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THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION
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the abiding graces (faith, hope and love), are given their true place, while the gifts were seen to be transient in
character.
Things that prevented the teaching of the reconciliation
1 Corinthians 1:10 to 4:16
A 1:10-12.
Divisions. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ.
B 1:13-17.
Was Paul crucified for you?
C 1:18 to 2:5. Christ, the power and wisdom of God.
D 2:6 to 3:2.
The spiritual and carnal; `judgeth'.
A 3:3,4.
Divisions. Paul, Apollos.
B 3:5.
Who then is Paul?
C 3:6-23.
Christ, the foundation, Christ is God's.
D 4:1-16.
Man's judgment and the Lord's.
Spiritual gifts do not necessarily imply spiritual persons. No church mentioned in the New Testament was so
enriched with spiritual gifts as was the church at Corinth, yet no church equals it for lowness of spirituality. To
them the apostle had to say:
`And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ'
(3:1).
This condition rendered it impossible to advance in teaching:
`I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able'
(3:2).
Their carnal condition was manifested by their divisions, and the exalting of the names of men as a foundation
rather than realizing that Christ is the one foundation upon which God's building stands:
`For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and
walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?' (3:3,4).
We have already touched upon these divisions and the serious menace they were to the apostle's ministry.
So long as Christ was in the flesh, He limited His ministry to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To know
Christ after the flesh was to deny the reconciliation. To such persons the apostle limited his preaching to that of the
cross. For a full understanding of the reconciliation resurrection must be acknowledged. This was denied by some,
and this, together with the low spiritual state of the church, caused the apostle to say that he determined to know
nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The apostle was willing to be misunderstood and to limit
his teaching, rather than by a selfish glorifying of the flesh, vindicate himself, show his superiority over other self-
styled apostles, or even over the twelve, by regardlessly preaching all the truth whatever the condition of his hearers
may have been.
While the Corinthians were puffing themselves up in their fleshly and worldly wisdom, they were missing the
fact that only in Christ can the wisdom and power of God be realized, and rendering themselves incapable of
receiving the true wisdom of God, a term closely connected with the reconciliation.
In Romans 11 the apostle, having spoken of `the reconciling of the world' (verse 15), and the mystery of Israel's
blindness (verse 25), concludes with praise to God, particularly for His wisdom (verse 33).
In Romans 16:25,26, when he refers to the inner teaching of Romans which commences with 5:12, he again
concludes (verse 27) with an ascription of praise to the only `Wise God'. In another sphere the same note is
sounded, for after speaking in Ephesians 3 of the marvellous revelation of the dispensation of the mystery, the
apostle again refers to the element of wisdom, saying that the principalities and powers are learning by the church
the manifold wisdom of God (Eph. 3:1-12). It is important when studying these opening chapters to ignore chapter
divisions. This is so with regard to chapters 1 and 2.