Lessons #355 and 356
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Believer’s freedom in Christ (1 Cor 10:23-11.1)
. .. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 11 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
The message of 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 that we have been considering is that You should use your freedom in Christ in such a way to advance the spiritual needs of others. We stated that we would expound the message by focusing on three responsibilities you have as a believer pertaining to the concept of freedom you have in Christ, given in the passage we are studying. The first, if you recall, is that You should understand that not everything you have right to do, helps others spiritually but you are required to seek the good of others. The second is that You should understand that your use of your freedom is not absolute, so you need to adjust its application. This second responsibility we stated demands you should know when to use your freedom in Christ and when not to use it. In our last study, our focus was on the third reason a believer should not use personal freedom in situation where there is a challenge to the Christian faith, which is that God’s glory supersedes any human freedom in Christ. So, we proceed to consider the third responsibility that you as a believer have regarding the message of this passage.
A third responsibility you have regarding the message of this passage we are considering, is that You should follow Apostle Paul’s example of use of freedom that he patterned after that of Jesus Christ. This responsibility implies that a believer should be concerned with the spiritual welfare of others rather than one’s freedom in Christ. Thus, before the apostle issues the command on which this third responsibility is based, he issued a command in verse 32 that is one of the ways a believer should do everything to the glory of God. This command requires being concerned about the spiritual welfare of others as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God. The word “not” used in the NIV does not appear in the Greek text although that is a good way to render the Greek command of the verse. Nonetheless, the word “not” does not appear in the Greek. This is because literally, the Greek reads Be inoffensive both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God.
The instruction given in verse 32 is one that the Holy Spirit expects believers to practice so to say. In other words, the Holy Spirit expects believers to do what is instructed repeatedly so that it can become a habit in the spiritual life of a believer. This is because Apostle Paul used a present tense in the Greek to issue the command. The present tense used in our verse is either to express that an action should continue so that the sense is to make it one’s habit or it could be in the sense of repeated action leading to the sense of doing something again and again. Either way, the apostle wants believers to ensure that they repeat the command and not just something done once. The thing to be repeated is given in the NIV as Do not cause anyone to stumble or literally Be inoffensive. This is because the expression “do not cause” of the NIV is translated from a Greek verb (ginomai) that also mean “to be” in that our Greek word emphasizes that of being what one was not before. That aside, our Greek word has several meanings. For example, it may mean to come into a certain state or possess certain characteristics so it may mean “to become” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that he possessed temporarily, characteristics of others or acted in some respect to others to help them spiritually, as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:20:
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
The word may mean to experience a change in nature and so indicates entry into a new condition, hence means “to become something” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate he became a messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:23:
if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:32, the word is used in the sense of “to become,” that is, “to assume a certain state.”
The state the believer is to assume is that of being inoffensive to anyone although the NIV used the expression Do not cause anyone to stumble. The rendering of the NIV gives the impression that a second verb is used in the Greek because of the verbal phrase to stumble. This is not the case. The verbal phrase to stumble is how the translators of the NIV rendered a Greek adjective (aproskopos) that pertains to being without fault because of not giving offense hence means “blameless, undamaged” as it is used to express what Apostle Paul desires to happen to the Philippians when God grants them insight to spiritual matters as we read in Philippians 1:10:
so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
The word may pertain to not causing offense and so means “giving no offense.” It is in the sense of not giving offense or not causing stumbling, that is, not promoting a person sinning by one’s actions or lifestyle that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:32. Thus, majority of our English versions instead of the command Do not cause anyone to stumble of the NIV translated the command as Do not give offense. Both translations are saying essentially the same thing since the concern of the command is to ensure that someone does not sin or fails to believe God’s word.
