restoration of all that we lose. Back in 1:5, after telling his audience to rejoice in the midst of their trials, he told them to pray for wisdom. That certainly fits here as well. Therefore, one might accurately surmise that James means to tell his audience to pray for the spiritual strength necessary to endure one’s sufferings with faith, like the prophets and Job.
           
For those on the other end of the spectrum, who are not suffering but who are “cheerful” (Gr. euthumeō), literally having “good passion,” they are to “sing praises.” The word “cheerful” is used only in two other places in the NT (Acts 27:22, 25) where it means “peace of mind,” specifically Paul exhorting his fellow passengers to be of good cheer in the midst of the raging storm that was tearing their ship apart and threatening their very lives (Acts 27:33-36). Thus, being cheerful is something Paul himself encouraged in the midst of life-threatening situations (cf. Acts 16:25). James says that in the midst of those circumstances, the cheerful are to “sing songs of praises.” This is one word in Greek—psallō, from which “psalm” derives. The tense of the verb implies ongoing songs of praise to God (Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19). James' point is that when a Christian is cheerful, for whatever reason, the fruit of their joy is to be turned towards Christ. Always.

Food For Thought
James is consistent about how we are to handle every situation we face. Our joy can manifest itself in songs of praise while we suffer. And since songs of praise address God, prayer is practiced whether we pray with a cheerful heart or a weary soul. Remember, we are to “be patient… until the coming of the Lord… strengthen [our] hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain… against one another” (James 5:7-9). Let us do this with joy! It is, after all, our lot on this side of eternity to suffer at some level. May we be faithful in the midst of it.
            

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James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
           
Though it seems odd that James would bring up swearing in v. 12, profane language is not what he has in mind. What is in his mind is man’s feeble attempt to assert authority and control over the future by swearing a flippant oath of some kind. Perhaps given the situation James’ audience was in, he cautions them not to presumptuously swear that if they were ever to get out of their trial, they will never allow themselves to be such victims again. After all, presumptuous living is not Christian (cf. 4:13-17). So if it is wrong for a Christian to live arrogantly, ignoring God, then certainly taking oaths in the name of God regarding the future, as if anyone could guarantee the future with an oath, is also not Christian. Both are tests of genuine faith.
           
Addressing flippant oaths in Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus rebuked those who swore by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or their own head. What both Jesus and James are saying therefore is that since humans cannot control anything, swearing an oath about the future is absurd! It is no wonder then that James prefaces v. 12 with “above all,” for although complaining against fellow believers is wrong (5:9), what is actually worse is a feeble human being in the midst of his sufferings attempting to assume God’s rightful authority and swear an oath about the future.
           
To ignore James’ counsel is to “fall under judgment.” He says, “your ‘yes’ is to be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’, ‘no.’ ” Likewise Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, said, “Let your statement be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one” (Matt. 5:37). Since swearing oaths about the future is for God alone, it is a devilish action to attempt to assume what only God can do. Therefore, when a Christian slanders (4:11) or takes an oath (5:12), falsely assuming he can control the future, he is like the devil (Gr. diabolos)—he whose name means “slanderer.”

Not all oaths, however, are sins. God actually gave provisions for His people to take oaths, yet He cautioned them, saying, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God…” (Lev. 19:12). God also ordained oaths between neighbors (Ex. 22:10-11). In order to guarantee his word, Abraham took an oath (Gen. 21:25-31; cf. 24:2-4), as did Isaac (26:26-31). Rahab made the two spies swear by an oath (Josh. 2:12-20). In Numbers 5:19-22 an oath was required of a woman suspected of marital infidelity. Also, in Numbers 6 the Nazirite vow is introduced. Further, the Israelites who followed Joshua swore an oath to God (Josh. 6:26; cf. 2 Chron. 15:14; Ezra 10:5; Neh. 10:28-30). David himself swore oaths with Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:12-17; 2 Sam. 21:7), Saul (1 Sam. 24:21-22), Shimei (2 Sam. 19:23), and God (2 Sam. 3:35).

In the NT, Paul fulfilled a vow to God (Acts 18:18), later taking an oath of accuracy when he told the Corinthians, “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying” (2 Cor. 11:31; cf. 1:23; Rom. 9:1). Even one of the angels of the Revelation swore an oath to God (Rev. 10:5-6). These kinds of oaths are only sinful when they are used to deceive or when they were taken frivolously—the kind that Jesus accused the Pharisees of taking, swearing by less sacred things like the gold of the temple rather than the temple itself or by the altar instead of the offering upon the altar (Matt. 23:16-21). When Jesus said, “Make no oath at all” (Matt. 5:34), this is what He was referring to. For when one takes God’s name in a flippant oath, he takes the Lord’s name in vain and breaks the commandment (Ex. 20:7).

So, since oaths invoke God’s holy name (Deut. 6:13), they are not to be taken lightly: “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (Num. 30:2; cf. Ps. 15:1-4; Eccl. 5:4-5). Examples of rash vows in the Bible include Joshua (Josh. 9:3-15), Jephthah (Jdgs. 11:30-36), Saul (1 Sam. 14:24), and Herod Antipas (Matt. 14:7-9).

Food For Thought
Since James has in mind the kinds of oaths that guarantee the uncontrollable future, he is not forbidding Christians to takes oaths in a court of law or to swear allegiance to their spouse during their wedding nuptials. After all, oaths can be taken to bolster the truth of our words (cf. Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:23; 11:11; Gal. 1:20; Phil. 1:8; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10). So when we do take a legitimate oath, we must follow through on our oath. The forbidden oaths James and Jesus speak of reveal another test of true saving faith, for those who swear falsely are not true believers.
            

