1 Corinthians Lesson 5
First Corinthians
Lesson 5 -Chapter 9-10
By Cindy Ketron
On The Edge of Eternity
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Chapter 8 deals with the fact that there are limitations to our Christian liberty. While we may have the liberty to do what we want, we should always limit ourselves for the good of the other person. Chapter 9 continues to discuss Christian liberty except in another area.
Read 1 Cor. 9:1-4. Did Paul have to defend his apostleship?
“Am I not an apostle?”.................Yes, Paul, you are indeed an apostle.
“Am I not free?”....................Yes, Paul, you are indeed free. Remember that this part of the world was divided between free men and slaves. Paul was a free man, but he was also free in that he had liberty in Christ Jesus.
“Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?”..............Yes, Paul, you did see Him on the road to Damascus. One of the marks of apostleship is that you had to have seen and been with Jesus Christ.
“Are you not my work in the Lord?”.............Yes, Paul, we are your work in the Lord. Any true apostle will have shared the gospel and when others become saved, a true apostle would disciple them. The church at Corinth was proof that Paul had worked on behalf of the Lord to bring them to an understanding of Scripture.
There is always going to be evidence either for or against our claim that we are believers. If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Unfortunately, because of all the political correctness of our day, non-Christians assume that being a Christian means being nice and accepting of other people and whatever they’re doing in life. And because we’re aware that the culture in which we live believes this, too many of us are silenced because we don’t want to offend anyone by sharing the real gospel. So, if we’re ever arrested and convicted of being a Christian, I pray that there’s enough evidence to convict us. There was an abundance of proof to convict Paul of being a Christian.
Paul didn’t need to defend his apostleship, but he did. The Greek word for apostle means “one who is called out.” This is a pretty generic definition and as such, it is used in one of two ways in the New Testament. An apostle could be a reference to the 12 apostles or it could be a reference to those who are sent out as ambassadors of Christ. The12 men who were apostles held a very important place in the heart of Christ.
2. When we get to the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21:14, what kind of prestigious reference is made to these 12 men?
We have discussed in our class before that when Judas betrayed Christ and subsequently hung himself that the disciples/apostles chose another man to join them by the casting of lots. That man was Matthias. I’m not at all sure that this was God's will as there is no evidence that God was consulted prior to the disciples choosing to add another person to the group. I wonder if the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem will not have Matthias’s name, but instead Paul’s.
3. So, why would the 12 apostles be on the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem? What does Eph. 2:20 tells us. What does it say?
The type of apostle that we see with the 12 in the Bible are no longer at work today. They built the Church. And because it is built, there is no longer a need for that kind of apostle. Sure, there are those who are sent out like missionaries and preachers, but there are no longer any who are even remotely like the New Testament apostles.
4. Look up the following verses and see what information you can glean about the qualifications of an apostle:
1 Cor. 9:1 -
Acts 9:15 -
Acts 2:43 -
2 Cor. 12:12 -
In some denominations today, I hear the term “apostle” used of another individual in the church. And often, I hear these folks claim the same apostleship as the apostles of the Bible. Friends, this is a dangerous thing because that authority has not been given to another person outside of these 12. What does 2 Cor. 11:13 warn about this? The church at Corinth did not demand that Paul prove his apostleship. They believed him and followed his teachings.
5. What is Paul alluding to in 1 Cor. 9:4?
If we look back just 1 chapter, we will find that liberty as a believer was explained thoroughly regarding food and drink. Paul exercised his freedom in Christ to make certain choices.
6. What did he base those choices on in 1 Cor. 8:13?
7. Who are the brothers of the Lord referred to in 1 Cor. 9:5?
Jesus had 2 brothers in “the family business”, James and Jude. Both of these fellas were married. We also know that Peter (Cephas) was married. When they traveled around on their preaching and teaching ministry, they often took their wives and family members with them. What Paul is explaining to this church is that if he wanted to get married and bring a wife along on his ministry journey with him, then he could, but he had chosen not to do so. Can you imagine following around a husband who was frequently beaten, stoned, imprisoned, starved, etc.? I cannot! That would have been a horribly difficult kind of life to have and think about it, if Paul had chosen to remarry, then he would have had to worry about his wife the entire time. He didn’t want his loyalties to be divided as we discussed in last week’s lesson. And although he didn’t condemn marriage, he elevated it, but also believed that he was given the gift of singleness.
Read 1 Cor. 9:6-9. Paul says in v. 6 here that he and Barnabas didn’t have to go out and be missionaries.
8. They chose to do this. If they had chosen not to go, would that have affected their salvation?
Verse 9 above is an interesting verse and it was taken from Deut. 25:4. “Don’t muzzle the ox when it is treading out the corn.”
