Paul begins this letter by dealing with the value of suffering. He wants us to know that we can grow through difficult times and that God will help us to endure such trials.

The Lord never told us that, if we decided to follow Him, our lives would be trouble-free. We may have fewer problems as Christians than we would otherwise, but we must still deal with many of the hardships of life that everyone must face.

Paul and Timothy (and many others, before and since) were not immune from these difficulties and even thought on occasion that they might die because of their mistreatment by others. Paul considered such things to simply be a part of the Christian life. 

He goes on to emphasize that a disciple of Jesus who has endured and successfully gone through trials then has the ability to help others who may be facing the same difficulties in life. The key to the whole question, of course, is trusting in “the God of all comfort.”

One of the main criticisms against Paul from the false teachers in Corinth was that he was not trustworthy. He had promised to come to Corinth and still had not; all he was doing was making excuses. These false teachers challenged everything about Paul that they could and, in this letter, he addresses many of those complaints.

In this section (verses 12-24), he will explain why he has not yet come to Corinth and reminds the Corinthians of his personal integrity and dependability. Notice that he says his yes meant yes and his no meant no. He was trustworthy.

--Roger Hillis

Lord willing, I will be posting a 13 day study of 2 Corinthians, beginning on April 1. We will cover one chapter per day as we have done on the other chapter summary posts. I was not sure I would finish 2 Corinthians in time, but I was able to complete it today, so it will be up for your consideration starting on Saturday. Hope you can join us then.

--Roger Hillis

Jepthah entertains contention with Ephraim. Ephraim is upset because they were not contacted by Jephthah to help fight and defeat the people of Ammon. Ephraim is so offended at this that they claim they will burn Jephthah’s people in their homes. 

So all the people of Gilead fought Ephraim and destroyed them, ridding the land of a self-seeking faction. Note the interesting method of identifying an Ephraimite with the pronunciation of “Shibboleth.” 42,000 of them died due to foolish pride.

Jephthah dies and is buried. After him comes Ibzan, Elon and Abdon. These last three were attended by years of calm, indicating peace and blessings. Given the choice, man would rather live in times of peace than in times of turmoil.

Think about the pride of Ephraim that would have caused the aggression at the start of the chapter. They were offended because they were not invited to help fight. In their minds, Jepthah’s people saw Ephraim as too weak to fight, or their strength was not worth an invitation. Ephraim was very wrong to think this way. Their pride clouded their ability to see what was most important: Ammon was defeated. From verse 2, Jephthah indicates that Ephraim was called, but they did not deliver.

How many relationships have you seen tainted with pride? Has an erroneous assumption led you to disagreements and arguments that really were unnecessary? Sometimes when we are the one holding pride and acting on behalf of it, it is very hard to see and even harder to admit our role as the wrongful instigator. The justification for such things is often far too easy and convenient.

The remedy is to work for peace. Be a peacekeeper. If I sacrifice my desire for praise, my desire for the spotlight and my desire to be right, I can mend infinite fences, I can be the answer instead of the problem. 

Also, sometimes God will bless us with the praise and the spotlight if we act with humility, but never if the praise or the spotlight is our goal.

— Cory Byrd

This post originally appeared on Monday Night Bible Study.

Basics. Fundamentals. Foundations.

The Hebrews writer said, “...let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” (Heb. 6:1-2) There is a categorical need for spiritual growth in the life of a Christian, and part of that is to move on to more mature thinking—not simply a continual repetition of the basics.

This, however, does not necessarily mean that we never speak again of the fundamental matters of faith. You’ll notice the writer says “not laying again a foundation.” In saying it this way, he assumes that those previously-laid foundations will remain intact and remain strong.

As a church of God’s people continues to influence the world around them, we should expect to see varying levels of understanding about the foundations of faith. And we must, therefore, repeat the fundamentals often enough to keep them at the root of our identity. Without properly-laid foundations—“the elementary doctrines of Christ”—we will never attain to maturity anyway.

And so, we would all do well (this writer, especially) to learn not to disdain those necessary messages on the fundamentals. One writer said, “Repetition… is a pastoral necessity.” It’s important that we reinforce our foundations of belief in Christ, the importance of baptism, and the necessity of repentance.

Basics. Fundamentals. Foundations.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Jephthah was Gideon’s son through a harlot. At an early age, he was driven away from home to a place called Tob by other brothers, who were legitimate. There he engaged in raids with men of poor character.

Despite the nature of his activities, he must have made a name for himself as a leader of some stature. For when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to retrieve Jephthah from Tob and asked him to lead an army against the people of Ammon. Jephthah eventually agrees to do this, but only if he be granted command should he win in victory over the people of Ammon. 

So Jephthah contacts the people of Ammon via messengers and after a lengthy exchange, during which the story of how Israel came to possess the Ammonites’ land is told, he tells them to leave the land and cease with the threat of fighting Israel. But the people of Ammon do not heed Jephthah. 

