1 Corinthians 9 - Part A

We're not saved by works. We're saved by God's grace through our faith. We simply believe in Him. God declares us justified, just as if we had never sinned, and that's our standing before God. A lot of people think Christianity is all about rules and regulations. It's true we have God's commands. But today on Connect with Skip Heitzel, Skip examines what it means to have liberty in Christ.

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Get your But God CD collection today when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer, or call 800-922-1888. Now, we're in 1 Corinthians Chapter 9 as we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching. We are smack dab in the middle of Paul dealing with the issue of personal liberty. So in Chapter 1, he talked about things offered to idols, and we all have knowledge, but we really should mingle our knowledge with our love.

So what Paul is dealing with, and he continues to deal with it, this is all a setup for Chapter 9, he continues to deal with the issue of personal Christian liberty. What I can and cannot do as a Christian, I remember when I was a young Christian, a brand new believer, I came to faith when I was 18 years of age. I smoked cigarettes, and I started when I was 10. And I was 18, I was smoking cigarettes, a lot of us did back then, didn't think, it was a vice, it was a habit, it wasn't, we didn't consider it sinful. But it was an issue among other believers who saw that and had issues with us, problems with it. And it wasn't very long where I just decided all things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient, Chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any, also 1 Corinthians, Chapter 6 and 10. All things are lawful for me, but not all things build up or edify, 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10.

So I decided, I don't need it, I'll give it up. I won't let it control me, by God's grace, I want to control it. So it's not like if I continued to smoke, I would go to hell because I smoked. But some Christians get the idea, oh really, you're going to go to hell because that's where all the smoke is anyway, so you know, if you're into it, go for it. But we're not saved by works, we're saved by God's grace through our faith.

We simply believe in Him, God declares us justified, just as if we had never sinned, and that's our standing before God. But is it okay for a Christian to smoke a cigarette? Is it okay for Christians to watch movies? Is it okay for Christians to listen to certain kinds of music? These are the questions that we sometimes have.

We would call them gray areas. They're not hard and fast, right and wrong, at least in our mind, so Paul gives us some good biblical counsel of how to deal with that. Now, if you think about it, now in the days of the New Testament in Corinth, they weren't asking, is it okay for Christians to go to movies or listen to certain records? They didn't have records.

They didn't have movies. Their big issue was, can I go down to Blake's pagan burger and have a Zeus burger with Aphrodite cheese on top, right? That was the issue, meat that was sacrificed to idols. Now, whenever we ask questions like, is it okay for a Christian to do this or that and still be a Christian, we're asking the wrong question. Because essentially what we're saying is, what can I do and still get away with it and still be a Christian?

It's like, what are the minimum requirements? Well, the only requirement is the requirement of faith. But why would you ever want to stay at ABC when you can go on and graduate with your PhD in following the Lord?

Why would you want to stay back in kindergarten when you can grow up and grow in faith? So the question isn't, what can I get away with? But what ways in my life can I further honor and glorify my Lord? And dream big in that. So we are asking the wrong questions, but Paul is dealing with those issues in chapter 8 and into chapter 9.

He continues this thought. Our personal liberty, what I can and can't do, mixed with responsibility. My personal liberty, my responsibility.

I can do all things. All things are lawful for me, but I do have a responsibility to others. That's why Paul said, look, if my eating meat is going to cause somebody to stumble, I'll never eat meat again.

I would rather prefer to show love to them than stumble a weaker brother or sister. He continues in chapter 9, but he is using himself as an example. And he's going to give an example of his own apostleship, that he has certain rights, certain privileges in the calling to God. And he's going to give an example of his own apostleship, in the calling that God has given him as an apostle. And yet, because of something that he feels the Lord put in his heart, he would forego certain privileges that people in the ministry, apostles like Paul, are entitled to.

But he himself, and he said, it's fine. Peter does it. The brothers of the Lord do it. Other apostles do this. But here's just, I have forgone those privileges because something God has put on his heart, and we're going to read what that is.

Now, I'm setting it all up. But as part of that, he's going to use himself as an example. But one thing we read as we go through 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians is there were some people in Corinth, obviously, who had a problem with Paul's authority as an apostle. And they questioned his authority as an apostle. And Paul is, in part, dealing with that, but really using himself as an example of liberty. You'll see how it all ties together. So he begins by saying, am I not an apostle?

These are rhetorical questions. We would say, yes, Paul, you are an apostle. Am I not free?

Yes, Paul, you are free. Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Paul is setting out, first of all, the proof of his calling, his apostleship. One of the qualifications to be an apostle is you had to have seen the Lord. Now, we know that Paul saw the Lord when?

