PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians
Frederic William Farrar [1831-1903] · 502,662 words · 564 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 181
Yers. 9-13.-The interconrse of Christians with the world. In a former letter now lost, 1'.aul had given t?eCoi:inthian~ instructions not_to mix themselves up with p;rsons of e,11 character. 'lhese mstruct10ns had been nnsunderstood, and the apostle now explains what his meaning was. I. (!HRISTIANS ARE KOT TO AVOID ~EC…
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infinitely greater deliverance.· Salvation from death for the human race, through the virtue of his death as its Representative and Head, is the fundameutal truth of the. Christian system. On this truth rests the whole fabric of the kingdom of God among men. It is a kingdom founded, built up, consummated, glorified,…
805 wordsSECTION 183The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 183
Yers. 9-13.-The intercourse of Christians with the world. In a former letter now lost, J:'.aul had given the Co1:inthian~ instructions not to mix themselves up with p~rsons of evil character. These mstruct10ns had been misunderstood, and the apostle now explains ·what his meaning was. I. CHRISTIANS ARE KOT TO AVOID NE…
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infinitely greater deliverance. Salvation from death for the human race, through the virtue of his death as its Representative and Head, is the fundarneutal truth of the Christian system. On this truth rests the whole fabric of the kingdom of God among men. It is a kingdom founded, built up, consummated, glorified, …
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11. THE COMMUNICANTS. "Let 11s keep the feast." No alien or uncircumcised person might partake of the Paschal supper; but all the concrrecration of Israel was charged t_o observe this ordinance, for redemption was not th~ privilege of the few, but the Joy of the whole nation. And for the occasion, distinctions of ra…
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subversive of family and social relations; and anything approaching to the toleration of it in the Christian Church would seriously imperil its character, and give at least ,pparent ground for the shameful accusations which its enemies brought against it. for the Levitical law upon the matter, see Lev. xviii. 8. In adv…
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Yer. 5.-The very su:fferi71gs of Chiistian sinners rnay be overruled unto .~anctifying. On the precise meanings and references of the terms and lhrures used in this verse, the exegetical portion of the Commentary should be consulted. Some suppose that a temporal judgment, sickness, or loss, followed on the excommunicat…
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mass, are owing to the multiplication of the plant-cells, which takes place with astonishing rapidity. By this process of vegetation! t~e starch and sugar of the dough are converted mto other chemical products. But 1t 1s only allowed to go to a certain length, and then the principle of growth is checked, by placing the…
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crumb of leaYCned bread, which was to be placed in a box or some place where e. mouse could not get at it." I. THE 'CHRISTIAN CALL TO BE UNLEAVENED. "Ye are not called unto uncleanness but unto holiness." The apostles were especially called to witness to a truth by word of lip; but, while each member was equally ca…
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Vers. 7, 8.-Keeping the <Jhristian feast of the unleavened. Give, in introduction, a careful description of the old Passover. Observe especially that (1) there was a sacrificed lamb; (2) that its blood became a protection and a sign; (3) that the meat of the lamb was partaken of together; (4) that all the food was unle…
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<"nnsistently seek int~1,,'Tity from those who (Heb. ii. fi), We lnust take tho phiin moo.n- "·ere not npright. A fortiori, Christinns ing of the apostle's words, whethe1· wo co.r1 ous:ht not to ,lo so. Before the saints. All throw any light on his oonceptions or not. Cl;ristitms wern ideally "saints," just AS the T…
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le.id down to the Thessnlonians (1 These. of sanctification, bnt the consecration to God iv. 6), and incurred God's anger. by baptism (Wickliffe, "halowed "). (For Ver. 9.-Know ye not; rather, Or know what St. Paul meant by justification, see ye not, 11s before. .A.re you defying God, or Rom. iii. 24-26.) In the Ne.me…
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destroy; shall bring t-0 nought. This would heath cu. They two. The words do not occur occur when the physical body becomes a in Gou. ii. 24, but are always so quoted in spiritual body, like that of the iLngels of the New Testtiment (Matt. xix. 5; Mark x. God (eh. xv. 51, 52). How ..-ile, then, is it 8; Eph. v. 31). Sa…
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sign of n locnlized worship nnd a separated which the Church has never sanctioned any people; in the Gospe:H our Lord uses it of exclusive opinion. The thoughts touche,l his own mortal body; in the Epistles it i~ upon in this verse are fully developed in the: use,! (ns here) of the body of every baptized Epistle to the…
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11ncl the decisions of judges. Dnt tbe spirit of absolute justice reigns in the truo Church. II. IT IS A TRIDUNAL FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF ALL DISPUTES, Paul intimates that it is to judge disputes on the "smallest matters," and of "things pertaining to this life.'' These expressions seem to comp_rehend all ~ispntes-no…
