The Undercover Adventist

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  All to the Glory of God Lesson 5 - Sunday Knowledge Must Be Guided by Love Scripture: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." — 1 Corinthians 8:1 (NKJV) The church in Corinth struggled with many issues, and one of them concerned food that had been offered to idols. Some believers understood that idols were nothing more than lifeless objects. Since there is only one true God, they knew that eating meat previously sacrificed to an idol did not spiritually contaminate the food. From a purely theological standpoint, they were correct. Yet Paul shifts the discussion away from simply being "right." Instead of asking, "What do you know?" he asks, "How does your knowledge affect others?" This is why Paul contrasts knowledge with love. Knowledge by itself can become dangerous because it often leads to pride. A person who knows the truth may begin to look down on those who are weaker in their understandin...

  The Mind of Christ: Servants, Not Celebrities Read 1 Corinthians 4:1–2; 1 Corinthians 2:16. The church in Corinth had a serious problem. Believers were forming factions around human leaders. Some followed Paul. Others preferred Apollos. Still others claimed loyalty to Cephas. Their divisions revealed something deeper than a disagreement about leadership—they revealed spiritual immaturity. Paul had already declared, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NKJV). To have the mind of Christ means to learn to think, act, and value things as Jesus does. Yet putting that mindset into practice is not always easy. The world around the Corinthians was filled with competition. Political leaders, philosophers, thinkers, and religious teachers competed for influence and public approval. People often measured greatness by popularity, eloquence, power, education, or the number of followers someone attracted. Unfortunately, the church began to reflect those same standards. That ...