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
The Lord Jesus was not concerned that the Pharisees were offended because He taught the truth. In fact, He doubled down by His response in that He attacked them of not being true spiritual leaders from God and so they would be judged, as we read in Matthew 15:13–14:
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Another occasion that the Lord Jesus indicates that not giving offense to people does not mean withholding the truth was when He taught that He is the bread of life and that only if a person believes in Him would the individual have eternal life. Of course, He did this using metaphors of eating His flesh and drinking His blood as we read in John 6:53–58:
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”
The Lord Jesus recognized that not only the many Jews who heard Him took His teaching as hard to swallow so did His disciples. Hence, He asked His disciples if they were also offended as we read in John 6:60–62:
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
Jesus as the God-man knew how those who heard Him would react but that did not keep Him from teaching the truth. Thus, He conveyed that teaching the truth is not what it means to give offense. I feel that many of us pastors of local churches are ignorant of this truth or those who are not ignorant are afraid to stand on God’s word. I say this because there are many of us pastors who would not teach the truth for the fear of offending those in our congregations. When we fail to teach the truth, we should realize that that is not what the Holy Spirit says we should not do through Apostle Paul in the command of 1 Corinthians 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble or Do not give offense.
We have considered what the command could not mean, so what is it that the Holy Spirit tells us not to do through Apostle Paul? The command is that we should be careful not to do or say anything that would cause another person to sin or to falter in the faith. Obedience to this command requires several actions from us as believers. First, you should take every step necessary to avoid anything that would lead you or any other believer to sin. The importance of this step is underscored by the instruction of Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 18:8-9:
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Lord Jesus is not here advocating literal amputation of body parts; instead, He wants us to take drastic steps that are necessary to ensure we do not fall into sin. His literal suggestion is simply to convey the seriousness of what He was teaching. Believers are to take serious steps to avoid any temptation to sin or being the source of temptation to others. Second, you should be particularly sensitive to new or immature Christians. You should be careful what you say or do around such individuals, recognizing that such individuals are not yet grounded in truth and so are more prone to sin and to stumble. Third, based on what the Holy Spirit has communicated through Apostle Paul in chapters 8 to 10, you should be willing to give up your freedom so as not to give offense to another believer. Christianity requires that we think about others and how to help them spiritually than that of trying to please self. As we have previously considered, this means that there are certain things that we may have to give up not because they are sinful but because they would cause trouble for a young believer. We should, of course, be concerned about the conscience of weak believers and so we forgo certain things that are in themselves not sinful but may cause problem for the conscience of a weak believer. The example that I have used previously has been that of the use of alcoholic beverages but let me add another example that may be most appropriate in our area. This concerns what one does on Sundays. You know that as in any other day, you could do whatever you want on it so long as it does not keep you from going to church. But if you lived in areas where Christians make an issue concerning the activities carried out on this day then by all means do not carry out those activities that might offend them. This is not because you are wrong if you carried out these activities but because you do not want to cause your fellow believers to sin due to your own actions or even an unbeliever to doubt the validity of your faith. Of course, you yourself would not observe the principle of resting one day a week.
The command of 1 Corinthians 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble or Do not give offense as in majority of our English versions that we have been considering is one that we should obey for the benefit of everyone on this planet not only just believers. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul divided humanity into three categories at the time of this epistle that for us today would mean that humans are divided into two major categories of believers and unbelievers since the first two categories the apostle used should today be grouped as one when it comes to faith in Christ. Nonetheless, the apostle grouped the humanity of the ancient world into three categories. Therefore, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:32 whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God or literally both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God.
The first category of humanity in the ancient world is the group known as the Jews. The word “Jews” requires we review what we have studied in the past about who is a Jew. The word “Jew” is translated from a Greek word (Ioudaios) that although strictly means “persons belonging to Judea”, that is, a “Judean” but it has been used in different ways depending on the period of history of Israel in view. Prior to exile, the term “Jews” was used to describe Judeans as we can gather from some passages in OT Scripture. The term was used to describe Judeans in 2 Kings 16:6:
At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the men of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.
