He expressed this understanding to the church elders of Ephesus: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul saw his life as a daily death to himself. We must die to ourselves, our rights, and our desire to be our own boss. So, when Jesus said that in order to follow Him we must carry a cross, He meant that something must die before we can live. The cross was a public humiliation that always represented death. The cross was a torture tool introduced by the Romans to terrorize those who would speak against Caesar. The mention of a cross by a Jewish rabbi would have been shocking to first-century Jews. “I die daily” echoes Jesus’ command to those who want to follow Him: “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Here, as in 1 Corinthians 15:31, Paul references the constant persecution that he and his companions endured. Paul expresses a similar thought in Romans 8:36: “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’” (cf. Why should he “die daily,” if his message is a lie?
If the resurrection were untrue or a hoax, then they are wasting their lives. In verse 14 Paul writes, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Then verses 30–32 make the point that Paul and his associates face death and suffering every day for preaching about the resurrection. Other Bible versions word the last clause this way: “I face death every day” (NIV) and “Every day I am in danger of death!” (NET).Ĭhapter 15 of 1 Corinthians is a strong defense of the doctrine of the resurrection. First Corinthians 15:31 says, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (NASB).
0 kommentar(er)
