Doctrinal Error Corrupts Morality

Transcript

GR 1368
01-27-08
Doctrinal Error Corrupts Morality
I Corinthians 15:29-34
Gil Rugh

We're studying I Corinthians 15 in our Bibles, the great chapter on the resurrection in our Bibles. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth addressing the subject of the bodily resurrection of believers. Now remember every person who is going to be raised from the dead, some in a resurrection of judgment, some in the resurrection of the righteous. Paul's concern in I Corinthians 15 is the resurrection of the righteous, addressing the bodily resurrection of believers. There has been some confusion in the church at Corinth, so he's not dealing with how unbelievers see the idea of the resurrection, but rather some have infiltrated the church. Now these may be unbelievers, but they have been accepted into the church at Corinth, and they are promoting a teaching that there will be no bodily resurrection for the believer. They don't necessarily deny that Christ was raised from the dead, but He was a unique case. But they did deny that believers would be raised. In verse 12, now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

In verses 20-28 Paul has set forth the eschatological plan of God, if you will, God's plan for the future, for last things. The sovereign God has ordained the unfolding of future events. They culminate in the kingdom that will be established on this earth following the resurrection of believers. And during the first thousand years of that kingdom Christ will reign, at the end of that thousand years all sin, all rebellion will be put down. And when you conclude the thousand years you will be in a place where everything is in proper relationship to God. Sinful beings, whether angelic or human, will be in an eternal hell, and the righteous will be in the kingdom which will go on forever. Then the Son of God will turn the kingdom over to His Father, it is as You intended it to be. His redemptive work has accomplished its purpose, and now we move into eternity.

Beginning with verse 29 Paul turns from future things to pick up a theme again that he has already addressed. He's going to talk about the consequences of denying the resurrection. He's talked about this earlier in this chapter, here he'll have a little different emphasis. What does it mean if there is no resurrection of the dead? It has dramatic ramifications for the way we live our lives, it has major implications for our moral conduct. We sometimes make an unbiblical separation between doctrine and practice. Many times over the years I've heard people say, we have too much emphasis on doctrine and not enough emphasis on practice. And I really think that causes confusion. For the Bible there can be no separation of the two. You can't have too much doctrine. The biblical word for doctrine is the word teaching, too much biblical teaching. Don't you get out of balance where you're overbalanced on teaching? Well think about it. If you are involved in all the opportunities for Bible study, you come for the Bible fellowship hour, for our Sunday worship hour, for Sunday night, you're involved in a Bible study through the week, you're here for Bible study on Wednesday night, maybe you have another Bible study or two through the week. Maybe you're involved in eight Bible studies through the week. That's a lot, eight hours a week. Now add that up. How many hours are in a week? But that's just a small fraction, right? So you have eight hours of biblical teaching as input and then all the rest of the week to live it out. So why do you say we have a lack of balance? I don't think it's possible to have too much teaching. Now I realize some people sit under teaching and it seems to make no difference in their lives. The problem is not that we have too much teaching, the problem is a failure to respond. If one of your young children goes to school and the teacher is teaching the class, math and geography and all the things they teach, and your child is sitting there in space, his mind is elsewhere doing other things and not paying attention, he comes home and says he's not learning anything. You say, they have too much teaching at that school. No, he needs to pay attention, take it in and begin to apply it. But somehow we go to church, people are taught doctrine and they see somebody not living as they should, they say, they must have too much emphasis on doctrine there.

So we need to understand God never speaks, if I can say this respectfully, just to hear Himself talks. When He speaks it is with the intention that we listen, submit to and obey what He says. That's what biblical teaching is, coming to the Word to listen to what God says so that I can submit myself to that truth and as I do, the Spirit of God builds it into my life and now my practice is shaped by the truth that I have been taught.

What Paul is showing in verses 29-34, where we will focus our attention, is that the biblical doctrine of the resurrection of the dead has a dramatic impact on the way the church at Corinth will live its life. And if they don't get ahold of this doctrine and deal with the false teaching regarding it, it will corrupt the morality of the church. In fact, Paul will say if they don't deal with this false teaching, they are guilty of sinning and the consequences of that will spread dramatically.

