1 Corinthians 2:1-5

¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: ⁵ That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

We know that as Christians we must evangelize the world (Matt 28:19-20). The problem is not that we do not know it but that most of us fail to do it. Why? While there may be lots of reasons, what we will deal with tonight is the fear of inadequacy. We say to ourselves: “I am not an eloquent speaker,” “Though I know what the gospel is, I feel so inadequate to articulate it to people,” or “What if people ask me a question I cannot answer?” If you’ve ever felt this way, don’t worry about it because you are not alone. Even Paul, the great apostle, felt inadequate to do the work of evangelism. In today’s text, he says to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (v. 3). How could Paul overcome feelings of inadequacy and succeed in evangelizing Corinth and establishing churches in that city? Let’s look at the secret of the apostle’s way of evangelism.

The Work of Evangelism Does Not Depend on Our Eloquence but on Christ Crucified

Greeks were enamored with all sorts of philosophical wisdom and rhetorical traditions. Thus, said Herodotus, ancient Greek historian (b. 485 B.C.), “All Greeks were zealous of every kind of learning.” The city of Corinth was not an exception. It is evident, even after their conversion, some of the Corinthian Christians pursued human wisdom and rhetorical eloquence, and this tendency even divided the church (cf. 1:5, 12; 3:4). To correct such mistake, Paul elaborates on the manner and attitude he had when he first came to the city to preach the gospel among the Corinthians.

Paul knew well that to the Jews, the message of the gospel was “a stumbling block” (1:23) because for them Messiah meant power, splendor, triumph while crucifixion meant weakness, humiliation, defeat. He also knew that to the Gentiles, the message of the gospel was a foolish superstition (1:23). In 112 A.D., in his letter to the emperor Trajan, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, describes the message of the cross as “a perverse, extravagant superstition.”

Nevertheless, the apostle came to the city “to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words” (1:17a). If he had tried to preach the gospel with human wisdom and eloquence, the cross of Christ would have been “made of none effect” (1:17b). The apostle and his colleagues preached “Christ crucified” although the crucifixion of the Messiah was a scandalous message to the ears of both Jews and Greeks (1:23). It was because the message of the cross is not like human wisdom. It is the message about Christ who is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1:24). The message of the cross could not be invented by human wisdom, but only by divine wisdom. Therefore, Paul did not come to Corinth “with excellency of speech or of wisdom” (2:1a). He simply proclaimed the message of the cross, which was executed and revealed by God (“testimony of God” 2:1b). Though Paul considered himself as a weakling¹ who was overwhelmed by the task of evangelism in fear and trembling (2:3), he determined to know nothing but “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2). He could do it because he knew that it is not human wisdom or eloquence that saves souls but Christ who was crucified for sinners.

The Result of Evangelism Does Not Depend on Our Ability but on the Spirit’s Power

What is the result of human wisdom and eloquence? Nothing except for a short-lived applause! A preacher’s knowledge and eloquence may impress people, yet it bears no permanent fruit.

Little more than a century ago, a group of American pastors decided to travel to London to hear and learn from some of the great English pastors of the day. One the first Sunday, they went to hear one of the most famous preachers whose church had about 3,000-4,000 members. As they were leaving the church they marveled and spoke to each other, “What a great preacher! What a great preacher!” Then, the next Sunday the group attended the Metropolitan Tabernacle where the famous Charles Spurgeon was pastoring. They listened to him, and as they were leaving the church they marveled again, but this time they shouted, “What a great Savior! Hallelujah! What a great Savior!”

How could Paul accomplish what he accomplished in the city of Corinth? It was because he simply and plainly proclaimed the Savior who died on a cross for sinners. The apostle says, “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom…” (2:4a). It is not Paul’s fake humility. He really did not try to impress people with an eloquent speech. That is the reason some of the Corinthians ridiculed him by saying, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account” (2 Cor 10:10). Such contempt on his simple preaching of the cross, however, could not alter the apostle’s manner of preaching. The beloved apostle understood that it was not his ability but the Spirit that powerfully applies the message of the gospel into the heart of the hearers. So, Paul says that his preaching was “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (2:4b). Hence, our faith “should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (2:5). To have your faith rest on God’s power is “to believe the cross to be the way of salvation, being convinced by the work of the Spirit in your own and other believers’ lives, and to shun any trust in self and human wisdom as a way to God…. To receive God’s wisdom and experience His power it is necessary to relinquish your own wisdom and power.”²

