1 Corinthians 6

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1 Corinthians 6:1

How Paul Made His Plans

Romans 15:22-24. Again, Paul let the believers in Rome know that he’d like to come to see them. At the beginning of this letter in Romans 1, he also said this (Romans 1:11). But now he said he would come to them when he journeyed to Spain. He would visit them on his way. He expected them to give him what he needed on his journey. He was counting on their love. He wouldn’t go on before he had enjoyed their company for a while.

Yes, you can enjoy your brothers and sisters in Christ. You probably have had the experience of people around you who care about you and who are interested in you. When you didn’t know the Lord Jesus there were many people who behaved as if they cared. But often, this was only a pretense. They only cared for you as long as they could profit from you. Now that you have come to know the Lord Jesus, you’re accepted into a new company of people. These people also know the Lord Jesus and have learned to love each other. And everyone who’s added to that company is going to share in this love.

Sure, sometimes you’ll be disappointed in your fellow-believers. In themselves, they are weak, failing human beings. But if Paul, the great apostle who knew well enough that in Rome not everything was spotless, could enjoy the believers in Rome, then we can enjoy one another, can’t we?

Romans 15:25-26. But before Paul could come to Rome, he had to do something else. He had money with him from a collection from believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The money was destined for the poor believers in Jerusalem.

Romans 15:27. This collection hadn’t resulted from a charity movement set in motion when they heard of the poverty in Jerusalem. It was a voluntary collection because twice it says it “pleased” them. Yet there was a certain obligation too, since the nations had shared in the spiritual things that were first destined for God’s earthly people. Since Israel had rejected the Lord Jesus the gospel had gone out to the Gentiles so they too could be blessed spiritually. Then the nations should do something in return when there was need among the Hebrew saints in Jerusalem. It was a debt they could repay in this way.

This applies to us too. When you’re blessed spiritually by a brother or sister, you can share material gifts with him or her (Galatians 6:6). You can give something in the collection at the meeting and you can give personally too.

Paul took this service seriously. He was mainly concerned about the spiritual well-being of the believers, but nonetheless this assignment with respect to the believers’ bodily well-being was important to him.

Romans 15:28. When this assignment had been performed, he would come to them on his way to Spain. At least, this was what he was thinking. Later he went to Rome, but not in the way he had intended. He came as a prisoner. So you can see that even with this man of God, things worked out differently from what he had supposed. This was no disappointment to him. He knew God was leading his life. In your life too, things can take a different course from what you expected. God knows the best way for you as well. If you think of this, you’ll be guarded from disappointments.

Romans 15:29. Paul knew something else too, that if he were to come, he would “come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ”. Well, that full blessing came. It was from the prison in Rome where he wrote letters about the highest blessings of the church. We have these letters in our Bible. You can read about the “fullness of the blessing” in these letters to the believers in Ephesus, Colossae and Philippi. These letters provide you with a view of Christ’s full blessing.

Romans 15:30-31. Maybe Paul had some feeling of what was before him. He appealed earnestly to the believers in Rome. This appeal was inspired “by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit.” This is a fine way of appealing to someone. He could say this because he knew that both the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit stood behind this appeal. The Lord Jesus is mentioned here with His full name. You see too, that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who loves. So this appeal of Paul to strive with him in prayer comes in fact from the Lord Jesus, while the love of the Spirit is the power to respond to it.

Paul speaks about striving in prayer. Do you know something of this? Real prayer is like fighting. This fighting is not done with hands and feet. It is a spiritual fight. We must fight so the service of the servants will not be hindered by opponents, and the work of the Lord will go on as a blessing to the believers.

Romans 15:32-33. In this way we can contribute to the servants doing God’s will with gladness. The believers will be refreshed by this. The Lord’s servants are not machines without feeling. They need prayer to be able to do their service with gladness and be refreshed by other believers. “Now the God of peace” is ready to give you inner peace and to help you in the fight you have to fight in so many fields.

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:2

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:3

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:4

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:5

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:6

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:7

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:8

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:9

How Paul Made His Plans

Now read Romans 15:22-33 again.

