It is amazing what one finds when looking up Bible illiteracy on the internet, but as God's children we are commanded to study to show ourselves approved. When we are diligent in studying God's Word it is then that we will know what to watch for, stand for and grow up to.
You have heard the saying, "Put your money where your mouth is", but do we do this when it comes to supporting the local church as God's children? How grateful are we that God was pleased with the payment paid, which was evident through the resurrection? Do we need a law commanding us to give or does the grace of God compel us to give? If Israel gave for the building of the sanctuary because they were freed from Egypt, shouldn't we be more grateful for being delivered from the penalty of sin?
We as human beings are born corruptible, having the ability to die, but at the rapture all true believers will put on incorruptibly, we will never die again. God will give us a new body suitable for eternity at the coming of Christ's for His bride at the rapture. O Death, where is your sting? O Death, where is your victory? We now have the victory over death and that victory in found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So often we complain about our physical ailment, but these physical ailments are a result of Adam and the fall. What we need to do is focus on the future by rejoicing in the present truth that the resurrection will bring about a life without ailments and limitations.
Life is about Christ and His church and we are to be consumed with this truth. Are we sharing the good news of salvation with others no matter what the cost? Pascal once said, “I have learned to define life backwards and live it forwards”. By this he meant that he first defined death and then life accordingly. If we believe that there is life after death then let us be zealous to proclaim the truth of the resurrection as Paul did.
So often we as human beings would make better choices if only we knew everything there was to know about any given situation. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul explains the end from the beginning in verses 20-28. If only we would make the right choices in accordance to the truth found in these verses. We know the complete story and we need to start living as we do.
There are many things Christians argue about, but not many are worth dying for. There are five fundamentals that every true believer should be willing to die for and the resurrection is one of them. The resurrection is central to the Christian faith and if there isn't a resurrection then Christ did not rise and if Christ did not rise then we are still in our sins and if we are still in our sins then we will still be accountable for them. But Christ did die for our sins and God did accept Christ's payment which is evident through the resurrection. Let us stand strong in our faith concerning the resurrection because if there is no resurrection then there is no hope.
When Christians are asked, "why do you believe what you believe and why do you live according to what the Bible says", many cannot answer these questions. Many Christians say, "It’s by faith". When in reality God has given us ample evidence of who He is and what He has done to place our faith in. Christianity is not an irrational faith it is a rational one and Christians should have the answer to such basic questions and we find these answer in I Corinthians 15:1-11,
Why the gift of tongues? In I Corinthians 14:20-25 Paul tells the plain truth regarding the purpose of tongues in a language that is easy to understand. Tongues was never intended to be used in the church, but God used them as a sign of judgment against the nation of Israel because of their disobedience as was prophesied in Isaiah 28:11,12.
There are some three thousand languages in the world today and they are all significant, but only if those listening understand the language. The same thing was true two thousand years ago when Paul addressed the Corinthian church in regards to their misuse of tongues. If they do not understand what you are saying then don't waste your breathe.
Spiritual gifts were given for the purpose of edifying the church as a whole, they were never given to individual Christians for self gratification. Tongues do not edify the church, but prophecy, proclaiming God's word, does edify the church and it is for this reason that the Holy Spirit has given every believer at least one gift.
It is God who has given each believer a gift for the benefit of the whole body. So why do some Christians think highly of themselves because of the gift or gifts they did not earn, but received? God wants us to see the importance of each member and the importance of every gift for the one body.
In the church today there are a lot of people that go to church for what they get out it. The church isn't for the purpose of what you get out of it, but what you put into it. God has given each believer a gift for the benefit of all. Spiritual gifts were never given for self-gratification, but others edification.
Most people get regular check-ups to make sure that everything is going well with their health. We get examinations for everything, but when it comes time to take part in the Lord's Supper is when we should be concerned with our health the most and examine ourselves thoroughly. Are we in good health in our relationship with God and the rest of the family? If we aren't then we should do everything we can to get our health to where it should be before we partake of the Lord's Supper.
There are many things that we do with out giving much thought, but one thing we should never do with out giving it a lot of thought is taking part in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is not to be taken lightly, but a time to reflect and remember exactly what the Lord has done.
The Communion Table is a celebration of what God has done through His Son Jesus Christ. We celebrate the resurrection, but by celebrating the resurrection we are celebrating the fact that God brought us back into union with Himself and those who have also accepted Jesus Christ. If we are not in union with God or our brothers and sisters then we ought not to take part in communion.
There is so much we know intellectually about our faith and how we are to live, but when it comes time to apply what we know we often come up short. This is because we are missing the mark by 18 inches. It's not a head matter "It's a Heart Matter" and the distance between the head and the heart is about 18 inches.
Why are we here and what is life all about? Life is about Christ and His church. Many, who claim to be saved, think that they have accepted Jesus as their Savior and continue to live life for themselves, but this is not what the Scriptures teach. We are to put God first, others second and ourselves last. What ever we do let us do all to the glory of God.
Who or what takes precedence in our lives? Is God first or do we place other things first, including ourselves? What or who is it that we place our trust in? Do we demonstrate our trust in God or is it a private matter? Do we put others first as God commanded or are we to have the preeminence? Life is full of questions, but only one question needs to be answered, "who do we choose to live for"!
Paul asked the question in Romans 6:1, “Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?” And the answer is obvious, but you would never know it in most churches today. Do we sin because we think God views sin differently in the church age, the age of grace? Do we make excuses for our sin like “the devil made me do it” or “it’s not my fault because…” The truth of the matter is we are without excuse and Paul explains this in these thirteen verses.
Life is about Christ and His church and unless we understand this we will always be consumed with ourselves and never considers our brothers and sisters in Christ. Christ has set us free and has given us liberty, but how will we choose to use our liberty? Hopefully we respond in the same manner Paul did and use our liberty to advance the gospel.
Most people nowadays are worried about their rights, but the Christian should only be concerned with their rights, liberties, in regards to whether or not it benefits God’s purpose not their own. Let us use our liberties to expand God work not hinder it.
Our society is always worried about their rights and this is true of the church as well. We as Christians are concerned about our liberties, what we can and cannot do, and we do not want to be told otherwise, but Paul makes it clear that our liberties are limited by our surroundings. We as Christians cannot use our liberties at the expense of others, therefore we are to let love govern our liberties.
There are so many things in life that contribute to us losing focues on what is important. Paul teaches that serving Christ and His Church it what is most important and if at all possible stay single in order to give full attention to the things of the Lord. But if God has not given you the ability to remain single then get married and serve Him together as much as possible.
Our culture conditions us to find our identity in our achievements, but this should not be true of Christians. We should find our identity in Christ and Christ alone. Why stoop to find our identity as being the president of some country or organization when we are the children of the most hight God? Let us stand firm in who we are in Christ and not ourselves!
A lot of people will invest a lot of time, energy and money into an education. A matter of fact we invest a lot of our time into hobbies and the stock market, but never think of our marriage in the same way. I have asked many people "how many books have you read on marriage?" and the overwhelming answer is "none". Our marriages are more valuable than our jobs, education and hobbies and we have to invest everything we have in order to be successful in having healthy marriages. Marriage really is "A Life Long Investment"!
There are so many books out there that talks about a healthy marriage, but doesn't it only seem logical that the One who created marriage speak on the topic of marriage? Here in this passage God speaks through the apostle Paul loud and clear in regards to what a healthy marriage is to look like. Let our marriages represent Christ and His church well.