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James 5:10-11 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
           
Returning to the topic of patience in the midst of persecution, turmoil, or other difficulties (vv. 7-8), James uses the OT prophets as examples of godly men who endured under trial. Though James does not use any specific examples, we might recall that the prophet Amos was sent by God from Judah in the south to preach to the rich in Israel in the north who were oppressing their fellow Israelites. How did Amos fare? Israel’s leaders slandered and expunged him! Likewise, Jeremiah suffered for simply speaking the words of God. Not only did the Jews despise his prophecies, at least three of the Judean kings (Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah) also rejected him and treated him harshly. Also Isaiah, who was believed to have been sawn in two for his faithfulness (cf. Heb. 11:37). Why were they persecuted so harshly? Simply because they “spoke in the name of the Lord.” So by obeying God and doing His will, these prophets serve as an “example” (Gr. hupodeigma) of how righteous behavior often results in suffering.
           
Though James uses “patience” in v. 10 to describe the prophets and “endurance” in v. 11 to describe Job, the two words are synonymous. Job’s endurance is akin to the prophets’ patience because Job’s faith was unmoved during his nightmarish ordeal. Yes, Job spoke self-righteously, complained about his physical state, and demanded an audience with God so he could argue his case, namely that he was suffering unjustly. But in spite of this, he never abandoned his faith. Even though he was confused as to why God would allow him to suffer so greatly, he relied upon God to sustain him and never lost confidence in Him (1:21; 2:10; 16:19-21; 19:25-27).
           
James speaks of “the outcome (Gr. telos) of the Lord’s dealings” with Job—the “purpose” of those sufferings in v. 11. That purpose was for both the refinement of Job’s character and for an example for all who read his account that God is faithful in the midst of our trials. Since Job learned this and saw God for who He truly is (Job 42:5-6), it is clear that God’s purpose was accomplished through Job’s sufferings. So now Job’s account is an ideal example for Christians. God gives His people trials for His own ends—His glory and our gain. In fact, the overall message of the book of Job is that God’s mercies are abundant for those who endure to the end. It is no wonder then that James ends this by saying, “the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” In no way is James teaching that all trials end like Job’s. Yet faithful behavior in the midst of our trials is the avenue through which God blesses His people.

Food For Thought
            Those OT prophets and Job who endured until death are considered heroes to us Christians. James says they are counted as “blessed” (Gr. makarizō). This word is not necessarily parallel to “happy,” although they are close in meaning. Being happy is normally connected to one’s emotional state; being “blessed” concerns the objective state of one’s relationship to God. This is why Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12). Those who are persecuted, therefore, are blessed because their relationship with God is unchanged whether their circumstances cause them to be happy or sad. This fits with James’ previous statement, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (1:12).
            

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James 5:9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
           
In vv. 7-8 James exhorts his audience to be patient in light of the certainty of Christ’s imminent return. Their patience was needed in light of the fact that many things were upsetting them. Keeping in mind that these Christians had been scattered in the persecution of Christianity in first century Jerusalem (1:1-4), James knew they were suffering outside of their homes. They were also dealing with unruly and unbelieving people in their midst, from the prejudiced (2:1-13) to those unable to tame their tongues (3:1-12) to the stingy rich (5:1-6). Being in such ongoing stressful situations, people have been known to turn against one another—from spouses to parents to children to fellow believers to pastors. This may be the context for which James writes, “Do not complain, brethren, against one another…” (5:9). Literally, James says “Stop speaking against one another brethren,” for their sin was already present and spreading.

James used similar language in 4:11-12, telling his audience to “stop speaking against one another,” but that context concerned judging fellow believers. In 5:9, then, James addresses those who “complain” (Gr. stenazō). This idea fits a persistent topic in James’ letter about sinful speech (cf. 1:27; 3:1-12; 4:11-12). Paul dealt with this problem as well in other churches, telling the Ephesians, “I…implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:1-3). This is never easy for people whether they are suffering oppression or simply dealing with difficult people. In spite of this, James is clear that complaining against fellow believers was unacceptable.

Lest anyone take James’ words with a grain of salt, it is clear that harsh judgment awaits those who persist in wrongful judging or complaining against fellow believers (cf. 4:11-12). Jesus said as much, admonishing His hearers, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Matt. 7:1). So, both Jesus and James warn of judgment for those who wrongfully judge. In fact, James says, “the Judge is standing right at the door.” Who is that Judge? Having just written that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge (4:12), clearly he is speaking of God. Noting also the references to the parousia (i.e., Christ’s coming) in vv. 7-8 where Jesus, “the Lord,” is the Judge, it is clear in James’ mind that Jesus is God, “the Lord.” This too is consistent with Jesus’ own teachings, for He warned that “when you see all these things [i.e., the signs of His coming], recognize that He is near [i.e., the parousia], right at the door” (Matt. 24:33; cf. Rev. 3:20).

In vv. 7-8 James speaks of Christ’s return as the ultimate day for Christians to look ahead to in order to be relieved of their sufferings on earth. Unbelievers will be judged, and Christians will be with the Lord continually. But in v. 9, there is a shift of thought. Christians themselves must consider their own ways and get right with the Judge before He returns, for the parousia will be a time where Christians are summoned to account for their own lives (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). Peter Davids, says, “The nearness of the eschatological day is not just an impetus to look forward to the judgment of ‘sinners’… it is also a warning to examine one’s behavior so that when the one whose footsteps are nearing finally knocks on the door, one may be prepared to open… either for blessing or for judgment. The coming Lord is also the judge of the Christian.”

Food For Thought
            It is far too easy to complain against our fellow Christians. But we must cease from it! Though we are saved by Christ’s blood, He will still judge us for how we act toward one another. Let us thus see each other as God’s children, and let us love one another and stop complaining.
            

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