Lessons #591 and 592
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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 American 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. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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The collection for the Jerusalem believers (1 Cor 16:1-4)
1Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
The message of the section of 1 Corinthians 16:1 to 4 that is concerned with the collection to be made by the Corinthians for the benefit of believers in Jerusalem is that a local church should endeavor to provide aid to less privileged believers in other locations that they are made aware of through their spiritual leadership, following biblical pattern. We stated that to expound this message, there are three things we should recognize. The first is that it is the spiritual leadership of a local congregation that should make believers aware of such a need for aid. The second thing is that believers’ approach to giving must be in keeping with the Scripture and that local churches of Christ should strive to operate in a culture neutral manner. The third is that spiritual leaders should prepare the congregation to be involved in supporting fellow believers that are suffering in other locations. Thus, we considered two instructions spiritual leaders are to give to their congregations in preparation for a special collection or giving in general for the support of the ministry of God’s word. The first is that any contribution should be made thoughtfully and willingly without any feeling of compulsion. The second is that the amount given should reflect a person’s financial position. We also considered a caution for the spiritual leaders which is that they should guard against pressuring believers to give. For a special collection or offering, the spiritual leadership should give believers in a local church an ample time to do so. With this brief review of what we have studied, we proceed with the final concern of the apostle regarding the collection for believers in Jerusalem, which is its delivery, that is, how to get the collection to those who are its recipients. But before we get to that, let me make a comment regarding preparation for a special collection or giving in general as required by what we have so far studied.
The comment concerns how to go about ensuring that one gives either for a specific collection or giving in general. Since every believer is expected to give either for specific collection or offering in general, there is an important principle that should be observed. It is that giving does not require that a person go without the individual’s basic necessity. What this means is that as we have already studied, giving requires careful consideration and planning. The way a believer should do this is to maintain a regular budget for the household preferably set at the beginning of every year. This requires that a believer should list all the individual’s monthly financial obligations and compare the total to the monthly income. It is after a person meets the individual's monthly obligations that the person should then add the amount the individual could afford to give every month. I am saying that a person should make giving a part of the person’s monthly obligation but that it should be after the individual has listed all the financial obligations that involve day-to-day living. It will be a poor testimony on a believer not to take care of the family as required by the Scripture because a person gives to a local church. The point we are concerned is that a believer should sit down and draw a monthly budget that will include giving in support of the ministry but the amount of giving in support of the ministry is to be determined by what is left over after a person has finished listing the individual’s monthly expenses. This suggestion is based on the fact that God will provide the believer the finance necessary to meet the individual’s monthly needs. It is important to recognize that what we are concerned with are those things that constitute basic necessities and not the luxuries of life. In other words, luxury should not be a part of the budget for the purpose of determining what one gives regularly to, say, a local church. If a person carefully follows the suggestion we have given, the individual would be in a position to give in a way that will lead to supporting of the ministry of God’s word. To this effect, I suggest you review our study of Christian budget as given in our exposition of Haggai, specifically lesson #5 on the church website. With this comment, we continue with Apostle Paul’s final concern regarding the matter of the collection about which he wrote the Corinthians.
The apostle signals that he was about to consider another but related aspect of his concern regarding the collection the Corinthians were to make for the benefit of believers in Jerusalem. The signal is given with the word then that begins the NIV of 1 Corinthians 16:3. The word “then” is translated from a Greek particle (de) that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences the marker may be left untranslated, as done here in such English version as the NCV. Although it is often translated “but” in the English when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, but it has other meanings such as “now,” “then,” “and,” “so” when it is used to link segments of a narrative. It can also be used to indicate transition to something new or to resume a discourse after an interruption. In 1 Corinthians 16:3, it is used as a marker linking narrative segments in such a way to indicate that another aspect of the current topic is being considered so that the meaning “then” is appropriate.