The phrase the men of Judah is the way the translators of the NIV translated a Hebrew word (yehûḏî) that means “Judean, Jew.” Prophet Jeremiah used the term in the same sense of Judeans in Jeremiah 32:12:
and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
He also used it to describe all Hebrews prior to the exile, as recorded in Jeremiah 34:9:
Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage.
This usage of the term to describe all Hebrews was applicable in the time of exile. For example, Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin, was described as a Jew in Esther 2:5:
Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,
Of course, it will seem that the term was widely used to describe the other Ten tribes who were scattered all over the vast kingdom of King Xerxes since the attempt to exterminate the Jews was one that was widespread throughout the kingdom of Xerxes. During the period of exile, the term was applied to some Gentiles who allied with the Jews, as implied in Esther 8:17:
In every province and in every city, wherever the edict of the king went, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
The people of other nationalities became Jews in the general sense of one who identifies with beliefs, rites, and customs of Mosaic tradition. Consequently, after the exile, the term “Jews” was applied not only to those who were from the Southern Kingdom of Israel but to Gentiles who were adherents to the religion of the Judeans.
In the NT time, the term “Jews” was used to describe Judeans as those who adhered to Mosaic tradition. Of course, it is not a term that these Judeans used to describe themselves since they preferred to use the term “Israel.” That Judeans did not generally use the term to address themselves, but the term “Israel” may be seen by comparing the descriptions of Jesus during His crucifixion. On the one hand, the Jews referred to Him as the “King of Israel” in Mark 15:31–32:
31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
On the other hand, the Roman soldiers referred to Him as “King of the Jews” in Mark 15:17–18:
17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
That others used the term “Jews” to refer to Judeans as those who adhere to Mosaic tradition is evident in its use by the Samaritan woman that Jesus Christ spoke with, as recorded in the fourth chapter of John, specifically, John 4:9:
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Judeans in the NT used the term “Jews” to describe themselves when it is intended to differentiate them from Gentiles. Thus, Peter used the term “Jews” when he preached in Cornelius’ house, as recorded in Acts 10:28:
He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
It is in the same sense that Apostle Paul used it in his rebuke of Peter, as we read in Galatians 2:14:
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
Apostle Paul in this usage indicates that a Jew is one who by birth is an Israelite and so practices Mosaic tradition. But that is not all, he also implied that a true Jew is not one who is merely a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as evident in circumcision but one that is regenerated, as that is what we can gather from Romans 2:28–29:
28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
In any case, the term “Jew” refers originally to those who were Judeans, but it extended to all those who were Hebrew people. Of course, today, Hebrew people are found in every nation in the world although some of them do not even know they are Hebrews. However, current research to locate the lost tribes of Israel have led to few discoveries. The tribe of Gad has been traced to the Ibos in Nigeria, the Yinglings of Sweden, among others. The tribe of Dan traced to Sudan, some Levites in Lemba tribe of Ethiopia. Other Hebrew people have been found in other parts of the world. This should not surprise anyone because of what Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 11:11:
In that day the LORD will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
By the way, proper identification of the Jews/Hebrews is important because of the promise of the Lord to Abraham in Genesis 12:3:
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Many Christians in this country, for example, support present Israel because of this promise but present Israel consists primarily of a tiny fraction of the Hebrew people. Thus, for consistency those who support present Israel ought to know who the rest are to avoid bringing curse on them.