Therefore, in actuality, it is not wrong for us to feel that we are inadequate for evangelizing the world. Besides Paul, Moses claimed lack of eloquence (Ex 4:10), Isaiah had unclean lips (Isa 6:5), and Jeremiah did “not know how to speak well enough” because he was “too young” (NET Jer 1:6). These men’s speaking generated no applause. Their goal was not persuasion by skillful arguments and eloquent speech but the manifestation of God’s power in people’s lives. Especially for Paul, it was through the simple presentation of Christ crucified. That is all the apostle needed, and that is all we need as well. When we do not focus on ourselves and present Christ and Him alone to the world, the Holy Spirit will transform some people’s hearts (remember not all but certainly some) by the message of the cross.

Let’s remember, dear brothers and sisters, that evangelism is not about how eloquent and able we are but how great and powerful our Savior is through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is the greatest fear you have when you share the gospel? Other fears?
3. Explain how the preacher/person who led you to Christ. How eloquent was he or she?
4. Read 1 Corinthians 2:3 and Acts 18:1, 5-11. Why do you think the Lord appeared to Paul for encouragement in Corinth? What did Paul need to keep on doing? (v. 9). How did the Lord encourage him? (v. 10).
5. Read Zechariah 4:6 where an angel speaks of the way God’s work is done. How is the gospel to be preached?

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

The gospel promises two incredible things. It promises new life to those who are in Christ and that God will be glorified by it “in the end.” Of course, much of the preaching on the gospel addresses the first promise. It is amazing that God would save sinful man. However, the second aspect should not be ignored. The glory of God in the gospel is a very important point too. This short devotional addresses both promises.

Promise #1

First, the gospel promises new life to those who are in Christ. Paul states definitively that everyone who is in Christ will be resurrected from the dead.

²⁰ But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. ²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

This promise is based upon the resurrection of Jesus. It is not too much to conclude that His resurrection is the most important event in human history. Jesus is risen, bodily, from the dead. He is the first of many who will rise. Thus, even as death was introduced by the sin of one man (Adam) so the resurrection from the dead was also introduced by one man (Jesus). Everyone who is in Christ will be made alive the text states.

Our relationship to both men is important. Our relationship to Adam means death. Romans 6:23 states that the “wages” or “payment” for sin is death. The exact means by which this occurs has been debated by theologians for centuries. Augustine believed that every person is guilty in Adam’s sin. This inherited guilt means that even before birth, a child is guilty of sin before God. Other evangelical theologians reject inherited guilt in favor of an inherited sin nature. This means that because we are all descended from Adam, we have a sin nature that will result in sin at some point in our life. Whether you hold to inherited guilt or an inherited sin nature, the fact remains that being “in Adam” means being dead in trespasses and sins.

This is why our relationship to the second Adam, the God-Man Jesus Christ is so important. Our relationship to Him means life. This relationship is based upon the merits of Jesus, not our own. We are not saved by our own means. We have no personal merit. We are not self-righteous. This relationship with God is based entirely on His own grace to us and accepted by us by faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). To be “in Christ” means the promise of resurrection.

The timing of this resurrection is certain. Paul writes:

²³ But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The order is specific. Jesus is the first of our kind to rise from the dead. He is the head of the order. He is the first in the harvest to “ripen” as it were. Everyone who is in Him will come after Him when He returns for us. This is a reference to the Rapture of the church. This is not a reference, per se, to the Second Advent of Jesus. This material fits nicely with what Paul is teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4. Regardless of whether you believe that this Rapture event occurs before the Tribulation (as our church teaches), or if it is before the Great Tribulation (the mid-point of the Tribulation which position is generally referred to as “mid-trib”), or if it comes at the end of the Tribulation (a position generally referred to as “post-trib), the fact remains that the resurrection of the Church occurs when Jesus comes back for His “bride.” We will rise from the dead. That’s the first promise of the gospel.

Promise #2

Not only will we rise from the dead as Jesus rose, but God will be glorified by our resurrection. That is the second promise of the gospel. The text states unequivocally that Jesus will rule over mankind. The first, true global kingdom will be His.

