Guess who's back! Sorry about yesterday...crazy week.
14:1-3 - I think we shy away from the word prophecy because is sounds so presumptuous...if we seek to be able to prophecy, does that mean that we expect that God will show us the future. That isn't the kind of prophecy that Paul holds up here in this passage. Even the OT prophets spent most of their time dealing with their present time and present people. Prophets call people back to God and there is definitely a need and a call for that in our churches. Paul describes prophecy as building up, encouraging, consoling...all necessary things within a church. I can see why Paul is calling for the Corinthians to be prophets. Maybe we need to look at ourselves more like prophets - building people up around us and calling people back to God.
14 - Well, I hope you all know where to go from now if anybody wants to have a discussion about the pros and cons of speaking in tongues. Churches that expect people who have God's Spirit to speak in tongues every week...probably don't spend too much time in I Corinthians 14. The tongues are not for the believers...they are miraculous events for unbelievers. Believers should be speaking their own language and calling one another back to God.
14:34ff - Again, I will not pansy here. I believe that Paul writes this because he has been talking about interpretation...interpretation of tongues and prophecy...and in this time period (Not by any stretch of the imagination saying this is good) women were largely uneducated. They did not go to the Torah schools...they did not learn the scriptures like the men did, so there was a gap in their ability to interpret some of the deeper theological things. Not that they were not intelligent enough, but that this society had stunted their theological growth. I believe that Paul is telling these women in this time to be quiet because they were bogging the discussions down with immature questions...so he instructs them to ask their questions to their husbands when they get home instead of holding the entire congregation back. I DO NOT believe that we can use this scripture today as a means of holding women down in church...that does not ring true with the life of Jesus Christ who constantly treated women with more respect than anyone in the Jewish world was giving them. I said my piece...do with it what you will.
15:34 - Awesome! Wake up from the drunken stupor of your lame worldly driven zombie life - stop sinning and tell people about the incredible, life-changing way of Jesus Christ. In your face!
15:49 - Great imagery. We are caught in this titanic struggle between the image of dust and death brought by Adam and the image of light and life brought by Christ. We are sinful and holy at the same time. Earth and heaven rolled up into one.
3 comments:
chp14
Duel translations here (not dueling) – verse 4:
NIV - He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
Msg - The one who prays using a private "prayer language" certainly gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God's truth to the church in its common language brings the whole church into growth and strength.
Back to basics – this is not about you or me and what we can do. This is about the Father, His Son, and the Spirit – one God – and all of His creations giving praise to Him, learning and telling others about Him – i.e. bringing “the whole church into growth and strength.”
If you can pray or say things in a language that only you and God can understand – outstanding. But getting God’s truth, His Word, out there to everyone, in language they can understand – even better.
May the Spirit enable us to speak words that are God’s wisdom so that more may come to Jesus and find what they are looking for in God’s only Son.
j
Post 2 – Electric Boogaloo
Chp15
Here is a partial verse for all of us from the Msg – (10) But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. NIV says it very well – “But by the grace of God I am what I am”
By God’s grace, His generosity, we are here in this life exactly where we are for a purpose – His purpose. Don’t let that purpose pass us by – take hold of it, treasure it, use what God has given.
NIV – (19) If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
If we only have our hope in Jesus for this life, we are a sorry bunch. There is so much more waiting for us – more than we can imagine – I quote Han Solo – “I don’t know – I can imagine quite a bit!” Think more – and you’re still not there.
Love this part of vs 34 in the Msg - Awaken to the holiness of life. Sometimes I feel like I am on autopilot – going through the motions. But each day is a gift – that’s why they call it the present. I pray that I am awake for my gift so I don’t miss chances to share God’s love and what Christ has done for me.
peace
j
Paul discusses the differences between speaking in tongues and prophesying in one's own language. Neither is bad, but by keeping our focus correct, one stands out above the other. Paul simply says, "do the one that makes the most sense. It's the logical thing to do." I love that faith in Jesus makes sense. There are times when we are asked to take a leap of faith, but the only reason it's a leap of faith is because of our inability to see the end result. But all in all, Jesus has always been about being logical, even in the debate of speaking in tongues.
I love 15.10: But by the grace of God, I am what I am...
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