Anyway, we are instructed not to offend or cause a Jew to stumble. So, what did the apostle mean and how is it applicable today? In the context of 1 Corinthians chapters 8 to 10, the apostle would have meant that the Corinthians should not offer meat sacrificed to idols to Jews who abhor such meat. In addition, the apostle would have included not offering any food to the Jews that they consider unclean not because they are right since all foods are clean to eat since the coming of Jesus Christ into the world but not to do so because of the conscience of such Jews. In Corinth, this not offending a Jew would have include believers not going to a restaurant in the pagan temple as that would cause a Jew not to believe that there is a difference between Christians and pagans. Or eating any meat sacrificed to idols although idols are nothing. As to how this instruction is applicable today, let me restate what we said about what the command could not mean as it applies to the Jews. It does not mean that we should not preach the gospel to the Jews or say anything that may offend them. Many Jewish rabbis in our days are upset when we make statements that are in keeping with the NT teaching that they find offensive. For example, when we say that the Law is not given for salvation, they object to such truth. Not to give offense to them, does not mean we should not teach the truth that observance of the law would not lead to anyone’s salvation. That said, we should be careful not to downplay such things as their adherence to Kosher foods or their celebration of Passover or their insistence of circumcision of their sons. So, not giving offense to a Jew today applies primarily to their rituals. We should be careful what we say about them. Anyway, the point is that we should be careful with not offending a Jew in such things that are not domain to the gospel message.
The next group Apostle Paul mentioned the Corinthians should not cause to stumble or give offense to consists of Gentiles as given in the word of 1 Corinthians 10:32 Greeks. Someone may say the passage says “Greeks” and not “Gentiles” and so that I must be wrong in the use of the word Gentiles. But I am not wrong, as I will demonstrate.
The word “Greeks” is translated from a Greek word (Hellēn) that may refer to a person of Greek language and culture as the word is used in Romans 1:14:
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
In this context of Romans 1:14, a Greek is considered as being civilized or cultured in contrast to the non-Greek or literally a “barbarian”, that is, one who is not civilized or uneducated. The Greek word translated “Greek” may mean in a broader sense all persons who came under the influence of Greek, as distinguished from Israel’s culture so that the word may even mean “Gentile.” It is in this sense that the word is used in Acts 14:1:
At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
The phrase Jews and Gentiles is literally Jews and Greeks. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:32, the word is used in the sense of “Gentile” as a polytheist.
We have established that when the apostle used the Greek word translated Greeks in 1 Corinthians 10:32, he meant Gentiles that in today’s world should be understood as a reference to all unbelievers. The question then is how the believer is to obey the command not to give offense to Gentiles or unbelievers. As we have stated previously, the command not to give offense to Gentiles/unbelievers does not mean that believers should compromise the truth. So, we should not think that if we compromise the truth that we are doing our best not to offend Gentiles/unbelievers. In the context of 1 Corinthians 10:32, the believer obeys the command by not being rude to an unbeliever who has invited the person to a meal that the individual accepts to attend. Rudeness to the unbeliever would involve questioning the source of the meat served during a meal. In effect, a believer should not probe the source of the meat given to the individual while a guest in the home of an unbeliever. Let the unbeliever be the one that makes an issue of the source of meat at which point the believer would politely decline to eat the meat. Anyway, in general, a believer would not give an offense to an unbeliever if the person were careful in the manner of disagreeing with an unbeliever in matters related to faith in Jesus Christ. We mean that since the believer is not to compromise the truth, refusing to do something that an unbeliever wants a believer to do that is wrong or contrary to the Scripture could be done without rudeness. This means that the believer should be as polite as possible while not compromising the truth. We have made this point in the past in the form that a believer should be careful in the manner in which such an individual says something to another, believer or unbeliever for that matter. I am referring to the application of the declaration of Proverbs 15:1:
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The application of this passage to dealing with an unbeliever is that the believer should be kind and gentle to an unbeliever who comes at him angrily or who says things that are intended to mock the Christian faith. An unbeliever may be seeking to pick a fight with a believer based on the truth of how the believer conducts self. When this is the case, to avoid giving offense to the unbeliever, the believer should calmly make his case without being rude to the unbeliever. Such an approach is what I describe as a soft approach. We can have more impact by following the soft approach than we can by shouting and being abrasive to the unbeliever. The soft approach is effective as indicated in Proverbs 25:15:
Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.
