A guide to the study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. Apostle

Part II

Having clarified the power of sin and the greatness of the redemptive feat of Christ the Saviour, Who freed us from the power of sin and gave us the opportunity to live according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, the holy Apostle in the eighth chapter urges us to struggle with sin, for now nothing can excuse our evasion of this struggle. The almighty Spirit of Christ is with us, helping us to live according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, and "whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not His" (v. 9). Led by the Spirit of God, we are children of God (vv. 14-16), and "if we are children, we are heirs, heirs of God, but joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him" (v. 17). The desire to live a spiritual life while struggling with sin is accompanied by suffering, but Christians should not be afraid of these sufferings, for they are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us in the future life: "the present temporal sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us" (v. 18). All creation awaits this future glory with us, for it too will be freed from slavery to the law of death and corruption, which, as a consequence of man's sin, is reflected in all creation. In the struggle with sin, the Holy Spirit helps us, for He "strengthens us in our weaknesses; for we do not know what to pray for, as we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered" (v. 26). In the hope of salvation, God's predestination for our salvation also confirms us: "To be conformed to the image of His Son, that He may be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined, He called, and those whom He called, He also justified; and whom he justified, he also glorified" (vv. 29-30). For a correct understanding of this passage of the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul on Divine predestination, it must be borne in mind that the Apostle does not speak of unconditional predestination, as the Calvinists teach, but of predestination based on the omniscience of God. This does not mean that God, apart from the will of people, predestined some to salvation and others to destruction, but that God, as omniscient, knows which of people will use their free will for good, and which for evil, and depending on this, predetermines the eternal fate of everyone. In conclusion of the exhortations to be firm in the hope of salvation, the holy Apostle exclaims: "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" (v. 35) and enthusiastically confesses his love and devotion to Christ the Saviour, calling all believers to the same (vv. 35-39).In the next three chapters – the ninth, tenth and eleventh – the holy Apostle expresses his "great sorrow" and "unceasing anguish of heart" (Romans 9:2 [1]) over the stubborn disbelief of the Jews in Christ the Saviour and their rejection by God from the Church of Christ, and proves that Israel itself is guilty of its rejection, since it seeks justification not in faith in Christ the Savior, but in the fulfillment of the external ceremonial law of Moses. At the same time, the holy Apostle expresses the conviction that just as rejection does not concern all Jews, because there are believers among them ("the remnant has been preserved" Rom. 11:5 [2]), so it will not be eternal for the Jewish people: in due time the Jews too will believe in Christ and enter His Church. In the temporary rejection of the Jews, which they fully deserve, the holy Apostle sees a special manifestation of God's wisdom in relation to the salvation of all mankind. The fanaticism of the Jews, who stubbornly rejected faith in Christ as the Messiah, forced the Apostle to turn with a sermon about Christ to the pagans. And thus the stubborn hardening of the Jews against the apostolic preaching had as its consequence the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ (Romans 11:25 [3]). The success of the faith of Christ among the Gentiles and the spiritual blessings they receive will arouse the zeal of the Jews, and as a result "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26 [4]). For this reason the holy Apostle inspires the Gentile believers not to boast before the Jews of their salvation. Comparing the Jewish people to a noble garden olive tree, from which only the branches have been "broken off by unbelief," but the root is intact and holy, the holy Apostle likens the pagans to a "wild olive tree" grafted into an olive tree in place of the branches that have fallen off: "If... You, O wild olive tree, have been grafted in their place, and have become a partaker of the root and the juice of the olive tree, then do not exalt yourself before the branches. But if you are exalted, remember that you do not hold the root, but you are the root" (Romans 11:17-18). In addition, the branches that have fallen off can be grafted again, for "God is able to graft them again" (Romans 11:23). "For if thou art cut off from the wild olive tree, and have not been grafted into the good olive tree by nature, how much more shall these natural ones be grafted into their olive tree"... (Romans 11:24).The