The humility of Paul continues to shine in his epistles. He makes the statement in 15:9 that he is the least of all the apostles. This is not mere lip-service, nor is it without grounds for the next verse (one of my favorites in this epistle) gives the reasoning behind this humility. It is the fact that anything that Paul is able to do is a demonstration of the grace of God in his life! Some people talk of grace as if once grace enters then there is nothing for us to do. Nothing could be further from Paul's mind. Notice that immediately after claiming to be the least of the apostles and acknowledging that anything good that comes from himself is because of the grace of God, he makes the assertion that he worked harder than any of the other apostles! Hard work and the grace of God are not mutually exclusive, but rather they are quite complementary, at least in Paul's mind. The key to understanding this is that grace doesn't make work unnecessary, but rather grace enables the work. That's why God deserves the "credit" for any successful work the we do!
Apparently, another one of the "issues" in the church at Corinth was concerning the idea of the future resurrection of believers. Paul's argument in this chapter points out that if there is no resurrection, then the Gospel is null and void because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is part of the Gospel (15:1-4). Further, it is Christ's resurrection that secures ours! Therefore, if there is no resurrection then we have no hope. What a dreadful thought! Paul then continues to describe the wonders of the resurrection that truly does give us hope. He climaxes in 15:50-57. This is the very reason that this passage is so often read at modern day funerals--it gives hope to those who mourn the loss of believing loved ones. Take a moment to reread these verses, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of your future resurrection!
The final verse of chapter 15 is another one of my favorites. It is a wonderful verse to encourage perseverance and faithfulness to our Lord as we seek to labor for His glory. Think of these different adjectives and their significance: steadfast, unmovable, abounding always. Do these characterize your service for Christ? The foundation and the fuel for this type of enduring ministry flows from the Gospel that Paul has been describing and defending in this chapter with the hope of future resurrection as the focal point. Let's labor faithfully for our Lord and Savior as we ground ourselves in the hope that the promise of resurrection brings to us!
Chapter 16 closes this epistle. Much of what Paul communicates is of an administrative nature along with the typical formal greetings that were so common in the written communication of his day. Right before he closes the book, he makes a rather striking statement in vs 22 - "If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed." He doesn't say "if anyone has no faith in the Lord" or "if anyone refuses to obey the Lord", but " if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed"! Let this thought sink in! Many say that they believe in Jesus. Many say that they attempt to obey Jesus. These are good things that the Scriptures indeed call us to do many times, yet Paul singles out this one aspect as that which is necessary to avoid eternal damnation. Another thing to consider is that this word for "love" is not the so-called "highest form of love" that we know as agape. Rather, this is the verb phileo. This word for "love" puts the emphasis on affection and is a highly relational word. This, I think, fills out what is lacking in so many people's conception of faith and obedience. Having a high level of affection for Jesus Christ is part of what makes "faith" faith and what makes "obedience" obedience. In other words, if you do not have this type of affection for the Lord Jesus Christ, then you really don't believe in Him nor do you obey Him the way the Bible calls us to. That is the very reason that Paul calls down a curse of eternal damnation on all those who do not love the Lord with their affections!
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