The sentence a gentle tongue can break a bone is not to be understood literal since that does not make sense. Instead, it is a figurative way of saying that gentle words could overcome strong resistance. In other words, you can break down the stubborn person by gentle words than you can by being abrasive. Anyway, the way to avoid giving offense to an unbeliever in a general way is to use soft approach in dealing with such a person’s attack on the Christian faith or using a soft approach in refusing to go along with an unbeliever in something that a believer knows is contrary to God’s word. Since the Greek word that means “to give offense” also means “to stumble” then the believer should be careful not to do anything that would become a hindrance to any unbeliever regarding the gospel message. What this means is that we should be careful not to do something that may turn off an unbeliever from hearing the gospel message. We should do everything in our God- given power to conduct ourselves in a way that would not prevent an unbeliever from hearing or paying attention to the gospel message we present to such individual or the gospel presented to the person by another believer. You see, if we Christians live contrary to the truth, an unbeliever will pick it up and so when another Christian wants to witness to that unbeliever, the person may say that he does not want to listen to the gospel message since all Christians are hypocrites because of the person’s interaction with one believer that did not live according to the truth. The point is that not giving offense to an unbeliever includes not doing anything to hinder the gospel message.
Be that as it may, the next group the apostle mentioned believers should not offend is the church of Christ as given in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:32 the church of God. Before we examine this phrase, let us observe what the Holy Spirit is doing here through the apostle. He distinguished the church from the two groups of people that formed the ancient world. You see, to the Jews of the time of Apostle Paul, the world at that time was divided into Jews and non-Jews, that is, Gentiles. Thus, when the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to mention a third group that one should be careful not to offend or cause to stumble as the church, the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize the distinctiveness of believers as constituting a new humanity. I think that most of us Christians have not really recognized the truth of the new humanity that is brought into existence in Christ that Apostle Paul referenced in Ephesians 2:15:
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
The phrase the two refers to Jews and Gentiles. The new man here refers to the believer in Christ, regardless of gender, who was previously a Jew or a Gentile. When a person believes in Christ that person is no longer what the person was prior to salvation. In the context of NT, that means that a Jew is no longer a Jew, and a Gentile is no longer a Gentile because the person is now in the church of Christ that form the new humanity. I honestly believe that nearly all Christians in this country and many other countries with people of different tribes or ethnicity have not grasped this concept or if they have, they are not living that way. The reason I say this is because many believers are still identifying themselves with their ethnicity instead of identifying with the church of Christ. If you do not recognize that you are no longer whatever your ethnicity was now that you are in Christ, then you have proven my point. The Holy Spirit wants us to get this point that He directed the apostle to spell out this truth in another way in Galatians 3:28–29:
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
I challenge you to prove me wrong by living and conducting your life as a believer in Christ not as a member of any ethnicity or tribe. The point is that the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:32 the church of God is an important one necessary to say to a Jew that he is no longer a Jew once he believes in Christ. Likewise, a Gentile is no longer a Gentil because he is now in Christ. There is a new humanity in Christ, and they go by the name “Christians.” This is a hard doctrine that you must strive to make a reality in your life as a believer in Christ. You are different from the rest of humanity because you are a member of the church of Christ as implied in the phrase the church of God.
The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.
Here the Greek word is translated “assembly.” The Greek word may be used to describe people with shared belief, hence means “community, congregation.” It is in this sense that the word is used to describe Israel in the desert in Acts 7:38:
He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
Most of our English versions used the meaning “congregation” instead of the word “assembly” to translate the Greek word in this passage of Acts although the Authorized Version used the word “church,” but the NKJV used the word “congregation.” The Greek word in the sense of referring to people with shared belief is used predominantly in the Scripture in six different ways.
First, it is used in the Septuagint relating to the word “Lord” to describe the assembly of the people of God, that is, Israel, as it is used in the Greek translation of the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 23:2:
No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation.