greatness of God's Providence, which wisely leads all nations to salvation, by means of an influence on the historical destinies of nations invisible to people, evokes in the holy Apostle an ecstatic exclamation: "Oh, the abyss of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies, and how unsearchable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? ... To Him be the glory forever, Amen (Romans 11:33-36). This concludes the doctrinal, dogmatic part of the Epistle to the Romans.Chapters twelve, thirteen, fourteenth, and fifteenth of verse 13 make up the moral part of the epistle. In chapter 12 he speaks of the duties of a Christian as a member of the Church, in relation to God (12:1-2 [5]) and to his neighbors (12:3-5 [6]), about various supernatural gifts and ordinary ministries, about the feelings and dispositions of a Christian (12:8-21). The instruction on obedience to the authorities is especially important here: "Let every soul be subject to the superior authorities" (13:1). For a correct understanding of this instruction, it is necessary to pay attention to the thought contained in verses 3 and 4: [7] that power is "from God" that encourages good and punishes evil. "Therefore we have the right to say," says the Monk Isidore Pelusiot, "that the very matter I mean authority, that is, the authority and royal power, are established by God. But if any wicked lawless man seizes this power, then we do not assert that he was ordained by God, but we say that he is allowed to spit out this wickedness, as to Pharaoh, and in this case to suffer extreme punishment, or to chastize those for whom cruelty is needed, as the king of Babylon made the Jews chaste" (Part II, Letter 6). how to treat the weak in the faith, in view of the disagreements that have arisen on this ground in the Roman Church. Most of the Roman pagan Christians boasted of their Christian freedom in that they did not eat indifferently all food and drink, for the Christian faith did not impose any prohibitions in this respect, nor did it impose any distinctions between the days of the year. Meanwhile, Jewish Christians continued to consider certain types of food unclean and feared to be defiled by them, just as they recognized some Old Testament feasts as universally obligatory. The holy Apostle exhorts us to put an end to strife on this ground, since the weak in faith should be treated with leniency. Private opinions and beliefs must be left to everyone's conscience. The main thing is not to judge or reproach each other and not to give each other temptation. Everything is pure for a Christian, but if your brother is offended, it is better not to eat meat or drink wine, lest you offend your brother (14:1-21). Verses 12-14 of the 13th chapter [8] and verses 1-4 of the 14th chapter [9] are read at the Liturgy on the Sunday of Cheesefare before the onset of Great Lent, giving instructions in what mood a Christian should spend the days of the Great Lenten feat. with which this epistle is sent, and conveys a whole series of greetings by name to the Christians living in Rome, which is a great sorrow for me and an unceasing torment to my heart. ^So in the present time, by the election of grace, there is a remnant. ^For I do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant of this mystery, lest you dream of yourselves, that hardening has taken place in Israel in part, until the time when the full number of the Gentiles shall enter. ^and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, A Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and shall turn away wickedness from Jacob. ^I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, for your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may know what is the will of God, good, acceptable, and perfect. ^According to the grace given to me, I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourselves more than you ought to think; but think modestly, according to the measure of faith that God has given to each. For as in one body we have many members, but not all the members have the same work, so we, the many, are one body in Christ, and separately members of one another. ^For rulers are feared, not for good works, but for evil ones. Do you want not to be afraid of the authorities? Do good, and you will receive praise from it, for the ruler is God's servant, for you are good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain: he is God's servant, the avenger of him who does evil. ^The night is past, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. As in the daytime, let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor voluptuousness and debauchery, nor quarrels and envy; but put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not turn the care of the flesh into lusts. ^Receive him who is weak in faith without disputing about opinions. For some are sure that they can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables. Whoever eats, do not despise him who does not eat; and whoever does not eat, do not condemn him who eats, because God has accepted him. Who art thou, who condemn another man's servant? He stands before his Lord, or falls. And he will be raised, for God is able to raise him up. ^

