Summary:
The believers in Corinth have accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, but they struggle to let go of their intellectual control. Paul explains the vast chasm between God’s wisdom and man’s wisdom and how foolish their “decisions” to follow certain missionaries are in the face of Christ’s decision to save us by suffering death on the cross. He explains the foolishness and weakness of man and how upside down we are.
Questions:
3. a. Paul was confident they had been sanctified, they called on the name of Jesus, they had received Christ and God’s grace, they had been enriched in every way, they did not lack any spiritual gift, they eagerly awaited Christ’s return.
b. Division in the church – arguments and following different missionaries.
c. Simply put – the answer is to follow only Christ, not any man. Only Jesus was God’s son, died and was resurrected. Only faith in Jesus delivers the gift of the Holy Spirt so that we live by the spirit (note, the reference should be Galatians 5:22–26: gifts of the spirit.)
4. a. Human wisdom involves observing the current state of an object, creating a theory for how it got to that state and then, based on the theory, projecting a belief on how it will change or stay the same in the future. God created the object, created the laws that govern it and put it into motion watching it continually and guiding its path.
b. God give His wisdom to His people through His Spirit.
c. Paul did not speak with his own wisdom or persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power – the Holy Spirit gave him the words to speak and the message was always the same, Christ died, He is risen, He will come again
5. a. Many of the divisions in the church come from minor disagreements over emphasis of tradition or scriptural interpretation where theory, not specific words, are the difference and which do not pertain to the core message and/or the spirit. However, we also must be diligent that our churches remain true to the word of God and do not preach a watered down version. God’s truth cannot be sacrificed at the altar of coexistance.
b. All of scripture is focused on a single point – Jesus and His act of saving mankind from sin. If we focus on the same point and live a life filled with fruits of the spirit and empowered by the spirit, then we live avoid the traps and pitfalls of men and enjoy the grace of and eternal life with God.
Conclusion:
How little changes in a couple thousand years. Living as a soul with a body rather than the other way around is in such stark contrast to all the world sees and professes that we keep trying to put things in line with the other way of thinking. But this is wrong. It is foolishness and short-sightedness. It also causes us to miss out on fully living in the spirit and enjoying the power and love that brings.
The Notes are Good 