1
Corinthians: Introduction
Paul’s discussion
on conscience in I Corinthians is found within a larger
section dealing with the issue of meat sacrificed to
idols. In I Cor. 8-10 he shows the matter is not simply
one of a "right" thing versus a "wrong" thing,
and therefore it naturally follows that it is not a matter
of one party in the church versus another party—the
libertines versus the legalists. Rather it is a matter
of conscience and love, and in this both parties
need instruction.
§1.
Hebrews 9:7-14 ( extract)
All commentators acknowledge
that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews is concerned
to set forth the superiority of Christ. He is superior
to all the prophets (1:1-3), to angels (1:4-2:18), to
Moses (3:1-4:13), to Aaron (4:14-10:18) and is superior
as the new and living way (10:19-12:29). But this superiority
is not set forth as an end in itself. Christ is portrayed
as superior to all these because these things attached
to the Old Covenant, and Christ has appeared as the Mediator
of the New Covenant. The relationship is one of shadow
to substance. He is the goal of all that has gone before,
and is thus by nature superior to it.
The pericope at hand
is part of the writer’s developing argument apropos
Christ’s superior priesthood. He has already shown
that, while Christ is indeed qualified to be a high priest
(5:5-10 cf. 5:1-4), He is a priest after the order of
Melchizedek, and that this order of priesthood is superior
to the Aaronic order (7:1-28). That the Aaronic order
was linked with the Old Covenant is beyond doubt, but
the promise of a New Covenant (as seen in chapter 8)
means that the Old, with its cultus, is becoming obsolete
(8:13). That old cultus is then summarized in (9:1-7),
and the significance of this is expounded in (9:8-10).
The new Priesthood of Christ, which the New Covenant
must require, is then set out in the remainder of the
chapter (9:11-28). The all sufficiency of Christ’s
sacrifice as Priest is then underlined and further expounded
in Heb. 10. What is of immediate importance to us is
that the first reference to conscience appears
in the midst of this argument. The Old is insufficient
because it is insufficient to deal finally with the worshipper’s
conscience. It is only in the New, and particularly in
Christ that the issue of conscience is resolved. |
13pp,
A4