God had forbidden the Jewish people from muzzling an ox while the ox was working. If the ox had been muzzled, then he would not have been able to eat while working and if you know anything about an ox in those days, they were hard-working animals. God cared enough about the animals so that He would not allow them to work and not to eat. As the ox walked around the circle, there would have been a horizontal wheel that separated the grain from the chaff.
God loves us so much more than He loved the ox. But the ox treading wheat served as the guiding principle here. Now, go back up to 1 Cor. 9:7.
9. If the principle is: Don’t work the ox without giving him food to eat while he is working, then, how does this apply to the man who plants the vineyard and the one who feeds the flock? How does this apply to those who work in the area of ministry, those who may be feeding us spiritual food?
If the ox and the person who plants a vineyard and the person who feeds the flock deserve to be fed, Paul is saying that he also deserves to be fed because he has fed them spiritually.
10. Read 1 Cor. 9:10-11. What does Paul feel that the ones who have preached and taught them biblically should gain from their Christian service?
Paul says this in a different way in Gal. 6:6. How does he explain it here? My favorite store in the whole wide world is Home Goods. Those commercials that talk about being Home Goods happy when you shop there apparently had some inside knowledge of how excited I get when I go into that store. But what if I shopped and found a whole buggy full of decor and instead of checking out at the Home Goods counter, I walk across the street and pay another shop for the things in my buggy at Home Goods? That would be nuts! If you get your spiritual food and blessings in one place, don’t go down the road and give your offering to someone else!
11.Read 1 Cor. 9:12-15. Paul is saying here that he could use this principle to demand that the church pay him. But did he insist on being paid for his work? Why or why not?
He continues to follow through with saying that if a preacher has been a blessing to the church, then the church ought to pay him. Some churches starve their pastors and some pastors can barely put a roof over the head of their family and food on their table with the meager salaries they are paid. Contrast this with those preachers who take far too much from the people they preach to.
The home above belongs to preacher (I use that term loosely) Jesse Duplantis. He owns 4 private jets and is worth $20,000,000. His home is 40,000 square feet! I’m not sure who needs a home that big except possibly the king of England and he only needs a big house to have state dinners.
Apparently, religion sells! It is big business for some of these folks! They aren’t feeding their flocks. They’re fleecing their flocks.
The home above belongs to pastor (and I use that term loosely) Steven Furtick. He is worth $55,000,000. But perhaps the greatest scheme artist in the U.S. is Kenneth Copeland. I couldn’t even get his whole house in a picture because it is so enormous! He is worth $300,000,000! I think the Apostle Paul would roll over in his grave if he saw this kind of thing. These tv evangelists are truly living in their heaven right now. These men and women getting rich from selling a false gospel, a prosperity gospel will one day answer to God for the way they have manipulated people and twisted Scripture in order to get rich. Paul wanted to set the standard for churches taking care of their pastors. And with this standard, he could have insisted on a salary from the Corinthian church, but he didn’t. Instead, he was a bi-vocational pastor who preached and taught and discipled and on the side, he made and sold tents. He had a hard, hard life. The temple priests in Jerusalem always got to eat some of the food that was offered. Jesus had some specific instructions for the disciples in Matthew 10:5-10 regarding being sent out.
12.What were those instructions?
The principle laid out is “The worker is worthy of his wage.” This is the principle that Paul reiterated in 1 Cor. 9:14.
So, if you are attending a church and being taught by your pastor, give to your church so that your pastor can continue to do what he’s doing.
13. Why do you think Paul chose to forgo accepting a salary from the church at Corinth? Read 1 Cor. 9:16-19. Why did Paul preach the gospel?
When we get to the book of 2 Corinthians, we find that other churches in other cities did send Paul money so that he could minister to the church at Corinth, but he didn’t take anything from the Corinthian church.
Have you ever done anything because you had a compulsion to do it? In other words, you could never not do it. I want you to think about your relationship with your children. Why did you love them and care for them? Why did you nurture them when they were sick? Why did you fight for them when they were wronged? My answer is that there was no way I could not do that. I was driven by my love for my children to take care of them and to put them before myself as I was raising them. I think Paul was saying something like this. He had to preach the gospel because he loved the Lord so much, it was a driving force in his life. Oh, that we would all love the Lord like he did.
The first century Roman world was full of free men and slaves. Paul was a free man in the physical sense, but he was also a free man in the spiritual sense. It was Paul’s choice to subject himself as a servant to serve the Lord. We all have the freedom to make ourselves a servant of Christ.
