Bible in One Year Day 334 (Acts 13, 1 Corinthians 7-8, Proverbs 28: 4-6)

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Agape Bible Study Acts 13 

Chapter 13: The Church in Antioch Sponsors Missions to the Gentiles

St. Peter was arrested by King Agrippa I with the intention of being tried by the Sanhedrin and condemned to death "a death sentence Herod Agrippa was ready to carry out. But Peter was miraculously released from prison by an angel. Peter decided that it was time for him to leave Jerusalem. He gave authority over the Jerusalem community to St. James the Just, kinsman of Jesus and honored by the Church as the first Christian bishop of Jerusalem. According to Church tradition, Peter then traveled to the Roman province of Syria to make his home with the church in Antioch for seven years as he continued to visit newly formed Christian communities in the provinces of Asia Minor and Greece before going to Rome. 

With the death of St. Peter's persecutor, Herod Agrippa I, at the end of Acts chapter 12, we have secular documents that can allow us to set the date of that event at 44 AD. Barnabas and Saul were in Jerusalem at that time delivering aid from their faith community at Antioch to the Jerusalem church. When they left to return to Antioch, they took young John Mark, Barnabas' kinsman and the son of Mary of Jerusalem, with them. John had the Jewish name Yohannan and also the Roman name Marcus. His mother was Jewish but his father was Roman. As our story of St. Peter's mission to the Gentile's ends, St. Paul's mission begins.

Acts 13:1-3 ~ The Antioch Community Commissions Barnabas and Saul

Notice how, in the naming of the prophets and teachers at Antioch, that Barnabas' name and Saul's name brackets the other leaders of the Antioch community.

The church at Antioch was founded by disciples from Cyprus and Cyrene, and a Cyrenian is named as a prominent member of the community. Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Christ to Golgotha.

The city of Cyrene, located in Northern Africa, was the chief city of the Roman province of Cyrenaica (modern Libya). Symeon/Simon in 13:1 is the same name as the Cyrenian who carried the cross of Christ. The word "niger" means "black" in Latin. We do not know if this refers to his skin color and African origin, nor do we know if this is the same Simon/Symeon of Cyrene who carried the cross. We do know from Mark 15:21 that Simon of Cyrene is named as the father of Alexander and Rufus, which suggests they were known as members of the Church. Manean, also a leader of the church at Antioch, is named as a childhood friend of Herod Antipas. The Greek word used to describe their relationship is syntrophos and literally means "nurtured with" (Johnson, page 221). With the exception of Barnabas and Saul, none of these early teachers and prophets of the Church are named elsewhere in the New Testament.

St. Paul's First Missionary Journey Approximate dates: 45 " 49 AD Companions: Barnabas and John Mark Mission field: Cyprus and Asia Minor (Turkey) Approximate miles traveled: 1,400 miles Sent by the church of Antioch, Syria
Mission to the island of Cyprus by way of Seleucia (sea port of Antioch in the province of Syria); travels across the island from Salamis to Paphos	Acts 13:4-12
Antioch of Pisidia on the border between the provinces of Pisidia and Phrygia (south-central Asia Minor)	Acts 13:13-51
Iconium in the province of Lycaonia/South Galatia (central Asia Minor)	Acts 14:1-5
Lystra in the province of Lycaonia/South Galatia (central Asia Minor)	Acts 14:6-19
Derbe in the province of Lycaonia/South Galatia (central Asia Minor)	Acts 14:20
Back through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch Pisidia	Acts 14:21-26
Perga in the province of Pamphylia (southern coast of Asia Minor)	Acts 14:24-25
Attalia, a port city of Pamphylia (southern coast of Asia Minor)	Acts 14:25
Return to home church at Antioch, Syria	Acts 14:27-28
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2013

Acts 13:4-12 ~ Barnabas and Saul's First Missionary Journey

Seleucia is Antioch's port city on the Mediterranean. They sailed to the island of Cyprus and arrived in Salamis, the island's largest city and a port on the Mediterranean. Josephus attests to a large Jewish population on the island (Antiquities of the Jews, 13.284-87). As becomes their custom, they first proclaim the Gospel in Jewish synagogues, traveling from Salamis, on the east side of the island, and continuing to Paphos, a city on the west coast. Barnabas' kinsman John Mark is the third member of their mission team as their assistant and not as a preacher.

Paul challenged the false prophet calling him a "son of the devil" which is in contrast to the name "son of Jesus" that the man bears.
Question: What is ironic about Paul blinding the magician?
Answer: Paul, who was once blinded by Jesus, demonstrates his greater power through Christ by blinding his adversary who practices the "dark arts" just as his adversary had attempted to blind the Roman from the truth of the Gospel. 