The new aspect of the current topic of the collection for the believers in Jerusalem is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 16:3 when I arrive. The word “when” is translated from a Greek particle (hotan) that denotes time. If the point of time is about or overlaps with another point of time it may be translated “when” as it is used to describe what would happen to believers when Christ returns according to Colossians 3:4:
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
When time involved is linked to a specific event, it could mean “as soon as” as in the use of the word by Apostle Paul to describe when Titus should come to him based on the event of the arrival of one of the members of his team as we read in Titus 3:12:
As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.
The word may mean “whenever” as it is used in James to describe the time believers should rejoice instead of being depressed as we read in James 1:2:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, it is used with the meaning of “when” to indicate the time of an event indicated in the passage.
The event indicated in the passage about Apostle Paul’s being present among the Corinthians is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 16:3 when I arrive. The word “arrive” is translated from a Greek word (paraginomai) that may mean “to appear” as it is used to describing Judas Iscariot showing up with those who came to arrest Jesus so he could betray Him as we read in Mark 14:43:
Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
The word may mean “to arrive,” as it is used to describe the elders of the church of Ephesus that came to meet with Apostle Paul at Miletus as recorded in Acts 20:18:
When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.
The word may mean “to come to the aid of someone” or “to support” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that no one came to his aid when he was facing trial, presumably the second time in Rome according to 2 Timothy 4:16:
At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, the word has the sense of “to be present at a particular location.” Thus, Apostle Paul anticipated that he would take a specified action once he was present with the local church in Corinth.
The specific action Apostle Paul referenced in our verse of study leads to an important principle which is that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended. This principle is derived from what the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:3, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. Literally, the Greek reads whomever you approve, I will send these ones with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. The Greek of this sentence presents a translation problem that affects its interpretation. The problem is whether the phrase with letters in the literal translation is to be associated with the sentence whomever you approve or I will send leading to the other problem of who is to write the letters. Majority of our English versions associate the phrase with the sentence I will send but the translators of the KJV associated it with the sentence whomever you approve leading to the translation whomever you approve by your letters. It is the first interpretation reflected in the NIV that we believe to be correct that implies also that Apostle Paul would be the one to write the letters and not the Corinthians. We say this because the apostle was known to the church in Jerusalem and so he would be the appropriate person to write any letter of introduction or commendation to the church in Jerusalem regarding the bearers of the collection to them. Furthermore, as someone had observed, the words in the Greek of the phrase with letters were put forward by the apostle for emphasis and so should not be taken to mean the phrase should be associated with the sentence whomever you approve. For the Corinthians to be the writers of the letters would suggest that the men chosen by them would be sent to the apostle wherever he was. This is possible but unlikely since the apostle implies that he would come to Corinth to get the collection from them.
Nevertheless, the word “letters” is translated from a Greek word (epistolē) that may refer to a physical object that is used as a means of communication or to the content of what is written so means “letter.” The word is used in diverse ways in the NT. It is used as an order that empowers someone to arrest people and deliver them to the authorities in a capital city as was the case with that given to Paul to arrest believers and bring them to Jerusalem for punishment as he narrated and recorded in Acts 22:5:
as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
Letter may be used to commend someone as it is used in the question of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians if he and this team needed someone to commend him to them or to attest to his apostolic authority since he was the founder of their local church as given in the question recorded in 2 Corinthians 3:1:
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
Letters of recommendation were common in the ancient world. Thus, when Phoebe visited Rome, Apostle Paul wrote such a letter to the Roman church on her behalf as stated in Romans 16:1–2:
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.
Letter may refer to a document written by an apostle sent to a church or churches that contain Christian doctrines as in the case of Apostle Paul to Colossians that is to be shared by other congregations as we read in Colossians 4:16:
After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
These letters written to various local churches by the apostles are clearly inspired word of God and so are part of our Scripture. That this is the case is derived from the assertion of Apostle Peter about the letters of Apostle Paul as stated in 2 Peter 3:16:
He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Anyway, the word “letter” is used primarily in a literal sense but once the apostle used it figuratively to describe the Corinthians as those who are proof of his apostolic authority and work according to 2 Corinthians 3:2–3:
2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, the word is used with meaning “letter,” that is, a written communication addressed to a person or group of people. It is this Apostle Paul promised to provide to those that would be sent to Jerusalem as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 16:3 I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. The use of plural “letters” could mean that each chosen delegate would receive his letter or the plural is simply used in accordance with the practice of ancient Greek of using the plural for a single letter.