Let's pick up with verse 29, a verse that has much controversy around it. There are a variety of views, I read numbers anywhere from 30 possible interpretation, I believe one said he thinks there have been as many as 200. I didn't bother trying to figure them all out. I appreciated one commentator that I've been using, his conclusion on this verse. What is the meaning of this verse? In all humility I confess that the sense of this verse escapes me. Verse 29 remains a mystery. Now I appreciate the humility, when you're writing a major commentary and the conclusion after all your research is I don't have any idea what this verse is saying. I don't want to present myself as the solution to all the problems, but I've narrowed it down to just two. I want to say what it cannot mean, and then I'll share with you what I believe is the simplest and for me the clearest explanation of what is being said.

The statement in verse 29 is otherwise what will those do who are baptized for the dead. If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them. What in the world is Paul talking about, being baptized for the dead. Does this mean that in order for those who have died without being baptized, to have a full salvation someone will have to get baptized on their behalf so they can be completely saved? In effect baptism is necessary for salvation and you can accomplish the salvation of someone who died perhaps 200 years ago by proxy by getting baptized in their place. Perhaps the most well-known proponents of this in our modern day is the Mormons. There have been some issues in the not so distant history where certain groups got offended when they found out that the Mormons were culling genealogies and then having people be baptized because in their view you have to name the name of the person that you are being baptized for, for it to count. I guess God could get confused if you don't tell Him who this is for. So they believe that you can bring about salvation for someone who has died. Did Paul mean that?

Well one thing we can do, when you come to a passage and say there could be a variety of interpretations on this, we can eliminate a large portion of them because this is not the only verse we have in the Bible. We can say, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? One possibility might be that you could be baptized in the placed of a dead person and thus get them saved after they are dead. However that would be in conflict with the whole rest of scripture, so all those kind of ideas can be eliminated, just swept out the door. They don't count, they don't matter. You say, I see it as a possibility in this verse. I see it as a possibility in this verse, too, if there weren't other verses in the Bible. So we have to interpret the scripture in light of scripture.

I just want to go to one passage with you. Back up to Romans 4, where I usually take you on this subject because it is simple and clear. The Bible teaches clearly salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We have major differences with other groups like Roman Catholics who agree that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, but they will not say it's by grace through faith alone in Christ. We have a major disagreement. If salvation is by grace through faith, it can't be through faith plus baptism. In Romans 3:21 through chapters 4 and 5, Paul is showing God's provision of righteousness through faith in the finished work of His Son. Romans 3:22 says, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction. There is no basic difference in meanings of the words believe or faith, you have verbs and you have nouns, but it's the same basic Greek word. But we translate here the verb to believe, but the same idea. We're talking about having faith, believing something.

We are justified, verse 24, as a gift by His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. So that's why we say we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. He concludes that chapter by emphasizing there is only one God. So verse 30, since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, is one. Some of you may have the wording of that altered somewhat, but the point is since God is one. There is only one God, He'll justify both Jews and Gentiles through faith. If there is only one God, there can only be one way of salvation is the point.

Chapter 4 is about Him demonstrating how one person that everyone knows about got saved, and that establishes since there is only one way of salvation, because there is only one God, we'll know for sure how He's going to save anyone. He uses Abraham as the example. If he was justified by works, verse 2, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, had faith in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. That's Genesis 15:6. Verse 5, to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Note, it's not your faith is credited as righteousness, it's your faith in Him who justifies the ungodly. It's faith in God, the person and work of God Himself.

Now he goes on down giving examples from the writings of David. Now in verse 9 we pick up again, is this blessing then on the circumcised, the blessing of having your sins forgiven, or on the uncircumcised also? In other words, did you have to be circumcised to get the blessing of salvation? Well how did Abraham get it? For we say, faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Now think a minute. Genesis 15, had Abraham been circumcised yet? Hint, he gets circumcised in chapter 17. Does chapter 17 come before or after chapter 15? We have years difference, twenty years between the time God declared him righteous and the time he gets circumcised. So not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. The point of the argument—circumcision is not necessary for salvation.