14. Read 1 Cor. 9:20-23 and answer how Paul responded to the following groups of people.
To the Jews -
To the Gentiles -
To the weak -
15. Read 1 Cor. 9:24-27. In a regular race, how many winners can there be? In a spiritual race, how many winners can there be?
16. What do we all get for running this spiritual race?
As we grow towards spiritual maturity, each person’s race is very personal. Mine is not going to look like yours and yours is not going to look like mine. We really get ourselves messed up when we compare our spiritual journey with another’s. Each of the apostles had a different journey from the others.
17. Read John 21:15-19. Why did Jesus ask Peter 3x if he loved Him? What was Jesus’s reason in telling Peter that when he got old, he would go somewhere he did not want to go?
If we knew what life had in store for us, it would likely scare the begeebees out of us! If I had known 33 years ago as I was nursing that little baby at my breast that one day, he would have brain cancer, I’m not sure I could have stood it. And while Jesus didn’t give Peter a whole lot of details, He did let him know that on this earth, things would not end well for him.
18. Hebrews 12 has a lot to say about the spiritual race we run. In Heb. 12:1-3, how are we supposed to run the race? Are we supposed to sprint to the finish line as fast as we can?
This race is not a sprint, it’s a long-distance journey. I heard once that those who start strong often finish wrong. Races in those days were often run naked. I can’t imagine that kind of thing now, but it does make sense when we are told to cast off the things that bog us down so that we will not be encumbered in our race. My Colton was a runner in middle school and high school. He would often run against 1 school and in tournaments, he would run against several schools at the same time. It was a competition. Our spiritual race is not a competition. We shouldn’t be looking at how others are running their race and comparing ours to theirs.
19. At the end of the Apostle Paul’s life, what did he say in 2 Tim. 4:7?
There was nobody else mentioned in running Paul’s race with him. The only thing that our races have in common is that we are each encouraged to complete the race that God has laid out for each of us. 1 Cor. 9:26 basically says that he is not pretending to run and he’s not just shadow boxing. This race is real!
Is Paul saying in v. 27 that you have to work to be qualified or to earn salvation? It may appear that he is saying this. However, he is not. But what he is saying is that if you want to receive a reward in heaven, then you must put in the work here on earth. No work, no reward. No work does not mean that you won’t go to heaven. It just means that once you get there, a reward will not be waiting for you.
As we move into chapter 10, Paul examines the mistakes that the children of Israel made when they were in the wilderness. Go ahead and read 1 Cor. 10:1-13. He opens up by telling them that he didn’t want them to be ignorant. That is a nice way of telling them that he knows they are ignorant. That’s why he’s telling them what he’s telling them.
Today, if we know of or meet a Christian Jewish individual (sometimes referred to as a Messianic Jew or a Completed Jew) it seems highly irregular to us. We just don’t see a whole lot of them. It is nothing unusual for us to meet another Gentile believer like ourselves. It was the opposite in Paul’s day. The Jews were the first Christians and for them, it seemed strange to have Gentile believers. The Corinthian church was made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. When Paul said, “all our fathers”, he was speaking of the Jewish believers.
20. The terminology used “baptized unto Moses” is a strange one. When you think about baptism, what comes to mind?
Regardless of what denomination you come from, baptism always has an element of water attached to it. But in the New Testament, there are 20 meanings to the word baptize. In general, the word means “to identify.” Do you really think that those individuals wandering in the wilderness actually got baptized?
It is highly unlikely that they were baptized because baptism of any kind was not something that was done yet at that point in history. Trust me, they didn’t get baptized when they went through the Red Sea! In fact, they didn’t get wet at all!
21. What does Hebrews 11:29 say about who did get wet?
22. Whose faith was this? To answer this, look at Exodus 14:10-12.
Obviously, the people were completely absent of faith. They hadn’t gotten but a few miles down the road and they were already badmouthing Moses and God. Therefore, this verse in 1 Cor. could not be referring to the faith of the people. It had to be the faith of Moses. If the people were baptized unto Moses, then they identified with Moses, they didn’t receive a water baptism or a baptism of the Holy Spirit. We know that they were led out of Egypt with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When they finally get through with their grumbling and make it to the other side of the Red Sea, they sing a song. It is called the song of Moses and Israel in Exodus 15.
23. Read Ex. 15:1-18. Who do you think Ex. 15:16 is talking about?
24. What place do you think is being spoken of in vs. 17-18?
We cannot escape the fact that this is an early Scriptural reference to Jesus Christ and His rule and reign in Jerusalem during the Millennial period of time which is to come following the end of the tribulation. So let’s put together the first 5 verses in 1 Corinthians 10 with the contextual information found in Exodus 14-15. Just as Moses went down into the sea and emerged on the other side, so our Lord went down to the grave and came out on the other side. This is a picture of our salvation and baptism is the way in which we identify with Christ. When we come to faith in Christ, we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
All those who were in the wilderness ate the same food (manna) and “they drank from the same spiritual rock which followed them and that rock was Christ.” And even with all of this, God was not well-pleased with most of them.