Anyway, the principle we stated is that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended. The idea of trusted believers is conveyed in the word “approve” in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 16:3 the men you approve.
The word “approve” is translated from a Greek word (dokimazō) that may mean to make a critical examination of something to determine its genuineness and so means “to put to the test, examine.” It is in the sense of “to examine oneself” that the word is used in the challenge of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians to check if they are living as Christians should in 2 Corinthians 13:5:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
It is in the sense of “to test” that the word is used by the apostle in encouraging the Galatians to take a close look at their activities without comparing to another in Galatians 6:4:
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
It is in the sense of “to test” by critical examination to determine the genuineness of spirits that the word is used in 1 John 4:1:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The word may mean to draw a conclusion about worth of something or someone on the basis of testing, where the focus is on the result of a procedure or examination, hence means “to prove, to approve.” It is in the sense of “to approve, accept as proved” that Apostle Paul uses the word to describe a believer he was sending to the Corinthians that he considered to have been proven although he did not say how in 2 Corinthians 8:22:
In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.
It is in the sense of “prove by testing” of a believer’s faith that the word is used in a passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Peter 1:7:
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, the word is used not only in sense of “to approve,” that is, “to judge to be right or commendable or think well of” but also of having been tested and found reliable. So, those who were to be involved in handling of the collection by the Corinthians were to be believers that the local church in Corinth think well of since the apostle used the plural form of the Greek verb that we have considered.
The fact is that those who are to handle the money given as a part of a special collection for a special purpose in a local church or the general offering for the support of the ministry should be those a local church thinks well of regarding their spiritual life and have proven to be trustworthy. This is to be expected because of the practice of the early church. As we mentioned previously, those who received generous gifts of believers in the early church for use by the church were the apostles as in the passage we cited in our last study, that is, Acts 4:34–35:
34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
The idiom and put it at the apostles’ feet means that money from sales of property were placed under the care and authority of the apostles. The apostles were certainly trustworthy that the church did not have to bother about their proper usage of the money under their care. Problem that arose in the church regarding the distribution of the resources of the church was from those the apostles delegated the responsibility of implementing the distribution. However, when the apostles decided not to be bogged down with administration of the affairs of the church, they transferred the care of the money and its distribution to those whom the church approved as stated in Acts 6:3–6:
3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
There are three criteria for choosing the seven men that in a sense were the first deacons of the church although the NIV implies there are two in their translation of verse 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. A more literal translation that captures the Greek text is given in the LEB that reads So, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom. The first criterion is given in the phrase of LEB good reputation that literally reads well spoken of because we have a Greek verb (martyreō) that may mean “to affirm in a supportive manner,” that is, “to testify favorably, speak well (of), approve.” Thus, it is appropriate to indicate that the first criterion is that of good reputation. The second criterion is given in the phrase full of the Spirit that implies men who are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Certainly, if the Holy Spirit controlled a person, the individual would without question be reliable or trustworthy. The third criterion is wisdom. All three criteria are necessary qualifications of those who are to manage the money collected in a church. When these qualities are found among those who manage the money of the church, there would be no such thing as misappropriation of funds. The church should not be concerned about whether the money is responsibly managed if those involved in the handling of the money of the church meet these criteria and they do not need to hold regular meetings for accounting purposes. We are blessed in this local church that the men who oversee our money meet these criteria and so we do not have the problems that occur in some local churches. Of course, the local churches where problems arise, it is in part due to lack of serious teaching of the word of God and willingness to apply what is taught from the pulpit. A deacon who understands the great responsibility he has before the Lord would not even venture to do anything that will bring him under God’s discipline. That aside, the principle that we are expounding is that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended.
