Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

1 Corinthians 9 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Paul’s Rights as an Apostle 9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Paul was constantly defending his apostleship, because he wasn't one of the original disciples. Even though he had his " Damascus road encounter with Jesus" , the believers in Corinth still did not fully accept his status as an apostle. But Paul says the proof of his apostleship is the church he planted in Corinth, which they were a part of. We should not get caught up in titles. What is more important is the fruit we bear for Jesus, which is lives transformed by Jesus Christ, our Lord.   3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the o...

1 Corinthians 8 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols 8 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God. While there was immorality in the Corinthian church, there was also legalism and moralism. Some of the new believers had a prideful attitude about their so called "knowledge". But Paul contrasts religious knowledge that many of the Jews had, with the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit.  Things offered to idols: The meat offered on pagan altars was usually divided into three portions. One portion was burnt in honor of the god, one portion was given to the worshipper to take home and eat, and the third portion was given to the priest. If the priest didn’t want to eat his portion, he sold it at the temple restaurant or meat market. The meat served and so...

1 Corinthians 7 Enduring Word Commentary Concerning Married Life 7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Paul gets very practical her...

1 Corinthians 6 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Lawsuits Among Believers 6 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! It seems strange that there were lawsuits in the 1st century. But I guess people have been trying to "sue" each other since Jesus' time. Specifically, Paul is upset that believers are suing each other. The...

1 Corinthians 5 Enduring Word Commentary Dealing With a Case of Incest 5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. Paul talked last chapter about the dangers of worldly thinking, and in this chapter he warns against worldly behavior. There was a lot of sexual immorality in the Corinthian culture, and in th...

1 Corinthians 4 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary The Nature of True Apostleship 4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. An apostle is someone sent as a messenger of the gospel, often to places the gospel has never been heard. The narrow definition is the 12 apostles that Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28, and poured out the Holy Spirit on in Acts 2. But Paul also lists being a apostle of one of the important rol...

1 Corinthians 3 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary The Church and Its Leaders 3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? Paul rebukes the believers in Corinth for their spiritual immaturity. He uses the metaphor of "milk", which is meant for babies who are not yet ready for solid food. Then he accuses him of acting "worldly". What does he mean by this? We get a clue when he reveals what was happening in the church. They were arguing and become jealous of their leaders, Paul and Apollos. Worse yet, they were expressing allegiance to one o...

1 Corinthians 2 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary 2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. Paul becomes very vulnerable in this passage. He is basically admitting that he is not a great speaker, but what he does say is by the Spirit's power. In fact, Paul almost seems to be glad he is not a brilliant and eloquent speaker, which might cause people to be drawn to him and not Jesus. Paul kept his message very simple. It was about Jesus and him crucified.  Corinth was a place where many worldly philosophies were abounding. Like an...

1 Corinthians 1 - NIV Introduction to 1 Corinthians - Insight for Living Corinth was a large, international metropolis, filled with people from different backgrounds. Idol worship to gods such as Aphrodite was particularly prominent in the city, though Corinth contained numerous temptations far beyond her temples. In this sense, Corinth was very much like a modern urban area, containing unending opportunities to engage in sinful behavior without any apparent consequences. Such a community clearly had a negative influence on the Corinthian church. But notice that Paul’s instruction to the believers was not to retreat from their city. This was not Paul’s vision for the church then or now. Instead, he directed us to live out our commitment to Christ ever more faithfully in the midst of nonbelievers. - Chuck Swindoll 1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,  2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and ...

Romans 16 - NIV Enduring Word Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.  3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. The first person Paul commends to the church is Phoebe. We see many times in the New Testament Paul uplifting the role of women in the early church. The two leadership roles in the church were elders and deacons. Elders were the spiritual overseers of the church, and this is also the word for " bishop ". Deacons oversaw some of the more practical matters of the church like feeding widows and orphans. But importantly these were leadership positions. They were cal...

Romans 15 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary 15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Paul continues to exhort the Romans to holy living. In a similar manner, as in chapter 14, he calls upon the strong to bear the burdens of the weak. Instead of being focused on pleasing themselves, their primary focus should be on their neighbor. Sometimes we make the Christian life complicated and burden new believers with all kinds of rules and regulations. But bearing the burdens of others and building them up in love is the primary call of a follower of Christ.  Jesus is our ...