Do not be idolaters

 

Do not be idolaters

 

1 Corinthians 10:4-7 "And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not pleased, so they were destroyed in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we should not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play.'"

When the people who came out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and entered the wilderness, had nothing to eat, God gave them manna from heaven to eat. Manna symbolizes Christ. And when they had no water, they complained to Moses, so God commanded a stone to produce water, and they drank the water. The stone is Christ. Those who are baptized in the church hear the spiritual word of God and have hope for the kingdom of God, but just as many of the Israelites perished, those who do not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses (Eis ton Moysen) in the cloud and in the sea (Ebattisthesan)."

Eis ton moissen (εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆν) means into Moses. Mount Ebattisthes means instantly baptized. The cloud means that God protected the hot heat of the wilderness through a pillar of cloud. And the Israelites passed through the Red Sea. Passing through the sea is likened to water baptism.

Water baptism means physical death. Jesus' death on the cross has the same meaning as water baptism. By crossing the Red Sea, which is water baptism, we are dead to the world, which symbolizes Egypt, and to sin.

Romans 6:11 "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Water baptism makes one dead to the world and sin, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit makes one alive to God in Christ.

In the Old Testament era, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai, but when Moses did not come down for 40 days after entering the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, the people made an idol in the shape of a golden calf and worshipped it as God, eating and drinking, committing fornication, and other ugly acts.

Even if you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in the church, if the church people preach or believe a different gospel, it means that they are no different from the Israelites of the past. A different gospel would be that you will be saved if you just believe in Jesus. Faith must be the faith of Christ. Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh will be justified."

"Through the faith of Jesus Christ" (dia pisteos Jesus Christou διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ) in the original Greek means through the faith of Jesus Christ. It does not mean the faith that I believe in, but the faith that the saints die on the cross with Jesus Christ (deny themselves) and enter into Jesus Christ, who is ho logos, and are united with his faith (the faith that dies on the cross and is resurrected). The subject of faith is not me, but Jesus Christ. In the English Bible, the NIV (New International Version) Bible is also wrong, just like the Korean translation. However, the KJV (King James Version), although not perfect, has translated the Greek original accurately. This is because the nuance of the KJV translation cannot be said to be completely identical to the Greek text.

Exodus 32:4-6 Then Aaron took the gold rings from their hand and carved them with an engraver's tool and made them into a molten calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. Then Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." So they rose early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings. Then the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Eating, drinking, and committing fornication refers to eating and drinking things sacrificed to idols after worshipping idols, and having sexual intercourse on the altar. All of these are forms of idolatry. In Exodus 25:1-10, the Israelites committed fornication with Moabite women in Shittim and worshipped idols, and God became angry and killed them.

Likewise, there were those who said they believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but mixed the gospel by introducing the ideas of legalism, humanism, and gnosticism. They were committing spiritual fornication. God does not allow spiritual adulterers to enter the kingdom of God.

Especially at the time when Paul was preaching, legalists entered the church community and shook the faith of the believers. Before his conversion, Paul also learned that the only way to God was through the law, and he lived believing that. However, after meeting Jesus Christ, he did not approach God through the law. This is dying to the law. He knew that he had to meet God through Christ, not through the law. Therefore, dying to the law means passing through Jesus Christ, and it is the way to live for God.

The Apostle Paul died to the law not when he met Jesus, but when his eyes were opened through Ananias and he was baptized. The law no longer approaches the dead. The one who approaches the dead to the law is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the one who died to the law is born again by the Holy Spirit, and the law of the Holy Spirit is applied. That is why he lives with God. He becomes one with God in Christ.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." It is not faith that believes in the Son of God, but faith that lives in the faith of the Son of God.

The central issue of religion is whether to live in the law (the faith one believes in) or in the faith of the Son of God. Of course, Christianity is the latter. That is the gospel. How can one enter into Christ? It is the faith that dies with Jesus on the cross and rises together on the cross, and then ho logos enters the heart of the saint (hypomone). This is the way to salvation.