Be that as it may, Apostle Paul proposed to give letters to the men that the local church in Corinth approve for delivering their contribution to the church in Jerusalem as we again read in 1 Corinthians 16:3 I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve. The meaning of the Greek word translated “letter” should indicate that the phrase of introduction in the NIV is interpretative although a good one, but it does not appear in the Greek. It makes good sense, however, to understand the letter in view as intended to identify to those in Jerusalem the men in question as members of the church in Corinth and so the idea of introduction is a good one. By the way, the word “men” does not appear in the Greek text since the phrase the men is literally these ones that refers to those the Corinthians have approved to carry their gifts who are certainly men. This is because the Greek pronoun (hos) translated literally as these ones is in the masculine gender and the practice of the church at that time would clearly suggest that the ones to be sent to Jerusalem were men.
The mission of the men approved by the church in Corinth was to deliver their collection to the church in Jerusalem as stated in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 16:3 and send them with your gift to Jerusalem that literally reads will send these ones with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem.
The word “send” is translated from a Greek word (pempō) that although means “to send” but has different nuances. It can mean to dispatch something through an intermediary, as Apostle Paul used the word to acknowledge the gifts the Philippians sent to him through an unnamed agent or means in Philippians 4:16:
for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
The Greek word may mean “to appoint, commission, instruct,” as that is the sense where the word is used with respect to governors in 1 Peter 2:14:
or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
It is true our Greek word is translated “sent” here in 1 Peter 2:14 but the sense is that of “appointment” or “commission.” Consequently, the clause who are sent by him is translated who have been appointed by him in the TEV and the governors as commissioned by him in the NJB. Nonetheless, the meaning of the word in 1 Corinthians 16:3 is “to dispatch,” that is, “to send away towards a designated goal or purpose.”
The men dispatched were to carry the collection from the church of Corinth to the church in Jerusalem. The translators of the NIV conveyed this using the word with in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 16:3 with your gift. As we indicated in the literal translation, the men so dispatched were to take along with them the collection since the apostle used a Greek verb (apopherō) that may mean “to lead off or lead away” as it is used to describe action taken against Jesus once the Jewish authorities condemned Him to death according to Mark 15:1:
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
The word may mean “to carry or take away something or someone” as it is used to describe what happened at the death of Lazarus associated with the rich man as narrated in Luke 16:22:
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, the word has the sense of “to bring,” that is, to take from one point to another.
We know that what the men approved by the church were to bring with them or carry with them as they go to Jerusalem is the collection made by believers in Corinth. This collection is described in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 16:3 your gift. It is interesting that the apostle used the word “gift” instead of “collection” when he described what is to be taken to believers in Jerusalem. To understand our reason for stating that the word apostle used is interesting, we need to examine in more detail the Greek word translated “gift” in the passage we are considering.
The word “gift” is translated from a Greek word (charis) that is often rendered “grace” in our English versions. “Grace” is often taken as a reference to God’s unmerited favor in some contexts but that is not a blanket meaning. For example, the Greek word is used in Luke 2:40:
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
Clearly, since the recipient of God’s grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, grace could not possibly mean God’s undeserved favor to sinners. Here grace means “blessing” or God’s favor in a general sense of His beneficent disposition toward someone. It can also mean favored status indicating the Jesus enjoyed favored status with God. In some context, the Greek word rendered “grace” when used of God means His “gracious care” as part of the meaning of the Greek word as “beneficent disposition toward someone.” It is this meaning that is intended when the Greek word is used in connection with the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in what they did, reported in Acts 14:26:
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
In effect, the phrase committed to the grace of God means that Paul and Barnabas were entrusted to God to care for them or to show His goodness to them. Thus, the word “grace” has the meaning of “gracious care” in this passage in Acts. Anyway, the Greek word often translated “grace” has various ranges of meaning. The word when used in relationship with a person may refer to that which is attractive or appealing in someone that draws favorable reaction from others, hence may mean “charming, pleasant, attractive” as Apostle Paul used the word in his instruction regarding believer’s speech or communication in Colossians 4:6:
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
The instruction let your conversation be always full of grace means that believer’s conversation should always be pleasant.
