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II Corinthians 1:24
One Mediator

by David A. DePra

Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow
workers for your joy. For by faith you stand.
 
     I and II Corinthians are certainly the most corrective letters in
the NT. Yet throughout, despite his apostolic authority, and
despite the fact that every word Paul wrote was the Truth, he
continually assures the Corinthians that he has no authority over
their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He wants them to
understand that they have a personal, one-on-one relationship
with God. No man has the right to touch that.
     Note the language and tone of the above passage. Paul was
repeating what he wrote to the Romans: "Do you have faith?
Have it to yourself before God." He likewise wrote to the
Corinthians in his first letter, "Follow me as I follow Christ." No
where do you ever find Paul portraying himself as one who has
the right to direct the personal lives of others. Instead, he
continually tells his readers how to get into personal business
with Jesus Christ.
     Paul summarizes this Truth in his first letter to Timothy. He
writes, "There is one Mediator between God and man, that man,
Jesus Christ." (I Tim. 2:5) The Truth he is getting at is this: No
one, not even the greatest saint who ever lived, can govern a
believer's relationship with God. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the
one Mediator through Whom we must go to get to God.
     This may not seem like an important issue for many
Christians, but it is a bigger problem than many of us suspect.
For instance, have you ever felt that unless you "plugged into"
a church or group spiritually, that you weren't really "plugged
into" God? Have you ever felt that if you weren't "submitted" to
a certain leader or teacher, that you weren't right with God?
     This is taught by many churches today, and down thru history
has been one of the most oft-repeated errors among believers.
This error could be called, "The Substitute Mediator Heresy."
     Anytime we substitute something for Jesus Christ as our Way to
God, we are practicing this error. Anytime we abdicate our
personal responsibility for faith before the Lord, and rely upon
someone else or some other thing as our mediator, we are in
spiritual trouble. Cults thrive on this error. All of them will tell
you that your access to God is dependent upon whether you are
in the cult, not upon whether your faith is in Jesus Christ.
     Insisting that I have the freedom to exercise personal faith in
Jesus Christ, and to do it continually in the practical details of my
life, is not "rebellion." It is not the product of an "independent
spirit," as some accuse. Such freedom is the foundation of
Christianity itself: The one-on-one personal relationship. There
is no Body of Christ unless the members are 1st INDIVIDUALLY
in Christ. There is no right relationship with my brother unless I
am FIRST rightly related to God through Jesus Christ in my
personal faith. When I personally and individually yield to God,
the rest of my relationships will find order.
     Paul wanted, with all of his heart, to straighten out the
Corinthians. But in the final analysis, he knew he was just a
spiritual guide; a bondslave. As such, he did what a
bondslave for Jesus Christ does: He told them the Truth about
God, and then did everything he could to guide them away
from himself, and unto their real Master.

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