“No Other Gospel” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the epistle of Galatians. St. Paul writes an urgent letter to the Galatians lest they forsake the one true Gospel. The apostle calls the Galatians away from the teaching of the Judaizers, because salvation does not come when we add any sort of works to what Jesus has done for us. We are only saved by God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context...
Feb 05, 2024•3 min
St. Paul continues to speak about his planned upcoming visit to Corinth. As he had warned those who sinned before, he is prepared to deal with their sin in person, if needed, according to the power of the Word of Christ crucified and risen. In preparation for his visit, he calls the Corinthians to test themselves to see whether or not they hold to the true faith that he had taught them. In his writing, working, and praying, St. Paul is only aiming for their restoration, so that the authority God...
Feb 02, 2024•56 min
St. Paul continues his boasting. He speaks about a revelation that he received from Christ when he was caught up into heaven. However, he relates the account from a distance, remaining vague in details, in order to continue to boast not in his strength, but in his weakness. That weakness was evident in a messenger from Satan, a thorn in his flesh, that God gave and refused to take away. This showed St. Paul that God’s grace is sufficient for all things. That is what the apostle intends to commun...
Feb 01, 2024•57 min
Even if St. Paul seems a little foolish to the Corinthians, he begins to boast a little, but in unexpected ways. While the false apostles have been strong to enslave the Corinthians in false teaching, St. Paul was far too weak for that. He is Hebrew, and Israelite, and an offspring of Abraham. He is a better servant of Christ for all of the suffering that he has endured for the Lord’s sake, from the time of his call to his present ministry. In all of his boasting, St. Paul focuses on his weaknes...
Jan 31, 2024•57 min
St. Paul calls upon the Corinthians to bear with him in a little foolishness, both the foolishness of the Gospel and the foolishness of speaking about himself a bit more than he would like. The Corinthians have been bearing with the false teaching of so-called “super apostles,” but they should instead bear with the true teaching of God from the authentic apostle of Christ in any of his weaknesses. In this way, the Corinthians will not be led astray by the deceit of the devil through false teache...
Jan 30, 2024•56 min
As St. Paul looks forward to a visit to the Corinthians, he entreats them to respond to his teaching so that his visit can be joyful rather than painful. Although some accuse the apostle of being forceful in his writing but weak in his presence, St. Paul admits no such thing. Rather, he takes all things captive under the Gospel of Christ and lives and acts under His authority. St. Paul refuses to boast beyond limits, but only in what the Lord has done and given. Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt, Assistant...
Jan 29, 2024•56 min
St. Paul uses an agricultural image to encourage the Corinthians toward generosity. Because God makes grace and sufficiency abound for His people, the Corinthians can participate in the offering for the saints cheerfully. This will enrich the Corinthians and those receiving the offerings, leading to thanksgiving and glory to God throughout the Church. The prayers of God’s people will overflow out of the grace of God, to whom all thanks is due for His inexpressible gift! Rev. Luke Zimmerman, past...
Jan 26, 2024•55 min
St. Paul commends Titus to the Corinthians as one who earnestly participates in the ministry to the Corinthians. Along with two other faithful brothers, Titus is coming to assist with the offering being received from the Corinthians so that it will be done honorably before God and men. St. Paul knows the Corinthians’ readiness to participate in this service, and their zeal has been an encouragement to other congregations. Now St. Paul urges the Corinthians to bring their gift to a completion, no...
Jan 25, 2024•55 min
As those reconciled to God and to each other, Christians support each other in their physical needs. St. Paul returns to this topic from his first letter to the Corinthians as he speaks about their participation in the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. Out of their joy and poverty, the saints in Macedonia have given generously according to their means. Now St. Paul calls the Corinthians to similar participation in this act of grace, which flows from the grace that Jesus has shown by becoming...
Jan 24, 2024•55 min
As St. Paul continues to assure the Corinthians of his great love and joy for them, he calls them to the same love and joy for him. His ministry among them was one of hard work and suffering, sustained by God’s own comfort. Yet even as St. Paul’s previous letter had caused grief among the Corinthians, he rejoices that it was a godly sorrow that led to repentance and salvation. This has led to comfort for both the apostle and the Corinthians, especially due to the report received at the coming of...
Jan 23, 2024•57 min
Because now is the day not to receive God’s grace in vain, now is also the day to flee from sin and defilement. Righteousness and lawlessness have no partnership. Light and darkness have no fellowship. Christ has no accord with the devil. Believers and unbelievers have a different inheritance. Christians are the temple of the living God, not of idols. For that reason, as Christians receive the grace of God in faith, at the same time we flee from sin and all defilement, seeking to live in the hol...
Jan 22, 2024•56 min
As a minister of reconciliation, St. Paul implores the Corinthians to receive God’s grace with faith right now. He has not placed obstacles in their way in his ministry to them. Instead, he has been willing to suffer in order to proclaim the truth among them. Throughout it all, the Lord has faithfully sustained him. Now, as he has opened his heart to the Corinthians, so he calls them to open their hearts to him in return. Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella...
Jan 19, 2024•55 min
St. Paul’s ministry among the Corinthians has been compelled by Christ’s love. He has died for all so that those who live would now live not for themselves but for Christ. We regard Christ and others, no longer according to the flesh, but in the light of the new creation Christ has brought. This is God’s work of reconciliation which comes now in the ministry of preaching, by which God makes His appeal to sinners. That reconciliation happens in the great exhcange that God works in Jesus. God made...