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Vers. 12-20.-Chi·istianity in relation to the body. "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient," etc. It would seem that there were those in the Church at Corinth who regarded Christianity as giving them a kind of liberty to do whatsoever they wished. Some of them having left Judaism with its v…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-11.-Civil relations and Church membership; litigation before heathen courts. The chapter opens abruptly. "Dare any of you "-a strong expression of dis- appro'l'al-" having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust?" Judaism. had taught the Jews not to go before Genti…
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of the spiritual superiority of the saint.~ in Christ, he claims that the judgment of believers may now be most advantageously exercised. It is a training in tl,e school of Christ, and the discipline, while varied, is adapted to the highe,;t ~ood. Does St. Paul mean to put earthly tribunals under the ban? By no means. …
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Vers .. 12-20.-The human ~ody and its rela~ion to Christ. Among the objects about him proper for use and enJoyment-those obJects which accorded with his nature and position as a redeemed man-was there anything from which he was excludecl? "All things are lawful unto me," and, in this sense, libe1ty and law are ident…
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"Abba, Father," which is not heard in the rrsponses of the Church, nor in hymns of tmcial worship, but is an utterance that rises to God in those hours when loneliness is 11, supreme joy. I have the power; I will not use it; I will deny myself its exercise, and I will do it because "all things are not expedient." \V…
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the human body; and, furthermore, if Christ's edncation of his own body to tbo offices he fille<l as Teacher, Miracle-Worker, Philanthropist, Uedeemer, etc., as to the· spirit actuating him, an example to his followers ;-then surely we have the weightiest of reasons for rcgar<ling the body as the "temple of the Holy…
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-rmnuNAL, Thll Greek~ were an especially disputatious and liti:dons race. It was natural enough that those who in the days of their heathenism had been accustomed, to refer their disputes to the judges of the city should still carry any differences that might arise into the same courts. But reflection, as the apostle n…
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Forgiveness and cleansing from impmity may justly be regarded ns the meRns to an end; i.e. to hallowing or sanctificat1011. This is the positive, to which the other is the negative, side. Set free from ~-ice_ and ?rime, the subject of the Divine power of the cross comes under a new and mspmng mfluence. 'l'hc Holy Sp…
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Ver. 17.-Clirist and his people are one. It was the wont of the apostle to associate the commonest duties of life with the highest motives drawn lrom spiritual realities and relations. In dissuading from the sin of impurity, he might have adduced consi- derations drawn from physical laws or from social conditions; but …
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, er. 20.-" Glorify God." "The heavens declare the glory of God." Hosts of angelic and glorified .spirits give" glory, honour, :md thanksgiving unto him." "All nations whom he hath made shall come and glorify his Name." ".And shall man alone be dumb Till this glorious kingdom come? No ! the Church delights to raise …
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the redeemed. 2. By obedience and service; and that not only of spirit, as is presumed, but of body, as is here expressed. The occasion of this chapter, the prevalence of 6ensual sin, seems to give an especially appositeness and force to this admonition, •• Glorify God in your body." That which had been the instrument …
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Vers. 9-11.-0ur inheritan~ in peril. I. WHAT OUR INHERITANCE 1s. "The kin!:!;dom of God:" present, but chiefly future. Of which Peter speaks (2 Pet. iii. 13), "Vi7e, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Heaven, and the heavenly life, and the heavenly joys; …
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II I. THESE RWDRANCES MAY DE REMOVED. Here is consolation for great sinners- and who are small ones? When a man is deeply convinced of sin he is often tempted to despair. Can I, the unclean, the immoral, the foul-mouthed, the foul-hearted, enter into the kingdom of ineffable holiness? It seems impossible. But aFter det…
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Vers. 13-19.-Duties to the body. Christianity concerns itself about man's body as well as about man's ~oul. Christianity is a religion for man-for a whole man. When. considerin; matters of religion, we are apt to leave the body too much out of account. Our remissness might be corrected if we remembered how large an …
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Vers. 1-8.-0n going to law. Among other evils at Corinth calling for correction, a litigious spirit had begun to show itself, fostered doubtless by the unpleasant friction of parties. Brother went to law with brother before the heathen tribunals, and the Christian name was thereby brought into ill repute. For this the …