The Spirit of the Lord came to Jephthah and he was invigorated to fight the people of Ammon. Jephthah advanced upon the Ammonites and made a vow to God: If Jephthah was to be successful in battle, he would sacrifice whatever came out of his doorway first when he returned home successful.

Jephthah is ultimately victorious and it is his only child, a daughter, that comes out of his doorway upon his return home. She is celebrating with musical instruments as she comes out of the doorway. After she learns of her father’s vow, she accepts her fate. Jephthah fulfills his vow and it became a custome in Israel that the daughters of Israel would lament her fate for four days each year.

Throughout this chapter, Jephthah reveals himself as a man of faith. He deals justly with Gideon’s elders and with the Ammonites, citing God as the director of early events and the decision-maker. But does Jephthah go too far, considering the vow he makes?

The answer is yes. God did not need Jephthah’s vow in order for the Israelites to be successful over the Ammonites. I am sure the spirit of the vow from Jephthah’s point of view was noble, but the drama that the vow evoked was not necessary. The entire vow situation has more to do with teaching Jephthah and us a lesson than it does with Jephthah showing God how deep his allegiance ran. 

It is almost as if God was teaching Jephthah a lesson. As if to say – If you are going to be so reckless as to make a vow for which the sacrifice is determined by chance or happenstance, then I will make it the most difficult of sacrifices to be made. 

Indeed, Jesus warned against vows during the sermon on the mount. After all, if we compare the effects of our vows with the powers of God, how can we support our vows as a proof of faith in light of the powers of the Lord?

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Matthew 5:33-37

As to whether or not Jephthah killed his own daughter to satisfy the sacrifice, that is a matter of debate even today. The chapter tells us that he did offer up his daughter as a sacrifice, but it does not say that he killed her. Consider that the daughter took care to go to the mountains for two months with her friends to mourn her virginity. In verse 39, after it is said that Jephthah carried out his vow, and the next statement reveals that his daughter knew no man. So it is reasonable assume that she was not killed as a sacrifice to God, but that her life was given in service to God and that she never married. 

Also consider that a human sacrifice to God would have been an abomination and would have certainly precluded mention of Jephthah’s name among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. 

Strong faith as Jephthah had can surprise even us, if we have it and if it is strong enough. Faith such as this moved Jephthah to keep an oath involving the life of his only child. 

Is my faith as strong as Jephthah’s? Even though I do not swear to the Lord, do I live my life in a way that shows such faith? Do I make decisions in accordance with God’s designs on my life?

— Cory Byrd

This post originally appeared on Monday Night Bible Study.

Everything that is considered a living thing is inherently designed to grow—all plants, all animals, and all humans. God created life on the premise that it would grow and thrive. And if growth is not present, we are aware that something has gone wrong.

This simple concept gives us all the reason we need to pursue growth, because it is an essential component of true life. When our bodies cease to develop, they begin to regress—we don’t stay stagnant for long. When we fail to challenge our minds and grow our intellects, we have greater difficulties learning. And when we neglect the spiritual growth of a church, it doesn’t take too long for the results of decline to begin to show.

This is why growth must be purposeful at every level. This is why our vision is to Rise Up & Build; not to just sit back and enjoy. This is especially important for those in leadership positions, for no group ever rises above the level of its leadership. For the elders, that means continual improvement in leadership, in Bible knowledge, and in fellowship with the sheep. For the husbands in the church, that means continual growth in our love for our wives, in our concern for their souls, and in our ability to bring the Bible to bear on their lives. For the fathers in the church, that means continual growth in our knowledge of our kids, in our understanding of Biblical parenting, and in our vision for adulthood toward which we lead our kids. For the teachers in our church, that means continual improvement in our bible knowledge continual improvement in our knowledge of the students’ needs, and continual efforts to improve our techniques and content of our classes.

Leadership sets the tone for everything we do, and so if you’re in a position of leadership, set a tone for continual growth! Because growth is inherent in the design of life. For the life of a family, for the life of a church, and for the life of every soul; make sure that you continue to grow so you can lead others to do the same!

- Dan Lankford, minister

The first four verses deal with “the collection for the saints” in Jerusalem. Paul wanted to make sure that the disciples in Judea would be taken care of and the church in Corinth was going to help them. We generally refer to this work as benevolence and it can include both saints in the local church as well as Christians in other places who are undergoing physical and financial hardships.

Verses 5-12 outline some of Paul’s personal plans for his immediate future. An open door had appeared to him in Ephesus and he wanted to reach as many souls for the Lord as possible. There were many adversaries, however, and the work would not be easy.

Notice the words of commendation that he includes in this letter to Corinth about several of the younger preachers, whom Paul had taught and/or discipled to maturity. He specifically gives them some direction about helping and encouraging both Timothy and Apollos.