Reflection: Is there someone to whom you would like to give or to send something? Do it and think of Mt 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 6:11

Greetings and Much More

Romans 16:1-16. Greetings! Look at all those names. Some are real tongue twisters. Shouldn’t we skip this section? To Paul, these names meant a lot. They were people who belonged to the Lord Jesus. Here you have a practical example of the unity of the believers. You greet people for whom you feel something special and with whom you are linked in a certain way. They are people you don’t see every day. Maybe you have never seen them and you have only heard of them. But what you have heard gives you the sense of unity, of belonging together. It can be very encouraging then to receive someone’s greeting. It makes you realize someone is thinking of you. This encourages you.

So greetings are important. They emphasize something you share. When someone tells you to greet this or that brother or sister, this is an important assignment. And so Paul here tells the believers in Rome they should greet a number of brothers and sisters.

What is striking in these greetings is something is added to many of the names. To Paul, this wasn’t just a heap of names. These persons meant something to him. Every one meant something different. With everyone he had a special relationship. In this way, your relationship with every brother and sister will be different. If you begin to have an eye for this difference, it will result in a huge enrichment in the interactions with your brothers and sisters. There are names too that Paul mentions without adding something. You may ask yourself whether there was nothing special to mention. Was there nothing that made them noteworthy? Were they boring brothers and sisters? I don’t know. Maybe they were simply inconspicuous brothers and sisters. In any case, they were included.

You see the same difference with the Lord’s disciples. Of some, we don’t know much because not much is said about them. Of others, we know much more because a lot is told about them. But there are disciples of whom we only know their names. What they did has been kept hidden from us. But God knows it and He doesn’t forget to appreciate their value.

God has His own way with every believer. It’s nice when something more can be said of you than your name alone, but this is not to make yourself more important. It must be clear that you’re driven by love for the Lord Jesus. You see this often with the names that Paul mentions. Often, something is added about the Lord Jesus. He was the motive for their labor.

I will only say something about some of the names. Think about the other ones for yourself. The first one mentioned is Phoebe, “our sister” (Romans 16:1). Paul had a keen eye for the service of sisters. Of all the names he mentions, the first one is a sister’s. And more are mentioned in these verses. Phoebe must have been a special woman. She had served the believers in a practical way. Maybe she had received them in a hospitable way or maybe she made visits. Maybe she wrote encouraging letters. However it may have been, by her service she had assisted many. This means the things she did sustained and helped many to be strengthened. Paul had experienced this as a blessing.

Therefore he could commend her to the believers in Rome. When Phoebe came to them, they were to receive her in a worthy manner and to assist and sustain her. This is really a letter of commendation for Phoebe.

Then there was a couple which Paul especially brought to the attention to the believers in Rome. Her name was Priscilla and his name was Aquila (Romans 16:3). The wife is mentioned first here. They are mentioned in the reverse order in other places in the Bible. If bearing responsibility or explaining the Word of God is in view, Aquila is mentioned first. And if a practical service within the family is in view, for which the wife primarily is responsible, Priscilla is mentioned first, as here. In Acts 18 we read that Paul had stayed with them (Acts 18:1-3). The rest of Acts 18 shows it was dangerous to have someone like Paul in your house. This couple had even risked their lives for him. Because of this, Paul was very grateful to them.

But the assemblies of the nations could also be grateful to them. For through their courage, the assemblies of the nations could continue to reap profit from Paul’s service. Likewise, when you’re doing something for a servant of the Lord, it is also a service to others who are served by this servant.

I want to end by pointing out the last part of Rom 16:16. Paul not only asks the believers to greet his acquaintances, but he sends greetings from all who were connected with them: “All the churches of Christ greet you.” The church in Rome was linked with all the churches of Christ that existed in all sorts of places on earth. How good it is when this too is experienced. You know the church is very divided, outwardly. Is it still possible to experience the unity of the church? Yes, it is still possible. How can this be experienced? That’s what the next letter, the first letter to the Corinthians, is about.

Now read Romans 16:1-16 again.