1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are fellow laborers together with God, we are His building, according to His grace. The foundation, revealed to the Apostle Paul by the Lord Jesus, laid out God’s plan of salvation for all of humanity. Only by faith in Jesus Christ, the foundation, do we live and abide in God.
We are refined in the fire of His truth. What we do as believers to make this knowledge available to those we come into contact with honors God. The Father offers this unmerited and undeserved salvation to all who accept Jesus. Our sins are covered under His shed blood.
1 Corinthians 1:7-9 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are blameless in God’s sight. He sees His only begotten Son in us and His sinless live that He shed for us. We now labor with God to reveal the truth of Jesus to others. Our good works done in our love for Him show others His love for them. His invitation is for all to accept His Son for salvation. Our love for Him and for others is the gold that builds the foundation of eternity in Christ Jesus. In order to receive we need to believe that He is and that God is a rewarder of those who trust in Him.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
The Spirit of God resides in us and He will get us safely home. We are never left alone or forsaken in our faith in His Son. Carla
With fire symbolizes testing and judgment. This judgment does not refer to a person’s salvation, but to the quality of work done by those who labor on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Fire consumes combustible and worthless materials such as wood, grass, and straw (1 Corinthians 3:12). Though “fire” may purify or refine the quality of something, in this context it tests and exposes the quality of the builder’s materials. A builder only received payment upon the completion of a project. Although Paul does not specify the reward here, it may include greater responsibility (Matthew 25:21), praise from God (1 Corinthians 4:5), and the satisfaction of having one’s work endure testing by fire.
He will suffer lose Implies that the builders (leaders or teachers) will not receive payment because their work was consumed. These builders didn’t use sound instruction. Instead, they used their own wisdom, which resulted in the weakening of believers rather than their strengthening and growth. While these teachers will survive “as through fire” the superstructure they built—their teaching in the Corinthian church—will not. The nature of this fire is evaluative, not punitive. Faithlife Study Bible
Paul had established the church at Corinth on the foundation of Christ.: These building materials, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, refer to the quality of work done by the Corinthians, and possibly also to their motivations or the kinds of doctrines they taught.
The Day speaks of the time when Christ will judge the merits of His servants’ work (2 Corinthians 5:10), not whether they receive forgiveness of sin. Likewise, fire does not refer to the “eternal fire” of damnation (Revelations 20:10) but to the evaluation of believers’ works (Revelations 2:18, 19; 3:18; 22:12). Fire proves the quality of gold, but it consumes wood, hay, and stubble. Some “good work” is actually self-centered aggrandizement. The true value of such “service” will become obvious to all in the day of God’s judgment (Revelations 3:17, 18). The NKJV Study Bible
1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…
Jude 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
1 Corinthians 3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor
Faithfulness—meaning, I choose to put skin in the game. Because this moment matters, and this gift of faithfulness is grounded in the assurance that we are on this journey together.
Mother Teresa’s reminder, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
So, this week we can reaffirm the Irish proverb, “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” Meaning that presence and attention is our currency. Why? Because real life happens in the present, and in the Presence.
In other words, there is no need to keep score.
Grace walks into our lives like this. It doesn’t always come in big ways or obvious miracles. Sometimes it’s just someone acknowledging our pain. It isn’t always a complete removal “from the pit”. Sometimes it’s just someone coming into the pit and spending some time with us or seeing that we need some sort of help and getting it without us asking. And sometimes, we get to be that someone, who makes space for presence, and sanctuary and healing.
Gratefully, no one of us is on this journey alone.
Here’s the deal: Where there is a place to be seen, to be heard, to be valued, sanctuary is real, and healing happens.
Healing happens when we allow ourselves to receive love, compassion and kindness without suspicion.
Healing happens when we are free to embrace an extraordinary core of strength and courage that resides inside of us… and without even realizing it, let it spill to those around us.
St. Bartholomew’s reminder is apropos, “Many of us spend our whole lives running from feelings with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are, beyond the pain.” Sabbath Moments
No comments:
Post a Comment