The final section (verses 13-24) contains some concluding instructions for the Corinthian Christians to consider.

He tells them to be alert and to stand fast for the truth of God’s word. He reminds them to love their brothers and sisters in the Lord, fellow workers in the cause of Christ.

And he mentions several first century disciples who had been an encouragement to him in his work for God and who could serve to build up the Christians in Corinth as they had opportunity to spend time together. He names such well known (at least to them) Christians as Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus, Aquila and Priscilla.

He concludes with a warning against leaving their first love (verse 22) and prays that the grace of God might be with them.

--Roger Hillis

The Corinthians believed in the resurrection of Christ, but not in a general resurrection of the dead. Chapter 15 shows that, if one is true, the other is also true. You cannot believe in one but not the other.

The first 11 verses of the chapter mention more than five hundred eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection. It was (and is) an established fact. And Jesus’ resurrection proves that all others will be resurrected as well (verses 12-28).

Some legal experts have stated that if all of the more than 500 witnesses were to testify in a court of law, the result would be the most one side court case in the history of the civilized justice system. The resurrection would be confirmed as being true, “beyond reasonable doubt.”

The rest of the chapter explains a few of the details about what and how and why of the general resurrection of the dead. He uses familiar, end of time, language to describe the return of Christ. Notice phrases like, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” He explains that, when Jesus comes back, our mortal bodies (corruptible) will be changed into an immortal one that can survive eternity (incorruptible).

Everything we believe is dependent upon the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. If He was not raised from the dead, then we have no hope. Our entire system of faith crumbles if the foundation of the bodily resurrection of Jesus is false. But Paul gives us strong assurance that He was raised and therefore, we will be raised also.

The resurrection is what separates Christianity from every other world religion. Buddha, Joseph Smith, Muhammad, and other founders of various religions have all died, but only the tomb of Jesus is empty.

He concludes with the thought that our labor for the Lord is never in vain because there is something beyond this life. God will reward the faithful.

--Roger Hillis

One of the problems connected with the first century spiritual gifts was jealousy over who had the better gifts. The most popular gift was speaking in tongues. Most of those in Corinth to whom Paul was writing seemed to think that this was the very best gift.

Paul shows them that prophecy (inspired preaching) was the more valuable gift. Tongues were a sign for unbelievers, but prophecy was for those who believe (verse 22). If they were to be zealous for spiritual gifts, they should excel “for the edification of the church” (verse 12; see also verse 26).

God did not give these gifts to make some Christians superior to other disciples. The gifts were all given by the Lord, through the Spirit, to equip the church so that it might function more smoothly in its early days.

Today, if there are problems in the church, we solve them by looking into the New Testament to determine God’s will. But, before the New Testament was completed, they had spiritual gifts to help them know what God wanted them to do.

Another problem in the Corinthian church is discussed in the closing verses of chapter 14. Besides the misunderstanding of the importance of each gift, they also were not regulating the gifts properly.

He gives the example that some were speaking in tongues (which meant that they were speaking in real foreign languages that they had never studied and could not have known how to speak without God’s Spirit working in them), but they did not have an interpreter present to tell anyone what was being said. Modern day tongue speaking involves an unintelligible, meaningless gibberish that no one can interpret.

Also, many of them were speaking out of turn and, therefore, it was confusing because several people would be trying to talk at the same time.

In addition, during their worship services, the Christians were being loud and sometimes out of control in their exercise of these gifts. It was rather chaotic and so Paul gives them guidelines about how to use the gifts properly and reminds them, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (verse 40).

-Roger Hillis

The “more excellent way” talked about in this chapter is love.

The first section (verses 1-3) shows us that, without love, nothing else really matters.

Great talent is insignificant is it is not used to love and serve others. Helping others is important but we must serve them because of our love for God and people. Miracles are performed (in the first century) in vain if they are not offered out of a motive of love.

The second section (verses 4-8a) is the most beautiful description of love man has ever heard, because it was inspired by God.

Paul describes love, by inspiration, as being patient, kind, not envious, not quick to anger, not arrogant or proud. Love behaves politely and properly. Love bears, believes, hopes and endures. Love never fails.

The third section (verses 8b-13) reveals the duration of the gifts. They were to fail, cease, or vanish away “when that which is perfect has come.” There are two basic views in the religious world about what this means.

Some believe this is speaking of the return of Christ. When He comes back, spiritual gifts will cease. Of course, this event is in the future and would therefore mean that the gifts continue even in our present time. But these gifts were given by the laying on of an apostle’s hands (Acts 8:17-18) and when the apostles had all died, there was no provision for them to continue.

The other view, which is more consistent with the teaching of the New Testament, is that this refers to the completed revelation of God’s word. When the Bible was finished, the spiritual gifts ended.

--Roger Hillis