Monday, July 30, 2007

1 Corinthians 11-12

No words for sin are used in either of these chapters. Chapter 12 deals with the way spiritual gifts should function in the church and dissuades a person from looking down on others, but there is no discussion of this as sin.

Chapter 11 deals with the veiling of women and problems with the Lord's Supper. On the first topic, Paul is talking about appropriate dress in worship, particularly as women pray and prophesy before angels and men. No mention of sin is made.

However, the tone becomes more serious as we move on in the chapter. Paul makes an intriguing comment about how the conflict in the community is necessary to show who is "approved" (dokimos). The implication seems to be that some in the Corinthian church are not approved. The term dokimos is related to what Paul hopes not to be in 9:27--"unapproved" (adokimos). Apparently the divisive behavior and attitudes of some at Corinth shows that they cannot be acceptable to God.

As Paul discusses the Lord's Supper, he suggests that some in the community have in fact died because of the way in which they treat the body of Christ, meaning the body of believers (11:30). He also mentions that some have become sick as a result. These things Paul apparently sees as the judgment of the Lord (11:32):

"When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we might not be condemned with the world."

This is a fascinating statement! Paul seems to imply that those who have become sick are being disciplined but that they will still be part of the kingdom! We remember the man in 1 Cor. 5 who is turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh but for the salvation of his spirit.

In any case, these sins must be punished, even if "Christians" are doing them.

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