Hold Fast Apologetics

Shared here is the tenth chapter of First Corinthians along with commentary from the ESV Study Bible as well as quotes from some early church fathers pertaining to the essential Christian message that Jesus as LORD.

To preface, the apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the church in Corinth between AD 53-55 with the hopes of (per the theme of his letter) alerting the Corinthian church that their conduct was out of step with the gospel message. Per the ESV Study Bible, at the root of much of the immorality and idolatry in Corinth, lay a lack of appreciation for the holiness that God requires of his people (p. 2188). Paul admonishes the Corinthians to “not put Christ to the test” as the newly rescued Israelites did in the wilderness, who ate, drank, and played with grumbling hearts (1 Cor 10:10).

Jesus was present in Old Testament times?! YES!!

For more on Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures, please consider utilizing Jean E. Jones’s “Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament” as well as “The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy” alongside your Bible Study.

The ESV Study Bible explains that “Paul sees Christ [the Messiah] as spiritually present with God’s people in Old Testament times. The Israelites tested Christ (“God” in Num.21:5) by becoming “impatient” with his provision of water and food. (p. 2205).”

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

1 Cor 10:1-5

Here in this portion of first Corinthians 10, “Paul is referring to God providing Israel with bread from heaven (‘manna,’ Exodus 16) and water from a rock. This rock appears both at the beginning of their wanderings in the desert (Ex.17:1-7) and near the end (Num. 20:2-13). Rabbinic exegesis from after Paul’s time surmised that the rock followed the Israelites throughout their wanderings. This understand of the rock may have been current in Paul’s time. If so, Paul’s claim that the Rock following them was both spiritual and Christ shows that he did not believe that a physical rock traveled with the Israelites, but that Christ (in spiritual form) was ever-present with them; he was there to supply their need for water, and therefore to judge those who tested him (1 Cor 10:9). ‘Rock’ is a common OT name for God (e.g., Deut 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31), and his probably facilitated Paul’s identification of the rock with Christ. (note on p. 2204).”

Let’s step back and acknowledge a crucial fact about Paul.

Some Bible skeptics claim that John’s gospel, the latest gospel written, created a narrative that wasn’t present at the earliest beginnings of the church. What do they skeptics suggest John forced upon Jesus?

Jesus being God, the second Person of the Trinity.

Skeptics claim that Jesus never asserted that He was God in the earlier gospel accounts, but that is incorrect! Numerous New Testament Scholars, Christian and non-Christian, alike, view Mark as the earliest gospel account. Per Reasons to Believe, there are 18 places in Mark which demonstrate Jesus claimed to be God incarnate. To save you time here, please click on this link to read about these claims per Reasons to Believe.

Hang with me! There’s MORE!!

Not only does Mark deflate the debunked argument that Jesus’s deity was later-developing, Paul wrote about Jesus as God in his letters as well! Paul was martyred sometime between AD 64-67; therefore, logic tells us that his letters were written before John wrote his letters (between AD 70-100). One striking example of Paul’s perspective that Jesus as LORD was how Paul took the cherished Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, and incorporated Jesus into it via first Corinthians 8:6! Here are the passages side-by-side:

To add to Paul’s declaration that Jesus was actively leading Israel in Old Testament times, Jesus’s half-brother, Jude, also spoke to the LORD’s divine nature at work in history:

 “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. “

Jude 1:5

Before we dive into the tenth chapter of first Corinthians, please consider reading an article by Stand to Reason’s Tim Barnett, also known as “Mr. B.” of Red Pen Logic (article) which details the impactful beliefs of Christians living either during the time of John, or immediately after his death. Please take note that the examples provided here were written more than 200 years before the Council of Nicaea:

“And that Christ being Lord, and God the Son of God, and appearing formerly in power as Man, and Angel, and in the glory of fire as at the bush, so also was manifested at the judgment executed on Sodom, has been demonstrated fully by what has been said.”

Justin Martyr (AD 100-165), Dialogue with Trypho, 128. Translation from Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, I:264

“Being as you are imitators of God, once you took on new life through the blood of God you completed perfectly the task so natural to you.”

Ignatius (AD 50-117); Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians, 1.1.

“Christ Jesus [is] our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father.”

Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130-202); Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 1.10.1

With all of this in view…

It is clear that the earliest teaching about Jesus (by Jesus and his followers) declare Him to be LORD. So what do we do with this important information? We follow Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 3:

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷ For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

1 Peter 3:15-17

We can learn from both Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 as well as Peter in 1 Peter 3 that setting Jesus as Lord in our hearts as holy is imperative! Sisters, God came down to save us from our sin and self-centeredness (“I’ve got this!”). Why would we attempt to live as if we are without hope when God lovingly sacrificed Himself on our behalf! We have abundant hope in Him each and every day! A hope that doesn’t fade! Therefore, let’s be thankful and share this good news with others!

First Corinthians Ten

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

² Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. ³ But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, ⁵ but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. ⁶ For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. ⁷ For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. ⁹ Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. ¹⁰ That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹ Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; ¹² for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. ¹³ Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, ¹⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. ¹⁶ If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷ But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, ¹⁹ for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. ²⁰ When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. ²¹ For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. ²² What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷ Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

³³ So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— ³⁴ if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.