Overflow Daily...ish: Christian Unity

Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. 2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message, I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 

Not to reinforce any stereotypes, but growing up with an Asian mother I was encouraged very early to learn the piano. I was in no way forced, but loved to learn new instruments. Eventually, some of my friends at the church and I got together and played in the church band. One of the most important lessons that you learn is that you are not playing a song individually, but collectively as one. And equally as important as playing the same song is the importance for each member to be united in tempo and tone; otherwise the song will be worse than a Duran Duran song.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a reminder of the importance of unity. He writes to a church that finds itself being influenced by the world around it. Corinth was a major port city with two major gods; Poseidon and Aphrodite. Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, and her temple was a direct reflection of the gross immorality of the people of Corinth. The temple even boasted of having 1,000 female prostitutes for visitors and citizens and is why the phrase, to Corinthian, means to live an immoral life.

It was in this environment, and the many abuses Paul was hearing of, that he writes his second letter to them; the first not included in the Canon. As you read through the “First” letter to the Corinthians, you will see that this church struggled greatly. David Dockery highlights many of their struggles as such:

The church had several problems, among them a leadership problem producing divisions in the church (1:10–17). Immoral practices were not being dealt with (5:1–6:20). An enthusiastic group in the church flaunted their spiritual gifts (12:1–14:40). A legalistic group was concerned about dietary laws (8:1–10:32). Some were abusing the Lord’s Supper (11:17–34), and others were offering false teachings regarding the resurrection (15:1–58).

What was Paul’s response to this broken church? The Gospel! Because only the Gospel unites God’s people and instructs us to live in purity. The Gospel is what sets us free to live as His people without compromise and instructs us in how to use our Christian freedom for the edification of the church and His glory. The Gospel teaches us how to observe the Lord’s Supper and gives us a sure hope of eternal life. The Gospel is what we need to remember, what we need to proclaim, and what we need to live. For by it, we are not just brought into Christian unity, but are united with God.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alex

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