You say, I thought we were talking about baptism. All right, but follow the argument. There is only one God, there is only one way of salvation. How was Abraham saved? By faith alone. For the Jews they said faith in Christ is fine, Judaizers would say you can believe in Christ but you also have to be circumcised. But wait a minute, you don't, because Abraham wasn't circumcised, yet God declared him righteous. That was before circumcision. Wait, there is only one God, you can't change the way of salvation from time to time. That's the whole argument. So circumcision can't be necessary for salvation. All right, I'll accept that, but that's different than baptism. But Abraham was never baptized. Well then how can baptism be necessary for salvation? You're saying there are two Gods, the God who saved Abraham by faith alone and the God who today saves people by faith ............ Well Jesus came, now ............ That doesn't change anything. The law had been given 500 years after Abraham was declared righteous, and the law requires circumcision for a Jewish male on the eighth day. But Paul's argument is that still didn't mean it was necessary for salvation, it was part of obedience for a Jew but it wasn't necessary for salvation. It never was. So baptism cannot be necessary for salvation. That's the argument.

Come back to I Corinthians 15. We're interested in it because that eliminates many of the views that would somehow say this had something to do with the Corinthian belief. Because it seems clear here Paul is not saying this was a wrong idea, he's using it to support something. Without going into all the other possibilities, I'll tell you a little bit of the history. The church started in Acts 2. Paul is writing to the Corinthians in 55 A.D. Now the church started 50 days after the crucifixion of Christ. Over twenty years have gone by since the church started when Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthians. We've established in other places, you know what has happened during that time? Believers have died, and during that time others have come to know Christ. Probably in the years that the church at Corinth has been in existence, five or so years, they've seen some of their loved ones, some of their faithful church members die. But you know what they've also seen? Some others come to know Christ. So I think basically what verse 29 is saying, otherwise what will those do who are baptized for the dead. In other words we have new believers coming up and they are being baptized now, identified as followers of Christ. And they are in effect taking the place of those believers who are no longer there because they've died. But if the dead are not raised at all, why they are they baptized for them? What's the purpose of this purpose? Why does it go on? Death ought to bring it to an end because there is no purpose in it. We're not going anywhere. This is related to his argument given earlier on the consequences of there being no resurrection, our faith is worthless. We are to be pitied, we are hopeless. So he's approaching it with a little different ............

The church at Corinth, we sometimes think of it as big. We might be surprised, they were meeting in homes. Think of our home Bible studies, the church at Corinth, and you think of the closeness of a relationship. I'm not saying they were just limited to 10-15 people, but I doubt it would have been 1000 people. So they would have known each other, and when a faithful believer died, what a loss to our church. But praise God here is a new believer who has been baptized. And as you are aware the New Testament gives no consideration to the possibility there would be a Christian who hadn't been baptized. No one is considered a believer who has not been baptized, not because it was necessary for salvation, but anyone who didn't step forward to declare their commitment to Jesus Christ and allegiance to follow Him wouldn't have been accepted as a believer in the church. All baptism was, was an evidence of the spiritual transaction that occurred, by publicly declaring that. The details of that spiritual transaction are in Romans 6. We were identified with Christ in His death, in His burial and in His resurrection to new life. That occurred the moment I believed. Now water baptism is simply a declaration of what has happened to me, and now I am a follower of Christ.

That's my understanding of this verse. And if there is no resurrection, there is no point, it's a worthless process. We are calling people to allegiance and commitment to Jesus Christ, to become His followers, to step up and take the place of these faithful ones who have died. But we're not going anywhere, there's nothing beyond this life. We're just playing a game here, we're playing in the sandbox that has no meaning. Get over it. There is no point if the dead are not raised.

