Author Archives: Steve Hankins, Th.D.

“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” (1Continue reading “Arrogant Tolerance (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)”

“But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:19–20, AV) I used to have an expression in the pastoral ministry. “If talk couldContinue reading “Talk or Power (1 Cor 4:18-21)”

“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14–16, ESV)Continue reading “Spiritual Fathers (1 Cor 4:14-18)”

“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” (1 Corinthians 4:9, AV) When we lived in Savannah Georgia, my wife saw an advertisement in the local newspaper. A motion filmContinue reading “Theater of the Servant (1 Corinthians 4:8-13)”

“And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? andContinue reading “Avoiding the Trap (1 Cor 4:6-7)”

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5, AV) When I was in junior-high-school, I had a job as a paperboy.Continue reading “Commendations (1 Cor 4:3-5)”

“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:1–2, AV) When I was in college, I worked for six months of the year at the United States Steel CorporationContinue reading “Faithful Stewards (1 Cor 4:1-5)”

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. . . For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled inContinue reading “Freedom (Galatians 5:1, 13-14)”

“For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21–23, AV) I heard this illustration used at a conference several years ago. The speaker had usContinue reading “Who You Are (1 Cor 3:21b-23)”

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth theContinue reading “Wisdom of the Age (1 Corinthians 3:18-21a)”