Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Paul the Apostle had studied the law of God so in depth that he was the only one when God saved him to be able to give us 14 letters which are doctrinal letters, starting with Romans and ending up with the book of Hebrews and teaching us not to be legalists, but to enjoy the freedom of the grace of God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Thanks so much for joining us as we begin a brand-new series in First Corinthians. In today's opening study, Raul will introduce the themes of this remarkable letter and show us how God calls his people to walk in both grace and truth.

As believers, we're not burdened by the weight of earning God's favor, yet we are invited to follow Christ with sincere faith and wholehearted obedience. Here's Raul Ries with part one of our introduction to First Corinthians.

Raul Ries: So good to see you tonight. One of the things that I was thinking about as I prepared this lesson is the first time that I ever went to Corinth. I went to Corinth with Pastor Chuck Smith and we were in a cruise and we stopped over in Greece and went up to where Paul the Apostle preached to the unknown God up in the Acropolis there in Athens. It was quite a sight where I stood there, and there's a huge rock there by the Acropolis where Paul the Apostle stood and began to give to them the sermon on the unknown God.

Then when you drop from there, you go all the way around in Greece, all the way around the peninsula, and you come over to the other side, and there is the city of Corinth. It's pretty amazing when you go to Corinth. Number one because when you get there, the archaeologists have uncovered this whole city and it's incredible. When you walk into the city, you still have today the Bema seat where they used to do judgment. As you're looking over to the Bema seat, you're looking up into the left side and you see this big old hill that is sitting there, and this is the hill where the 1,000 prostitutes would live and come down every single night to seduce the men of the city.

A lot of history in Corinth. As Paul the Apostle was not presently there at first and when he heard what was going on, he wrote three letters. One of them was lost. First and Second Corinthians and one of the letters he’ll tell you in a moment was lost, and they never found it. He writes to the Corinthians because there are church members in the city of Corinth. What's going on here is that as these prostitutes would come down and begin to seduce the men, a lot of the Christians, instead of becoming spiritual, they had become carnal Christians.

So, when he writes the book, he writes and he tells you concerning the problems of divisions. He gives problems with people that are having lawsuits in the church against one another. He deals with the problems of the resurrection. He deals with the problems of the abuse and neglect of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He deals with the problem of a man in the church that is living together with his mother-in-law sexually, and the pastor and the elders and the people are not doing anything about it, but they're just continuing business as usual. Paul writes real heavy stuff in the book of Corinthians.

He writes it like a disciplinary book to discipline the people that were living a life of sin. Paul doesn't allow people in the church to be living a life of sin. He really preaches to them because it seemed that as Paul was communicating to them, they weren't getting it. They had been so infected by the world and the standards of the world that they had become totally carnal and living a life of division, a life of carnality, and not having any conviction in their lives.

Let's begin with the introduction tonight. If you have your Bibles, go to First Corinthians chapter one. The Apostle Paul, first of all, we need to understand that he was born in Tarsus. He came from Tarsus. What's incredible in the book of Acts chapter nine, verse 11, it tells us, so the Lord said to Paul, "Get up and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying." When Paul the Apostle was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus, he was on the road to Damascus and somehow Jesus appeared to him.

When he appeared to Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul was confronted by Jesus saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Now, the men that were with Paul the Apostle, they never saw Jesus. They never saw a light, but they heard a voice, and they were struck by that. What's incredible, Paul the Apostle, we see him in that conversation with the Lord because he says, "Who are you, Jesus?" He immediately recognized that it was the Lord. Paul the Apostle became converted, and from there as his conversion came, they had to lead him into the city of Damascus because he was blind. He could not see for three days.

They led him by the hand, and when he got to Damascus, there was a young man by the name of Ananias, a Christian. The Lord came to him by night and said, "Hey, listen, Ananias, I want you to go and lay hands on Saul of Tarsus." He said, "Lord, have you heard about him? He's killing Christians, and you want me to go lay hands on him?" The Lord said, "Don't worry about it. Paul the Apostle has been converted." He told him exactly where Paul was and then Ananias came and he said, "Saul, my name is Ananias, and I came to lay hands on you." He laid hands on Saul and at that very moment, the baptism of the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and he was able to see again.

Incredible conversion. Paul the Apostle was imprisoning Christians. As a matter of fact, Paul the Apostle, in the book of Acts chapter six, when Stephen was not only tried and really they came against Stephen. He was a deacon, full of the Holy Spirit, one that waited on tables. When the Sanhedrin came against him and the Jews came against him and he gave one of the longest sermons in the book of Acts and brought conviction to those people, they got so blown away that they were so angry when they got convicted by the Holy Spirit that they took Stephen.

