daily bible readings

The heart of Paul, like the heart of King David, is amazing. Both parallel the heart of Jesus Christ Himself. We see how amazing such a heart is when we remember what situation Paul is really in.

Paul planted the church in Corinth about ten years before this current epistle was written. The church had slid into sexual immorality and a host of other sins. There was pride and arrogance, factions and divisions, hatred and discord. There were court cases among them, the offering of food to idols and even a rejection of the apostle himself with hints and allegations of misuse or theft of the funds entrusted to him.

But Paul doesn’t send his letter to the church with gruff. He doesn’t throw his apostolic weight around in a holy rant or rave. He doesn’t lay down the line and give them an ultimatum. Paul’s approach is to use grace as much as possible. In 2 Corinthians 10:8, Paul reveals his heart to us. “For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.” Again, he says in 2 Corinthians 13:10 “This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.”

Paul’s goal for the calcitrant Corinthians is to build them up rather than to tear them down. He has a heartfelt desire to see them repent, grow and mature in Christ Jesus. He deals with them as a loving father rather than an irate supervisor or boss.

This approach was brought home to me one day when a minster friend of mine told me a story about his own church. He was taking the local bishop other dignitaries for a tour around the church premises one evening. As the group walked into the sanctuary, as he called it, the youth group leader and his girlfriend were having a rather intimate interlude on top of, none other than the communion table! In tears, my friend told me that he desperately wanted to build this young couple up and to strengthen their particular parents so that everyone would grow in Christ through this affair.

Grace is better than gruff. When Christians are caught in sin, they generally know what they have done wrong. They don’t need lectures or condemning words. They need grace. Grace melts hearts and draws people back to Christ. Grace draws our genuine repentance.

I can’t help  but wonder if Paul reflected on how the Lord Jesus Christ treated him as he came into the faith. Paul reflects as such in 1 Timothy 1:13–14. “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s sins were horrendous. We catch a glimpse of how bad they were in Acts 22:4–5 (NIV84)

“I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.” But even so, God lavished Paul with grace and mercy abundantly. He sought to lavish others with the same grace as he had received. 

Paul will go on to name the sins of the Corinthians and to call them to repentance. Grace does not mean that we sweep sin under the carpet. It does not mean that we pretend that everything is okay if it isn’t. Grace does not mean that we refuse to confront sin. Grace means that we deal with sin in the same way and with the same heart that Christ dealt with me in my sin. Grace means that I deal with my own heart before I approach others. I weed out the pride or arrogance, the superiority complex and the need or desire to show others just how bad they really are. Grace means we fill our hearts with the compassionate love of Jesus and we approach others with the certain knowledge that we too have sinned in the past and we too deserve condemnation. Grace means that we approach others with a view to building them up rather than tearing them down.

PRAYER

Adoration:

· Adore the Lord for the grace and mercy He has lavished upon you.

· Adore Jesus for He is grace incarnate.

Confession:

· Take time to confess your sins to the Lord and to ask for forgiveness

Thanks:

· Thank God for the way that He has dealt with you in your sin when you first came to repentance and faith and for the way He has dealt with you since you came to Christ in repentance and faith.

· Thank God that we live in Christian community and that God uses others to grow us, to mould and to make us more like Jesus.

Supplication:

· Pray that we would grow in grace as a congregation and that each believer would be filled to overflowing with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

· Pray that this grace would flow over from our lives into the lives of others.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What evidence is there of Paul’s grace in vv1-9?

2. How is Paul able to give thanks for the Corinthians given the way that they have treated him and the sins they were committing?