Weirdoes #2

Friday, October 25, 2019

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

Brethren, we may be unfairly judged of other Christians and/or the world, but the final verdict will come of the Lord.

We all have a conscience—a library of acquired information that we use to determine which beliefs are right and which beliefs are wrong, and what actions are acceptable and what actions are unacceptable. Howbeit, if we do not have the right information, our conscience will be defiled, and that corrupted standard will throw off everything else. It is like a defective measuring stick that is unable to provide accurate readings.

In Acts chapter 18, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul visited Corinth. This Greek port city was only about 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Athens, the world’s intellectual capital. A key center of international trade and commerce, Corinth was materially wealthy. Many devilish ideas from foreign lands were exchanged here as well. Heathen idolatry led its citizens to be tremendously vulgar. It was to these wretched souls that Paul preached the Lord Jesus Christ. They believed, were saved unto eternal life, and delivered from sin and satanic bondage!

Paul spent at least 18 months teaching the Word of God to the Corinthians (Acts 18:11). Later, he left and penned some epistles to them—the Bible Books of 1 and 2 Corinthians. According to these treatises, the saints at Corinth were guilty of several reprehensible beliefs and deeds. No doubt it grieved the Holy Spirit and it greatly concerned Paul to see such spiritual chaos and confusion among God’s people. They had not fully abandoned their old mentalities and lifestyles. First Corinthians is the most tragic of Paul’s epistles. Erroneous doctrine—especially pagan philosophy—was still perverting the hearts and minds of the Corinthians. This is particularly evident in the first three chapters.

Spiritually disoriented, the saints at Corinth began to viciously attack Paul, the very man whom the one true God had sent to them so they would be rescued from Satan’s evil world system….