DEPARTURE FROM THE APOSTLE'S TEACHING—EFFORTS TO RESTORE OBEDIENCE—A GREAT REFORMATION RESULTS
By Mrs. E. G. White
THE first epistle to the Corinthian church was written by the apostle Paul during the latter part of his stay at Ephesus. For no others had he felt a deeper interest or put forth more untiring effort than for the believers in Corinth. For a year and a half he had labored among them, pointing them to a crucified and risen Saviour as the only means of salvation, and urging them to rely implicitly on the transforming power of His grace.
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER ASKED
Paul had a keen sense of the conflict which every soul must wage with the agencies of evil that are continually seeking to deceive and ensnare; and he had worked untiringly to strengthen and confirm those who were young in the faith. He had entreated them to make an entire surrender to God; for he knew that when the soul fails to make this surrender, then sin is not forsaken, the appetites and passions still strive for the mastery, and temptations confuse the conscience.
TARES HAD BEEN SOWN
The members of the church at Corinth were surrounded by idolatry and sensuality of the most alluring form. Paul's firm faith, his fervent prayers and earnest words of instruction, and above all, his godly life, had helped them to deny self for Christ's sake, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. After the departure of Paul, however, unfavorable conditions arose. Tares that had been sown by the enemy appeared among the wheat, and erelong these began to bring forth their evil fruit.
This was a time of severe trial to the Corinthian church. He who had so often urged them to high ideals of purity and uprightness, was no longer with them; and not a few who, at the time of their conversion, had put away their evil habits, returned to the debasing sins of heathenism.
THE TRUE CONDITION CONCEALED
Paul had written briefly to the church, but many of the believers perverted the apostle's meaning, quibbled over his words, and excused themselves for disregarding his instruction. A letter was sent to Paul by the church, asking for counsel concerning various matters, but saying nothing of the grievous sins existing among them. The apostle was, however, forcibly impressed by the Holy Spirit that the true state of the church had been concealed.
About this time there came to Ephesus members of the household of Chloe, a Christian family of high repute in Corinth. Paul asked them regarding the condition of things, and they told him that the church was rent by divisions. The doctrines and ordinances of the gospel had been perverted. Pride, idolatry, and sensualism were steadily increasing among those who had once been zealous in the Christian life.
As this picture was presented before him, Paul saw that his worst fears were more than realized. But he did not because of this give way to the thought that his work had been a failure. With "anguish of heart" and with "many tears" he sought counsel from God.
Gladly would he have visited Corinth at once, had this been the wisest course to pursue. But he knew that in their present condition the believers would not profit by his labors, and therefore he sent Titus to prepare the way for a visit from himself later on. Then, putting aside all personal feelings over the course of those whose conduct revealed such strange perverseness, and keeping his soul stayed upon God, the apostle wrote to the church at Corinth one of the richest, most instructive, most powerful of all his letters.
With remarkable clearness he proceeded to answer the various questions brought forward by the church, and to lay down general principles, which, if heeded, would lead them to a higher spiritual plane. They were in peril, and he could not bear the thought of failing at this critical time to reach their hearts. Faithfully he warned them of their dangers and reproved them for their sins. He pointed them again to Christ, and sought to kindle anew the fervor of their early devotion.
HE SHOWED THEM THE KEEPING POWER
In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul endeavored to show them Christ's power to keep them from evil. He knew that if they would comply with the conditions laid down, they would be strong in the strength of the Mighty One. As a means of helping them to break away from the thralldom of sin, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, Paul urged upon them the claims of Him to whom they had dedicated their lives at the time of their conversion. "Ye are Christ's," he declared. "Ye are not your own. . . . Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
The apostle plainly outlined the result of turning from a life of purity and holiness to the corrupt practises of heathenism. "Be not deceived," he wrote; "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, . . . nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." He begged them to control the lower passions and appetites. "Know ye not," he asked, "that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?"
A RARER WISDOM AND THE INNER POWER
While Paul possessed high intellectual endowments, his life revealed the power of a rarer wisdom, which gave him quickness of insight and sympathy of heart, and brought him into close touch with others, enabling him to arouse their better nature and inspire them to strive for a higher life.
His heart was filled with an earnest love for the Corinthian believers. He longed to see them revealing an inward piety that would fortify them against temptation. He knew that at every step in the Christian pathway they would be opposed by the synagogue of Satan, and that they would have to engage in conflicts daily. They would have to guard against the stealthy approach of the enemy, forcing back old habits and natural inclinations, and ever watching unto prayer.
Paul knew that the higher Christian attainments can be reached only through much prayer and constant watchfulness, and this he tried to instil into their minds. But he knew also that in Christ crucified they were offered power sufficient to convert the soul,213and divinely adapted to enable them to resist all temptations to evil. With faith in God as their armor, and with His word as their weapon of warfare, they would be supplied with an inner power that would enable them to turn aside the attacks of the enemy.
DESIRED THE COMPLETE FULNESS
The Corinthian believers needed a deeper experience in the things of God. They did not know fully what it meant to behold His glory, and to be changed from character to character. They had seen but the first rays of the early dawn of that glory. Paul's desire for them was that they might be filled with all the fulness of God, following on to know Him whose going forth is prepared as the morning, and continuing to learn of Him until they should come into the full noontide of a perfect gospel faith.