Acts 13:12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he came to believe, for he was astonished by the teaching about the Lord.
In this episode, St. Luke has shown that St. Paul is now taking up the mission of an apostle to which Jesus called him in his conversion experience. He is preaching, working miracles and converting souls like both Jesus and Peter.

Paul preached the Gospel to Sergius Paulus in Greek and he was Paul's first Gentile convert. God prepared the world for the spread of the Gospel centuries in advance when an insignificant prince from the territory of Macedonia in northern Greece inherited his father's throne and exploded out of his homeland to conquer much of the known world in the 4^th century BC. Alexander the Great conquered lands from Greece to Egypt to the Indus River in India, spreading Greek culture and the Greek language, which became the international language for a thousand years afterward. Since the official language in the lands that Alexander conquered (in which his generals who succeeded him and set up their own Greek culture governments) spoke Greek, Paul and Barnabas were able to preach the Gospel in a tongue that was universally understood in the territories they visited. 

Acts 13:13-15 ~ The Mission in Antioch in Pisidia"

Notice that Paul is now listed as the leader of the missionary expedition. Paul, Barnabas and John Mark set sail from Paphos and arrive in Perga. To reach Perga, Paul and his companions would have covered the 200 miles from Cyprus to Perga by boarding a commercial vessel. Passenger ships for the general public did not exist in the first century AD. Shipping was almost exclusively for commercial or military purposes. Therefore, travelers made arrangements with merchants to board cargo ships.

The city of Perga is located seven miles inland up the Kestos River on the southern coast of what is today modern Turkey. Cargo that was transported over large distances over the open sea was generally loaded on large vessels with deep drafts. These ships, like the one Paul must have sailed on, docked at coastal ports that could accommodate such ships. A large cargo ship could not have gone up the Kestros River to Perga. The closest seaports to Perga were Magydos and Attalia, mentioned in Acts 14:26. Whether Paul's missionary team on their journey from Cyprus landed at Magydos or Attalia or at one of the other major Anatolian seaports closer to Cyprus (Side, Korakesion or Anamurium) is unclear. If they landed at one of these seaports, they either walked the coastal road to Side, where the road then led inland directly to Perga, or they took a smaller ship from one of these ports to the mouth of the Kestros River where they either took a small boat up river or simply walked the seven miles to Perga.

Perga was the principal pagan religious center for the province of Pamphylia and was the location of the one of the pagan temples of the goddess Artemis (the most famous temple was in Ephesus in Asia Minor). Artemis was the Greek name for the goddess the Romans called Diana. Artemis/Diana was one of the most widely worshiped pagan deities in the ancient world and was the patroness of hunters, forests, fertility and women in childbirth. From Perga they traveled to Antioch in Pisidia in the Roman province of Galatia in south-central Asia Minor. For some unknown reason, young John Mark parts company with the group and returns to Jerusalem. St. Paul views John Mark's departure as a defection and it will become a bone of contention between Paul and Barnabas that will eventually cause Barnabas to separate from Paul (Acts 15:37-39). Years later Paul and John Mark will be reconciled, and John Mark will stay with Paul during his house arrest in Rome (Col 4:10; Philem 24). John Mark will become Peter's secretary in Rome and Peter will refer to him affectionately as "my son" (1 Pt 5:13).

Antioch Pisidia is located on the border between the provinces of Pisidia and Phrygia and at the strategic crossroads of the Mediterranean, Aegean and Central Anatolian regions. Paul and Barnabas attend the Sabbath services at the local Jewish Synagogue where an invitation is extended to give a homily on the Sabbath readings "an invitation that Paul accepts. Philo of Alexandria (d. 50 AD) noted that after the readings one of special experience rises and sets forth what is the best and sure to be profitable and will make the whole of life grow to something better (Special Laws, 2.62). To approach the Jews first will be Paul's regular practice (14:1; 16:13; 17:10, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8; 28:17, 23). 

Question: Why will it be Paul's practice to go to the Jews first?
Answer: In doing so he is acknowledging that the Jews have the first claim on the promised Messiah on the principle that Scripture promised the Messiah to the Jews and Jesus' mission was to the Jews first. 

It is only after the Jews reject his Gospel message that Paul will turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:28), fulfilling Jesus' message to Ananias that Paul is called to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in His name to Gentiles and Israelites (Acts 9:15).

