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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Corinthians 11:1 - 11:2
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Conduct in Public Worship.
A preliminary admonition:
v. 1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
v. 2. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you.
The opening verse really belongs to the previous chapter, since it refers to the example given by Paul in making use of the proper Christian tact under all circumstances. Through his own pattern he points his readers to that of his Master and theirs: Imitators of me become, even as I of Christ. He wants them to follow the example which he has set before them by his conduct, in which he renounced all selfish interests for the sake of gaining souls for Christ. But incidentally he does not want them to become attached to his person, but they should recognize in his conduct the influence of the exalted Christ; they should imitate him in so far as he set forth the image of Christ before them. This would involve time and constant application, since a Christian is ever in the making, but their model was such as to incite them to emulation, to stimulate their Christian ambition at all times. And in order to inspire them to their most persistent efforts, the apostle does not hesitate to give the Corinthian Christians all credit for their attitude in certain matters: But I praise you that you remember all things which were given by me, that you have been keeping the remembrance of me in all things, and that you have been observing the instructions just as I have delivered them to you. The Corinthians, though in general far behind the apostle in self-denial, were nevertheless in general mindful of the divine ordinances which he had delivered to them. These instructions, 2Th_2:15; 2Th_3:6, which were transmitted both orally and by letter, concerned doctrine and life, and included also customs of worship and ceremonies. Although the latter are by no means equivalent to the former, they nevertheless serve for the edification of the Church, and their adoption may be advisable even at this time. Mark: The Pope has no hold in this passage for his insistence upon the value of oral tradition, for the word is used in the Bible only for the immediate instructions of inspired men and never for a conglomeration of tenets concerning which the Pope claims the right of sole arbiter.