1 Corinthians 11:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 11:1

Comments

The apostle Paul now moves to the subject of God's order for men and women. To introduce this he reminds the Corinthians that he is a pattern for them in all he does: they are to closely imitate him, particularly in matters of church order. This is an expression he has uses several times in his epistles. Followers is a perfectly good translation, and the logical translation, and it is how the imitators-word is often used in the Greek, but it means close followers, conscious followers.Paul received great revelations. He was caught up into heaven. He was given information, some of which it was not lawful or even possible for him to utter on earth. He received revelations about the way of life, the duties, the obligations, the privileges of the Christian, as well as the nature of the church, the government of the church, and how God and how Christ would return, and all that would take place in the last days. Then also in his conduct he is personally an example. Everything that is recorded about Paul in the Scripture, everything he says about himself, everything in the Acts of the Apostles, shows him and sets him forward as an example. Now Paul was not perfect, but his imperfections do not appear in the Scripture. He is a man, and he tells us in Romans 7 of some of his own failings. He doesn’t give us the details, but he tells us that he, like us, is involved in a battle for righteousness and for sanctification. So we know he was not perfect. But in the record of Scripture, the way he preached, the way he went about his work, the way he ordered and organised the churches, the principles he laid down, contain no mistake, because we are commanded in Scripture to follow him and to be imitators of them. So therefore the scriptural record is perfect, and we are not led into any mistake.‘Even as I also am of Christ.’ O to be a follower of Christ. We cannot follow Christ to the same degree. He went to Calvary for us. He came from eternal glory into this fallen world. He suffered indescribable humiliation out of love for you and for me, for us if we are his. He set his love upon us, his fondness, his compassion and his kindness. He came to bear the intolerable load of the punishment of our sin, and he knew whose sin he was bearing. He felt every pang; he knew every one of those people whose sin he was bearing away. In his human nature he suffered the pain; in his divine nature he could see each one of us, and he bore through that for us. The love and the commitment and dedication of Christ for lost sinners! Because Paul saw what Christ had done for him, look what he was prepared to go through, to make Christ known.

Application

People like to debate who was right in the dispute between Paul and Barnabas, when John Mark deserted the work – the nephew of Barnabas. Subsequently Paul refused to take John Mark on the next missionary journey, and there was a contention between Paul and Barnabas. Some people like to say, ‘O I think Barnabas was right’, and others say, ‘I think Paul was right.’ And those who think Barnabas was right, point to the ultimate restoration of John Mark, and even Paul’s subsequent approval of him, and how we was used and what he did, and so they say, ‘Barnabas, the man of consolation, was right.’ But that is impossible. Paul was bound to be right, because he is set forward in the Scripture as an example to us. Paul was right in this sense – that John Mark had abandoned the cause, and therefore he was not ready to carry on in the Lord’s service. Yes, he could be restored, and he was; he was made strong again and an admirable servant of God, but we see the example of Paul not to continue to use in the work of God somebody who has let the Lord down very seriously. We learn that principle from Paul’s stand in the matter, and that is an important principle for the interpretation of Scripture.

Are you a conscious follower, of Paul, yes, and of Christ? It helps to be a conscious follower. We are not just doing the things that Christ told us to do. We are consciously following him: that makes all the difference. You run into trouble in the Christian life; you become disadvantaged; people are often offended at you and against you; you have to take pressures and difficulties. It makes all the difference when you know you are not just doing the things you are doing and living the life you are living because you are following him. Your eye is on him, and you are doing these things because you are going to glory after him and with him. You are engaged in his mission, in his work. To be a conscious follower of Christ nerves and inspires us; it sustains and uplifts our spirits.

Questions

Why not speak of Christ as our pattern, and be content with that? Very simply, because Christ after all is the eternal Son of God and he is divine. It would be a very daunting thing to say to us, ‘Be ye followers of Christ only.’ We desire to follow Christ and we must, but he is God and he is perfect, and also he did not teach all that we are to follow. Our great Saviour, when he taught on earth, explicitly said that there was more to be taught by the apostles who would follow him. Paul, of course, is an apostle, and the apostle who was given much revelation to record in his epistles. He gives the pattern for the church and the details for the behaviour of Christians. These are all our obligations and duties. And these were very largely given after Christ. Even though they are easily recognisable in his teaching, his own teaching, they were more explicitly given after that. They awaited Calvary.

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1 Corinthians 11:1 Commentary and Bible Study