THE CHRISTIAN WARFARE AND CELEBRATED RACES
In the hope of impressing vividly upon the minds of the Corinthian believers the importance of firm self-control, strict temperance, and unflagging zeal in the service of Christ, Paul in his letter to them made a striking comparison between the Christian warfare and the celebrated foot-races held at stated intervals near Corinth. He emphasized the preparation necessary to the success of the contestants,—the preliminary discipline, the abstemious diet, the necessity for temperance. "Every man that striveth for the mastery," he declared, "is temperate in all things."
How much more important that the Christian, whose eternal interests are at stake, bring appetite and passion under subjection to reason and the will of God! And after this has been done, the Christian must put forth the utmost exertion in order to gain the victory. In the Corinthian games, the last few strides of the contestants in the race were made with agonizing effort to keep up undiminished speed. So the Christian, as he nears the goal, will press onward with even more zeal and determination than at the first of his course.
IMMORTAL CROWNS AND FADING CHAPLETS
Paul presents the contrast between the chaplet of fading laurel received by the victor in the foot-races, and the crown of immortal glory that will be given to him who runs with triumph the Christian race. "They do it," he declares, "to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."
To win a perishable prize, the Grecian runners spared themselves no toil or discipline. We are striving for a prize infinitely more valuable, even the crown of everlasting life. How much more careful should be our striving, how much more willing our sacrifice and self-denial! Every act casts its weight into the scale that determines life's victory or defeat. And the reward given to those who win will be in proportion to the energy and earnestness with which they have striven.
THE GOAL BEFORE HIM
The apostle compared himself to a man running in a race, straining every nerve to win the prize. "I therefore so run," he says, "not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Paul feared lest, having preached to others, he himself should be a castaway. He realized that if he did not carry out in his life the principles he believed and preached, his labors in behalf of others would avail him nothing. His conversation, his influence, his refusal to yield to self-gratification, must show that his religion was not a profession merely, but a daily, living connection with God. One goal he kept ever before him, and strove earnestly to reach,—"the righteousness which is of God by faith."
Paul knew that his warfare against evil would not end so long as life should last.
Ever he realized the need of putting a strict guard upon himself, that earthly desires might not overcome spiritual zeal. With all his power he continued to strive against natural inclinations. Ever he kept before him the ideal to be attained, and this ideal he strove to reach by willing obedience to the law of God. His words, his practises, his passions,—all were brought under the control of the Spirit of God.
THIS SINGLE-HEARTED PURPOSE
It was this single-hearted purpose to win the race for eternal life that Paul longed to see revealed in the lives of the Corinthian believers. He knew that in order to reach Christ's ideal for them, they had before them a life struggle from which there would be no release. He entreated them to strive lawfully, day by day seeking for piety and moral excellence. He pleaded with them to lay aside every weight, and to press forward to the goal of perfection in Christ.
Glorious is the triumph awaiting the faithful. The apostle, realizing the possibilities before the Corinthian believers, sought to set before them that which uplifts from the selfish and the sensual, and glorifies life with the hope of immortality. Earnestly he exhorted them to be true to their high calling in Christ. "My beloved brethren," he pleaded, "be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
Thus the apostle, in the most decided and impressive manner, endeavored to correct the false and dangerous ideas and practises that were prevailing in the Corinthian church. He spoke plainly, yet in love for their souls. After the letter had been despatched, Paul feared lest that which he had written might wound too deeply those whom he desired to benefit. With trembling anxiety he waited to receive some tidings as to the reception of his message.
THE TRANSFORMATION EFFECTED
During this time of anxiety, he afterward declared, "our flesh had no rest; . . . without were fightings, within were fears." His prayers in behalf of those whom he loved were answered, however, by the coming of Titus, who brought the cheering news that a wonderful change had taken place among the Corinthian believers. Many had accepted the instruction contained in Paul's letter, and had repented of their sins. Their lives were no longer a reproach to Christianity, but exerted a powerful influence in favor of practical godliness.
FILLED WITH JOY HE WRITES AGAIN
Filled with joy, the apostle sent another letter to the Corinthian believers, expressing his gladness of heart because of the good work wrought in them: "Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent." When tortured by the fear that his words would be despised, he had sometimes regretted that he had written so decidedly and severely. "Now I rejoice," he continued, "not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of."
That repentance which is produced by the influence of divine grace upon the heart will214lead to confession and forsaking of sin. Such were the fruits which the apostle declared had been seen in the lives of the Corinthian believers.
THE SOURCE FROM WHICH TRIUMPH COMES
In expressing his joy over their reconversion and their growth in grace, Paul ascribed to God all the praise for this transformation of heart and life. "Thanks be unto God," he exclaimed, "which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish."
Paul was now full of faith and hope. He felt that Satan was not to triumph over the work of God in Corinth, and in words of praise he poured forth the gratitude of his heart. He and his fellow laborers would celebrate their victory over the enemies of Christ and the truth, by going forth with new zeal to extend the knowledge of the Saviour. Like incense the fragrance of the gospel was to be diffused throughout the world. To those who should accept Christ, the message would be a savor of life unto life.