Now he turns from talking about those who are coming to Christ and being baptized, an indication that this had been going on in the church at Corinth, I take it, during Paul's absence. The gospel has continued to be preached. He turns to himself, why are we also in danger every hour. And the “we” is probably editorial because he immediately starts to talk about himself. Verse 31, I affirm brethren, by the boast which I have in the Lord, I die daily, if from human motives I fought with wild beasts, what does it profit me. He wants to talk about what he's going through, his own personal experience. Your experiencing this in the church as you see new believers come in and step up to carry on the ministry and take it from faithful servants who died. But now my own personal situation, what are we in danger all the time, every hour. You know Paul's ministry was a ministry of danger, constant unrelenting danger.

Turn over to II Corinthians 11. That word danger, why are we in danger every hour. You get to II Corinthians 11, Paul is unfolding his experiences as an apostle and a servant of Jesus Christ. Just pick up in verse 26 for a moment, and he takes that word danger that he used in I Corinthians 15, why are we in danger every hour, he uses it eight times in verse 26. Verse 26, I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I mean it's relentless. I live a life that is dangerous, I live on the edge all the time, I never know what difficulty, what tragedy, what trial will overtake me.

This is not unique, in I Corinthians 15 he said, why do I suffer danger every hour. It's not, I have periods of time in my life when I'm in danger. I tell you this is every hour, not just every day but every hour. When I wake up in the morning I'm expecting trouble. Whatever it is, if I'm going to take a boat trip I know there will be problems, there will be trouble. If I'm walking I know I'm in danger. It's just everywhere I go, that's my characteristic.

Look at II Corinthians 11:23, he's defending himself. You know one of the ways the devil worked against the Apostle Paul was the personal attacks on his person and his credibility. And so he talks about, are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane, I more so. In far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Incidentally the Greek word danger doesn't appear there, it just says often in deaths, plural. In other words he faced death all the time. He was beaten times without number. How many of us would raise our hands and say I can't even count the number of times I've been beaten for my testimony for Christ. This is a totally foreign idea to us. In parts of the world there are those paying a great price for their testimony, we live in relative luxury and ease and peace. The danger of that is we get accustomed to it and we don't want to do anything to upset the luxury, the peace and the enjoyment.

Paul goes on, some examples. Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Five times. Can you imagine if the Apostle Paul took off the top of his robe and you looked at his back? Five times, 39 lashes. Now you remember in the Old Testament, certain punishment the Jews were allowed to give 40 lashes. But getting 40 lashes was so sever you could die from that, and if you have 41 the person doing the beating was liable for the death because you gave more than the law allowed or required. So they always gave one less, in case there was a miscount. You don't want to make a mistake like that and then you have to take the punishment. Five times he received that, same back. If would have been a rather ugly sight, we can appreciate when he told the Galatians, I bear in my body the brand marks of Christ. I mean, do you want to compare scars? Let's look. That's just a start. Three time I was beaten with rods. Add that. They didn't even do that to Roman citizens, but Paul got it. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I've spent a night and a day in the deep, I've floated out there in the sea. I've been on frequent journeys in dangers, and I read that verse. Jump down to verse 27, I've been in labor, hardship, many sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And that's just the external things, then I have the problems in churches like you Corinthians always weighing on me.

Any wonder John Mark started out the first missionary and decided the better part of wisdom was go back home. The Apostle Paul is not a man with much of a future, and there is not much sense in my going very far with him. He just got started on the first missionary journey and he decided it was time to go home. I wonder. We get the idea, I'll give it all for Christ, but for us suffering is if one of our friends or relatives takes offense when we present the gospel. Oh, now they're not going to like me, now they're not going to want to talk to me. For Paul that stuff hardly counts. I mean, how many times have you been beaten? How many times have you been stoned? How many times have you been shipwrecked trying to get to another place to take the gospel? How many times have you had to go without food and sleep, not just because you were on a diet, not just because you were pulling an “all-nighter,” how many time because you were so involved in the ministry and the necessity to get someplace to share the gospel? Or you were in a prison where you couldn't sleep ............... This is his life. We sometimes think, the Apostle Paul, what a unique person. You know what was unique about him? The willingness to throw his body with abandon into the ministry. I discipline my body, in II Corinthians 2, I discipline my body and beat it black and blue to bring it into subjection. Paul says that's how I approach the ministry, my body will have to do what needs to be done. No body like to get beat on, no body like to suffer. But I tell my body what it has to do because we are in the service of the king and it has to get done.

