in Christ Jesus

1Corinthians 16:19-24 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you. Greet you one another with an holy kiss. The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

‘The churches of Asia salute you’ – the congregations of Asia Minor. He was at Ephesus in this Asia, proving further that he was not at Philippi, as some teach (1Cor. 16:8).

‘Aquila and Priscilla’ – They had a congregational group in their house (Rom. 16:3-4). They are always mentioned together as man and wife (Acts 18:2, 18, 26; 2Tim. 4:19).

‘Church that is in their house’ – The company of believers who worshipped in their house at Corinth, as all other congregations did.

‘The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.’ The salutation was by Paul’s own hand,

(2Thess. 3:17) some of his letters were written by scribes as Paul’s dictated God’s Words to them (Rom. 16:22; Col. 4:18).

‘Let be Anathema Maranatha’ – Let him be accursed; our Lord comes. This is directed against the Jews and heathen who delighted to call Jesus accursed (1Cor. 12:3). ‘In Christ Jesus’ – The word IN means “in union with” and when used of persons it does not mean “bodily entrance into,” except in the case of disembodied spirits, or demons. We read of God being in Christ (2Cor. 5:19) and Christ being in God (John 14:10-11, 20); of man being in Christ (2Cor. 5:17) and Christ being in man (Rom. 8:10); of man being in the Spirit and the Spirit being in man (Rom. 8:9); and of satan entering into man (John 13:27); but it never means in these cases “bodily entrance into,” for all these persons have bodies and cannot get inside each other bodily. When Paul said of believers, “I have you in my heart” and “you are in our hearts” (2Cor. 7:3; Php. 1:7), he could only mean “in union with,” not “bodily entrance into.” The Bible doctrine of interpenetration means “the union of two or more persons together for the same end.” Thus, persons can be one with each other to a common end without literally getting inside each other or without being one single person. Being one with and in each other does not depend on bodily contact, or the loss of either personality. Persons can be in each other and one with each other though they are apart bodily. Thus, when God dwelled in Christ and Christ dwelled in God, it did not mean they were one person or that they dwelt inside each other bodily. They were one in union – one to the same end, in the same sense that men and Christ, or men and men, dwell in each other. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit” (1Cor. 6:17).

1Corinthians 4:11-16 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off scouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be you followers of me.

‘Naked’ [Greek: gumneteuo] scantily clothed.

‘Have no certain dwelling-place’ [Greek: astateo] to be a wanderer. They were mere itinerant preachers, not knowing where they would live.

‘Working with our own hands’ In Acts 18:3 we read that Paul was a tentmaker by trade. Among Jews, the boys were all compelled to learn trades. It was considered disreputable not to be acquainted with some branch of handicraft. Practical knowledge of trade was regarded as an asset of personal independence. The Rabbis said, “Whosoever does not teach his son a trade is as if he brought him up to be a robber.” Tentmakers wove the black cloth of goat or camel’s hair of which tents were made. Paul supported himself in certain places (4:12; Acts 20:34; 1Thess. 2:9; 2Thess. 3:8), and for reasons given in 2Corinthians 11:9-12. This was not the best policy in some places, as Paul later learned, for it did not properly train new converts to support the work (2Cor. 12:13; cp. Gal. 6:6).

‘Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it’ – only the grace of God can enable people to volunteer to suffer like this (1Cor. 4:12-13). The natural man avenges and repays all indignities against him, but Christians are not to retaliate (Rom. 12:17-21; Matt. 5:38-48).

‘Defamed’ [Greek: blasphemeo] blasphemed. ‘Filth’ [Greek: perikatharma] sweeping. The allusion here is to the wretched victims who were judged to be fit for nothing but to be offered as expiatory victims to infernal gods, for the safety of others.

‘I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.’ Paul did not write these things to find fault with them for not providing for him for the necessities of life, but to warn them not to be carried away by every pretender to apostleship and not to neglect those who are God-trusted and who have brought them the message of salvation (4:14-17).

‘Though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.’ Though you have many who offer their services as your instructors, you have only one by whom you were converted and who has a parental feeling for you.

‘Followers’ [Greek: mimetes] imitators. Follow or imitate me as I imitate Christ (4:16; 11:1; Eph. 5:1; 1Thess. 1:6; 2:14; Heb. 6:12; 1Pet. 2:21; 3:13).

Tag: in Christ Jesus

Through the Gospel