Chapter # 14 Paragraph # 1 Study # 7
March 28, 2021
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: There exists one highly significant matter in the face of Paul's treatment of insignificant matters: the judgment seat of The God.
Introduction: In our last study we saw that there is one characteristic behavior that identifies those with whom we are to be in harmony: the giving of thanks to God. This undergirds, and reveals, the health of a good relationship to God. The reason for this is that the giving of thanks to God is the outcome of a "grace orientation" that recognizes and embraces the extraordinary generosity of God to people who have no basis in themselves for expecting it. And, there is another, more basic, reason: the giving of thanks to God is rooted in the reality that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights so that "Life" comes from Him, not the gifts. Thus, whether He gives the gifts, or not, is, ultimately, inconsequential because He is the "Living God" Who shares His "Life" directly with those who are the objects of His grace. The gifts are ours to enjoy, but they do not have the capacity to give, or enhance, "Life". Thus, those who have no gratitude will, eventually, fall into the category of
16:17 and will be legitimately rejected by the "brethren" because they are "slaves of their own appetites" and not "of our Lord Christ". Thus, we do not "reject" or "judge" one another because of differences of opinion regarding things that really do not matter; we "reject" and "judge" those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to "the teaching".
This evening we are going to see yet another primary issue regarding the problem of "rejecting" and "judging": the fact that a "judgment" is coming that will be, ultimately, "accepting" by "The God".
- I. Paul's "Return" To His Main Thesis.
- A. In 14:10 Paul emphatically "points his finger at" and "gets in the face of" those who are failing to live up to the standard of "Love" as Paul has insisted upon in the previous texts of chapters twelve and thirteen.
- 1. This emphatic action on Paul's part is revealed by his double use of "su" in verse ten.
- a. On the one hand, verbs all carry their "subject" within themselves by spelling making the use of a pronoun technically unnecessary for identification's sake.
- b. On the other hand the presence of the "unnecessary" pronoun means that the reason for its presented necessity in the text is "emphasis".
- c. Plus, the two-fold use in one verse is even more clearly a matter of Paul's emphasis.
- 2. This emphatic action is rooted in Paul's "return" to his original thesis: believers are to be lovingly predisposed to accepting one another and not judging one another over matters of no consequence.
- B. This original thesis is in 14:2-4, so that verse ten is a "return", making the entire paragraph an "inclusio".
- II. At Issue In The Thesis Itself Is A "Problem" Driven By A Worse "Problem".
- A. The stated "problem" is a lack of harmony between believers who wish to please the Lord by walking by "Grace".
- B. The greater "problem" is found in the answer to a basic question: Why is there a lack of harmony over issues that do not matter?
- 1. Issues that do not matter are only understood as "having no real significance" by those who expand their grasp of "Grace" to include their expression of it to others (as opposed to being glad to be a recipient).
- 2. The only way matters that do not matter become foundations for a lack of harmony is the "way" of self interest [Note James 4:1].
- 3. The particular issue of "self-interest" in our text/context is the desire to exalt oneself over others for issues of personal glory in the eyes of other men.
- a. "Judging" others for non-essential reasons is always "self-promoting".
- b. "Regarding others with contempt" over non-essential issues is, likewise, always "self-promoting" (the current wording for such a thing is, today, called "virtue signaling").
- 4. Because the desire to be "considered worthy of the good opinions of others" is such a basic element of our fallenness, just about any "excuse" to demean others will suffice as a justification for such demeaning.
- 5. Paul's question is "Why?" are you doing this.
- III. Paul's Determination Of A Quick Resolution To The "Problem" Within A "Problem".
- A. For Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, this "quick resolution" is a recognition that the very thing we are doing to each other is the very thing that God is going to do to us.
- 1. He immediately declares that the "Why?" needs to be answered because the answer is going to come to light later if it does not come to light sooner.
- 2. There is coming an inescapable, personal, appearance by each of us before the "bema" of The God.
- a. Our understanding of the "bema" is not Paul's use (he only uses it twice in all of his letters).
- b. Our understanding is from the uses found in the historical narratives of the New Testament (Matthew, John, and Acts) where the word is used in terms of the exercise of governing authority by those who "sit" upon the "bema" (Matthew 27:19; John 19:13; and eight uses in Acts, with special emphasis upon 7:5).
- c. Paul's complete harmony in his two uses with the historical narratives means that we are looking at The God taking His seat upon His own "bema" and exercising His prerogatives of evaluation and determination regarding us and our actions.
- B. Paul refers to this event in very general terms in our current text, but he develops some of the specifics in his letters to the Corinthians.
- 1. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 he refers to being "recompensed" for deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.
- 2. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 he refers to this event without calling it a "bema" event and tells us more of the specifics.
- a. Every action taken by a believer will be exposed to the "fire of God" (most likely a metaphor of precise evaluation by the Knower of All and its outcome of rejection and destruction).
- b. The final reality is, however, that it is only the actions that are accepted/rejected: the "actor" retains his/her status of "saved" before God.
- C. Paul's overall "point".
- 1. The believers are subjecting their fellow believers to their own form of a "bema" without its roots in reality (what they are "judging" are immaterial matters: they do not matter).
- 2. But The God is going to take His seat upon His "bema" and He will subject His people to His evaluation of everything done (because everything done does matter, if not in action, certainly in motive).
- 3. Thus, those who "give thanks" as an expression of recognition of being "graced" by God, need to go one step further and realize that "being graced" insists upon "being gracious" as an afterward reality: to whom much is given, much is required.