So we think, what was the key to Paul? We're going to go out there and throw our lives into the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ like this and give up all our friends, all our family, any associations. I don't care if they throw me in jail, I don't care if I lose my job, I don't care ........... All of a sudden we say, well, that probably would have an impact. I'm not saying you have to do that, go out and see if you can get fired tomorrow. But I'm saying there is not any big secret. You know when Jesus called people to follow Him, you know what He said? Come follow Me and you will have a life of fun and enjoyment like you've never had before. No, what did He say? You take up your cross and follow Me, and if you won't take up your cross and follow Me you're not worthy of Me. Everybody knew what it meant to take up a cross. That was a life of scorn, suffering, rejection, humiliation. These are the kinds of followers I am calling. So that is what Paul is going to give himself an example of.

Come back to I Corinthians 15. I affirm brethren, by the boasting, verse 31, in you which I had in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. Remember we talked about in Greek when you wrote sentences and wanted to put emphasis on something you could just rearrange the wording. We do it in other ways, but they could just arrange the wording. One thing they could do was put something first. And the first statement in verse 31 of the Greek text is I die daily. Maybe because he is in danger every hour he can pick up on that and say, I die daily. I've faced the possibility of death every day. We read just one summary of some of his experience. Read through II Corinthians, starts in chapter 1 and goes on. I die daily, I mean I face death every day.

Turn over a page to II Corinthians 1:8. He's writing from Ephesus. At the end of I Corinthians, chapter 16 verse 8, I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. Ephesus was in what was called Asia then, Asia Minor as we would call it. For a wide door for effective service is open to me and there are many adversaries. That verse was an eye-opener to me, I always thought an open door meant there were no adversaries. An open door meant you could present the gospel in the face of all the opposition. They are dragging you off to be beaten, and you can be telling them about Jesus Christ.

You come to II Corinthians 1:8, we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us at Asia. And again Asia Minor, he's talking about Ephesus. That we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we even despaired of life. Indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. You see this is all conditioned by Paul's hope in the resurrection of the dead. The worst they can do is kill me. There are worse things than that. Well they've done that, they've beaten him so many times he can't count them, they've gone through all this other, and they've sentenced me to death. That's all right, I have the hope of the resurrection. And God delivered us from so great a peril of death, and He will deliver us, and we have our hope set on Him. And on he goes, there is no end.

Come over to II Corinthians 4. I get started on this, I can't stop. He talks about having the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels. You know Paul was just an earthen vessel like you and me, a pile of dust that God had shaped and breathed into, and thus we are the descendants of that first man. Note what he says. We have this treasure, the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power might be of God and not ourselves. So that God gets all the credit when someone gets saved as we present the gospel. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal flesh. Paul said it is worth it to me to die so that you might hear the gospel. I have to think about that. I don't know, are people worth it that I would present the gospel to them, even if it means I might be embarrassed, I might get humiliated, I might be rejected. But Paul says I am willing to die so you can hear the gospel and learn of the Savior. I have this treasure in an earthen vessel, I have to get it out.

Come back to I Corinthians 15. I die daily, I affirm, brethren, he assures them, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus the Lord. They are the result of his ministry. Remember he said this back in I Corinthians 9, the first verses, you are the seal of my apostleship. Others might not think of me as an apostle, but you have to, you got saved under my ministry. So by the boasting, the glorying in you which I have in Christ Jesus, I realize, as we read a moment ago, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. All the glory goes to God. But I can boast and glory in that praise God I was the instrument God was willing to use so that you might be saved. Paul is not taken up with how terrible the suffering was. I don't know if it was worth it, I don't know if I'd do it again. Those beatings, the pain, the loss of everything, the deprivation, even my closest associates sometimes bailed out on me. Was it worth it? I don't know. You don't get that, even when Paul is recording what went on, you don't get the idea he is wondering whether it was worth it. He's just letting you know what it costs. And he'd do more if he could. That's his approach.