Another meaning of the Greek word is “thanks, gratitude” as a response to generosity one receives. It is in this sense that the word is used in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul regarding what is expected of believers in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Another meaning of the Greek word is that beneficent disposition toward someone, that is, favor, help or care, good will, shown or received by another. Grace as a favor that one grants to another without any obligation on the part of the one who grants the favor is reflected in 2 Timothy 1:9:
who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Grace in this verse is that special favor that God granted us in Christ Jesus.
Another general meaning of our Greek word is a practical act of goodwill, hence means “favor, gracious deed, or gift.” It is in this sense that the word is used in James 4:6:
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
To say that God gives grace in this context means He shows kindness or favor. In other context, grace may mean “kindness” or “love.” This is the sense in John 1:14:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
To say that Jesus is full of grace means that He is full of love and kindness so that grace has the sense of “love” and “kindness.” By the way, to say that Jesus is full of truth means He is the true or complete revelation of God. There are other meanings to our Greek word but the ones we have given show that it is a word with a range of meanings. That aside, in our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:3, the word has the sense of “present” or “gift” made or given to a person graciously, generously, and freely.
It is our assertion that the apostle’s use of the word “gift” to describe the collection is interesting because of the range of the meanings of the Greek word used. The range of meanings of the Greek word translated “gift” in 1 Corinthians 16:3 enables us to make or reinforce what we have said previously about giving either in a special collection or giving in general in support of the ministry of the word of God. Whenever you give, there are few things you should recognize. You should recognize that you are demonstrating that you care about the recipients of your gift. You should recognize that you are blessing the recipients. You should recognize that you are showing love in action. You should recognize that you are under no obligation to give. You should recognize that your giving is because you are demonstrating your gratitude to God who has saved you and had given you the means to be a blessing to others. Thus, you should recognize that giving is a privilege that God has granted you. Thus, it is no wonder that our Greek word is used in connection with the collection for believers in Jerusalem with the meaning “privilege” by Apostle Paul to describe believers in Macedonian churches as stated in 2 Corinthians 8:4:
they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
So, next time you give, think of these things that we have mentioned.
In any case, the purpose of dispatching some men from the church in Corinth to Jerusalem is to deliver to believers in Jerusalem the collection from the local church in Corinth as indicated in the verbal phrase 1 Corinthian 16:3 send them with your gift to Jerusalem. The verbal phrase is a reminder that the primary goal of believers in special collections is to help suffering believers in a given location. Although the apostle mentioned Jerusalem, but he meant only believers in Jerusalem since it is not only the mother city of the church but also the center of religious life of Jews that do not necessarily believe in Christ. We are sure he meant believers as he stated in the introduction of the subject of the collection in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 16:1 the collection for God’s people. There is no doubt that the collection is specifically for believers in Jerusalem since Apostle Paul made that clear in what he said to the Romans regarding the contribution made by the local churches in Macedonia and Achaia as recorded in Romans 15:26:
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
We should be clear that we are not saying that believers should not help poor unbelievers. We are saying that poor believers have priority over poor unbelievers when it comes to the matter of contribution made by a local church. This is because believers are of the same family in Christ. The Holy Spirit expects believers to take care of their own family first as the Holy Spirit indicated in 1 Timothy 5:8:
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Application of this passage to the church of Christ as the family of God implies that believers should take care of their own first and then unbelievers. This same principle is implied in what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:10:
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
The point we are stressing is that in a situation of limited resources, believers should take care of their fellow believers who are suffering in other locations before extending their help to unbelievers. In any event, it is important that collections made for believers should be overseen by those who are careful to do so. Today, there are many Christian organizations involved in charity work. Therefore, it is important that before you give to such organizations you find out as much as it is possible their track record of delivering aid to other believers in other locations. Thus, you should support the organizations that are not spending much of the money on administration and very little in actual delivery of support to the needy.
We have considered the principle that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended. There is no doubt that this is an important principle because Apostle Paul in a sense continued to underscore its importance in that he uses a Greek particle that is, of course, the second word in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 16:4 that is not translated in the NIV but translated “and” in some of our English versions. The apostle used a Greek particle (de) that we encountered in verse 3 where we indicated that it is used as a marker linking narrative segments in such a way to indicate that another aspect of the current topic is being considered so that the meaning “then” is appropriate. However, in our present verse, it is used as a marker of continuation between what is stated in verse 3 and verse 4 so it could be translated “and” as reflected in some of our English versions.
