Monday, 10 March 2014
…even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you… 1 Corinthians 1:6
This verse, like the previous one, is continuing on from verse 4. The grace of God was given to the Corinthians by Christ Jesus. Because of this they “were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge.” This leads to him saying that this was “even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.” The Pulpit Commentary says that “the genitive is thus objective (about Christ), not subjective (the testimony borne by Christ).” In this manner then, the Christian testimony was, in fact, confirmed in those in Corinth.
The apostles, particularly Paul, passed on the message of Christ through preaching and instruction to the Corinthians and it was confirmed through signs. However, we will see in the chapters ahead that they abused the signs and made what was given in honor to look childish and demeaning. Because of this, Paul had to give explicit instructions concerning gifts, particularly the gift of “tongues.” To this day, charismatic and Pentecostal churches continue to demean these gifts, ignoring the very instructions breathed out by the Holy Spirit through Paul.
As God will never contradict Himself, then any supposed gift which doesn’t correspond to the instructions He has given in His word cannot be a “gift” from the Holy Spirit at all. We must pay particular heed to the instructions concerning these things as they come in the chapters ahead. Christianity is to be a “Christ-centered” religion, not a “look-at-me-centered” one. He is Lord, we are His subjects.
Life application: What change was wrought in you when you came to Christ? Hopefully you will remember that He is the one who deserves the glory for having saved your soul and confirmed it through a noticeable change in you. Remember to always glorify His great name in all you do.
Heavenly Father, from time to time I get feeling pretty great about “me” and the things I do… and then I remind myself that there is no thing that I own, no accomplishment I have achieved, and no honor I have received that didn’t originally come from You. It truly is all by Your grace and so to You alone goes the credit for all that I am. Help me to remember this as I walk along life’s road… it is all about You. Amen.