Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070923.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
VIII. Overcoming Secularism's Denial Of The Bodily Resurrection
E. Avoiding Godless Associations To Preserve Uprightness
(1 Corinthians 15:29-34)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

After our last Sunday morning worship service, a Church member approached me in Fellowship Hall to ask about interacting with a bad-talking colleague she has in her daily life. This believer knew she was not to harbor an unforgiving bias toward anyone, including this troublesome party, but she felt a desire to be distant from the colleague for her own spiritual welfare. The Church member was not sure if her wish was right, and so had come over to ask me about it.

Other Christians I know face this very issue right now! A young Christian woman I know recently broke close ties with her boyfriend since he had been reading a book that opposed belief in God. Unlike his former conviction, he had come to the point in his thinking where he was not sure if God existed, and whether he wanted to know God even if He did exist! This young woman felt badly for breaking the relationship as it had existed for several years, but she did so because she knew 2 Corinthians 6:14 calls believers not to be "unequally yoked together" with the ungodly! She did not want to fall so deeply in love that she would wed one who was not a qualified marital partner!

At times, the situation may involve relating to a relative or even immediate family member. Out of concern for their own walk, believers in such instances often have an inner wish to "pull back close ties" with such parties, but find themselves "second-guessing" such a wish, wondering if it is a loveless and intolerant one!



Accordingly, we may ask, "If companionship or association with a party that LACKS upright beliefs or views, and these tend to THREATEN the believer's OWN stability in his WALK with GOD, is he RIGHT to PULL BACK' from the relationship, or is that an unloving' step for him as a Christian to take?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "I know I should have a Christian LOVE for all people, but IF ASSOCIATING with a certain party threatens the holiness of my OWN WALK, how does GOD want me to RESPOND, and WHY?!"
  1. 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 reveals the errant denial of belief in the resurrection that some of Paul's Corinthian Christian readers held had risen from their having been INFLUENCED by PAGANS!
    1. We know from the wider Bible context that 1 Corinthians 15:29 must refer to a false pagan belief, not a doctrine Paul condones (as follows):
      1. Though Mormonism uses 1 Corinthians 15:29 to say one can be baptized to save the dead (Mormon Doctrine, p. 673; Doctrines of Salvation, v. 2, p. 100-196 as cited in Salem Kirban, Mormonism, 1971, p. 46), Hebrews 9:27 reveals there is no such salvation!
      2. Then, ". . . 200 explanations have been given for this verse . . . to conform . . . [it] to an orthodox view of baptism . . . [but] it is clear from the context . . . [that] Paul distinguished his own practice and teaching from that described here," Bib. Kno. Com., N. T., p. 544.
    2. Thus, to understand what Paul meant at this verse, we note that at Eleusis across the Saronic Gulf from Corinth was an "ancient mystery religion lauded by Homer . . . and widely popular . . . Part of the rites of initiation into this pagan religion were washings of purification in the sea without which no one could hope to experience bliss in the life hereafter (Pindar Fragment 212; Sophocles Fragment 753)." (Ibid.)
    3. We conclude that some of Paul's readers who were easily influenced by the beliefs of pagans around them (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to 1 Cor. 15:12) had seen their view of believer's baptism affected with this pagan one. This conclusion " . . . has as its chief strength the natural reading of the Greek verse, an asset singularly lacking in other explanations. Also it is noteworthy that Paul referred to those (not "we") who are "baptized for the dead." (Ibid.)
  2. Then, in 1 Corinthians 15:29-32, Paul exposed the ILLOGIC of this corruption of true beliefs by close associations with errant pagans:
    1. While explaining the Biblical justification for belief in resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (our last message), Paul realized the illogical nature of his reader's errant views, and exposed it at 1 Cor. 15:29-32.
    2. Hence, 1 Corinthians 15:29 is Paul's critique that those of his errant readers who mixed the popular mystery religion view of baptism with believer's baptism were illogically inconsistent to deny belief in the resurrection while also promoting baptism for the life to come!
    3. He added it would be illogical for believers to imperil their lives for the sake of Christ to face an early death by wild beasts as he might have at Ephesus if there was no resurrection that even a popular pagan religion held, 1 Corinthians 15:30-32a,b!
    4. Indeed, as reflected in the Isaiah 22:13 saying that typified Israel's evil attitude, a saying that Paul in turn cited in 1 Corinthians 15:32c, if there is no resurrection, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die"!
  3. Paul thus admonished his readers to avoid associations with the godless that thus so badly corrupted their beliefs, 1 Cor. 15:33-34:
    1. Paul admonished his readers to stop being deceived into such errant beliefs that were even illogical, 1 Cor. 15:33a (present tense with the subjunctive neg. particle [ may planasthe, U. B. S. Greek N. T., 1963 ed., p. 615; Zondervan's The Analytical Greek Lex., p. 326; Dana & Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek N. T. , 1957, p. 301-302]).
    2. Then, since his readers had such a significant attraction for pagan ideas, he borrowed from pagan writer, Menander (Thais 218) to teach a correct truth that "Bad company corrupts good character," 1 Cor. 15:33b NIV. In other words, Paul meant for his readers to take the advice of EVEN a PAGAN author that they avoid associating with pagans that corrupted their true beliefs and so their godly walk!
    3. Paul revealed he had cited even a pagan writer to shame his readers who had slid into errant beliefs, thinking and practice due to their adopting pagan ideas; this called them to awake to righteousness, for some of them did not have the true knowledge of God, 1 Cor. 15:34!
Application: (1) To gain eternal life, may we BELIEVE in Christ to be saved BEFORE we DIE, for, at death, there is ONLY the JUDGMENT and NO hope of salvation by someone else being baptized for us, John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:27! (2) Then, as a BELIEVER, may we exhibit CHRISTIAN LOVE for ALL people, but (3) RESTRICT our ASSOCIATIONS with those who OTHERWISE will CORRUPT our THINKING and WALK away from the Biblical will of God, 1 Corinthians 15:33!

