Alright, so this entry was a little long. I'm going to trim it from the original length a bit. If you'd like to see the rest (mostly historical setting because my professor likes us to include that) let me know and I can send it to you.
In the second letter we have of Paul to the
Corinthians, I found a theme of “living in Christ’s house” – or, living as He
would have us live: with Him. Paul has
just finished discussing many doctrinal discrepancies in the Church in
Corinth. Not only were the people of
Corinth a corrupt people (we discussed in class how they were the Las Vegas or “sin
city” of their time), but their views and practices in the Church were confusing;
there were arguments between groups that each saw the gospel differently.
...
After going through all of that business, I started
noticing the aforementioned theme. This
theme is very appropriate, because Paul is now telling them the simple truths
of living the gospel after going through all of the “hairy” stuff. (1
Corinthians 11 joke…) The first place I
noticed this was 2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.” When I
read this verse about eternal tabernacles, my first thought was “live in Christ’s
house: stand in holy places.” This
dwelling is not something we build with our hands, but something we take with
us – ourselves. When we keep The Spirit
with us, our very beings become eternal tabernacles where His spirit and His
influence can dwell.
A kind of add-on to this thought is in 2 Cor.
5:17. “Therefore, if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new.” When we live in such a
way that Christ can dwell with us, he changes us, he makes us better – and what
we were before becomes something new.
A little later, Paul tells us how to live in Christ’s
house. One verse that struck me was 2
Cor. 6:12. “Ye are not straitened in us,
but ye are straitened in your own bowels.”
In other words, you choose your behavior. If you choose to live with The Spirit, it
will become a possibility for you to live with His influence. Another important part of living with His
influence is repentance, and Paul mentions this in 2 Cor. 7:9-11. Here he talks about godly sorrow, and how it
brings repentance. In verse 11, there
are some words that stand out to me. One
is particular is “clearing.” Like 5:17
talks about, utilizing Christ’s influence – and, with repentance especially,
His Atonement – has a renewing effect; a clearing effect.
Skipping ahead a little, 2 Cor. 12:10 sums up these
thoughts for us: “therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am
weak, then I am strong.” Christ makes us
better when we live for Him.
As a P.S. kind of
thought, 2 Cor. 11:3 reminds us to not let our minds “be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ.” This is
an interesting phrase, and it takes a second look to understand it. What I took from it is that Paul is warning
us not to seek more complex answers than we are given in the gospel. His gospel is simple, it is meant to be
so. Seeking complicated answers will
confuse and complicate our thoughts, just as it complicated the views of the
Corinthians. Learn from the simple
truths we are given. Live by them. They are profound, and will change us for the
better, helping us progress until we are completely back to Him.
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