²⁴ Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Jesus will establish an earthly kingdom. This rule will be world-wide. Revelation 20 states plainly that the kingdom will last 1,000 years. Some theologians read that allegorically to mean “a long time.” In truth, the language could not be more obvious. This is the great millennial reign of Jesus upon the earth. Just as He rose physically from the dead, the Lord will rule physically on the earth. Moreover, He will “deliver” this kingdom to God the Father. He will place it into the Father’s hands. This is an expression of complete control. All of the kings and rulers of the earth will submit to Him. Most will willingly submit to the Lord’s rule. Others will apparently be forced to submit to Him. Jesus will rule, after all, with a rod of iron. All of the enemies of the Lord Jesus will submit to Him. They will be under His feet, an ancient expression that refers to people being conquered.

Ultimately, God will be magnified. The terrible consequences of sin will be reversed. Death will be eliminated for those who are resurrected in Christ.

²⁶ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. ²⁸ And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

The new body does not die. It cannot sin and therefore, there is no threat of death. Sin is eliminated once and for all. The body that is sown in dishonor (put into the grave at death) will be resurrected in glory. It goes into the grave a natural (read: human body) and is raised up a spiritual body (vv. 43-44). Thus, death is swallowed up in victory (v. 54).

When this occurs, all things will finally submit to God’s rule. Even Jesus is subject to the Father in a sense. This does not mean that the Son is inferior to the Father. There is no inferiority in the Trinity. It means that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. His voluntary submission to the Father continues into eternity. In fact, as He glorifies the Father, the Father also glorifies the Son (John 17:1). This is the very point Paul makes in Philippians 2:9-10. Even as the Father exalts the Son, so He is glorified in the Son. This is the second promise of the gospel. God will be forever exalted. The gospel glorifies Him.

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the consequence of sin? (Hint: There are two specific answers)
2. What does the bodily resurrection of Jesus (that it was a physical resurrection) mean for those who die “in Christ?”
3. How should this hope change the way you think about earthly things?
4. In what ways should the resurrection of Jesus influence your every-day life? Think of at least three ways.
5. Why is the glorification of God an important part of the gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Our study is on the gospel and we are looking at the apostle Paul’s statement to the Corinthians. He writes: “I declare unto you the gospel.” This gospel declaration is his restatement of something he himself had received (v. 3). In fact, what he received is exactly what he gave to them. It is what they received from him (v. 1). Paul received the gospel and then he gave the gospel to the Corinthians. This is the process by which they were evangelized. The gospel he received is the same gospel he declared. Now, how did Paul receive the gospel? We know from Acts 9 and two other passages in Acts that Paul was converted on the road to Damascus. That is where he came to final and complete understanding of the truth. However, he had already heard at the very least the part about Jesus dying on the cross. We know that from Acts 7:52 where Stephen was preaching to the Pharisees who later stoned him. Acts 8:1 indicates that Paul was there when Stephen was stoned. In Acts 9, before Paul was converted, he was persecuting Christians—people of “the Way” according to Acts 22:4. In other words, Paul must have been aware of the facts of the gospel at the very least. He had simply rejected that truth up to that point in his life.

What are these facts to which I refer? You will find them in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. They center around two important truths. Truth 1: Jesus died on the cross in the place of sinners. Paul says it this way: Christ died “for our sin.” That is, Jesus did not die for any sin of His own, but because of, or in the place of the sins of others. We know that the apostle Paul was “preaching the gospel” (1:17), “preaching the cross” (v. 18), “preaching Christ crucified” (v. 23), and again “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (2:2). That He died is attested by the fact that He was buried. This burial relates to truth 1 and sets up truth 2. Truth 2: Jesus rose from the dead. This resurrection is not insignificant. It is the basis of his message throughout his missionary endeavors. Paul is constantly preaching both Jesus’ death and resurrection. For example, when Paul came to Corinth in Acts 18 he preached both that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 5) and “the word of God” (v. 11).

Both truths (Jesus died and was buried, and rose again from the dead) is the gospel that Paul received. It is the gospel that he preached. So how did Paul receive it? I have already pointed out that he knew about the death of Jesus because of, at the very minimum, the preaching of Stephen. It is also likely that he knew about the resurrection of Jesus from the preaching of “the Way.” Regardless, our focus is on the little important phrase—“according to the Scriptures”— which is used at the end of verse 3 and verse 4. In the Greek text the phrase itself indicates the basis on which Paul is drawing his conclusions. Jesus died because the Bible says that He died. That is Paul’s ultimate foundation. He rose again because the Bible says that He rose again. Let’s look at the text and see exactly how we have it in our Bible.