The thing the apostle continued is additional information to support the principle that we have stated that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended. Thus, the apostle states in 1 Corinthians 16:4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. Literally, the Greek reads And if it be fitting (for) me also to go, they will go with me.
The apostle states something that should happen for him to do what he proposed. This we assert because the word “if” is translated from a Greek particle (ean) that may be used as a maker of condition of a reduced likelihood of occurrence of an activity referenced with the meaning “if.” It can also mean “when” as a marker of point of time which is somewhat conditional and simultaneous with another point of time. In our passage, it is used to introduce a condition that must be satisfied or be met for the rest of what the apostle states to occur although at the time the apostle wrote this epistle there was uncertainty regarding the action that he would take. This condition is introduced with the sentence of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 16:4 it seems advisable for me to go also. The word “seems” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (eimi) with a range of meanings. For example, the word may mean “to occur as process or result” hence may mean “to take place, to happen.” In our verse, it has the meaning of “to be” as reflected in the literal translation. The thing that is “to be” is described in the NIV with the word advisable.
The word “advisable” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (axios) that may mean “deserving” as in the declaration of Festus about Apostle Paul not having done anything that warrants death penalty according to Acts 25:25:
I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome.
The word may mean “comparable” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to indicate that our present suffering could not be compared to the blessing of the eternal state as we read in Romans 8:18:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
According to the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) the sentence our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us may be translated the sufferings are not to be compared with the glory to come. The word may mean “worthy” as it is used to describe what should be the attitude of slaves towards their masters as stated in 1 Timothy 6:1:
All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:4, the word means “proper” or “befitting.”
The thing the apostle qualifies with the word “proper” or “advisable” of the NIV is to travel to Jerusalem with those the Corinthians will choose to deliver their collection to believers in Jerusalem since the apostle wrote If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me or literally if it be fitting (for) me also to go, they will go with me. The words “go” and “accompany” of the NIV are translated from the same Greek word (poreuō) that may mean “to go, travel” as it is used to describe the walking together of Evangelist Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch as narrated in Acts 8:36:
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”
The word may mean “to live” in the sense of how one conducts one’s life as it is used by Apostle Peter as he described the lifestyle of an unbeliever in 1 Peter 4:3:
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 16:4, it means “to go or to travel.”
The apostle did not specify the condition(s) that would make it proper for him to go to Jerusalem. Thus, scholars speculate what these conditions would be. Some speculate that the apostle had in mind the size of the gift. In effect, if the gift was large enough to warrant his going to Jerusalem he would. Others speculate that the condition the apostle had in mind was either his traveling schedule or favorable circumstances in Jerusalem as the determining factors for him to go to Jerusalem. The truth is we do not know since the apostle did not directly specify. But whatever the conditions he meant were, they were met by the time the apostle wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians since he then indicated he was going with Titus and others chosen by the Macedonian churches to deliver their gifts to believers in Jerusalem as stated in 2 Corinthians 8:19:
What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
In any event, the apostle was concerned that there would be no thought that the funds collected would be misappropriated hence the necessity of the delivery of the gift to the church in Jerusalem by reliable believers. Thus, we are reminded again of the principle that what is given by believers in a local church as it relates to the ministry of the church of Christ should be managed by believers who are trusted to effectively use the gifts in the manner intended.
We should note that the apostle did not say further what happened to his instruction to the Corinthians regarding the contribution but eventually the Corinthians (Achaia) contributed to believers in Jerusalem as we learn from the apostle’s declaration in the passage we cited previously, that is, Romans 15:26:
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Anyway, to end, let me remind you one more time, the primary message of 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 that we have stated. It is that a local church should endeavor to provide aid to less privileged believers in other locations that they are made aware of through their spiritual leadership following biblical pattern.
01/19/24