of problems and praising and com forting them in the Lord before he counsels them. If Paul had been like so many of us, he would have looked at the Christians at Corinth and merely found fault with them — or loudly proclaiming that since they were not as good as he was, they were not worth help or con The church at Corinth had prob lems. In I Corinthians 1:11 the first major problem is discussed. They were divided. We will briefly look at their problem in verses 11-17, add an historical note, and close with Paul's excellent counsel that is found in verses nine and ten as well as 11-17. Let us look now at the problem. Verse 11 refers to contentions. That is a strong word. It is also found in Romans 1:29. There the Creek is translated "de bate" and it is poor company. Now what does this word mean in Romans? Debate is not neces sarily wrong, but there were a group of philosophers known not only in the day of Paul, but in his tory prior to the time, who were called "eristic" philosophers. The word "eristic" is from the Creek word translated "contentions" in I Corinthians and "debate" in Ro mans. These eristic philosophers were known not so much by what they stood for as much as by what they stood against. For instance, regardless of what some thought was good they would find fault with it. If a man goes out and buys a new chariot and drives it home, his neighbor, the eristic philoso pher, will walk around the new chariot and his first comments will be, "I hear they have been having problems with this make this year." Page 13 sideration. PROBLEMS
course, have some questions about the resurrection and return of Christ and Paul deals with this in chapter 15. Verse eight is another indication 1of why Paul feels these people are worthy, not only of fellowship, but !of help. The first part reads, "Who I shall also confirm you unto the ! end." The word "confirm" was used by some Creek writers to convey the idea of guaranteeing a title. It would be like a title insur ance policy on a piece of property. Let us read verse 8 now with this in mind, "Who shall also confirm or guarantee that we are in Christ, unto the very end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." The closing reference here is to the coming of Christ in glory for His own. Now just one last comment on verse eight. The word "end" could be translated "consummation" and I think that is a little better. It gives the idea of fulfillment. It is not the end because everything is over! it is really the beginning. The Greeks used the word "telos" which is here translated "end" in this sense time and time again. In many of the manuals in public speaking they commented on what they called the end of a speech. But they were referring to the ultimate purpose of the speech, not its conclusion. For example was the speech to in form? to persuade? to inquire? to entertain? And here in verse eight it is not that Christ is simply going to keep us or guarantee that we are His until everything is over, it is that we are guaranteed to be His until all is consummated in Christ's return. It is refreshing to see Paul writ ing to Christians who have all kinds
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