The Day of Our Lord Jesus Christ

 

The Day of Our Lord Jesus Christ

 

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 "The Lord (hos) will keep you steadfast to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord (kyriou) Jesus Christ. And God, who called you to fellowship (koinonia) with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful (pistós)."

Although *hos* (ὃς) corresponds to the relative pronoun *who*, it is semantically God (*LORD*). Curios translated it as "Lord" in English translations, whereas the Revised Korean Version translates it as "Joo," which is mostly understood to mean "master." However, semantically, it refers to Jehovah. In English translations, it seems that the distinction between *LORD* and *Lord* was intended to represent the relationship between a father and a son.

The Day of Jesus Christ refers to the day when Christ appears through revelation. Revelation carries the meaning of "unveiling." On that day, hidden secrets are brought to light. The revelation of these secrets signifies the presence of the Logos in the hearts of the saints who are in Christ. It is the saints who are born again of water and the Spirit, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and enter into Christ who receive Christ's revelation. The purpose of receiving Christ's revelation is for the ministry of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

The Day of Christ is the day when the Kingdom of God is established in the hearts of the saints. The saints continue to expand the Kingdom of God in this way. The reason the Kingdom of God must be expanded in this manner is that it is God's will, and that we must break free from the dominion of Satan, establish the Kingdom of God, and lead all sinners to God. This is what happens in Jesus Christ.

Koinonia (κοινωνίαν) signifies conversing for the work of the Kingdom of God. Pistos (πιστὸς) means "faithful." The faithful (trustworthy) God calls the saints so that they may meet and fellowship with the Ho Logos, who dwells within their hearts. God calls the saints to communicate in order to manifest His will. In certain situations, the Ho Logos enables the saints to speak the Gospel, help them, and manifest miraculous power.

Matthew 23:13-15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven against people; you yourself do not enter, nor allow those who would enter to do so. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when you have made him, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

It is pointed out that Jewish leaders steeped in legalism are actually hindering the people from entering the Kingdom of God. Looking at another Bible passage (Stephanus) marked as (none), it reads, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour the houses of widows and make long prayers for show; therefore you will receive greater condemnation."

Outwardly, a widow is one who lives alone without a husband, but spiritually, she signifies all those who have turned away from God and live as sojourners in this world. They should be living by looking to God, but the Jewish leaders are preventing them from going to Him. He points out that the reason for this is legalism, and based on it, they extort money from widows and distort the path to the Kingdom of God, leading them down the path of destruction.

Historically, there have been many instances where entering the Kingdom of God is associated with believers offering wealth. Believers are misled by claims that one must offer a great deal of wealth to God in order to store up treasures in the Kingdom of God.

Legalism is binding people to the written word of the law, to man-made traditions and doctrines, to establish rules and make them follow them, or to create rituals and make observing them equate to worshipping God. All of these things stem from an intention to bind believers within a specific framework. If one examines this framework, one can see that it is mostly associated with material wealth.

However, the Gospel is not bound by any letters, forms, or rituals, but requires only faith through Jesus Christ. The Gospel is solely the belief that believers died with Jesus Christ on the cross and resurrected with Him. Based on this faith, the hearts of believers are woven together as one, which constitutes a community of believers and a church community.

1 Corinthians 1:10 "Brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (tou onomatos tou kyriou) that you all speak the same words and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and purpose."

"Tou onomatos tou kuriou" (τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ κυρίου) means Ho Logos. It means that Paul exhorts within the word of Ho Logos. When believers pray to God, we can see them speaking their own thoughts and wills, yet praying in the name of Jesus Christ as if it were the word of Ho Logos. Praying in the name of Jesus Christ is equivalent to praying within the word of Ho Logos. Speaking the same words means speaking only words related to the ministry of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

The focus of the gospel ministry should not be on the number of church members or the number of church buildings constructed, but on how many believers have increased to commune with the Logos. To this end, while carrying out the gospel ministry, there will undoubtedly be hardships and difficulties such as tribulations, but the instruction is to pray that we may avoid them.

Factions emerged within the church community of the Corinthian church. In 1 Corinthians 1:12, it states, "My brothers, I have heard from the household of Chloe about you, that there are divisions among you. I say this because each of you says, 'I belong to Paul,' 'I belong to Apollos,' 'I belong to Cephas,' or 'I belong to Christ.'"

Paul is speaking about the conflict in the Corinthian church, which arises because the saints fail to hear the voice of the Logos in their hearts and act according to their own thoughts. As those who are in Christ, all believers should receive the Logos and fellowship with Him; however, they are forming factions against those who believe and follow. What causes these factions to form? It is precisely legalism, doctrine, tradition, and those who make people follow formalities who cause it.