St. Paul's Homily to the Synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia

Acts 13:16-25 ~ Paul's Survey of Israel's History from the Exodus to John the Baptist

The congregation in Antioch Pisidia is Jewish but also includes Gentile converts (verse 42) and Gentile God-fearers. This is the 6^th kerygmatic address in Acts. Notice the differences in style between Peter's five addresses (Acts 2:14-39; 3:12-26; 4:8-12; 5:29-32; 10:34-43) and Paul's in 13:16-41. Paul begins his homily by calling on his fellow "Israelites;" note that the word "Israel" is repeated three times in Paul's homily (13:17, 23 and 24). He begins with a survey of Israel's history from Israel's divine election in the Exodus experience to the mission of Israel's last Old Testament prophet, St. John the Baptist. Notice how Paul, like Stephen's address to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7), pays close attention to historical details in the Torah and the historical books. However, Paul's theme is focused on proving that Jesus is the promised Messiah who God raised from the dead to bring salvation to His people. He skips over the history of the Patriarchs and does not focus on Stephen's double thematic points of Israel's rejection of God's prophets and that God is present in Gentile lands and is not limited to one land or building (although Paul will mention Jesus' rejection by the religious leaders that was prophesied by the prophets in 13:27).  Paul proclaims Jesus is the promised Davidic heir. He uses the words "raised up" referring to David being chosen by God to be Israel's king as an allusion to Jesus' resurrection when God "raised up" Jesus from the dead to be Israel's Davidic king. Jesus is the Savior of Israel "the one promised to secure David's throne forever in the unconditional, eternal covenant God made with David.

Acts 13:26-41 ~ Paul's Homily Continued

This is the heart of Paul's kerygmatic message in verses 26-33: the Messiah was sent to Israel but Israel, in ignorance, failed to recognize her Messiah and unjustly condemned Him by hanging Him on a tree as prophesied by the prophets (Lk 24:25, 44). But God raised Him from the dead and in Him every believer is justified (made right with God). 

The sinner's justification through Christ Jesus (being made right with God) will be a major theme of Paul's letter to the Romans (see Romans chapter 3, for example and CCC 1987 and 2018-2020). In Romans Paul says that They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God "to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:24-26). 

Acts 13:42-47 ~ The Response of the Congregation

At first the members of the Jewish synagogue were receptive, but the next week their attitude changed. When they saw that Paul and Barnabas were prepared to give the same hope of salvation to the Gentiles, the Jews became jealous and hostile.

Acts 13:48-52 ~ Proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles and Persecution

All who were destined for eternal life came to believe ... It is God's will that all of us be "destined for eternal life" as St. Peter will write ... he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pt 3:9). But in exercising the gift of free will, there will be those who will not fulfill their destiny to reside with God in eternal beatitude. In either case, God, being omnificent, knows who will be choose life and those who will not. 

The sin of jealousy (verse 45) turned to rage. It is a repeat of what Peter and John faced in Acts 5:17 and 33. Certain Jews incited opposition against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from the territory. Unlike the unrighteousness that fills their opponents, Paul, Barnabas and the believers in the city are "filled with joy and the Holy Spirit."

Question: Why did the apostles shake the dust from their feet? See Mt 10:14; Lk 9:5 and 10:11.
Answer: This is a gesture of contempt for those who have rejected Jesus' Gospel of salvation; it is a gesture commanded by Jesus himself to his emissaries. Those who reject the Kingdom and the gift of salvation are themselves rejected.

Agape Bible Study 1 Corinthians 7 - 8 

Part II: Answers to the Corinthians' Questions

Chapter 7: Marriage, Divorce, and Celibacy/Virginity

In the second part of his letter, Paul begins to answer the questions the community sent in the letter from Chloe's household (1:11) in three sections in 7:1-11:1.
Section I: Paul answers questions concerning marriage and virginity/celibacy (7:1-40)

1. Advice to the married (7:1-7).
2. Advice to the unmarried and widows (7:8-11, 39-40).
3. Advice on divorce (7:12-16).
4. Advice that applies to both the married and unmarried (7:17-24).
5. Advice to virgins and widows (7:25-38).

In Section II, Paul answers questions concerning eating sacrifices offered to idols (8:1-10:13).

1. Concerning meat sacrificed to idols (8:1-6).
2. Practical rules concerning the practice (8:7-13).
3. Being aware of your Christian witness in the practice of eating meat sacrifices to idols (9:1-10:13). 

Section III: Paul gives warnings about idol worship (10:14-11:1).