³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The two truths that Paul preached was what the Scriptures confirmed. In this text, we have the gospel inscripturated.

Inspired

The Scriptures, as Paul uses the words in this text, reference the inspired Word of God. The word “scriptures” (graphe) means “writings.” In this case, however, it is not just any writings to which Paul is referring. There is a definite article before “scriptures” indicating that the writings are specific. This is how Paul refers to the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 refers to all of the “scripture” (graphe) as being inspired by God. Every word is His. He spoke the Scriptures into existence. They are the very words of God.

Old Testament and New Testament

The word Scriptures can refer to either the Old or the New Testament. Jesus believed that the Old Testament was inspired by God. He frequently quoted from Old Testament passages in His sermons, when He was instructing His disciples, or when He was arguing with the Pharisees. In John 10:35, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6 and refers to that texts as Scripture. Clearly the Old Testament is inspired Scripture. The New Testament is also Scripture. In 2 Peter 3:16, the apostle Peter refers to Paul’s letters (the epistles) as Scripture. Of course, that would include our text in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Peter refers to Paul’s letters as graphe. By the way, in referencing Paul’s writings, Peter acknowledges that sometimes Paul can be difficult to understand. If you ever feel like you are having some difficulty understanding what Paul is writing, take heart that the great apostle Peter had some of the same problems.

A Bible-based Gospel

The truth is, because the Scriptures are God’s Word, the gospel is based on the Bible itself. When Paul writes that the two truths of the gospel (Jesus death and resurrection) are “according to the Scriptures,” he is arguing that these truths are not something he devised himself. They are not something the early church came up with to compete with Judaism. These truths are based on God’s own words. There are Old Testament passages which indicate that the gospel is true. Isaiah 53 prophesies about the death of Jesus. It reveals that God’s Servant (Messiah) would suffer and die for others. V. 6 indicates that the “Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” That is the vicarious atonement that Paul refers to when he writes that Jesus died “for our sins.” Psalm 16 prophesies about the resurrection of Jesus. V. 10 indicates that God would not leave Messiah in the grave. While this psalm is not as clear as Isaiah 53, that it refers to Jesus is cleared up by the way Peter uses it in Acts 2:31 at Pentecost. Speaking of Jesus’ resurrection, Peter quotes Psalm 16:10. Finally, while the expression “three days” in 1 Corinthians 15:4 is not necessarily attached to the phrase “according to the Scriptures” (it is adjectival), it is possible that the story of Jonah being in the fish for three days represents Jesus’ body being in the grave for three days. This is how Jesus interprets that passage in Matthew 12:40. He says of Himself, that even as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, so His body would be in the grave for three days.

There are also New Testament passages that indicate that the gospel is true. On three separate occasions, Jesus prophesied of His death and resurrection to His disciples. Each of the synoptic Gospels has these prophecies. These are found in Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19; Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34; and Luke 9:22, 9:44, 18:32-33. While there is some debate among scholars as to the dating of the writing of the Gospels, Paul was evidently aware of the teaching of Jesus (1 Corinthians 7:10) when he wrote 1 Corinthians. Even if the Gospels were written after Paul wrote this verse, “according to the Scriptures” might actually be resting on these three prophecies of Jesus predicting His own death and resurrection.

Confidence

You should have supreme confidence that the gospel you believe in for your personal salvation is not something devised by man. It is not some clever way of conning people into following the Christian religion. The gospel is the promise of God based entirely upon His Word.

Discipleship Questions:

1. Who first shared the gospel with you? (if you remember)
2. Did you accept the gospel the first time it was offered? If not, why not?
3. Who led you to Christ (it if differs from the answer to question 2)?
4. Have you ever shared the gospel with someone else? How was it received?
5. Have you ever led someone to salvation in Christ? When was the last time?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The gospel (euanggelion = eu [glad/good] + anggelion [tiding/announcement/news]) is the foundation by which the church rises and falls. Then, what is the gospel? In today’s text, the apostle Paul first talks about three elementary truths about the gospel (vv. 1-2), and, then, he offers the core content of the gospel (vv. 3-4).

1. The gospel must be verbally preached (v. 1a).

There is so-called “lifestyle evangelism,” which is, instead of directly telling people about the message of the gospel, Christians ought to live their lives righteously as God’s children so that people will see Christ in us. This is not a bad idea because it is entirely biblical (Matt 5:13-16; Phil 2:15; 1 Thess 2:11-12), and sometimes actions speak louder than words. Sadly, however, some Christians use this argument as an excuse not to verbally talk about the gospel to anybody at all. Though it is essential to live out the gospel truths to draw people to Christ, the means by which God converts souls is the verbally preached message of the gospel.

