Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
The testimony of Christ confirmed in believers is the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy and embraces all the gifts of the one Spirit. In Corinth it meant that under Paul's labor converts turned from idolatry to serve the true God and were enriched by grace in all speech and knowledge, receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the sign of their experience. So enriched, they came behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the same faithful Lord who called them into fellowship with Himself will confirm unto the end blameless in His day. That promise belongs not to Corinth only but continues for those who wait for Christ at the end of the age, when the remnant, the last generation, fully confirmed in the testimony of Jesus, will likewise come behind in no gift as God leads out a people prepared for translation. In every age this confirming is the work of the Holy Spirit making the witness about Christ firm within truly converted souls by molding mind and heart and reshaping human character after the divine model.
Testimony Established in Corinth
The testimony of Christ confirmed in believers is the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and it includes all the gifts of the one Spirit. Its confirmation was established among the Corinthians and enriched them in knowledge and utterance, leaving them with no lack of gifts while waiting for Christ's coming. When that testimony is fully confirmed in the remnant of the gospel church, the last generation on earth, they too will come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What happened in Corinth under Paul's labor was that converts turned from idolatry to serve the true God and received the Holy Spirit's gifts as signs of their Christian experience. They were enriched in utterance and knowledge, came behind in no gift, not only received the truth but taught it to others, and were brought into near and dear relation to Christ. Their reception of the gospel and spiritual gifts called them to keep growing in Christian life toward Christ's purity and holiness.
Those in whom the testimony was confirmed were enriched by the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, with grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in all utterance and all knowledge, in speech and knowledge. With the testimony confirmed in them they came behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same Lord who gave the gifts will confirm believers unto the end, that they may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus, for God is faithful by whom they were called into the fellowship of His Son.
Those called into fellowship with Christ are to live it out in fellowship with one another, all speaking the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Their fellowship with Christ is to be lived in harmony, with love strengthening the church and showing the world that they are Christ's disciples, while God entrusts different gifts and different work to His servants to be blended together in His work. Though addressed to the church at Corinth, the instruction belongs to every place where companies of saints call on the name of Jesus Christ, as those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints who have pledged themselves by baptism to a ministry of good works in seeking to save others who do not know the truth. Its promise of sanctification may be shared by every Christian throughout time, seen alongside enrichment in speech and knowledge and lack of no spiritual gift as they await Christ's return.
The verse belongs to a chapter whose truths are to be understood and practiced, contrasting God's wisdom and power with human wisdom, power, and status, showing that true wisdom and glory come from knowing God and receiving Christ. To believers the preaching of the cross is the power of God, while to the worldly-wise who give their lives to worldly pursuits it is foolishness, for the world by wisdom knew not God. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom, but Christ crucified, though a stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, is the power and wisdom of God to the called, and God saves them that believe by the foolishness of preaching. God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise, the weak to confound the mighty, and base and despised things and things which are not to bring to nought things that are, so that no flesh should glory, for not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Believers are in Christ Jesus who is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that he who glories should glory in the Lord.
Promise to Waiting Church
The confirmation of Christ's testimony in Corinth enriched believers in knowledge and utterance, and that same confirmation is linked with lacking no gift while waiting for Christ's coming, so the gifts continue in benefit to those who wait for Him at the end of the age. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit's testimony in the present harmonizes with the testimony given through Paul, establishing Christ's testimony among believers and keeping them firm to the end so they may be blameless in that day.
In the same way, when the remnant of the gospel church, the last generation on earth, are fully confirmed in the testimony of Jesus, they too will come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that testimony includes all the gifts of the one Spirit. The verse means God is leading out a people and preparing them for translation with the testimony of Christ confirmed in them. That preparation calls them back into right lines of work, to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as their great exemplar.
The verse stands among the precious assurances in the first two chapters that give comfort and encouragement when trouble in the world increases and the Lord's children must suffer, sustaining a faith that will stand the test of trial and opposition. Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enrich believers in all utterance and knowledge as the testimony of Christ is confirmed in them, so that they come behind in no gift while waiting for His coming, shall be confirmed blameless in His day, and are called into the fellowship of Christ, placing wonderful possibilities within the reach of all who believe. Christ died for the ungodly while they were still sinners to prove He is willing and even anxious to bless people so they may be a blessing to others.
Life of Confirmed Believers
The verse describes the condition of truly converted souls, in whom the witness about Christ is made firm when the Holy Spirit molds and fashions mind and heart. God gives grace to confirm that testimony by reshaping human character according to the divine Model. Those so enriched in all utterance and all knowledge by the grace of God in Jesus Christ come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ will confirm them unto the end blameless in the day of the Lord through their calling into the fellowship of the Son.