Road Damascus Road. He was on the way up to persecute believers. He had a vision of the Lord appearing to him.

Who are you, Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. And later on, he says, in that event, I saw the Lord. That was one of the qualifications to be a new testament apostle.

You had to have seen the Lord. Let me take you back to the book of Acts. You don't have to turn there, but in Acts chapter 1, after Judas died, he hung himself.

So there's a vacancy in the slot of 12 apostles, right? One's gone. Peter stands up, and he says, look, Judas, he croaked. He's dead. He killed himself.

I'm paraphrasing a little bit, of course. He didn't say croaked. But anyway, he kicked the bucket.

He's gone. And there's a scripture. He quotes a scripture that it's fulfilled.

Let another take his off as he stands up and says, this was anticipated by God. But he said, we need to find a replacement, and it has to be somebody who has to be somebody who saw the risen Lord, has seen the risen Lord. Now, Paul the apostle was not somebody who filled the slot of those original 12 because Peter said he had to have been with us from the beginning of Jesus' ministry at his baptism until his ascension and be a witness of the risen Lord. Now, Paul did see the Lord in the vision to Damascus, but Paul wasn't following with the clan of disciples from the calling of Jesus at the Jordan River until his ascension.

So he's not in that list of those 12. But that was one of the qualifications. You have to have seen the Lord. Paul said, I meet that qualification. I've seen the Lord.

Another qualification is the qualification of signs and wonders. In 2 Corinthians 12, he says, the signs of an apostle were wrought in me. Now, Paul is called in scripture an apostle to the Gentiles, an apostle to the Gentiles. Here he says, my proof of apostleship is number one, I've seen the Lord.

Number two, you guys in Corinth. You're the proof of the pudding. I've established churches. I've seen the work of God through you. He says in verse 2, you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Now, that idea of a seal, let me just explain that. In ancient times, if you had cargo and you shipped it from one place to another, they would take a wax seal and take the imprint of the signet ring or the seal, if it was bigger than a ring, and put that in the wax on the cargo so that when it got to port and it was to be reclaimed, you could show by showing that you have the same seal, you could show that I'm the authentic owner or these are the authentic goods that will go to the person on the other end. There was a seal. There was a proof of ownership.

Also, seals were put on title deeds, on wills. In the book of Revelation, Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes the scroll with seven seals and breaks the seals, proving that He is the, indeed, owner of the earth and takes the title deed and unfurls it. So Paul says, the proof of my apostleship is the fact that I've come to Corinth and this church has been established.

You are my seal. You are the proof that I am authentic, that I'm the real deal. Just because you have a business card that says doctor or reverend or minister or whatever, that is not proof. The proof is in the results of the gift. So if somebody is called to be an evangelist, how do you know that person is called to be an evangelist?

Very easy. People get saved. If somebody is called to be a pastor or teacher, how do you know they're really called?

People get fed. So you see the results in the seal that proves the authenticity. So he said, you are it.

You are my seal. Are you not, verse one, are you not my work in the Lord? This brings up a question about apostleship.

I have been asked this on a few occasions. Are the apostles something from the past? Is apostleship over with or are there apostles today? And here's the answer.

Yes and no. Yes or no, there are no more apostles after the 12 apostles. Yes, in a functional sense, apostleship is a gift that continues. In a firm sense, in a strict sense, there were only 12 apostles. And this is why Peter made a big deal out of getting somebody to succeed Judas. In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus told the 12 apostles. He said, when the Son of Man in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on 12 will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

So he promised them a front row seat and a cabinet position in the millennial kingdom next to him. The 12 apostles get to fulfill that role. Okay, well we have a problem because Judas kicked the bucket. He committed suicide, betrayed the Lord.

You know the story. So to Peter, that vacancy has to be filled. Jesus made a promise.

That vacancy has to be filled. So you remember in Acts chapter 1, there were two different people. One by the name of Joseph, also called Barsabas, whose name was Justice. That was one guy, the other guy, Matthias.

And it's an interesting thing. I trust the Lord is in it, but they cast lots. You know, instead of, let's just pray about it and the Lord will reveal it to our hearts.

Let's just throw the dice. And they cast the lots and the lot fell on Matthias. So he is the one numbered among the 12 that was considered the one adopted in Judas' place.

So in the millennium, I anticipate seeing Matthias on that 12th throne. People would say, oh wait a minute, what about Paul the apostle? I believe Paul is an apostle. Paul, an apostle by the will of God, he opens most of his letters with.