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Vers. 9-11.-Bifore and after: two pictures. The apostle reminds them that wrong-doing of cYery kind excludes from the kingdom of God, and that consequently their _quarrels a_nd litigat_ion are bringing them into danger. They are forgetting the meanmg of their conversion. I. OuR ORIGINAL CONDITION. Though this dark …
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Vers. 12-20.-.Abuse of Christian liberty. It appears that the principle of Christian liberty, "All things are lawful for me," had been greatly abused by some in the Church at Corinth. It was cited in defence of fornication, as well as of eating all kinds of meats. They confounded it with the philosophical maxim that ma…
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Ver. 12.-Free, and yet not free. The first step to a right understanding of this passage is to observe tl,at the" all things" of which the apostle speaks are things in thernscl,es indifferent (a.6,&~opa), not things in which any vital principle of morality or point of Christian doctrine is involved. Nothing could be…
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etc. '!'his iR self-assertion of the right order; the manly use of the power by which it is given us to determine our own course, and not allow it to be left at the mercy of outward influences, or to be determined for us by the persuasive force that happens to be the strongest. As a mere act of self-discipline, this …
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may find a deeper joy, a better life, in nourishing and saving his! So has it been with ~hrist.'s more_ than hum:m, more than !11other's love. "Iiercin is love," etc. (1 John 1v. 10). It 1s the memory and consc10usness of this, and all that it meaus that produces in us a proi'uund impressiou that we aro "not our own…
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heathen, as Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome, it had rescued persons who were steeped in sensual vice. "Such were some of yon," writes the apostle to the members of" the Church of God at Corinth." He had put down a terrible catalogue of sinners, who wrre not to inherit the kingdom of God. "Such were some of you; but you are…
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Vers. 1-8.-The i·elations of Oliristians to pttblic law. The apostle here' deals with a fresh mistake made by the Corinthian Christians. In view of the extensive commercial interests of Corinth, ,ve can well understand that disputes constantly arose which could only be settled by the common law courts. St. Paul does…
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a common life, which makes it as one family. 5. It is a socictv under a livin!; Head. It endures as "seeing him who is invisible;" an,! it is a s1,iritual realization of the "theocracy," or direct practical ruling of the Divine Lord. 6. It is a society with judicial functions. Show that the Church has disciplinary po…
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the ~ord "inherit" is taken from Israel's long journey through the deserts to the promised land, which was a country to be" inherited." Under careful limitations, the fignre may be carried over into Christianity, and the Christian may be spoken of as "seeking a citv which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is Go…
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.fied, and justified?" We can settle every difficult question by asking-Is the thinn- befitting a sanctified man? And to realize our C.:hristi,in standing becomes the hes~ resistance of evil. I. REr.ALL YOUR SELF-SEERING PAST. "Such were some of you." Apply to the .Corinthians. Indicate something of the luxury and v…
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1111 things are expedient." T!1is is the s_tatem~nt of a general principle, which may be· thus expressed: when a man 1s renewed m Clmst Jesus he becomes a law unto himself his rege'?-erate conscience st_1fli~iently attests "'.hat is lawful and what is expedient. Th; apostle 1s applymg the pnnc1ple to two subjects of…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER VII. very different. The example of St. Paul should have shown the medireval moralists Vere. 1--40.-.A.nswers to the inquiries of and even the later Fathers how wrong it the Corinthians respecting marriage. is " to give themselves airs of certainty on Vera. 1-11.-The lawfulness of marriage, poin…
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jude:ed of in connection 'l\'ith surrounding nil kinrls of extreme views-immorel in- -circumstances. Those who make St. Pnul difference a11d over-scrupulous usceticism- judge slightingly of marriage contradict his ha,l claimed domi110.nce amoug the Corin- own express rules und statements (Eph. 'I'. thians. 24, 31, 32;…
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permission " to Christians, not " by way of I, but the Lord. Because the role hitcl been injunction." He meane to say that be laid down by Christ himself (Mark x. 11, leaves the details of their lives, whether 12; Matt. v. 32 ; xix. 6 ; Luke xvi. 18). celibate or married, to their individual con- Let not the wife depar…
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nlone-unfaithfulness-as adequate for the masoochim. St. Paul does not permit the disruption of the marriage 1ie; but he was Rdoption of this course. In the rebellion of not contemplating, as St, Paul is, the case Barcocheba many obliterated the sign of of mixed marriages. To peace; rather, in circumcision, and were …