In the city of Jerusalem, the walls were over 300 feet high. When you go to the city of Jerusalem and you sit on the Mount of Olives, you look down, you can actually see how big the walls of the city were. They took him and they threw him over the city wall. When he fell down from the city wall to the ground, he began to take these big old stones and get ready to throw stones right on top of him. Right before they began to stone him, Stephen got on his knees and he looked up to heaven and he said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." The scripture says for the second time that Jesus Christ, after dying and rising from the dead, stood up to actually receive the spirit of Stephen coming into heaven.

What an honor that is. He stood up to receive the spirit of Stephen, and Stephen died. Paul the Apostle was there not as a Christian and he gave authority and power to the stoning of Stephen. Think about how incredible Paul the Apostle is. Stephen died and Paul the Apostle was constantly after the Christians. He was a zealot Jew and at the same time he had not only the knowledge of God in his own life, but he had this thing concerning the law of God that Christians needed to be incarcerated and be tortured and be put to death.

As a matter of fact, in Acts 22:3, Paul said, then he said, "I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, both brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel." Gamaliel was one of the greatest Jewish teachers in Israel and he was schooled by Gamaliel, Paul the Apostle. He learned under him. He said, "He taught me according to the strictness of our fathers' law and was zealous towards God as you all are today." He thought that the Christians were wrong and that Judaism was right and that's why he persecuted them.

Yet it was the city southeast and as you think of where Paul was born, Tarsus of Cilicia, it was a city southeast coast of Asia Minor which today is modern Turkey today. As such, he was not only he could speak fluent Greek, but he spoke Hebrew and Greek. At the same time when you think of Paul, in chapter 21:37, he says, and then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I speak to you?" He replied, "Can you speak Greek, Paul?" He spoke Greek and he spoke Hebrew too.

Paul the Apostle was an incredible genius teacher. He had been to the university, had been taught by the best teachers and he was an intellect. Yet when he came to Christ, God humbled him in such a way that nobody had written anything yet. You have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are the four gospels. Because Paul the Apostle had studied the law of God so in depth, he was the only one when God saved him to be able to give us 14 letters which are doctrinal letters, starting with Romans and ending up with the book of Hebrews and teaching us not to be legalists, but to enjoy the freedom of the grace of God.

Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We count it a privilege to share God's word with you every day. For Bible studies, devotionals, and other ministry resources, visit somebodylovesyou.com. You can also download our free app to access live-streamed Bible teaching and digital Bible studies wherever you go. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: When I was in Hawaii, they asked me to teach the difference between law and grace in Galatians chapter four, and it was amazing to be able to see how the law is the schoolmaster that draws me to conviction to Jesus Christ. I get saved and then I'm no longer under the law, which is the schoolmaster that brought me to conviction, but then now I begin to enjoy the unmerited favor of God, which is called the grace of God. That's how we're saved.

We're not saved by coming to church. We're not saved by witnessing. We're not saved by reading our Bibles. We're not saved by doing anything of works. We're saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Period. Think of how many people are so caught up with legalism in the church today. The first thing that I have found that when people get saved, new converts, there are many that when they get saved and the first time they trip or fall, immediately Satan begins to kick them and begins to bring condemnation to them, and the first thing he tells them is he says, "You lost your salvation. You're no longer a Christian."

You know what? Nobody can lose their salvation. Nobody can lose it. Salvation is for all eternity. Then at the same time when you think of eternal security, imagine right now because there are people that teach this and they say that eternal security means that you can do whatever you want and you'll never be lost. That's not the way eternal security works. Paul the Apostle and then Jesus himself in John chapter 15, verses one through six, tells us that the key to the Christian life is abiding in Jesus Christ every day. Not every week, not every year, not every month, every day.

Abiding is the factor that we have to be obedient to the word of God. Because you will learn that Paul the Apostle in reference to salvation, he writes in the book of First Corinthians in chapter five, in chapter six, he's going to be dealing with the matter of eternal security. Those of you that have been justified and those of you that have been sanctified and those of you that have known God, why is it that after you were set free through the grace of God, why is it that you have come back like a dog to its vomit coming back to sin again?

You can't do that. You can't say you're a child of God and live in your past sins in the present. There’s no possible way. Paul's going to deal with that. Paul the Apostle wants to make sure that we understand that he gave us 14 letters. In First Corinthians, he's writing to them because there's major problems in the church of Corinth. Major, major problems. Yet because of the grace of God and the mercy of God, Paul the Apostle, when he writes to them, he writes in a very strong manner in rebuking them in love and saying, "You guys, you better listen."

How can you allow somebody to be in the church and let them live with their mother-in-law and then go into the whole worship scene and then think that everything's going to be cool and at the same time you're keeping people that are outside of the church away from the truth of God because you're compromising in your Christianity? Paul says there's no possible way. That person should be kicked out of the church if there's no repentance. He should never fellowship in the church. We're going to learn that in the book of Corinthians.