2. The gospel is the means by which believers are saved and the foundation on which they stand (vv. 1b-2).

N. T. Wright, prolific and popular New Testament scholar, says, “I must stress that the doctrine of justification by faith is not what Paul means by ‘the gospel.’ It is implied by the gospel; when the gospel is proclaimed, people come to faith and so are regarded by God as members of his people. But ‘the gospel’ is not an account of how people get saved. It is, as we saw in an earlier chapter, the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ” (What Saint Paul Really Said, 158).

No matter how hard scholars, including N. T Wright, try to redefine the gospel, according to “What Saint Paul Really Said,” the gospel is the means by which people get saved: “by which [the gospel] you are saved” (v. 2a). It is true that the gospel is the message of the lordship of Jesus Christ. But what does this message do? It saves those who “receive” it through faith from the bondage of sin and places them under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is not only the means by which believers get saved, but also the foundation on which they stand: “Wherein [in the gospel] you stand” (v. 1b; cf. 2 Cor 1:24). It means that any deviation from the gospel which “saves” believers and “in which they stand” puts them in danger of “believing in vain.”

3. The gospel was not invented by Paul (v. 3a).

There are some who say that Paul was responsible for the Christianity that we see today and call him “the founder of Christian theology” (e.g., Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, vol. 1, 187). Paul, however, clearly indicates that he was not the inventor of the Christian faith. He says, “I delivered unto you first of all that which [the gospel] I also received.” No single human created the message of the gospel but God (Rom 1:1-4). Thus, the apostle sees it as “of the first importance.” Even Paul had to “receive” this message before passing it on to others. The message of the gospel is what Paul and his fellow-workers preached and the Corinthians believed (v. 11).

4. Finally, then, what is the core content of the gospel? The gospel consists of three historical events in the life of Jesus: his death, burial and resurrection (vv. 3-4)

Death. Who died on the cross? It was “Christ,” who was anointed or chosen by God to be the Savior and Lord of the world. His death was for the forgiveness of “our” sins (“for our sins”). He did not die just to become an exemplary martyr, but he died to accomplish a specific goal—offering Himself as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of believers. In other words, Jesus died on behalf of us to satisfy the penalty of our sins and overcome the alienation between God and us because of our sins. This amazing work of the cross has freed us from the bondage of sin and made us slaves of Jesus Christ (Rom 6:1-11). His death was “according to the Scriptures.” The phrase, “according to Scriptures,” probably does not point to a single passage or an extended section of the OT but to the metanarrative or grand storyline of the OT (e.g., the Passover lamb slaughtered at the night before the Exodus, the sacrificial system in which the high priest slaughtered animals and they bore Israel’s sins on the Day of Atonement, the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, who “was bruised for our iniquities” [v. 5] like “a lamb brought to the slaughter” [v. 7], etc.).

Burial. Jesus’ burial implies the reality of his physical death and resurrection. He was neither resuscitated (or regained his conscience) after a short period of a swoon nor was spiritually raised after death. His heart stopped beating after his last breath (Matt 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:45; John 19:30), and his corpse became as cold as the stone bed on which he was laid. Then, the third day came and then he was physically raised from the dead.

Resurrection. The perfect passive in the verb “rose again” (in Greek, “has been raised”) implies that Jesus was both raised by the Father and lives now. The resurrection appointed Him as the powerful Son of God (Rom 1:4) to whom all authority in heaven and on earth is rightfully given (Matt 28:18), conquered death (Rom 6:9), accomplished our justification (Rom 4:25), and gave us “a lively hope” that our bodies will be also resurrected like His was (1 Pet 1:3; 1 Cor 15:21-22). Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s absolute triumph over death and evil spiritual forces is powerfully demonstrated. Again, the Messiah’s resurrection, like His death, was not a new idea but it took place “according to the Scriptures.” The Jews traditionally believed that corruption set in on a corpse on the third day and Jesus’ body did not suffer “corruption” according to Psalm 16:10 (“… neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”). Jonah was in the belly of the fish for “three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17), and Jesus Himself compared His death to the same historical account (Matt 12:40). Moreover, the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 would continue and enjoy His life even after His vicarious death for the iniquities of God’s people (vv. 10-12). Paul also backs up the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection by mentioning the eyewitnesses of His resurrection (1 Cor 15:5-8).