And there's proof of that. But Paul the apostle isn't the same as the original 12 apostles. In the New Testament, they taught the apostles' doctrine. Paul said the foundation of the church was built upon the apostles and the prophets. So I think there are 12 original apostles. And in a firm sense, there are no more. That does not continue today.

But in a functional sense, it does. Because did you know that the term apostle shows up about 75 times in the New Testament? And it doesn't just refer to the 12. Sometimes Paul is called an apostle. Sometimes Barnabas is called an apostle. Sometimes Timothy is called an apostle. On one occasion, Andronicus and Junia are called apostles. So there are names of other people besides the 12 and besides even Paul that are also called apostles.

So you say, well what does that mean exactly in a functional sense? I believe a modern apostle is a missionary. Somebody who is sent out from a church usually goes into an area, plants and sows and works in an area, spiritually speaking. And that's how the New Testament, I believe, treated that functional gift of apostleship. So for example, there was a document after the New Testament called the Didache.

And some of you have heard me refer to that over the years, the Didache or the Didache, it's said in Greek. The Didache is a document that is considered the teaching of the apostles. And it was an instruction manual for local churches on how to spot a true prophet from a false prophet, a true missionary it is called. The idea of somebody sent out who is a missionary and how to spot a true or a false one. So in a functional sense, I think a missionary fulfills an apostolic role. So no, there are more. No more apostles. Yes, there are many more apostles.

That makes sense? Okay. Am I not an apostle?

Yep, you are. Verse 2, If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. I came to your area of Corinth, spent 18 months in that area, led people to Christ, planted a church, taught you and then moved on.

My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Now this is sarcasm.

He's making a sarcastic remark. Look, all the other people that are even sent out by you have certain rights and privileges. Is it only myself, Paul, and Barnabas who have no rights whatsoever except we have to work and provide for ourselves? Now Paul did work when he came to Corinth. We're told the story in Acts chapter 18. He comes to Corinth. He meets a couple who got kicked out of Rome. They were tent makers by trade.

Their name was Priscilla and Aquila. Paul met them. He was a tent maker. Skenapoyas is the Greek word, somebody who works with hides and carves them up and makes tents usually out of either cloth or most typically hides. That's what he worked with. Paul was professionally worked in the secular field as a tent maker. So he came into that area, worked with tents, worked in that tent guild with that couple, and provided for himself.

Here he gives a defense. Don't we have the right to eat or drink? That is, don't we have the right as apostles, those sent out, church planters, missionaries, don't we have the right to be supported by the flock or by the church so that we can eat and drink in that provision? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Now Cephas or Peter is mentioned. There's no record that Peter ever went to Corinth, but because there was a following in Corinth, people followed Peter.

We learned that in Chapter 1 and 2. Some said, I'm of Paul, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Apollos. So there was the knowledge of Peter and some people gravitated toward him as a natural leader. The New Testament indicates that Peter was married. Isn't that interesting? The first pope was married.

I say that tongue-in-cheek. We know in the New Testament that Peter's wife's mother fell sick and Jesus healed her. So apparently after the resurrection, when Peter would travel and do his ministry, he took along his wife and his wife is supported along with Peter. And that was the practice of the other ones who were sent out, the other apostles, even the ones who were even the brothers of the Lord.

They took their believing wives and the churches took care of them, gave them financial remuneration. And Paul said, that is my right as well. Now he's going to give in the next few verses four arguments and then he's going to bring it back. He's going to give four arguments why those in the ministry, including himself as an apostle, have the right to be supported by the people that they work with or are sent out from. He gives four arguments. The first argument is in verse one and that is the argument of comparison. Hey, I'm going to compare myself to Peter, to the other apostles. They have the right.

If they have the right, then I have the right. That's the first argument, the argument of comparison, comparing himself to other servants of the Lord. The second argument is in verse seven.

That's the argument from human experience. Here it is. Whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Expound First Corinthians. Now, here's Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way and connect others around the world with God's truths. The Bible is full of God's promises, but if you want to know them, you have to study scripture. Well, our goal is to connect friends like you with truths found in God's Word.

That's why we share these Bible teachings on air and online. And through your gift today, you can help keep these messages that you love coming to you and connect more people around the world to the Bible. Here's how you can give right now. Visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give a gift. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate or call 800-922-1888.

Thank you for your generosity. And come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares how you can balance love and knowledge to encourage others in their faith. Remember what we read in Chapter 8, I can do everything, but for the sake of love, I won't do certain things.

If it means eating meat, eating meat causes you to stumble, I won't do it. So I will say no to a certain privilege that I have, even though I know that there is no such thing as an idol. It's not a real God. It's a false God. There's nothing really behind it. So I have that knowledge, but I balance out my knowledge with love. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.