1. Avoiding idolatry (10:14-22).
2. What is lawful versus what is beneficial (10:23-11:1).

This part of Paul's letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. We only read Paul's answers to the Corinthian community's questions. We don't hear the question so we have to make some assumptions. In the first section, Paul is apparently addressing two different groups with opposing views on sexual matters in the Corinthian church (7:1): one group is actively practicing sexual sins, and the other group advocates asceticism in sexual matters. Paul writes that both groups are in error. He writes that some of the advice is his opinion and other advice is from "the Lord."

1 Corinthians 7:1-7 ~ Advice to the Married

Some in the community are apparently advocating for total celibacy among believers: 1 Now in regard to the matters about which you wrote: "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman..." Paul responds that he advocates the celibate and his comments in verses 7-8 suggest he is celibate. Perhaps some Christians who admire him want the community to imitate his celibate lifestyle. While Paul will encourage the celibate life, he calls the community to a better perspective of their gifts and limitations.

He emphasizes that the sexual side of their relationship must be based on a self-giving of one to the other and not on selfish concerns. The wife's body belongs to her husband, and his body belongs to his wife.

1 Corinthians 7:8-11 ~ Advice to the Unmarried and Widows

Paul reaffirms Jesus' teaching on divorce and the sanctity of marriage in Matthew 19:1-9 and Mark 10:9-12. In Paul's statement: it is better to marry than to be on fire or in some translations "it is better to marry than to burn" (with desire). However, Paul might also be referring to the danger of a person who is not called to the celibate life becoming enmeshed in sexual sins that could cost him his eternal salvation and condemn him to the "fires" of Hell.

In that same passage as Jesus' teaching on marriage in Matthew 19, when He upheld the sanctity of marriage and opposed divorce except in cases of moral unfitness, Jesus also refers to those called to the celibate life for the "sake of the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt 19:12). Jesus was not issuing a command but an invitation, and it was an invitation Paul embraced and recommended.

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 ~ Paul's Advice on the Question of Divorce

"To the rest" refers to marriages in which only one person in the marriage converted and is a baptized Christian but their spouse remains a non-believer.
Question: What is Paul's opinion of a Christian divorcing a spouse who is a non-believer?
Answer: If the non-believer is willing to stay in the marriage, they should remain married in the hope that the good example of the Christian will bring the spouse to conversion and salvation. However, if the non-believer abandons the marriage, the Christian is not bound to the marriage.

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 ~ Continuing in the Physical State as Before Conversion 17

Paul's advice in this part of his letter is divided into advice concerning circumcision, the sacramental sign of the old Abrahamic and Sinai Covenants (Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3), and the condition of slaves.

In his instruction concerning circumcision, Paul upholds the teaching of the Church at the Council of Jerusalem, the "proto Ecumenical Council of the Church" in 49/50 AD (Acts 15:1-29). Some Jewish members of the Jerusalem church were telling Gentile Christians they were not saved if they were not circumcised (Acts 15:1).

Circumcision was not a requirement for entrance into the New Covenant with Christ. Gentile candidates for baptism were only required to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols, from drinking blood, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.

1 Corinthians 7:25-38 ~ Paul's Advice to Virgins and His Approval of the Celibate Life

The key to understanding Paul's personal advice (verse 25) is what he writes in verses 25 and 29: because of the present distress ... I tell you, brothers, the time is running out and verse 31: For the world in its present form is passing away. It appears that Christian persecution is increasing and that Paul, like many early Christians, believes it is a sign that Christ's return is imminent and will occur within his lifetime. He believes that Christians should divest themselves of all earthly concerns to prepare for Christ's Second Advent. 

A few years earlier, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote about the Second Advent of Christ: Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words (1 Thes 4:15-18). He wrote to the Thessalonians about the hope for the Parousia ("coming") of the Lord (1 Thes 4:13-18) and also on the need for preparedness (1 Thes 5:1-3). 

Writing in the spring of 57 AD, St. Paul tells the Corinthians (7:25) that he has no direction from the Lord in these matters but is giving his own opinion. It was his opinion, in the current time of intense persecution of Christians and an uncertain future, that it is best for Christians to remain as they are: the married to stay married and the celibate to remain celibate (7:26-28).

Paul also expresses the opinion in our passage, if one is called to devote his or her life to the Lord, that it is a commitment that is better achieved in a state of celibacy so as not to have a heart that is divided between the Lord and family obligations.

1 Corinthians 7:39-40 ~ Paul's Advice to Widows

While Paul has not condemned marriage to non-Christians and writes that "a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives," he prefers that she remarries another Christian who is also "in the Lord." However, in his opinion, he thinks it is better for her to remain a widow.

and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Paul knows that his opinions are controversial, but this line suggests he believes his opinion is valid advice because he speaks with the authority of the Spirit of God.