In that reshaping, heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with the human agent. Each person is placed before the choice whether to do the God-given work or to shape character after the worldly pattern and bend all effort toward that end.
The truths of the chapter to which the verse belongs are to be understood and practiced and taken into practical life as part of a true living Christian experience. True wisdom and glory come from knowing God and receiving Christ, not from human wisdom, power, or status. This Scripture is to be read in the churches and walked in harmony with, especially by ministers and teachers. Those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints are enriched by Him in all utterance and knowledge through grace, so that they come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who will confirm them unto the end blameless in His day, called into fellowship with Christ to speak the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined in the same mind and judgment.
Those in whom the testimony is confirmed not only receive the truth but teach it to others, and are brought into near and dear relation to Christ. They stand as sentinels for God, labor unitedly, become willing servants of all, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus as their great Exemplar. God entrusts different gifts and different work to His servants to be blended together in His work, requiring them to all speak the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. As those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints they have pledged themselves by baptism to a ministry of good works in seeking to save others who do not know the truth.
That calling means aggressive work for every soul newly come to the faith, with constant personal diligence in personal reformation of character and singleness of eye to the glory of God. It requires proclaiming the third angel's message with a certain sound and joining medical missionary work practically with the gospel message for this time. It requires resistance to the principles of popery that oppose religious freedom, control conscience, and hinder faithful service.
For medical missionary workers the testimony is confirmed when their work in all its bearings lives up to what its name signifies. That confirmation requires not trusting to human wisdom, avoiding a careless, cheap kind of education and practice, and recognizing lack of qualification for complicated, difficult cases. It requires much prayer and sobriety together with cheerfulness and the sunshine of Christ brought in, with constant watching and praying. It requires guarding every movement of the physician in word and action in connection with nurses so there are no evil surmisings. Both teachers and students are on test and trial, each must realize individual responsibility and become as God would have him, and then God works with the teachers, physicians, and students.
The verse belongs to Paul's words to the church of God at Corinth, where the testimony of Christ was confirmed in the believers, and it corrects a married man who gives affection to another woman and lets his wife occupy the second place in his affections, which dishonors God. Such misplaced, spiritualistic affection is one of the signs of the last days acted by the wicked. Christ will take charge of the affections of those who love and honor God, causing them to center upon proper objects in faithfulness to marriage vows.
The testimony of Christ confirmed in believers is the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy and embraces all the gifts of the one Spirit. In Corinth it meant that under Paul's labor converts turned from idolatry to serve the true God and were enriched by grace in all speech and knowledge, receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the sign of their experience. So enriched, they came behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the same faithful Lord who called them into fellowship with Himself will confirm unto the end blameless in His day. That promise belongs not to Corinth only but continues for those who wait for Christ at the end of the age, when the remnant, the last generation, fully confirmed in the testimony of Jesus, will likewise come behind in no gift as God leads out a people prepared for translation. In every age this confirming is the work of the Holy Spirit making the witness about Christ firm within truly converted souls by molding mind and heart and reshaping human character after the divine model.
Testimony Established in Corinth
The testimony of Christ confirmed in believers is the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and it includes all the gifts of the one Spirit. Its confirmation was established among the Corinthians and enriched them in knowledge and utterance, leaving them with no lack of gifts while waiting for Christ's coming. When that testimony is fully confirmed in the remnant of the gospel church, the last generation on earth, they too will come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What happened in Corinth under Paul's labor was that converts turned from idolatry to serve the true God and received the Holy Spirit's gifts as signs of their Christian experience. They were enriched in utterance and knowledge, came behind in no gift, not only received the truth but taught it to others, and were brought into near and dear relation to Christ. Their reception of the gospel and spiritual gifts called them to keep growing in Christian life toward Christ's purity and holiness.
Those in whom the testimony was confirmed were enriched by the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, with grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in all utterance and all knowledge, in speech and knowledge. With the testimony confirmed in them they came behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same Lord who gave the gifts will confirm believers unto the end, that they may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus, for God is faithful by whom they were called into the fellowship of His Son.
Those called into fellowship with Christ are to live it out in fellowship with one another, all speaking the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Their fellowship with Christ is to be lived in harmony, with love strengthening the church and showing the world that they are Christ's disciples, while God entrusts different gifts and different work to His servants to be blended together in His work. Though addressed to the church at Corinth, the instruction belongs to every place where companies of saints call on the name of Jesus Christ, as those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints who have pledged themselves by baptism to a ministry of good works in seeking to save others who do not know the truth. Its promise of sanctification may be shared by every Christian throughout time, seen alongside enrichment in speech and knowledge and lack of no spiritual gift as they await Christ's return.