But you know what? If from human motives, and that expression may be translated human motives, it's not a bad expression. But it might be better translated from a human perspective I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? He's continuing that theme. If it is just humanly looking at it and that's all there is, even if I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus. Now there is some discussion, maybe that's when Paul in II Corinthians 1 when he said he faced death and was delivered, maybe he was put in the arena with a wild beast and somehow God miraculously delivered him. Maybe at the last minute he got a reprieve, maybe at the last minute he declared Roman citizenship. I don't know. Or it could be just he's carrying this out. I face all kinds of dangers every hour, I face death every day. And no matter what extent I go to. It might be a metaphor.

One of the questions is about the literal reality that he did actually fight with wild beasts and was spared was Roman citizens were not allowed to be put into the arena with the wild beasts unless they were stripped of their Roman citizenship. And we know from Acts 25 when Paul is at Caesarea, which is after his time at Ephesus, that he still had his Roman citizenship and claimed it, having been born into it. So that would raise the question of whether he was actually in the arena there. But it would be an expression like we would sometimes use to culminate something, the metaphor, the picture. No matter what danger, no matter what death I face, what does it profit me? I mean what's the point in all this sacrifice? What's the point that Paul would have in having given us all the honor and all that went with that in Judaism to give his life to endure all he's been enduring, if there is no resurrection of the dead? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. He pulls a portion of a verse from Isaiah and applies it here. I mean, if this is all there is to life, let's get about living and enjoying it, right? If there is no resurrection from the dead, why do you give up the fun things of life, and in giving your life to enjoyment, relaxation, ease, pleasure? I mean, this is as good as it gets, the old commercial—you go for the gusto. I mean, this is the way you are to live, right? This is your life, you have to enjoy it, you have to relax while you can, you have to get everything you can. I mean, this is life. If there is no resurrection of the dead, you understand they're right. Why would you give up everything and sacrifice and suffer the abuse when this is all you're going to get?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Now you note here the implication. The doctrine of the resurrection is a crucial doctrine and teaching. It also affects as the foundation for your life. How are you going to live? Well is there a resurrection or not? If there is no resurrection of the dead, get everything you can that you think you might enjoy today. Plan your life around this life because that's it. That's the tragedy of us as believers trying to adjust our life to be like the world. The world is living for today, because we have to eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we'll be gone. But we as believers, we're strangers and pilgrims here, serving our Lord on our way to glory. Paul didn't give up anything. He said I've suffered the loss of all things, but you know what? I consider them dung. What are they compared to what I have in Christ. But you understand if there is no resurrection, he has nothing. He gave it all up for nothing. No wonder he said earlier in this chapter, if there is no resurrection, we are of all men most to be pitied. We gave up our chance to enjoy life for nothing. That's the point.

Why be moral? If immorality is more enjoyable and more pleasure, and let's face it, sexual immorality can give pleasure, so many people wouldn't be doing it if they didn't enjoy it. What would be the restraint? Why not? We look at the unbelieving world and say, what's happening to our world? What's happening to the thinking of Christians that we don't know what's happening to our world? And that's what Paul tells the Corinthians.