25. What is the reason that Paul gives for why this was even recorded in holy Scripture? (1 Cor. 10:6)
How much of the Bible is for an example to us? ALL OF IT! Remember, Paul is talking about liberty here and he is making a connection between the liberty that we have as believers and the abuse that we can make of that liberty. The children of Israel had great liberty, but they abused that liberty. 1 Cor. 10:6 says that they “lusted” after evil things.
26. What were these things? Look at Numbers 11:4-6 and list the things they lusted for.
27. Is there anything inherently evil in any food? (We studied this in Chapter 8 last week)
It wasn’t that the food was evil, it was that they desired something that was outside of the will of God for them. Do you ever desire something that is outside of God’s will for you? Do you ever have the wrong motivations and actions for seeking your own will? I think at one point or other, we all have been guilty of this. Eve wanted something that was outside of God’s will for her. There was nothing evil about that fruit that she ate. Her desire to have something that was forbidden by God is what made this act an evil act.
28. Read 1 Cor. 10:7-12. Verse 7 here is alluding to something back in Exodus 32:1-6. What was going on in these verses?
29. 1 Cor. 10:8 is a direct reference to Numbers 25:1-9. There is a slight difference between these 2 citations. What is it?
There’s a lot of theological speculation on the discrepancy between the numbers in Numbers 25 and the one quoted by Paul in 1 Cor. 10. I don’t have a concrete answer for the discrepancy, but I do have a thought on what possibly could be the reason. Moses had the judges of Israel slaughter the leaders who participated in the idolatry. A plague killed the rest of them. It is highly possible that the 1000 difference could have been the leaders who were slaughtered while 23,000 were slaughtered by God. Paul is cautioning the church at Corinth to refrain from the joining of worship to other gods and all the immorality that goes with it. This church was surrounded on all sides by those who worshipped other gods and by temples to these gods. 1 Cor. 10:9 is a direct reference to Numbers 21:6-9.
30. What did Moses do at God’s instruction for the people to do if they wanted to live from the snake bite?
The people in Numbers 21 realized their sin of speaking out against God and they pleaded with Moses to inquire of God for saving their lives. The very dangerous thing that we need to realize is that if God chooses to rescue us from a particular sin we’re involved in, we have to first recognize that we actually have sinned and we have to ask the Lord to rescue us from that sin. Salvation is God’s way of rescuing us from the penalty of sin. But salvation does not rescue us from the presence of sin in our lives. We must daily take up our cross and follow Him to live a life that is consecrated to God.
1 Cor. 10:10 speaks of grumbling. Here is my analogy of grumbling:
Grumbling = lack of gratitude, contentment and faith
Do you know any Debbie Downers? They are hard to be around because they are always whining! I can’t stand to be around whiners. That’s why sometimes I can’t stand myself! We are all guilty at some point or other. 1 Cor. 10:11-12 gives us the reason that Paul gave these instructions to the church at Corinth.
31. What was that reason?
If we are not operating out of the will of God for our lives, then we are quenching the Holy Spirit who has been deposited into our temple (body). We should all be mindful of this and seek to live out His will for us.
1 Cor. 10:13 is a very popular verse. This verse is taken out of context so often as people say, “God will not put more on us that we can bear.” If this were actually true, then there would be no suicide amongst believers and there would be no deep depression regarding things that make us sad and cause us to not be able to cope with life. What people should be saying is, “God will never put more on us than we can bear with His help?” But even that is not an explanation of this verse. When people say that God will not put more on us than we can bear, they are talking about suffering. This verse is not talking about suffering. We often have no choice in our suffering. It is talking about temptation.
Temptation has to do with our choices. The context of this verse is that Paul was reminding the church at Corinth about the children of Israel in Moses’ day. Although they were exposed to miracle after miracle after miracle, they still habitually sinned. Paul didn’t want them to repeat history. Verse 13 was a warning for them. Simply being tempted isn’t a sin. Giving into temptation is. The last part of this verse gives us the full context of it. God has allowed me to suffer beyond what I thought I was capable of. It’s called life! So, let’s not confuse suffering and temptation.
32. They are 2 totally different things. Does God tempt us?
Tempting someone means that they are enticed to sin. God does not do this. Does God test us?
