LORD’S DAY, MAY 14
1 Corinthians 3:18-23
Romans 14:8

"And ye are Christ’s,
and Christ is God’s."

WE BELONG TO CHRIST

"And ye are Christ’s" (1 Cor 3:23a): This taught the Corinthian Christians that they belonged to Jesus Christ. Jesus took on the form of a servant and became a man to come into this world to die for our sins. Since He has given His all for us, it is only reasonable that we give our all to Him. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom 12:1). We must not hold anything back from the Lord.

Observe, however, that the statement is addressed to the Corinthian Christians as a whole ("ye" is a second person plural pronoun as opposed to "thou"). While it is true that every Christian can say "I belong to Christ," it should not be said in exclusion of others. Since every true believer belongs to Christ, there is to be no reason for schism in the church.

"…and Christ is God’s" (1 Cor 3:23b): This speaks of Christ’s submission to the will of the Heavenly Father in all things. "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:34). Just as Christ submits Himself to do all things which the Father has called Him to do, a Christian should also submit to Christ in all things. They must also submit to one another in the Lord (Eph 5:21).

"Christ is the Mediator between God and man. He came to do the will of God. He was and is still devoted to the service of his Father…. The argument here seems to be this, ‘You belong to Christ; and he to God. You are bound therefore, not to devote yourselves to a man, whoever he may be, but to Christ, and to the service of that one true God, in whose service even Christ was employed. And as Christ sought to promote the glory of his Father, so should you in all things.’" (Barnes)

THOUGHT: I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me.
PRAYER: Lord, I surrender all to Thee.