This is the gospel: As the Old Testament foretold, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, physically died on the place of sinners for the forgiveness of their sins and the freedom from the bondage of sin. And His corpse was buried in the tomb for three days. This proves that he was physically dead. Then, on the third day, according to the predictions in the Old Testament, God made Him alive to live forever as the rightful King of the universe. Have you been saved through receiving this gospel with faith? Have you submitted yourself to this King who deserves your allegiance?

Discipleship Questions:

1. Explain what the gospel is in your own terms to your partner(s). When and where did you first hear it, and how did you respond to it?
2. What does the gospel accomplish? (1 Cor 15:1-2) The text does not mention from what the gospel saved us from. From what are you saved? (Read Rom 6:1-11) How is this truth related to the lordship of Jesus Christ?
3. Who invented the gospel? (1 Cor 15:2; see also Rom 1:1-4) Why is this truth so important in the context of our society filled with false religions, including the groups that use the name of Christianity, that promote different ways to salvation?
4. What are the three elements of the core content of the gospel? (1 Cor 15:3-4) The second element of the gospel has been somewhat neglected among believers. Why is this element important in the gospel message?
5. What assurance does the message of the gospel give you? How does it impact your heart? (Read John 3:16; 2 Cor 5:14-15)

Romans 2:15; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Every person is born with an internal mechanism which helps him understand the difference between right and wrong.¹ The Bible teaches that God writes His own law on the hearts of people so that their own thoughts either accuse them of their actions or provide excuses for them (Romans 2:15). Thus, a teenage boy might “sweat it out” when being questioned about the broken window because he knows that it was his ball that broke it, while an apparently guilty man can stand before a court and testify to his innocence without any shame because he knows he did not commit the crime. This is man’s “moral compass” which the Bible calls a conscience. The word conscience (syneidesis) means to “see together” or “perceive along with.” It refers to the inner conversation one has with oneself. Because every person is created in God’s image, everyone is born with this internal knowledge of God’s moral law. Unfortunately, this moral compass can be damaged or turned off, even in some respect in the heart of a believer. Thus, the Bible teaches that it is imperative that people guard their conscience carefully.²

The Conscience of an Unbeliever

The conscience is man’s moral guide, even without access to the Moral Law (Ten Commandments) of God found in the Bible (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5). In every society, laws are written to protect people against injustice. Hammurabi’s Law Code, over 3700 years old, legislates activities between people, outlawing certain human behaviors that harm others. For example, it contains laws relating to crime, slavery, land disputes, family/relationship problems such as marriage and divorce. It even has some civil laws pertaining to how businesses should function.³

In a perfect world, man’s conscience helps him understand the right action to take in every situation. We do not, however, live in a perfect world. The fact that man has this “moral compass” does not mean that it always properly guides him, or his decisions are always moral. Throughout history, humanity has codified laws which are actually harmful to its society. Many non-Christian cultures have indoctrinated ideas which oppress people for their race or gender. This is because human conscience can be influenced by its own sinful flesh (internal forces), by ungodly, worldly powers (external forces), and/or even by Satanic powers (invisible forces).

The Bible indicates that an unbeliever can damage his conscience in two ways. First, his conscience can break. It can be broken. In fact, the apostle Paul indicates that there is a noetic effect of sin on the mind (Ephesians 4:17-19). An unbeliever orders his life after the spiritual emptiness of his mind (worthless thoughts—v. 17). He has no understanding of God because he is estranged from the life that comes only from God (v. 18). Thus, his heart is “blind.” He is “past feeling” any shame or conscience of sin (v. 19). Unbelief is, in this way, a progressive spiritual disease. This is why an unbeliever’s conscience is defiled (miano). It is stained with sin like a piece of clothing is dyed with color. Everything an unbeliever thinks flows through this grid of corruption. His conscience is defiled. The effect on his soul is profound. His conscience tells him that there is a God, that sin is wrong, and that he needs a Savior, but his mind drifts away from those truths. The stain grows progressively worse. The “staircase” of depravity in Romans 1 indicates that as people reject God, He gives them over to sensual sin (v. 24). As they continue to turn towards sin, God gives them over to “unnatural affections” (v. 26). It is only when they completely reject God that He leaves them alone. He removes Himself from their minds so that they willingly take pleasures in abominable things even when they know they deserve God’s wrath (v. 32). There is a reason why suicide is a major leading cause of death in children and young adults.⁴ The “cognitive dissonance” in the human heart puts a strain on the psyche that it cannot bear. Homosexual teens are three times likely to attempt suicide as those who are heterosexual.⁵