In both the Old and New Testament, the word translated “test” means to “prove by trial.” Does God need to test us to know if our faith is real or not? If you reason that God knows everything (and He does) then He would have no need for anything. The test is for us to know if our faith is real or not. Job was tested by Satan, but God allowed it. Abraham was tested to see if he was willing to offer his son, Isaac as a sacrifice to God. These men did not know that they had the faith to move mountains until they arrived on the other side of their tests. No demon can tempt us or afflict us beyond what God has allowed.
33. In the verses below, what are the positive results of being tested?
Psalm 66:10
1 Peter 1:6-7
2 Cor. 5:7
Most of us have had a storm or two in our lives. Some of us have had “bad weather” in our lives for a long time! I know that some of you who are reading this now are experiencing a horrible storm in your life. It has been said that we’re either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or waiting for the next storm to hit. That is the nature of life.
Did you know that tree roots tend to grow deeper during storms? When there are strong winds and heavy rains, a tree develops a more extensive root system to better anchor the tree and withstand future storms. In other words, the more challenging the weather conditions, the deeper the roots will grow to provide stability.
You see, the Lord who made our bodies and our minds and our spirits, knows that we are like trees. When the storms of life come, if we anchor ourselves to the Word of God and persevere, then we will be rooted even deeper in Him and will be able to withstand future storms in our lives.
34. How does James describe this in James 1:4?
If you’re an alcoholic and you’re trying to fight temptation in a bar, then you’re in the wrong place and you need to flee from that place! We generally know what is tempting for us. When we flee from those things, our roots grow deeper and God always has a door open to flee from whatever tempts us. Aren’t you grateful for that? I am.
Read 1 Cor. 10:14-22. In these verses, Paul is teaching us that if we are all partakers of the body and blood of Christ, then we are separate from the world.
35. Do you remember the point that Paul made in 1 Cor. 8:7-9 about eating meat that had been offered to idols? Is he saying something different here in 1 Cor. 10?
Paul is still speaking about Christian liberty in these verses. He knew that for some less mature believers, eating and drinking food that had been offered to idols was abhorrent because they had grown up in that pagan atmosphere and saved out of it. For these believers, they should abstain, because to do otherwise would cause them to have a guilty conscience. He reiterates the principle used in 1 Cor. 10:23-30.
36. What is the principle and what should each person do?
For the Christian, liberty should always be limited by our love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and for those who may not know the Lord and are looking at our example.
37. In 1 Cor. 10:27, what does Paul say we should not do if we are invited into the home of an unbeliever?
I’ve heard many a missionary say that when they were on foreign fields and were invited to dine in the home of an unbeliever who served alcohol they did not turn it down even though they were not drinkers. I’ve also heard some say that when certain food was placed on the table, they did not inquire as to what it was even though at times, they had no idea what they were eating. In some cases, I’m sure they were grossed out by some of the things on their plate. To turn these things down might have been insulting to their friends and it could have spoiled their witness. It is important here to try and not be legalistic in such things, but to always let your love of others be your guide in making such decisions.
So, while Paul says we are not supposed to ask questions if we are invited to the house of an unbeliever, he says something else in v. 28. He says that if you are eating in the house of an unbeliever and someone at the table points out that the meat has been offered to idols, then you should not eat the meat. There’s nothing wrong with the meat and hence, there would be no sin in eating it, but out of love for a brother who might be bothered by this, you should then abstain.
Verse 30 means that “Isn’t it unfair to judge me because of another man’s conscience?” This all goes back to lesson 3 where we discussed the topic of judging.
38. Go ahead and read the rest of chapter 10. Paul lays down another principle in v. 31. What is it?
So far, Paul has given us 3 principles to live our Christian lives by:
1. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient.
2. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
3. Regardless of what you do, whether it be eating or drinking, do it all to the glory of God.
Many people ask the question, “What can I do and not sin?” That leads me to believe that a lot of people want to know just how far they can go before they cross over the boundary line. Therefore, this question is not the question that we should ask. The question should always be, “Am I bringing glory and honor to God in my actions?” That really was the point he was trying to get across to them.
I want you to read 1 Cor. 11:1. The verses and chapter breaks in the Bible came along much later after the writing of the books. The first verse in Chapter 11 should really be the last verse of chapter 10. Can you say of yourself what Paul is saying of himself here?
I wouldn’t dare say this of myself. In fact, I’d be scared to say this of myself. Can you imagine the testimony Paul had to those around him to be able to say this about himself? I’m so thankful that we have his story in Scripture. And all of these years later, his story, his testimony still affects us and challenges us today in our own walk with the Lord.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Psalm 24:1
Have a blessed week!
© Cindy D. Ketron. All Rights Reserved
