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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey family. We have come to the end of our Corinthian road. Well, we got Second Corinthians starting tomorrow, but for right now, we got the last two chapters on today's Babari reading plan. We got First Corinthians, chapter 15, which in my opinion, is actually one of the dopest chapters in the entire Bible. And then we got First Corinthians, chapter 16, which is really, like, in and, you know, a piece out. Like, it's. It's the way that Paul ends his letter. But there's some nerdy nuggets in that last chapter that we are going to highlight. I always say this. If you haven't done the reading, there's a great place to pause. Don't watch the rest of the recording. Go do today's reading. Today's reading on the Bible reading plan is First Corinthians, chapter 15, and chapter 16. And so go do the reading. Come back. I'll be right here. All right, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 is all about the resurrection of the dead, one of the most important parts of the New Testament. I mean, if we could only pick 10 chapters from Paul's writing or 10 chapters from the New Testament, this would be. This would make the cut for me in. In my humble opinion, because the resurrection is a big deal. So let's get into some context. Context clues. Okay? Clearly, the church here at Corinth is not believing in the resurrection. Okay, here's what Paul says as he opens up this part. And Paul's pretty feisty about this. He says, now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved. So you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. So, first of all, when Paul gets into the resurrection, he is saying, this is a gospel issue. Like, if you stop believing in the resurrection, you no longer believe in the gospel, and you are not a Christian. You are not saved. Okay? Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. So Paul Says, wait, if Jesus raised from the dead, then we're all gonna raise from the dead. And if we're not raising from the dead, then Jesus didn't raise from the dead. These are one in the same. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. Okay, so the resurrection, Jesus, resurrection from the dead is everything. So let me give some context and then we'll kind of keep talking about resurrection specifically. But let's get, let's get context. Why would these Gentiles, why would these Corinthians, why would these Greek minded people not believe in bodily resurrection? Well, it's because of an idea called Gnosticism. Okay? Gnosticism is a form of Greek dualism that believes that the spirit is good, the spirit is what's real, and the physical is bad. There are two forms, like this idea of dualism or Gnosticism really creates two products, okay? The first is we do whatever we want with our bodies and have sex with whoever we want to. We can do whatever we want because our bodies are nothing. Our soul is like the pearl of a shell in our body's a shell. No matter what you do with your body, it doesn't impact your soul, doesn't impact your spirit. Okay? So we can live licentiously, we can be debauched, we can, you know, there's, there's, there's total liberation and freedom, okay? The other extreme was asceticism. So to treat the body badly, to punish yourself, whipping yourself and to really like starve yourself and to treat the body badly because the body was bad, right? So if you believe that your body's bad and that your spirit is good, then that's only ever gonna lead to two extremes, licentiousness or asceticism. You can see this today. There are unsaved people who live like animals, okay? And then there are super saved people who try to live like angels. And the reality is that God made you to be a human. And being a human is the hardest because humans are spiritual and physical. We are animal and angel combined into one person. And so the human has the unique job in all of creation of balancing their physicality and their spirituality. And dualism just believes, Greek dualism believes that the body is bad, the body is unnecessary, the body isn't even real, but the spirit, that's what's real. And you may think to yourself, that sounds a lot like Christianity. And I would go, well, that sounds like Christianity that's been tainted by Greek dualism. And you're Right. Greek dualism and Greek Gnosticism are alive and kicking in most churches today because they're Western ideas. And if you're part of a Western church in the United States of America or Europe or any other Western place, then these ideas are huge. Judaism believes in an integrated person, a whole person, that you are a spirit, you are a soul, you are a body. Okay? So physical resurrection is a non negotiable for Paul. Okay? You're not going to die and become an angel. You're going to die, and then when Jesus comes back, you're going to be physically resurrected. You're going to have a physical body. So our existence in the new heaven and new earth is gonna be a physical reality. I'm finally gonna be 6, 8. It's gonna be fantastic. I'm gonna have abs, gonna be able to eat all the carbs I want and still have abs. Okay? So you're not gonna die and become a spirit or a ghost or an angel. These are Gnostic ideas. These really aren't Christian ideas. But we have Christianized a lot of these Gnostic ideas and we preach them in church. So that's like the big context. Okay? So for a Greek person, the worst thing you could say is the God that we serve was raised from the dead and that you're going to be raised from the dead because they see death as their final liberation. Finally I'm liberated from this prison of a body. I. I get rid of my meat suit and finally I get to like, my spirit is liberated from the prison of my body and I finally get to be free. So when you come along as a Christian in the first century and Paul begins to preach the physical resurrection of the dead, they're kind of like, we want no parts of that. Why would we put our spirit back into the prison of our body? We hate this idea. So you can see tons of times throughout the book of Acts and in a lot of these Pauline epistles that the thing that they disagree with is not the cross, but the thing that they disagree with is, is bodily resurrection. It is offensive. Bodily resurrection is offensive to a Greek person. And Corinth is a very Greek city. And so it's not shocking that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul kind of has to go ham a little. I There's this one part. Paul is like, are you mad? Like, are you guys crazy? Paul just uses like, oh, here we go, here we go. I found it. I found it. Finally. Okay, verse 35 of chapter 15. But someone will ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come, you foolish person? That's Paul's response. I'll read this again, verse 35. But someone will ask, right? One of you idiots will ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come, you foolish person? What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. So then Paul goes on with this big analogy of like, your physical body that you die with is just a seed that gets sown into the ground, and that the fruit that is going to come is going to come in the resurrection in the form of a glorified body and a new body. What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire armor team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd. That's the context that we need. Actually, once we get into chapter 16, we get a little bit of a nerdy nugget. It says this in right at the beginning of chapter 16. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, he's like, hey, I'm not just telling you, I'm also telling the churches of Galatia. So you are also to do on the first day of the week, each of you is to put aside and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. Okay, I want you to have this gift ready and where is it going? And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also. They will accompany me. So there's this massive offering that Paul is taking up for the church in Jerusalem. This is actually a major theme throughout Paul's writings. Obviously, he's doing this in Galatia. He's doing this in Corinth. And for Paul, he believes that these wealthy Gentile Christians have a debt that they owe to Jewish Christians living in Jerusalem. And why do they owe a debt to Jewish Christians? Well, because Jesus is Jewish and that without Jewish believers, there would be no Old Testament. There would be no Hebrew Scripture. Scriptures. And a lot of what Paul is doing when he's teaching these Gentile churches the way of Jesus, is teaching them about the God of the Jewish people. He's teaching them Old Testament principles. He's teaching them ideas and a worldview that is steeped in the Old Testament. And we're actually going to get a clue as to where Paul is. He says this. Verse 5, I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may help me on my journey. That means financially support me wherever I go, for I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits, but I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost. So, nerdy nugget. Where is Paul writing this letter from? He's writing it from Ephesus. Okay, so he writes a letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth. He writes the letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. Okay? So you can see the interwoven, interlinked story and narrative through all of these epistles. He's gonna say that till Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as am I. So let no one despise him, help him on his way in peace so that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. So here's a little foreshadowing. Timothy is going to come to Corinth, and it's not going to go well, okay? Which is gonna cause Paul to then write a sorrowful letter, which is then going to be the impetus for 2 Corinthians. So we are not out of the mud with the Corinthians. Actually, they're not gonna respond well to this letter. We know that they're not gonna respond well to this letter, and Timothy is gonna have to visit. When Timothy gets there, he is going to report back to Paul that a bunch of shady stuff is happening in this church. And when he reports that back, Paul is going to send essentially a rebuke letter that we've lost to history, that we don't have. He's going to reference that letter in 2 Corinthians. So all we have is what we call 1, 2 Corinthians. But really 1st Corinthians would be 2 Corinthians, and 2nd Corinthians would be 4th Corinthians. There are letters in the middle that each letter talks about, but that we've lost to history. So, timeless truth. Paul is walking through the pain of leading people who are hard to lead. Okay, Whether they are don't understand the resurrection or don't understand doctrine, are spiritual babies, are getting drunk at the communion ceremonies, are speaking in tongues and prophesying but have no fruits of the Spirit, no discipline, no self control, are visiting helper prostitutes, are eating meat that sacrifice to idol. I mean, are divisive in creating factions in the church. I mean, the list of issues for the Corinthian Christians goes on and on and on. And there are two things that I want to highlight as timeless truths, and I think that we could use these as leaders and pastors. For those of you who are watching that are leaders and pastors. A, we deal with God's people with patience. We have patience for God's people, and we walk through what sometimes is a painful process whereby we are trying to disciple them and help them to mature, but there's no guarantee that they're going to see the light. And there are inevitably people who are going to leave this church because of this letter. And that hurts. So patience with God's people. And then second, here's a timeless truth for anyone who's a congregant. Your pastor is a person. There are people so often we see them as leaders and we idolize people and we idolize them. We also dehumanize them. We forget that they are leaders. Sometimes I read through the comments on Instagram, like under a post, and I'm like, do people know that I'm a human? Like, why would someone say something so nasty and so mean? Like, if you disagree, you disagree, but you don't have to be, like, publicly humiliating and rude. And I think sometimes we forget, like, pastors, preachers, leaders and public figures, they are human. So A, Paul has patience with the Corinthians but I think at some point the Corinthians forget that he is a human with feelings and emotions and vulnerabilities and insecurities. And we're gonna see a lot of Paul's humanity on display in our next letter. It's gonna be 2 Corinthians, which you'll start reading tomorrow. And I'll be right here helping you along the journey. I hope that all these videos for 1 Corinthians added value to you, helped you understand the Scriptures. And I'm so proud of you and I hope that it's encouraging to hear me say that I'm proud of you. And let's keep moving. We're gonna finish the Bible this year. It's gonna be amazing. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at the Bible and on Instagram at the Bible Department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses at thebibledepartment. Com. We'll see you back here tomorrow.