The Bible teaches that people with a broken conscience can be rescued by the gospel. In addressing the various sins that were common in the Corinthian culture, Paul notes that among these was homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9). But he also notes that “and such were some of you” (v. 11).⁶ God declares those who believe the gospel to be righteous. They are washed from their sins and sanctified in Christ. This indicates that a broken conscience can be restored by God. A defiled conscience does not have to permanent.

Second, if an unbeliever’s conscience is left untreated, it can become “seared” (1 Timothy 4:2). Paul relates this directly to two different factors: a departure from faith through the influence of demons (v. 1). He gives this warning to Timothy after a section about the church’s important responsibility to preach the gospel to unbelievers. There will be some, he warns, who will seem to come to Christ only to “apostatize” or to fall away from the truth. He connects their apostasy to the work of demons—their departure is inevitable because they listen to “wandering spirits” who teach “devilish doctrines” that “seduce” through “hypocritical lies.” As a result, these apostates’ moral compass is seriously damaged. Their conscience becomes “seared” like a steak. That is, they become insensitive to their inner moral guide just like a third-degree burn destroys the nerve endings in the skin. Unbelievers with a seared conscience become “deaf” to the inner voice of conscience which causes them to make choices that are not morally grounded. The implication from 1 Timothy 4:1-2 is that the seared conscience is damaged beyond repair. This is what Paul describes of those who “do not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28). They are given over to a reprobate mind which is “without understanding” (v. 31). Thus, they know that God will judge them for sinful actions but they no longer care about it. The psychological terms for the “seared” conscience are sociopathy and psychopathy. Psychologists explain that psychopaths have no moral compass that helps them to discern between good and evil and do not feel empathy towards the pain of others. Sociopaths share similar traits but psychologists believe that these are usually caused by childhood abuse. As a Christian, it is a blessing to know that our conscience is protected by God. While some Christians, because of abuse, may exhibit some traits of sociopathy, their conscience can be healed and controlled by the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The Conscience of the Believer

The indwelling Spirit is not just abiding in our physical body (1 Corinthians 6:19), but He is also indwelling our immaterial soul (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Through the latter, we can commune with God. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit (Romans 8:16). It means that the indwelling Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) interacts with our spirit. The value of this indwelling is that our conscience provides a voice for the Spirit of God to speak to us internally. This is basically what Paul confesses in Romans 9:1. The Spirit of God is connected to his conscience. In fact, it is by listening to this internal voice of the Spirit through the conscience that conviction forms. When a believer says, “it is a matter of conscience,” he means that the inner voice of the Spirit either requires or forbids him to do something. At this point, the conscience is functioning as God designed it to do. Likewise, when we sin our conscience informs us that we have violated God’s commands. When Adam sinned against God, it was his conscience that drove him into the bushes (Genesis 3:7-8).

The problem comes when the inner voice of conscience is not biblically informed. God’s Spirit uses the Bible to lead God’s children through life. Just as a Christian grows in knowledge as he matures in Christ, so his conscience develops as it becomes increasingly biblically informed. The more mature a Christian is in Christ, the stronger his conscience will become (by “strong” conscience I mean “biblically informed conscience”). Christian maturity, Paul indicates, prevents a believer from being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…” (Ephesians 4:14). If a Christian fails to mature in some area of life, his conscience in that area can become “weak” or “wounded” or even “damaged.” This causes him major life problems.

A Weak Conscience. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 8:7-10 that immature believers (or even mature Christians with an area of conscience that is not biblically informed), have a “weak” conscience. He relates this in the section where he is dealing with the problem of eating meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8-10). He has already confessed that idols are “nothing in this world” (v. 4). Idols are just ornamented carvings of wood or stone, or molded precious metals. They are not actually “gods” (vv. 5-6). Consequently, there is no spiritual value in eating meat or refraining from eating meat (v. 8). However, some immature Christians in Corinth were struggling with this issue because they were still associating the meat with the idol (v. 9).