Look at verse 33, do not be deceived. That's the third time in this letter, he did it in chapter 3, he did it in chapter 6, he does it again. Stop being deceived, don't be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. Now we often use these verses we're coming into here in a broad sense generally. We tell our kids, bad company corrupts good morals, and there may be an application of that. But you know what Paul is talking about, he's talking in the context of the resurrection of the dead. Who is the bad company here? Go back to chapter 15 verse 12, now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? He's concerned about the bad company in the church at Corinth who are teaching there is no resurrection of the dead. That means you ought to eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The people denying the doctrine of the resurrection are undermining the moral foundation of the church at Corinth. That's the bad company. He's not talking about the people getting drunk down at the bar or the Corinthian equivalent. He's talking about people in the church denying the doctrine of the resurrection. You understand that means you ought to enjoy life now to the fullest, do all you can to avoid suffering, to avoid hardship. Plan your life for pleasure. And we have a world that does that. We want to retire early so we can go someplace and sit and do nothing. Why? We've worked all our life. It's my life and I have to enjoy it. If you don't do it, and the goal is to retire as early as you can with as much as you can so you can do as nothing as you can. Right? I have to be careful I don't step on my own toes here, I'm getting to that age. Not that I'm against retirement from employment, but we can't retire from our service for Jesus Christ, can we? Is my life now my own to go and prop up in my lawn chair on the beach and do nothing because I've earned it? Have I forgotten the resurrection? I'm not going on the track the world is. They have not hope, they have no plan. This is it. They ought to retire at 25. Maybe the hippies had it right back in the '60s. Drop out early, get it over with, do nothing. Why spend all your life working and then your body breaks down and you can't enjoy it? Do it now. Why have moral restraints on drugs and sex and everything? Let's eat and drink, tomorrow we die. I have to tell them, if I were in your place, I'd do that, too. If I had no more hope than you have, I'd be getting drunk every day and sleeping around and using my money for everything I enjoy. What's the point? If there is no resurrection, get it all in. We act like the world is doing something that we just don't understand. The Corinthians didn't understand the seriousness. That's why he tells them, don't be deceived.

I want you to understand this is talking about bad company in the church. So he goes on to tell them, become sober minded, sober up, clear your head as you ought. One commentator writing a number of years ago said, the Corinthians didn't like “oughts” and neither do we. We don't like to be told what we have to do. Paul tells them, here's what you ought to be doing. Get sober, you're like a drunk. When I was going to school in the center of the city in Philadelphia for a number of years, those days there were always drunks on the streets in early morning when I'd get there. You could talk about rolling a drunk because drunks are oblivious. You try to talk to them, they're out of it, they don't know what's going on around them. You can roll them over, take all their clothes off, roll them back and go on your way. They don't have any idea what's going on. I'm not saying I did that, I'm saying you could do that. Some people will wake up and say, I woke up just when Gil was talking about taking all the clothes off a drunk in Philadelphia. Here is what Paul is telling the Corinthians, you're living like that, that's how your church is. You're like a bunch of people who got there head up here. I don’t know. What’s going on? What's the problem here? I know what the problem is. What about resurrection? People don't buy it. Oh, so what? They don't have any idea what is going on. Sober up as you ought, stop sinning. That becomes serious. The church is in sin because they are not dealing with the false doctrine in their midst.

Some have no knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame. Now we sometimes use this verse talking about evangelism. But you know the real point of this verse is the context. What's he talking about? The resurrection. He's not talking about the fact that the church at Corinth doesn't have an evangelism program. You could say that could have an application there, maybe they aren't carrying it out. But the immediate context seems to be in light of picking up with verse 32, if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals. What's the flow here? Those who are denying the resurrection. The outcome of that is there is no resurrection, there is no need for morality. Do whatever you enjoy today, while you can. There is no tomorrow. Death will bring an end to it all. Sober up, don't be deceived, stop sinning, some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. I take it what they need to sober up about is, in the church in Corinth there is doctrine being promoted that is destroying the truth, that is going to destroy the moral foundation that the church has in the truth. These promoting this doctrine, the bad company, are those in verse 12. Paul is saying they don't know God.

We say, the church at Corinth was in bad shape. You know how much this is going on today? I was visiting with a pastor this week from another state and he was sharing what he is having to deal with in his own church. And you know what the problem is? The people don't have any heart for standing for doctrine. They say, don't be too narrow in your preaching, we don't have to take a stand on this. There are others who believe differently, we want to include them as well. That's the move today. Don't be so narrow. Why would you take a stand? So they don't hold the same view on the resurrection as we do, that doesn't mean they don't love Christ, that doesn't mean they don't want to be used of Him. Why should we exclude them? And so we have our churches, they get broader and broader because the worst thing is to be considered intolerant and narrow, or exclusive. And what did the Apostle Paul tell the church at Corinth? You better clear your head, stop sinning. You see it's sin for a church to tolerate doctrine that is contrary to the Word of God. For the church at Corinth to allow people in the church to be teaching that there is no bodily resurrection for believers is not an evidence of their breadth, of their Christian love, of their graciousness. It's an evidence of their drunken thinking, it is an evidence of their sin. And it is a shame, it's a disgrace. I speak this to your shame.

