2 Big Takeaways from a Life-Changing Letter

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

The Apostle Paul must have felt like a dad who couldn’t turn his back on his kids for one minute.

 

He’d spent a year and a half with the Corinthian Christians, planting their church and teaching them God’s Word. Yet just a short time later, word got back to him: Many of those Christians had already shot down much of what he’d taught them.

 

So Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church. For 16 chapters he taught them, rebuked them, corrected and trained them in righteousness. And God placed this letter in the Bible because we ALSO need to be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained in righteousness.

 

Reading over this important book, I found 2 key themes: #1) Right DOCTRINE, and #2) Right BEHAVIOR. Let’s take a quick look at what 1 Corinthians teaches us about both.

 

1. The Holy Spirit uses 1 Corinthians to teach us right DOCTRINE. In chapter 15, Paul writes: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (vs. 3-4). The core of right doctrine is the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Christ.

 

Without Jesus’ DEATH, you and I would be condemned to hell for our sin. Without Jesus’ BURIAL, we might doubt that Jesus had really died. And without Jesus’ RESURRECTION, you and I would have no hope beyond the grave. No matter how foolish the world thinks this message is, we as followers of Christ must proclaim it over and over again.

 

2. The Holy Spirit uses 1 Corinthians to teach us right BEHAVIOR. The Corinthian church had lots of behavioral problems. Over the course of his letter, Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their disunity and infighting; for their tolerance of perversion in the church; for suing each other in court. He gives them clear instructions on everything from taking the Lord’s Supper to the proper use of spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians is filled with deep and practical teaching about how we as Christians should behave.

 

But the very pinnacle of this teaching is found in 1 Corinthians 13. Often called “the Love Chapter,” it paints a beautiful picture of how Jesus’ agape love behaves. Through Paul, the Holy Spirit makes it crystal clear that when it comes to right behavior, agape love never fails. Verse 13 tells us: “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

 

At home, in our community and at church, you and I must hold fast to these beautiful truths. Believe them. Live them out. And proclaim them to all who will listen.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd., or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.