First Epistle to the Corinthians

Founding of the Corinthian Church

Corinth lies on the isthmus connecting Greece with the Morea, or Peloponnese. It was built one and a half thousand years B.C. In 44 AD, under Julius Caesar, it was restored after the devastation and became the flourishing first city of the Roman province of Achaia - the residence of the proconsuls. It was famous for its sciences, arts and cheerful life, which attracted many inhabitants to it. Its distinction was the so-called "Isthmian Games" and the temple of Aphrodite. It can be said that at the time of the apostolic preaching, Corinth was a representative of Greek frivolity, frivolity and sensual pleasures.The church in Corinth was founded by the holy Apostle Paul during his second evangelistic journey around the year 53, after he had passed with the preaching of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athena. Leaving his disciples Silas and Timothy in Macedonia to confirm the faith, Saint Paul set off for Greece, and arrived in Corinth after a short stay in Athens, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us (18:1 [1]). At Corinth the holy Apostle met the kind and hospitable people Aquila and Priscilla, Judeans by birth from Pontus, who had formerly lived in Rome, but had migrated to Corinth on the occasion of the expulsion of Emperor Aquila. Claudius of all the Jews from Rome. Aquila was a "skin-maker", that is, a tentmaker. Since Saint Paul knew this trade, he also settled with them, in order to earn his livelihood by the labors of his hands. If Aquila and Priscilla had not yet been Christians, then it must be assumed that they were now converted by St. Paul, baptized by him, and became his helpers in the work of evangelism.Every Saturday the Apostle preached in the Jewish synagogue, convincing the Jews and Greek proselytes that there is no other salvation but in the Lord Jesus Christ. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, St. Paul was given the opportunity to intensify and expand his preaching activity, and he taught not only on Saturdays, but also on the other days of the week. Among the Jews, however, this preaching had little success. They opposed the Apostle, reviling him and the way of the Lord preached by him. Then Saint Paul left the synagogue with an intelligible action and word for the Jews. And he shook off the dust of his garments, and said unto them, Your blood is upon your heads; I am pure; henceforth I go to the Gentiles" (Acts 18:6). The meaning of these words is: "The guilt of your destruction is on yourselves: I am pure from it. I have shown you the way of salvation, and you do not want to accept it. Remain in your destruction."Further Christian gatherings with preaching about Christ Saint Paul began to organize not far from the synagogue, in the house of a certain Justus, who worshipped God. The pagans also gathered here, and the work of evangelism went more successfully: many believed and were baptized. Among those who believed was the ruler of the synagogue Crispus himself with all his household. Nevertheless, the success of the preaching was apparently not great, so that St. Paul wanted to completely withdraw from the depraved Corinth, in which he began to experience even attempts on his life (2 Thess. 3:2 [2]). Therefore, the Lord Himself appeared to him in a vision at night to encourage and inspire him to continue his service in Corinth (Acts 18:9-10 [3]). Strengthened by this apparition, the holy Apostle remained in Corinth for a year and a half, and during this period of time his preaching brought forth abundant fruit in Corinth, so that the Church of Corinth became famous and glorified for its abundance of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 1:5-7 [4]). His departure from Corinth was hastened by a deplorable incident. Irritated by the Apostle's preaching, the Jews seized him and brought him to trial before the proconsul Gallio with a complaint that he "teaches men to worship God not according to the law" (Acts 18:13). The essence of this accusation was that Paul had become the founder of some new sect, in addition to the confessions permitted by the laws of the Roman Empire. Gallio was the brother of the famous Roman philosopher Seneca and the uncle of the poet Lucan, a highly educated and noble man. He refused to try a matter of faith, not civil relations, and drove the Jews away from the judgment seat. The Greeks, who despised the Jews, hearing this decision of Gallio, rushed at them immediately in the same court chamber and, seizing the chief leader of the indignation, Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, "beat him before the judgment seat; and Gallio cared not in the least about it" (Acts 18:14-17). It is possible that this Sosthenes was later converted to Christ, and this is mentioned by the holy Apostle when he writes to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 1:1. [5] By the special providence of God, the successor of Paul's work in Corinth was a certain Judean, named Apollos. He was born and raised in Alexandria, from where he came first to Ephesus, and then to Corinth. This, according to the writer of Acts, was an eloquent man and versed in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24 [6]). Sailing from Corinth, Saint Paul arrived for a short time at Ephesus, where he left Aquila and Priscilla, while he himself set off to Jerusalem and from there to Antioch, whence he then began his third Apostolic journey. After the departure of Saint Paul from Ephesus, there arrived Apollos, who was already a Christian and burned in spirit, but who knew only the baptism of John. He began to teach boldly in the synagogue. "When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they received him, and explained to him more accurately the way of the Lord" (Acts 18:26). When he felt the need to go to Achaia, the capital of which was Corinth at that time, the Ephesian believers gave him letters of recommendation to the Christians there. Arriving in Corinth, Apollos did much to help the believers, refuting the Jews publicly and "proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 18:27-28 [7]). The significance of Apollos' preaching for the establishment of Christianity in Corinth was so great that the holy Apostle Paul calls him the waterer of the seeds of the faith in Christ planted by him: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God grew" (1 Cor. 3:6). How long Apollos stayed in Corinth is unknown, but in writing the first Epistle to the Corinthians we again see him in Ephesus together with the Apostle (1 Cor. 16:12 [8]). ^and that we may be delivered from disorderly and wicked men, for faith is not in all. ^And the Lord said to Paul in a vision by night, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and be not silent, for I am with you, and no one will do you harm, because I have many people in this city." ^Cleanse therefore the old leaven, that it may be new dough unto you, for ye are unleavened, for our Passover, Christ, was slain for us. ^Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ called by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother. ^A certain Jew, named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent man and versed in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ^And when he intended to go to Achaia, the brethren sent to the disciples there, disposing them to receive him; and when he came there, he did much to help those who believed by grace, for he greatly refuted the Jews publicly, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. ^And as for brother Apollos, I begged him earnestly that he and the brethren would come to you; but he did not want to go now, but would come when it was convenient for him. ^