Excommunicate that guy or her. You excommunicate them out of the church until they repent, then you can receive them back with open arms because of the love and grace of God. He says a person like that, you turn them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved at the end of the time when they die. Interesting. I mean, the letter's set up so incredible when you look at it. At the same time, in the book of Acts, it tells us that he, Paul, was born a Roman citizen in a high stature, but very rare among the Jews, which suggests what? That his family was somewhat wealthy and at the same time they were of high stature, they were of the upper class where Paul came from.

Yet Paul the Apostle was the poorest person in the whole world, a man of poverty when he became an apostle. We'll read about that in Second Corinthians. Incredible. Beaten three times, left for dead. Paul just blows me away because he is the perfect person if you really want to see a real Christian, look at Paul the Apostle, the way he gave his life and heart to Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts chapter 16:37, he said, but Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now do they put us out secretly? No, indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out."

They were arrested in verse 25 and as they bound him with thongs, Paul the Apostle got arrested with his friends. They put him in jail and then they beat them. When they found out that he was a Roman citizen, they kind of backstepped and Paul the Apostle said, "You know what? Now you've got to retract, but I'm not going to bow to you. You're going to have to recant. You're going to have to really make sure that you understand what you've done."

He says in verse 25, and as they bound him with thongs, he says, Paul said unto the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?" As they were beating Paul, he said, "Hey, I'm a Roman. You're beating me. They were not supposed to beat other Romans." When the centurion heard it, he went and told the commander saying, "Take care what you do for this man is a Roman citizen."

Then the commander came and said to Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes." Then the commander answered, "With all large sum I obtained this citizenship," he said, and Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him and the commander was also afraid after he found out that Paul was a Roman and because he had also bound him.

Paul said, "I was born a citizen. You bought your citizenship, not me. I was born as a Roman citizen." Then they got freaked out, they said, "Really?" "That's right." Then he says in verse 11, so Paul said, "I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong and as you very well know, for if I am an offender and I have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to die. But if there is nothing in these things of which these men are accusing me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar."

He wanted to go to Caesar to Rome because the Jews had entrapped him. The Jews wanted him dead. Because he was a Roman citizen, he thought, you know what? That's an opportunity for me to go to Rome and witness to Caesar Nero. So he went to Rome in the book of Romans. For two years, he was in prison in Rome. That's where he ended up also dying. Nero took him out and cut his head off at the same time Peter was crucified upside down in Rome.

Both of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The only apostle that never had a physical death, literally tortured or cut in half or crucified, was John the Beloved. He died of natural causes with old age. The Lord said that would happen, but the rest of them, they were all tortured and died horrible deaths, the apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas hung himself, committed suicide as the betrayer, but the other ten, horribly were killed except for John the Beloved. They gave us the book of Revelation, the Gospel of John, First, Second, and Third John.

We see this beautiful thing that's going on. Then Acts also tells us that Paul the Apostle worked as a tentmaker. He would work for four hours in the morning and then for the rest of the evening he'd go out and preach. He never, ever asked for money. I love Paul the Apostle, never. You know what else he never did? He never, ever went to preach where there was already an existing church. Never did that. He said, "I would never ever want to plant on another man's foundation." Isn't that cool? That would teach a lot of pastors today that like to get next to different churches to get their people.

Paul never did that. Paul went to places where Christ had never been preached to preach the gospel. That's why Paul was such a powerful person and such a man of integrity. He was never trying to take people from other churches, but he went out and he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ where no name of Christ had been mentioned. When he went out, he went out by faith to declare the actual word of God to the people of God.

That's why he says in Romans chapter one, 16, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. The just shall live by faith." As he was a tentmaker, means what? He never begged for funds. Never. He trusted the Lord, but he worked with his own hands. Into people, whatever they gave to him, he took it and used it for ministry. Think of Paul the Apostle as the apostle of Jesus Christ and the things that he's saying to us here. In Acts 18:3, he said, because Paul was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for an occupation there by making tents as a tentmaker. It tells us in the scripture that he worked with his own hands making tents and he was so educated, he probably could have got a job in any university, but Paul the Apostle wanted to be among the people. He wanted to be an example.

Guest (Male): Today's study reminds us of a wonderful truth: our standing before God rests on his grace, not our performance, and that same grace enables us as believers to live in faithful obedience to his word every day.

You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like a copy of today's message, we'll send you an unedited version of Raul's introduction to First Corinthians for a donation of $5 or more. To request your copy, call 800-634-9165.

To continue your study of these important biblical themes, we'd like to tell you about Raul’s series, Unity, Holiness, and Love. This 11-message collection is available on CD and flash drive. Throughout these teachings, Raul examines practical aspects of Christian living, including spiritual gifts, faithful stewardship, healthy relationships, and the importance of pursuing unity within the body of Christ.

These studies provide biblical insight for anyone seeking to grow in spiritual maturity and deepen their walk with the Lord. To order the 11-part Unity, Holiness, and Love series, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We’ll send you the CD collection for $23 or the thumb drive for just $14. Again, the phone number is 800-634-9165.

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