“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #186
“And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:30–32).
Paul then advances another argument for the resurrection of Jesus. The apostles were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, and they understood that resurrection to be a guarantee of their own resurrection. It would therefore make no sense for them to establish a fraudulent faith that did nothing but jeopardize their health and safety if they knew that the dead were not raised.
By putting this argument forward, Paul is confirming a standard argument for the resurrection of Jesus, which is the fearlessness of the apostles—in contrast to their behavior prior to the crucifixion—in proclaiming that resurrection. The apostles had all seen the resurrected Jesus, and their subsequent behavior makes no sense unless they had seen the resurrected Jesus.
Paul is in danger every hour. Every knock on the door could be a raid. Paul avows, with his right hand on his pride in the Corinthians, that he dies every day. This is the meaning of taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus. Why would Paul have fought the way he did at Ephesus if the dead are not raised. He is very blunt about it. If there is no resurrection, then the only sensible option is to party on the lip of the abyss. In the Pauline logic, it is either Christ or cocaine.
You touch on something about which I have been torn. “[T]hen the only sensible option is to party on the lip of the abyss. In the Pauline logic, it is either Christ or cocaine.” Is there no in-between? I do not mean compromise with the world, and I fully understand being sold out for the Glory of God. But does that not include joy and peace and righteous pleasure now as well? After all, “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” I guess what I am trying to balance is the dying daily and the “peace of God,… Read more »
@BJ Speaking from the cheap-seats, I would contend that there is. God does not expect all of us to be Paul, neither do all of us have his calling, nor should they even try. I think a clue here is what Saul was and did and how God took that man and transformed it into Paul. I sense that since Saul dished it out, Paul knew he had to take it. Pretend God is a sculptor and He has a plethora of rocks he sculpts. Not every rock can or should be transformed into the same sculpture. Each rock is… Read more »
Makes me think of Tim McGraw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNoEDGBaHSs
“If there is no resurrection, then the only sensible option is to party on the lip of the abyss. In the Pauline logic, it is either Christ or cocaine.”
If there is no resurrection, how can there be any sensible option? Relatively, I’m sure. But it seems that some just opt to skip the party and go ahead and throw themselves over the lip as the seemingly sensible option.
Pastor Wilson The sacraments are tied intimately to fearless martyrdom – rather than eating, drinking and then dying, we die in baptism, then eat and drink. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptised?” “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” An involuntary baptism is an involuntary death – the exact opposite of what you are saying… Read more »
“fearlessness of the apostles—in contrast to their behavior prior to the crucifixion”
Was it really being convinced of resurrection reality that changed them?
They just weren’t sure before that?
Or maybe kinda sorta was it the effect of looking the Man right in the eyes, touching the wounds, hearing his patient loving voice, during those last 40 days — developing an emotional loyalty that logic alone has a hard time producing?
Mike Bull — paedobaptism is totally superstitious, unless it’s not.
If the one baptized does indeed have faith, then the wet flesh matches the wetting Spirit, right?!