Lesson: Though the believer's CHRISTIAN LOVE is to remain STRONG toward ALL people, including ungodly people, his ASSOCIATIONS with the UNGODLY are to be RESTRICTED to the DEGREE NEEDED to KEEP his OWN THINKING and GODLY WALK UPRIGHT before God!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

God gave many strong signals this past week to clarify that this sermon taken from this 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 passage was to be given to you today, and here is list of just some of them for your edification:

(1) Last Tuesday morning as I began to prepare this message, I briefly scanned the 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 passage and got up to select some library books for a better understanding of the Greek New Testament words involved. In doing so, I glanced at a nearby Christian day-calendar, and removed the past weekends' days pages to bring it up to date for September 18th. What I saw there caused me to blurt out, "Would you look at that!" Two verses were on that day's page, and both applied to this 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 passage in this sermon:

(a) The first verse was Proverbs 15:16: "Better a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble therewith." The verse just before it in the NIV explains that this called for us to avoid unedifying associations as it reads: "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred."

(b) The next verse on that calendar page was Proverbs 24:1: "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them."

So, as has often happened, God confirmed the initial sense I had of the 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 passage we studied today: HE wants US to know we are not unloving to avoid associating with those who would influence us unto sinning and adopting errant beliefs!

(2) On Wednesday, I spoke with a member in our Church who shared how shocked he had been at letting a coarse word out of his mouth when he had recently conversed with a godless secular party!

I replied this issue was addressed in our next Sunday morning sermon -- that God wants us to avoid such corrupting associations!

(3) On Thursday, I recalled the other Church member who had asked me last Sunday, September 16th in our Fellowship Hall if it was wrong to break close ties with a bad-talking colleague in her life! It fit God's precedent of OFTEN introducing me to the next Sunday morning message thrust in the Fellowship Hall discussions I have with a member the Sunday before that sermon is to be preached!

So, in CONTINUING to LOVE others in ATTITUDE, GOD wants us TODAY to LIMIT our ASSOCIATIONS with them to the extent needed that we PROTECT our OWN BELIEFS and WALK with HIM! It is a matter of personal holiness unto the Lord!