Paul will make an adjustment in his opinion about widows remaining celibate in his first letter to Saint Timothy. Writing about a decade later (between 63-67), and perhaps realizing that Christ's return in not imminent, Paul decides it is better for young widows to remarry. He writes it is better for their support and protection, and marriage will give them a satisfying commitment in life. To discourage remarriage, he writes, could drive a young widow away from the church: So I would like younger widows to marry, have children, and manage a home, so as to give the adversary no pretext for maligning us. For some have already turned away to follow Satan. If any woman believer has widowed relatives, she must assist them; the church is not to be burdened, so that it will be able to help those who are truly widows (1 Tim 5:14-16). 

Chapters 8:1-10:13 ~ To Eat or Not to Eat Meat Sacrificed to Idols

In Part II, Section 2 of his letter, Paul answers questions concerning eating sacrifices offered to idols (8:1-10:13):

1. Concerning meat sacrificed to idols (8:1-6).
2. Practical rules concerning the practice (8:7-13).
3. Being aware of your Christian witness in the practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols (9:1-10:13). 

In Part II, Section 3, Paul gives warnings about idol worship (10:14-11:1).

1. Avoiding idolatry (10:14-22).
2. The lawful versus the beneficial (10:23-11:1).

1 Corinthians 8:1-6 ~ Concerning Meat Sacrificed to Idols

In continuing to answer the questions he received from the Corinthian Christians, St. Paul addresses the question of Christians eating meat sacrificed to idols. It was likely that there were several different attitudes among the Corinthians concerning this issue:

1. Jewish-Christians probably regarded the meat as unclean and pagan.
2. Gentile converts might think back to their former union with pagan gods.
3. Other Christians probably reasoned that since false gods are truly false, what could be wrong with the meat?

In the pagan temples, worshipers brought food items including different kinds of animals, grains/bread, and wine that they offered to the Greek and Roman gods. It was the practice to divide some of the meat from the sacrifices between the pagan priests and the offerer who then ate the meat in a banquet in communion with the pagan god. What remained, especially the meat on festival days where there were many sacrifices, was usually offered for sale in the Corinthian markets with the proceeds added to the treasuries of the various temples. 

Paul gives a warning concerning "knowledge" and being overly prideful in what we think we know. Our first parents thought it was beneficial to have the kind of "knowledge" Satan was offering them (Gen 3:4-5), but that knowledge was not beneficial and only led to their expulsion from the Garden Sanctuary that was Eden (Gen 3:22-23).

3 But if one loves God, one is known by him. 
There are two common themes in all Paul's letters: Glorify God, and love one another. Obviously, God knows everything, but the knowledge Paul refers is the knowledge of a loving intimacy that comes from a relationship with God. Notice that Paul does not say if one loves God that one knows God. Instead, he says if one loves God then God knows that person. When one loves God, God "knows" that person in the context of the intimacy of a covenant relationship. It is Jesus Christ who revealed God to us who "knows" us in the New Covenant in His Blood.

1 Corinthians 8:7-13 ~ Practical Rules Concerning Meat Sacrificed to Idols

The Corinthian Christians were probably asking Paul, "Could one eat food sacrificed to idols without compromising with idolatry?"
Paul wrote that the Christian is free to eat meat sacrificed to idols with a clear conscience since an idol is a meaningless object. However, love requires a Christian to respect the feelings of Jewish-Christians who have scruples regarding the practice or Gentile-Christians who might be susceptible to vestiges of pagan superstitions.

Paul's point is that food is morally neutral and does not change our standing with God. Christians have the knowledge that false gods have no power and the food sacrificed to them is without any value other than for food. However, the question is, as stated in 6:12, not everything that is permitted or "lawful" is beneficial.

Question: When a Christian dines with someone who has the same understanding, eating meat that is from an animal sacrificed in a pagan temple is not a problem. However, when might that practice become a problem?
Answer: For a recent convert who is still attached to their former pagan lifestyle or a recent Jewish convert, it could scandalize the Jew and cause the former pagan to feel uncomfortably drawn to former pagan practices and beliefs. 

Answer: Paul goes so far as to say that willingly causing discomfort or loss of faith to a brother or sister Christian is not only a sin against that fellow Christian but is a sin against Christ. He makes a vow to never do anything, even if it is lawful, that might compromise the faith of a fellow Christian.

Jesus made a similar statement referring to immature Christians as "little ones" when He said, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Mt 18:6; also Mk 9:42).