A Wounded Conscience. The real problem for those with a weak conscience is that they can actually wound their already weak conscience. That is, by doing the very thing their conscience is telling them not to do, they wound the conscience further (v. 10). When a Corinthian believer with a weak conscience about eating meat offered to idols ate that meat, he wounded his conscience (v. 12). The word wound (typto) means to “strike” or to “beat.” The weak conscience Christian is assaulted spiritually when he does the thing which his conscience forbids him to do.

A Damaged Conscience. By refusing to listen to his conscience, the spiritually immature Christian “perishes” (v. 11). This is not a reference to eternal judgment. Rather, he “defiles” his conscience in a way that causes him to reject the inner leading of the Holy Spirit in the future. When you fail to listen to conscience, even once, you become more likely to reject your conscience in the future. The damaged conscience is still defiled, even though it is not as bad as the defiled conscience of an unbeliever. This defilement is more like becoming dirty. The conscience becomes soiled like a pair of jeans after a day working in the mud. Only through repentance of sin can the “filth” of sin be cleansed from the conscience. This is true, even when the “sin” is not apparently “sinful.” The action itself may not be wrong, but in refusing the counsel of conscience, the believer can sin against himself.

Exercising the Conscience

It is important that a Christian learns to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking through his conscience. How can we learn it? By letting the Holy Spirit illumine His Word upon our spiritual mind. This is how the conscience gets “trained” to think like God thinks. Thus, a “weak” conscience can grow increasingly strong as a believer obeys his conscience according to biblical instructions. Thus, you must train your conscience through the daily intake of God’s Word. The received word (through meekness) must be heeded as the Spirit leads (James 1:19-25). Furthermore, every Christian should consciously determine to respond to the Spirit during a worship service. Every aspect of his heart should be in tune with God. The music should guide his thoughts toward God. His prayers should lead him into greater communion with God. The preaching should challenge, inspire, convict, and encourage him to grow in his Christian walk. By doing this, the Christian protects his conscience from being wounded or worse.

It is also important for Christians to protect the consciences of others. Christian love ought to compel a believer to suspend his own liberty for the sake of another’s conscience (Romans 15:1-2). This is what it means to live like Jesus in this area (v. 3). The context of this section is also addressing dietary restrictions (14:2). In this case, Paul warns those with a strong conscience (a biblically informed conscience) to be careful about how they deal with others who have a weak conscience (a non-biblically informed conscience). The difficulty here is that every Christian is susceptible to a non-biblically informed conscience on one issue or another. You can be “strong” in one area and, at the same time, “weak” in another. Do not despise those who have a weak conscience on an issue. Christian love never allows us to despise our brothers and sisters in Christ. Be extremely careful when you talk about an issue to your Christian friend when you know he has a weak conscience on that issue. If someone believes that eating pork is ungodly (this might be the case for a new convert from Islam or some other religion that outlaws eating pork) don’t serve bacon at breakfast. You know that eating bacon is not a spiritual issue. His conscience may not be ready for that. If you encourage him to go against his conscience, you are guilty of defiling his conscience.

At the same time, those who are struggling with their conscience about an issue should not pass judgment against those who do not think about that issue the same way that they do. Judging other believers (evaluating their “godliness” based upon one’s own position on an issue that is not specifically addressed perceptually in Scripture) is not right. God did not make you the judge of other Christians (14:3). He has a Master in heaven who will judge both him and you.

Finally, if you do have a conscience issue about something, do not go looking for Christians who disagree with you. Paul commanded the Corinthians to not ask about the origin of the meat they were eating (1 Corinthians 10:27). If you try to play detective in order to “judge” the other person, then you may be right about the issue, but you violated Scripture in doing so.

Alarm Bells

The most important things to remember is that as you mature in Christ, protect your conscience and obey it. You might have a non-biblically informed conscience about a particular issue, but do not violate your conscience (even if someone you consider “spiritually mature” is doing it). If the alarm goes off in your heart, listen to the warning. Even if the warning is a “false alarm,” it is better to have the conscience working than to shut it off.

Personal Reflection:

1. Can you point to a specific situation where you know it involved a “conscience” issue?

2. Do you purposefully protect your conscience? If so, list some ways you do that here. If not, list some reasons why you don’t.

3. How can you help others by protecting their conscience? List some ways you might do that.

Discussion:

1. Read Romans 14:1-11
2. What is the problem presented in the text? Why would it be a problem?
3. What principle does Paul give in v. 7?
4. What does Paul mean by the “judgement seat?” How does this apply to the argument?
5. How can we stop “judging” one another?