Welcome to this episode of Sonday Life. I appreciate very much that you’re here with me as we look into God’s word for our life and growth in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with you again.
This is the fourth episode of our six-part series, “A Vision of a Church Alive in Christ.” This episode is entitled *“Caution: Church Under Construction.” In the last episode, “Improving Your Spiritual Strength in Christ,” We discussed the importance of the influence of the Holy Spirit in strengthening our spiritual growth in Christ. I also gave you a chart to help you with “How” to realize the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. If you missed the previous episodes in this series, I’ve put links in the notes below.
In this episode, we’re going to move from our individual spiritual strengthening to the spiritual strengthening of the Church. By the end of this episode, I think you’ll see the foundation, doctrines, rituals, and sacraments of the church in a completely different light. For this series, we’re looking at what Paul told the believers in Corinth, a church he planted, lived with, and taught for a year and a half, about being alive in Christ from 1 Corinthians 3:1-16. In this episode, we’re going to look at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and see what Paul had to say to the Corinthians about the spiritual construction of the Church.
I think this is a very timely episode seeing what’s happening today among a lot of churches and denominations. The United Methodist organization had churches leave over gender issues. The Baptists have internal denominational issues. Other denominations have had these same issues.
In the beginning, the church in Jerusalem was basically a branch of Judaism. The disciples were Jews for Jesus. Then Paul came along and brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. As the church entered the second century, different leaders held different views about the divinity of Christ and whether Christ was human at all; Gnosticism was another teaching that salvation came through spiritual enlightenment. With every new theology, there were charges of heresy and persecution. Eventually, at the council of Niceia, Rome established one church with one creed. A thousand years ago, there was the ‘Great Schism” over theology, politics, and cultures that split the church in two; the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Then the Reformation came in 1517, and on and on from that point. Today there are so many different denominations that it’s almost impossible to calculate, but I’m sure God knows the exact number. Roughly, worldwide today, there are approximately 33,000 distinct Christian denominations. And this number doesn’t take into consideration all the churches with different doctrines that fall under the umbrella of “Non-Denominational.” It also doesn’t account for Christians that don’t attend any church or those churches that don’t accept any labels. That’s a lot of different building materials being constructed on the foundation laid by the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
Some of the issues confronting the church today are things like women in the ministry, LGBTQ+ recognition, same-sex marriage, biblical interpretation of homosexuality, gender roles in the church, racial reconciliation, social justice, historical racial biases in the church, the homeless issue, environmental stewardship, technology, AI, political engagement, abortion, immigration, liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, etc.
With all these issues as our backdrop, let’s consider again what Paul told the Corinthians about the building of the church. He began with;
By the grace given to me; To be involved in the building of the church is a gift from God. To be called into the church is a gift from God. Not everyone sees what we see in Christ and in the church. It’s a gift (2 Peter 1:1-2)
Paul laid a foundation; the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ and him crucified, and all who believe in Jesus Christ by faith through the grace of the Father will receive the forgiveness of sin, salvation, and eternal life. That is the foundation. When Jesus asked the disciples who people thought he was, Peter said he was the Messiah (Matthew 16:17-18). Peter said Jesus was the cornerstone rejected by the builders in Acts 4:9-12 (REF: Psalm 118:22-23, Matthew 21:42).
Others who build upon the foundation; They should be careful how they build on the foundation remembering no other foundation can be laid other than Jesus Christ. This is reiterated in the parable of the “Wise Builder” (Matthew 7:24-27).
What is built will be tested; The church and believers will be tested by the light and by fire to reveal the quality (gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw) of a person’s faith and work (1 Peter 1:6-7, and Psalm 66:10).
The result; If our work in the church stands, there’s a reward, and if it’s burned up, the builder will be saved like a person rescued from a fire (meaning everything will be lost except their life). Peter and hospitalharrywilliams.org Paul tell warn everyone about being careful when building on the foundation of Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5 and Ephesians 2:19-22).
“Spiritual Sacrifices are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” As opposed to physical sacrifices.
In Judaism, the priest offered physical sacrifices to God in a physical temple. But through Jesus Christ, we are all part of a spiritual dwelling where we are a holy priesthood and the sacrifices; we offer up to God which are acceptable to him are spiritual, not physical. What are *‘spiritual sacrifices?’ (Matthew 9:13, Matthew 12:7, and 1 Samuel 15:22).
Our spiritual sacrifice is to obey the will of God and follow his desire. The desire of Jesus Christ is to save the lost and not condemn the innocent. Our spiritual sacrifice as a church is to call sinners to faith and salvation in Christ, not the righteous. That’s the sacrifice that’s acceptable to God because it’s the reason Christ came into the world and died; to seek and save that which is lost.
All the verses I quoted in this episode about the construction of the church come from Jesus, Peter, Paul, and Samuel. If I’m building a church, I’ll take those four all day long. What have they told us about Constructing the Church?
Being a part of the church of Jesus Christ is a gift from God. It isn’t a job or a burden. Can you imagine receiving a gift and it’s a burden? The church should bring joy to believers.
There’s only one foundation, Jesus Christ. The church can be built on no other. The foundation isn’t a denomination, a doctrine, a nation, a Theologian, or even an Apostle. There’s only one cornerstone and one savior. There are Christian churches that have other foundations besides Jesus Christ. Universalism is based on God’s universal love and grace. Inclusivism churches believe that Jesus is “A Way” to be saved but not the only way. Pluralism churches hold that all religions have some divine insights that can lead followers to salvation. So if you thought all Christians accepted Christ as the foundation, it’s not so.
Proceed with caution because every building will be tested. As believers and servants of Christ, God allows us to build upon the foundation as the Holy Spirit and the Word of God lead us. How do we build upon the foundation? Carefully and cautiously. We should pray and seek God fervently about each doctrine we consider to build on the foundation because it will all be tested, whether it’s true or false.
The resulting effort of the church should be an acceptable sacrifice to God. In the end, Christ will judge whether our service and labor were acceptable or unacceptable sacrifices to God.
In the next episode, we’re going to look at “What” we are as individual believers and as a church. What authority have we been given by God to build his church? So until the next episode, may God bless you with his grace and love always, in Christ. Thank you, and see you next time as the Lord wills.
