1 Corinthians 16 English Standard Version The Collection for the Saints 16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. Plans for Travel 5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. Final Instructions 12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. 13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love. 15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints-- 16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people. Greetings 19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. Like many of Paul's letter's he gets to the end and has several "final thoughts" that he wants to jot down--mostly of a more personal nature to let people know his travel plans and when to expect him, people that he would like to send thanks to, and others who are with him who also want to send their greetings. We start though with an issue that Paul wanted to use to encourage the church at Corinth to be less self-centered and to think of others first as they should set aside not only their tithes but a special offering at the first of the week (probably when they received their pay). This collection was probably for Paul to take back to Jerusalem with him when he went there as there was much persecution there and the saints that were still living there had been run out of their homes and were without any job or means to provide food for themselves or their families. It is strange that the Gentile Christians were called upon so quickly to support their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, but that's exactly what happened and it was God's plan to do this to show them that they were all one family and that there was no longer division between Jew or Gentile in the family of God. Paul also wanted to have some of these Gentile believers come with him to accompany the gift so that the Jews could see the work of the gospel and praise God not only for the monetary gift, but for His word that He was doing through the Holy Spirit to make disciples of all nations.
Paul then mentions plans to travel through Macedonia, a very poor area, but strangely enough, they too would collect a generous offering for their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ and Paul would later use them as an example of how one can be a cheerful giver, even if they do not have much to give. Paul planned to spend the winter in Corinth after vising the Macedonian churches (the church in Philippi for example) because that was not a good time of year to travel and it would give Paul plenty of time to talk to the Corinthians and help them sort out some of the issues they were having. For now though, Paul wanted to stay in Ephesus, at least until Pentecost (the 50th day after Passover, also called The Feast of Weeks as it is seven weeks after Passover). Paul let the Corinthians know that there were many opportunities for the gospel in Ephesus, but there were also many enemies of the gospel coming forth and Paul planned to stay there a while to deal with both issues. Since Paul was not going to be coming himself for a while, he decided to send Timothy to the church in Corinth (maybe even carrying this letter). Paul told the Corinthians to treat him well and not to show him any disrespect (probably because of his youth as Paul told Timothy later in his letters to him to not let anyone look down on him because he was young, but to set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity). Paul then also said that they needed to not keep Timothy to long because he had work to get back to and that Paul needed him and Paul's other co-workers to return as soon as possible (probably to Ephesus as there was much work to be done there). Paul let the church know that Apollos might be visiting them sometime in the future, but now was not a good time, even though Paul had been pleading with him to make the trip as soon as possible. I think this probably was a desire by Paul to help clear up some of the factions that had arisen as we see some of the people saying "I am of Apollos" that Paul mentioned in chapter 1. Paul reminds them to be strong in their faith and to always have all their actions motivated by love for each other (and not out of selfish ambition or pride). Paul seems to be sending some of his Corinthian companions back to Corinth--specifically Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. We know very little about the men other than what is said here, but they seem to be leaders the church who were sent to help Paul. Paul appreciated them, but knew they needed to go back and help their local church with the issues they were having. Paul encourages the church to treat these men well and to come under their leadership and authority. Lastly, Paul sends greeting to the church in Corinth from the brothers and sisters he is with (again, probably in Ephesus). First Aquilla and Priscilla who were the hosts of the house church, and all the members of that church. They tell the church in Corinth to remember to greet each other with a holy kiss--this may sound weird to us in Western culture, but it's common to greet friends this way in the Middle East. Paul wraps up his letter with a few final words that he wants everyone to be sure that they know he is writing. He that has no love for Christ and thinks they will be saved from hell is lying only to themselves. Our Lord is coming again and he will save those belong to Him and judge those who do not belong to Him. Paul prays for God's grace to be with the church and sends his love for all of them (as we've seen in other letters, Paul feels like a father to these church members of the churches he helped plant and ministered to). So now let's look at some big takeaways from this letter. First, we need to be controlled by the Spirit and not by the flesh. If we continue to be controlled by the flesh it's a good indication that there was never any repentance and that our "salvation experience" wasn't genuine. Selfishness and pride create all kinds of issues in the church, but so does trying to make a "seeker friendly" or "emergent" church that makes the world feel comfortable--in fact, the Corinthians were actually doing things that would have made the people of the world blush. Paul said that anyone that calls themselves a Christian and lives in unrepentant sin needs to be cut off from the entire body for the good of the whole body, but the biggest theme of this book is that anyone that has been saved is not a son of God being made in the very image of Christ and we need to act like it. We need to have the mind of Christ and love other Christians with the same kind of love that He has for the Church, and we need to live under His authority. It's a challenging book as it seems to indicate that even very early in the Church there were people that were faking it and who thought they were saved but really weren't. There were also those who were genuinely saved who were having their good reputation ruined by those that were fakes and those who were simply immature. Whatever the case, Paul did not leave room for anyone to continue to live as a "carnal Christian" as if that's some kind of acceptable "third way." You cannot say you are controlled by the Spirit and then live according to the flesh (have this as your identity and nature). It might be good to go back and read 1 John and James alongside these epistles to remember the kind of challenge that was given to "believers" to examine themselves to see if they are really in the faith.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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