The verse belongs to a chapter whose truths are to be understood and practiced, contrasting God's wisdom and power with human wisdom, power, and status, showing that true wisdom and glory come from knowing God and receiving Christ. To believers the preaching of the cross is the power of God, while to the worldly-wise who give their lives to worldly pursuits it is foolishness, for the world by wisdom knew not God. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom, but Christ crucified, though a stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, is the power and wisdom of God to the called, and God saves them that believe by the foolishness of preaching. God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise, the weak to confound the mighty, and base and despised things and things which are not to bring to nought things that are, so that no flesh should glory, for not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Believers are in Christ Jesus who is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that he who glories should glory in the Lord.
Promise to Waiting Church
The confirmation of Christ's testimony in Corinth enriched believers in knowledge and utterance, and that same confirmation is linked with lacking no gift while waiting for Christ's coming, so the gifts continue in benefit to those who wait for Him at the end of the age. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit's testimony in the present harmonizes with the testimony given through Paul, establishing Christ's testimony among believers and keeping them firm to the end so they may be blameless in that day.
In the same way, when the remnant of the gospel church, the last generation on earth, are fully confirmed in the testimony of Jesus, they too will come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that testimony includes all the gifts of the one Spirit. The verse means God is leading out a people and preparing them for translation with the testimony of Christ confirmed in them. That preparation calls them back into right lines of work, to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as their great exemplar.
The verse stands among the precious assurances in the first two chapters that give comfort and encouragement when trouble in the world increases and the Lord's children must suffer, sustaining a faith that will stand the test of trial and opposition. Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enrich believers in all utterance and knowledge as the testimony of Christ is confirmed in them, so that they come behind in no gift while waiting for His coming, shall be confirmed blameless in His day, and are called into the fellowship of Christ, placing wonderful possibilities within the reach of all who believe. Christ died for the ungodly while they were still sinners to prove He is willing and even anxious to bless people so they may be a blessing to others.
Life of Confirmed Believers
The verse describes the condition of truly converted souls, in whom the witness about Christ is made firm when the Holy Spirit molds and fashions mind and heart. God gives grace to confirm that testimony by reshaping human character according to the divine Model. Those so enriched in all utterance and all knowledge by the grace of God in Jesus Christ come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ will confirm them unto the end blameless in the day of the Lord through their calling into the fellowship of the Son.
In that reshaping, heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with the human agent. Each person is placed before the choice whether to do the God-given work or to shape character after the worldly pattern and bend all effort toward that end.
The truths of the chapter to which the verse belongs are to be understood and practiced and taken into practical life as part of a true living Christian experience. True wisdom and glory come from knowing God and receiving Christ, not from human wisdom, power, or status. This Scripture is to be read in the churches and walked in harmony with, especially by ministers and teachers. Those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints are enriched by Him in all utterance and knowledge through grace, so that they come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who will confirm them unto the end blameless in His day, called into fellowship with Christ to speak the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined in the same mind and judgment.
Those in whom the testimony is confirmed not only receive the truth but teach it to others, and are brought into near and dear relation to Christ. They stand as sentinels for God, labor unitedly, become willing servants of all, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus as their great Exemplar. God entrusts different gifts and different work to His servants to be blended together in His work, requiring them to all speak the same thing with no divisions but perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. As those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints they have pledged themselves by baptism to a ministry of good works in seeking to save others who do not know the truth.
That calling means aggressive work for every soul newly come to the faith, with constant personal diligence in personal reformation of character and singleness of eye to the glory of God. It requires proclaiming the third angel's message with a certain sound and joining medical missionary work practically with the gospel message for this time. It requires resistance to the principles of popery that oppose religious freedom, control conscience, and hinder faithful service.
For medical missionary workers the testimony is confirmed when their work in all its bearings lives up to what its name signifies. That confirmation requires not trusting to human wisdom, avoiding a careless, cheap kind of education and practice, and recognizing lack of qualification for complicated, difficult cases. It requires much prayer and sobriety together with cheerfulness and the sunshine of Christ brought in, with constant watching and praying. It requires guarding every movement of the physician in word and action in connection with nurses so there are no evil surmisings. Both teachers and students are on test and trial, each must realize individual responsibility and become as God would have him, and then God works with the teachers, physicians, and students.
The verse belongs to Paul's words to the church of God at Corinth, where the testimony of Christ was confirmed in the believers, and it corrects a married man who gives affection to another woman and lets his wife occupy the second place in his affections, which dishonors God. Such misplaced, spiritualistic affection is one of the signs of the last days acted by the wicked. Christ will take charge of the affections of those who love and honor God, causing them to center upon proper objects in faithfulness to marriage vows.