Ancient words have a place in a modern world, and especially the Book of 1 Corinthians is applicable today. First of all, the Bible is still active and powerful. Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) reads, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.“ The “ancient words” revealed by the Holy Spirit through inspired men are still the “power of God to salvation” as they reveal to us the great and glorious Gospel message. We must walk in these words, with hearts that are filled with faith, motivated by love and obedient to the message.
Secondly, the letter to the Corinthians was written to a troubled congregation. Paul loved them and expressed that love, despite their myriad of problems. He called them brethren, and he addressed them as saints. They had been sanctified by the blood of Jesus. I do think that some points need to be noted, though.
1. The Corinthian church had problems with: division, eating of meats, the “covering,” misunderstandings concerning marriage, misuse of the Lord’s Supper, fighting over the spiritual gifts, denying the resurrection (have I left anything out?).
2. Not every member was involved in the false ideas and teaching. Some, like the house of Chloe, were standing strong against the problems in the church.
3. Paul did not say, just keep doing what you are doing, grace will cover it all, so it does not matter what you practice. Quite to the contrary, he rebuked them in each particular area, and called for change.
4. To me, one of the most ludicrous arguments against the concept of the restoration of the New Testament church is when someone asks, “Which church are you going to restore: Corinth, etc.” Someone recently said something like, “We do not want to restore the church at Corinth.” Obviously, we are not trying to duplicate a group of problems that any church may have had. We are, however, striving to restore the church to the form that God intended. There is a pattern in the New Testament. Actually, part of the pattern was made clear when these congregations made up of frail human beings were misguided and Paul and the other inspired writers wrote to instruct them on correcting those problems.
5. Let me illustrate my point: An architect creates plans for a house. The builders come and take those plans and begin to build the house. However, to save costs and make more money, they fail to build a part of it according to the specifications that the architect gave them. In a short time, the shoddy materials and poor workmanship begin to cause portions of the house to sag, and holes to appear. Ultimately the house has to be repaired and the mistakes corrected, according to the original plan. Eventually the house is no longer in existence. Years later, someone says that they are going to build a house by those same plans. Someone reacts and says, “But that house was a poor house, surely you do not want to build that house again.” The new builder reacts, “That house was not a good house because the builders did not follow the plan. If we build by the architect’s original plans, following that precisely, we will have a wonderful house!” If we build according to God’s plan and pattern, we can restore New Testament Christianity to be exactly what it was intended to be in the first century.
Finally, the answers for the problems of today’s world still lie within the pages of the ancient words of the Bible. We can find hope, peace, rest for our souls, encouragement, guidance and love, all through those sacred pages. If we will “hide it in our hearts,” if we will “meditate upon it day and night,” then it will truly be a “light to our feet and a lamp to our paths.” These ancient words for a modern world will comfort us and guide us to an eternal home in heaven, if we will but listen to them.