The church is proud that we have people with different views. We have covenant theologians, we have dispensational theologians, we have Calvinists, we have Arminians. We think love ought to characterize us as a church. You're just like a drunk. Stop being deceived. You're in sin. It's a disgrace, it's a shame. Just people there that don't know the Lord. I can't sort out their heart, I don't know their heart. Then deal with their doctrine, that's what we're called to do. What's the church to do and be? The pillar and support of good men's ideas. Because they say, there are good men who hold that view. We don't build our church and promote the teachings of good men. We build our church on the Word of God and teach the Word of God. The church is the pillar and support of the truth, I Timothy 3:15. That's what we are, we're a truth center. Understand this?

The church at Corinth had been corrupted and influenced by the culture around them, and if we're going to reach Corinth, we can't be so narrow. So here is a church, we'll get more people in. Isn't that good? No, God hasn't told me to get more people in, He's told me to preach the truth. I thought we were supposed to get more people in. Well now we know differently. The church is the family of God, it's the pillar and support of the truth. We love unbelievers to come and hear the truth. No one is allowed to come and promote any doctrine that is contrary to the doctrine that we understand is taught in the Word. You think you're the only ones who know. No, I think others know, they're just wrong in their knowledge. No. We have to stand, I can't stand for what somebody else believes. If we believe differently on the kingdom that we spent seven weeks teaching, so be it. You'll give an account to the Lord for your teaching, I have to give an account to the Lord for my teaching, the elders of this church have to give an account for the doctrine of this church. We can't decide every teacher that comes down the pike thinks he has a different insight so our church ought to be open to that. We measure it through the Word and in light of the best of our ability under the guidance of the Spirit, this is what we understand the Word to say. And no you can't come to this Word and teach otherwise. Can I come to this church if I keep my mouth shut and don't teach false doctrine? Yes, you can. Can I talk about it privately and promote it privately? No, you can't. We've asked people to leave for that. I mean, we can't allow the church to get into sin, because people want to live like a drunk, as though I don't know what's going on around me. I don't see the point, I don't understand. That's why Paul says, don't be deceived, sober up, stop sinning. Bad company corrupts good morals.

All this is in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body? Yes, because our doctrine shapes our conduct. That's why I spend more time teaching what the Bible says, than trying to tell you what you ought to do and how you ought to vote, and what you ought to wear. Let the Lord work that out in your life. We're concerned with the truth of the Word of God. It is a saving truth, it is the only saving truth. Every aspect of this truth, your Word is truth, is crucial. When you begin to take apart pieces and say I could take this piece out, then you begin to see things crumble, just like Paul has done here with the resurrection. That leads you to corrupted morals, that leads the church into sin, and that can only lead to confusion. That's why we stand narrowly for the doctrinal truths of the Word of God.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for the challenges of your Word. Lord, how easy it is for us to become muddled in our thinking, to allow ourselves to be deceived. Lord, if we're honest we see in ourselves the desire to be deceived, an excuse for not having to confront issues, for not having to deal with sin, deal with error in teaching and doctrine. Lord, may we grasp the importance of these truths, the greatness of the truth of the resurrection of the body of the believer. Lord, how crucial that truth is for a life that is lived in sacrificial service for you. How we rejoice to know that we have hope beyond this life, that someday these bodies, no matter how beaten, no matter how bruised, no matter how they die, will be raised gloriously from the dead to spend eternity sharing in the glory of your presence. Lord, may those truths grip our hearts, may we be totally intolerant of any teaching and any doctrine that would be contrary to what you have spoken. Forever your Word is settled in heaven. Lord, that is settled in our hearts and our church as well. We praise you for it, in Christ's name, amen.