Tuesday, 13 May 2014
And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. 1 Corinthians 3:23
To finish out his current thoughts concerning our allegiances and also to close chapter 3, Paul notes that “you are Christ’s.” We don’t belong to Paul or Peter, nor to any other individual, sect, or denomination. We don’t belong to a pope, pastor, or priest. Instead, we belong to Christ. He died for us, was resurrected proving that His work was accepted by God, and we have called on Him for salvation. We are His and to Him alone belongs our allegiance.
Understanding this, Paul finishes with “and Christ is God’s.” Christ is a member of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because we belong to Him, we belong to God. Jesus is our Mediator to God; no one else can satisfy that role. If we belong to Christ, and He to God, then we are accountable to God and owe Him our allegiance through Christ.
Paul’s order of argument and his logic have been exactingly laid out to keep us from misguided allegiances and distractions. And yet, we in the church have continuously failed to heed his words. We throw our trust behind a given pastor as if he were the ultimate authority over us in all matters. Some, like Jim Jones, have even taken their flock to their deaths. All of this tragically occurs because we fail to simply heed the words of the Bible.
Life application: Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Lord God, thank you for those pastors and teachers who have instructed me in my walk. But Lord, help me to remember that they are just men doing their job and not the objects of my allegiance. In Christ alone will I trust. I know that any person can falter or let me down, but Jesus never will. Thank You for my ever-faithful Lord! Amen.