The phrase the assembly of the LORD refers to the Lord’s people or the people of God. That aside, the word “assembly” is translated from a Hebrew word (qāhāl) that is a general word for assembly, but it is this word that is translated in the Septuagint with the Greek word that is given the meaning “church.” Even without the use of the word “Lord,” the Greek word used in the Septuagint refers to the congregation of believers in OT, as it is used by the psalmist in Septuagint of Psalm 22:22:
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
Second, it is used to describe God’s people, whether in heaven or on earth, who have believed or who will believe in Christ, whose names are recorded in heaven. Jesus used the word to describe a community of believers that will exist after His death on the cross, as we read in Matthew 18:17:
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
The reason we stated that Jesus viewed the church as a community of future believers is that the preceding two verses speak of one brother or two more brothers who are believers, as we read in Matthew 18:15–16:
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
Since the instruction of the Lord is to take the matter to the church if no resolution is achieved with two or three brothers, then it must be that “church” is viewed as the larger community of believers that is future from the time Jesus declared the words of Matthew 18:17. That aside, the word “church” is used to refer to God’s people with focus on Christians on this planet as that is the sense the word is used in Hebrews 12:23:
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
The phrase church of the firstborn of Hebrews 12:23 is a reference to all God’s people but with focus on believers in Christ since the cross. Of course, there are those who interpret it as a reference to all believers living or dead or a reference to Old Testament believers. This notwithstanding, it is because there is a clear reference to believers in heaven in this passage that we are convinced that the phrase church of the firstborn refers to all believers who are still on this planet, that is, believers in the universal church of God that are still on this planet. The class of believers the author mentioned in Hebrews 12:23 to the spirits of righteous men made perfect is clearly a reference to believers already in heaven that will certainly include OT believers.
Third, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate the totality of believers in Christ, living and meeting in a specific locality or larger geographical area, but not necessarily limited to one meeting place. Thus, it is used to describe the believers of the early church in Jerusalem, as we read in Acts 8:1:
And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
The church here, no doubt, refers to believers in Christ since we are informed that except for the apostles, the rest of the church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Only people not a building, as some use the word church, can be scattered to different locations. There is the indication that believers met at different houses, as implied in Acts 8:3:
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Fourth, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate the gathering of believers for discussion of matters of concern to the community of believers or for worship. Hence, believers who gathered in Jerusalem to deal with the concern of Apostles Paul and Barnabas about the relationship of Gentile believers to the Law that gave the guided directives to Gentile believers, were described as the church in Acts 15:22:
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
It is in this same sense that Apostle Paul described the gathering of the believers in Corinth for worship that involves the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:18:
In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
Fifth, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate the global community of believers or the whole body of those who have believed in Christ regardless of where they are located. This is often referred to as “the universal church.” It is in this sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:22:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.
Christ is the head of the church not only in the sense of a local assembly of believers, but in the sense of the assembly of believers everywhere and at all times.
Sixth, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate believers as an assembly that belongs to God or to Christ or to both. It is used to describe the assembly of believers that belong to Christ in Romans 16:16:
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
It is used to describe the assembly of believers who belong to God in 1 Corinthians 11:16:
If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.
We have examined the various ways the Greek word translated “church” is used in the NT, so the question is in what sense did the apostle use it in 1 Corinthians 10:32? It is for the universal church, that is, the global community of believers or the whole body of those who have believed in Christ regardless of where they are located. However, since the instruction we are considering about not giving offense or causing someone to stumble is concerned with individuals then the phrase the church of God is concerned with an individual believer in a local church of God regardless of where they are located on this planet. In any event, the question is how a believer should obey the instruction not to give offense or cause a fellow believer to stumble. We are out of time so we will consider the question in our next study. Nonetheless, let me remind you of the third responsibility we are considering which is that You should follow Apostle Paul’s example of use of freedom that he patterned after that of Jesus Christ.
10/15//21