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in the letter to Philemon) to be "trembling taken of the previous verse. Christ's servant. on Pa.ul's lips," but he never utters it, '.rhe sharp antithesis of this verse was often beca.use to do so would have been to kindle present to the mincl of the early Christians. soci11I revolt, 11nd lead to the total overthrow …
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the prophesied " woes of the Messiah" river of earthly gifts, but drink them (Mntt. xxiv. 3, etc.). For a man; rather,for sparingly, and as it were with the palm or a perfon-whether man orwomnn. Soto be; the hand. The fashion of this world paeseth that is, "unmarried." The words are not away. So St. John so.ye, "'l'he …
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you. He does not wish to " fling a noose" be morally better than another, we a.re over them to win them over to hie own bound to take it; but " better" with refer- private views, and entangle them iu rules ence to expediency in" the urgent necessity" which they might not be able to bear. which rested on the Christian w…
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marvellous that this condition of life on which the very continuation of the human r~ce depends should remaiu thus _open and optional. Suppose that to-day every indi- vidual of the human race determmed not to enter into this relationship and to have no intercourse with the opposite sex, sixty years hence at most, th…
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depraved choice, I can scarcely think that his principle here can be accepted. Apply it for example to- I. MATRIMONIAL LIFE. If two persons have entered into this, of all relationships the most solemn, whose temperaments, beliefs, tendencies, tastes, and habits are soon. found to be so antipathetic as to produce nothi…
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nll conditions of life; it is independent of family relations, independent of ecclesinsticnl institutions, independent of socinl dist.inctions, whether slave or master, rich or poor, and where it exists it should be retained amidst a.11 changes and a.tall costs. "Abide in your calling." Vers. 22-24.-Per.sonal Christia…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-11.- Views concerni11g marriage : the institution in itself ood in relation to circumstances, obligations, ~nd duties. We ~ave seen what a meeting-place Corinth was for the schools of philosophy and Judaism-a sort of metropolitan Coliseum, iu which the gladiators of intellect were …
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God to control them. Proceeding to discuss the questions submitted to him by the Corinthians, he be;1;ins this chapter by considering marriage in that aspect which was under debate just then at Corinth. Marriage in the abstract is only in view so far as recurrence is necessary, in the conduct of the argument, to the fu…
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Vers. 12-28.-Mixed marriages. "To the rest," those cases in which one party was a believer and the other not (nJixed marria"es), "speak I, not the Lord." Yet while St. Paul does not claim to expound and apply a formal law, he must not be con~ sidered as abnegating for the time his apostolic office and giving an opin…
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,seems to us--demands that this verse," What knowest thou," etc., should be construed in close sympathy with the context. A break here would not only be at the expense of the general argument, but a violation of unity at its most essential point, viz. as a ne:rus between what precedes and what follows. Understand wh…
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"mercy" indeed, since it shows the digaity of spiritual intellect, and what importance men should attach to its daily offices in life. "The time is shortened:" here is his starting-point; and this abridged time is applied instantly to a certain state of mind, which ::lt. Paul would have his converts to cultivate with r…
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{'Xcept in the moral and spiritual impressions left by it upon your souls. "The fashion -0f this world passeth away;" the whole structure, the modes of existence, the relations of existence in their variety and multiplicity, all present objects, the totality which no mind can compute,-all this is in motion, the dura…
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flentiment in the direction of asceticism, There were those who represented all sexual intercourse as impure, and beneath the dignity and unworldliness of spiritual men. Paul himself, though his language was afterwards coloured by sectarian transcribers of his Epistle, was evidently somewhat inclined to severity in h…
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I. HuMAN ENDOWMENTS ARE DIVINE GIFrs. It is characteristic of a religious and devout ruind to look up to the Source and Author of all. If to God we are to attrihnte- the providential favours we enjoy, shall we suppose that even higher gifts are to be traced to an inferior source? Inspiration enabled our great teache…
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the observation of such ns are associated in the tenderest intimacies of life. There is no desire and prayer so all-penetrating and all-influential as the desire and prayer fol" the spiritual and eternal welfare of those who are nearest and dearest, united by the most sacred and endearing of earthly ties. Ill. AN OPPO…
1,062 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.