Reason for writing

During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, St. Paul, having fulfilled his plan to visit Jerusalem for Easter, began his third Apostolic journey from Antioch and "passed through the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order" (Acts 18:22-23 [1]), arrived in Ephesus to establish the Church of Christ there (Acts 19:1 [2]). Then various unfavorable rumors began to reach him about the Corinthian Church that he had abandoned. He wanted to go to Corinth himself directly from Ephesus by sea (2 Cor. 1:15-16 [3]), but not daring to leave Ephesus in his place, he sent his beloved disciple Timothy to Corinth, instructing him to pass through Macedonia and then inform him about everything that was happening in the Corinthian church. Meanwhile, unfavorable rumors about the Corinthian church began to repeat and multiply. Allegedly, one of the Corinthian Christians allowed a kind of fornication that is not allowed among the pagans (1 Cor. 5:1 [4]). Then the household of a certain Christian woman Chloe came to Ephesus and confirmed this rumor to the Apostle, telling him many other evil things, especially grieving the Apostle with stories about various religious disputes and contests (1 Cor. 1:11-12 [5]). It seemed that separate religious parties or sects had arisen in Corinth. Stephen, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who arrived from Corinth, sent from the Corinthian Church, somewhat calmed the spirit of the Apostle (1 Cor. 16:17 [6]), but nevertheless confirmed the existence of many disorders. Having confirmed the rumors of fornication and strife, they relayed many other things again: about lawsuits in pagan courts, about disorders at love suppers, about women not covering their heads in church, about the unbelief of some in the resurrection of the dead. In a special epistle, the Apostle was also offered questions about marriage and virginity, about eating things sacrificed to idols, about the gift of tongues, etc. As a result of this, the holy Apostle Paul decided to send his Epistle to Corinth, in order to heal all the disorders and give an answer to all perplexities. At the same time, he promises to come to them himself (1 Cor. 4:19-21 [7]). An additional reason for writing the epistle, as can be seen from 1 Cor. 16:1-4 [8], there was an arrangement for the collection of financial assistance for Palestinian Christians.After visiting Caesarea, he came to Jerusalem, greeted the church and departed for Antioch. And having spent some time there, he went out, and passed through the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, confirming all the disciples. ^During the sojourn of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper countries, arrived at Ephesus, and finding there some disciples. ^And in this assurance I intended to come to you before, that you might receive grace a second time, and through you to go to Macedonia, and from Macedonia to come to you again; and you would accompany me to Judea. ^There is a true rumor that fornication has arisen among you, and such fornication as is not heard even among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife instead of a wife. ^But I have written to you not to associate with him who, calling himself a brother, remains a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a swindler; You can't even eat with such a person. For why should I judge even those who are outside? Do you not judge the inner? ^I am glad of the arrival of Stephen, Fortunatus, and Achaicus: they have made up for me your absence. ^but I will come to you presently, if the Lord wills, and I will not try the words of the proud, but the power, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What do you want? come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of meekness? ^In gathering for the saints, do as I have established in the churches of Galatia. On the first day of the week, let each one of you set aside and save as much as his wealth allows, so that he may not make collections when I come. And when I come, I will send those whom you choose with letters to bring your alms to Jerusalem. And if it is proper for me to go, they will go with me. ^

Time and place of writing

As is clear from the epistle itself, it was written in Ephesus. "I do not want to see you now in passing," writes the Apostle, "I hope to stay with you for a while, if the Lord permits. But in Ephesus I will abide until Pentecost" (1 Cor. 16:7-8). In the Epistle St. Paul writes that he sent St. Timothy to Corinth (1 Cor. 16:10 [1]), and in Acts we find that he sent him from Ephesus before he himself was about to leave it (Acts 19:21-22 [2]). According to the calculation of the years, this falls in the year 58 or 59 A.And if Timothy comes to you, see that he is safe with you; for he is doing the work of the Lord, even as I am. ^When this was done, Paul resolved in the Spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "Having been there, I must see Rome also." And having sent to Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself remained for a time in Asia. ^

Content and composition

The content of the epistle, as was required by the occasion for writing it, is very diverse: it touches on many subjects, giving exhaustive answers to the questions posed by the Corinthians. It consists of 16 chapters. It begins with the usual inscription and greeting, and also ends with the transmission of greetings.

Exegetical analysis