Chester ARP Devotional Podcast

God gave Paul a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble and teach him to depend wholly upon the Lord's strength. God does the same thing to us. 

Paul suffered many hardships because of his commitment to Christ and the advance of the gospel. He's an inspiration to us. 

Paul defended himself to the Corinthians in his second letter to establish his credibility in the face of opposition. He was secure in Christ and wanted them to know it. Are we secure in Christ? 

We are to give cheerfully to the Lord as we have determined in our hearts to give. We also receive in proportion to what we give. 

We have the privilege of giving generously to advance the gospel and meet the needs of others. 

Godly grief leads to repentance in our lives. We must respond with repentance and confession when challenged with our sin.

Paul was overwhelmed with joy by how the Corinthians responded to his call on their lives for repentance. We respond to the gospel through faith and repentance. 

Partner with those who are in Christ. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Pursue holiness. 

We are saved by grace and are blessed to be unrestricted by the religious laws, traditions, and categories of this world. 

The most important thing we can do in life is be reconciled to God in Christ. He knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. 

We don't lose heart in Christ because we await the day when immortality will swallow the mortal. The Holy Spirit guarantees us this future reality. 

We are clay pots that God uses to carry his blessed treasure of the gospel to the world. He will protect his vessels, so we do not lose hope. 

We are to proclaim the gospel openly to men, women, and children. We also pray for God to remove the veil from the hearts of unbelievers so they may see Christ for who he is. 

Paul and his companions were ministers of a new covenant in Christ by the mercy of God. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and its promises and opened a new relationship with us by grace through faith. 

We are to forgive sinners, even if their sin affects the whole Church. 

Paul told the Corinthians he had dealt with them with simplicity and godly sincerity. We should deal with one another in the same way. 

One of the reasons we go through suffering is to teach us to rely upon God and not ourselves. Paul had to learn that lesson, and we do too. 

God comforts us when we endure suffering and affliction so that we may comfort others with the comfort we receive from him. 

Paul gave specific instructions to the Corinthians as he closed his letter to them. It was practical and Christ-honoring. We'd do well to listen to them. 

We inherit imperishable bodies in God's grace during the second resurrection. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God for the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. 

What will our resurrected bodies be like? Similar, but different. Paul explains it in terms of a grain kernel going into the ground, dying, and producing new life. 

Since Christ has been raised from the dead, we have eternal hope in him and are fully forgiven from our sins. 

If Jesus wasn't raised, then our faith is a waste of time. Paul's argument in favor of the resurrection turns logical as 1 Corinthians 15 continues. 

Jesus's resurrection is reliable because there were over 500 witnesses to it. Most of them were still alive when Paul wrote First Corinthians, so he told them to check his story. 

Don't give up the faith. Fight to keep it and walk in the ways of Christ all your life.