Introduction
As I read the Bible, I can't help but be amazed by how practical it is. The Bible speaks of the great moments of life, but it also speaks (perhaps even more often) of the everyday moments of regular living. It paints a beautiful picture of the grace of God in Jesus Christ and then it tells us how grace empowers us to live our lives in the trenches of regular routines. It tells us of the glories of heaven, of the resurrection, and of eternal life. Then, it tells us how the grace of God in Jesus Christ enables us to bring that life to come to this life.
Paul demonstrates this idea here in the closing of his first letter to the Corinthians. Do you remember what was Paul's mission among the Corinthians?
1 Cor. 2:1-5 – And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul says that all he has done and all that he does in relation to the Corinthian church has to do with Christ and him crucified, that every interaction is designed to increase their faith in the power of God, so that their lives become a demonstration of the Spirit of God. And with that same desire in mind, Paul writes these closing comments and urges them to submit to, honor, and love the brethren.
We tend to think that the power of the Spirit and of faith is demonstrated when a Christian dies for his/her faith, or when a believer is able to suffer well, or when a person goes to a really hard mission field. And it is! But the same power is demonstrated when Christian submit to, honor, and love each other.
I. Submission, 15-16.
A. Meet Stephanas and his family, 15.
B. Why is Paul mentioning Stephanas at this point in the letter?
C. Paul singles out this household for two reasons:
1. They have been Christians for a while, perhaps longer than any other family in the church.
2. They devoted themselves to serving the brethren.
D. Paul urges the Corinthian Christians, and through them us, to submit to this type of people, 15a, 16.
E. One last thing about submission, you are called to submit to those who labor in the Gospel, 16b.
II. Honor, 17-18.
A. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus had come from Corinth to Ephesus likely bringing with them the letter containing the six issues that the church wanted Paul to settle.
B. Paul was blessed by their visit, 17-18a.
C. Paul instructs us to acknowledge this type of people, 18b.
D. How do we honor that?
III. Love, 19-20.
A. In the official greetings portion of this letter, Paul teaches us the third and final lesson for today: we demonstrate the power of the Spirit in our lives when we love one another.
B. The church in Asia loved and had an interest in the church in Corinth.
C. Not only the church in Asia in general, but specific congregations with specific people, with specific faces and names, 19b.
D. Paul says that not only the people from other churches love them, but they are to love each other as well, 20c.
Conclusion
Paul preaches and loves Christ and him crucified. The everyday outworking of loving Christ and him crucified shows up in our submitting to, honoring, and loving those for whom Christ died.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2014/10/submission-honor-and-love-1-cor-1615-20_17.html
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