Jan 18, 2024•55 min
St. Paul calls the Corinthians to a life of good courage. Although this earthly body is a tent that does not last forever, the Lord Jesus will raise us with an immortal body. Meanwhile, we groan in this earthly tent, longing for the clothing of our eternal dwelling place. God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is the down payment so that we know God will deliver the fullness of His promise. This enables us to live by faith, not by sight, knowing that we will one day appear before Christ’s judgment seat. ...
Jan 17, 2024•55 min
As the ministers of the Gospel, St. Paul and his coworkers are only jars of clay; the treasure is the Gospel that God has given them to proclaim. Through this Gospel, the entire Church is sustained even in the midst of affliction and persecution. As the death of Jesus is made manifest among them, so is the life of Jesus made manifest as well. As death attacks the ministers of the Gospel, life is at work in the Church. Such confidence to believe and to speak comes from the fact that Jesus has bee...
Jan 16, 2024•55 min
Because St. Paul has been called into the apostolic ministry by God’s mercy, he does not lose heart, nor does he stoop to underhanded methods. Rather, his ministry is done openly in the truth of God’s Word. Only to those who are perishing is this Gospel veiled, for their minds are blinded by the works of the evil one. St. Paul and his coworkers, in contrast, proclaim the light of Christ, who is the image of God. As God once spoke light into being at the beginning, so now He has shone the light o...
Jan 15, 2024•55 min
St. Paul compares and contrasts the ministry of the old covenant with the ministry of the new covenant. The ministry of the old covenant had a great glory, but it could not lead to life and ultimately came to an end. For that reason, the ministry of the new covenant has an even greater glory, for it does lead to life and is permanent. In this hope, God’s people are bold through Christ Jesus. Only through Him is the veil that lay over Moses' words to be removed. This is the work of the Holy Spiri...
Jan 12, 2024•55 min
St. Paul tells the Corinthians that he and his coworkers do not need letters of recommendation, as his opponents seem to desire. Rather, the Corinthians themselves are the letter of recommendation to be known and read by all. They have received the Gospel preached by the apostles in faith, and so they are a letter from Christ to the world. Because they know that their sufficiency comes from God and not from themselves, St. Paul and his coworkers have confidence and boldness in the ministry given...
Jan 11, 2024•56 min
St. Paul speaks about a previous letter he had written to the Corinthians. Although there had been pain and anguish of heart, he had only written out of love for these Christians. Now that the one who had been caught up in sin had been brought to repentant sorrow, the church needed to turn and comfort this man with Christ’s forgiveness, lest Satan outwit God’s people. St. Paul gives thanks to God that He leads His Church in triumphal procession, spreading the aroma of Christ in the world. Althou...
Jan 10, 2024•56 min
Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Corinthians 1:8-2:2. St. Paul informs the Corinthians of the afflictions he had experienced in Asia, which had caused him to despair of life. Yet this death sentence brought about the fruit of reliance on God, who delivered St. Paul and his coworkers. For this reason, the apostle implores the Corinthians to help by their prayers. St. Paul’s travel plans had changed because of these affl...
Jan 09, 2024•57 min
Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Corinthians 1:1-7. St. Paul begins this letter to the Corinthians by identifying himself as a true apostle of Jesus Christ who has been sent by God’s will. He writes again to Corinth with that authority to continue to proclaim the truth of Christ crucified and risen. Through this preaching, God brings His comfort to His people in the midst of affliction. As His people share in Christ’s su...
Jan 08, 2024•56 min
“A Letter of Comfort” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the epistle of 2 Corinthians. St. Paul writes again to the Christians in Corinth to bring them the ongoing comfort of the Gospel in the midst of the attacks of false doctrine from so-called “super apostles.” He seeks to give confidence to the Corinthians—and to us—that the good news of Christ crucified and risen proclaimed by His called ministers will accomplish all that He intends. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, lo...
Jan 08, 2024•3 min
Rev. John Bussman, pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Cullman, AL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 16:13-24. As St. Paul draws his epistle to a close, he repeats and wraps up themes from the letter. The Corinthians must remain watchful against divisions and false doctrine, even as they watch for the Lord to return. St. Paul calls upon them to stand firm in the faith that he has proclaimed among them, remaining strong by living in love toward each other. That includes th...
Dec 22, 2023•55 min
Rev. Tim Eden, pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church in Bryan, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 16:1-12. St. Paul gives the Corinthians a concrete way to be steadfast and abounding in the work of the Lord as he describes how they can participate in the offering to support the saints in Jerusalem. According to the means God has given, whether rich or poor, each member of the congregation can set aside a gift to build up the body of Christ. As St. Paul discusses the way this gif...
Dec 21, 2023•57 min
Rev. Andrew Belt, pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Marshfield, WI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. Addressing a potential objection, St. Paul teaches the Corinthians about the resurrection body. Using images from agriculture and creation, he says that the resurrection body is given by God as a different kind of body with a different glory than this perishable body. The resurrection body will be raised imperishable and glorious, animated fully by the Holy Spirit....
Dec 20, 2023•56 min
Rev. Martin Dressler, pastor at Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 15:12-34. Having laid out the Gospel for the Corinthians, St. Paul turns to address their denial of the central part of that Gospel: the resurrection of the dead. He briefly imagines a false, scary scenario. If there is no resurrection, that would mean Jesus is still dead, we would have absolutely no hope, and Christianity would be absolutely worthless. But St. Paul quick...
Dec 19, 2023•57 min
Rev. Caleb Adams, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bend, OR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. St. Paul takes the Corinthians back to the basics. He reminds them of the Gospel in which they stand and by which they are being saved. The same message that St. Paul received he had preached in Corinth: Christ died, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to many witnesses, including St. Paul himself. Although he was the least of all, by the grace of God, ...
Dec 18, 2023•56 min
Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee's Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. St. Paul continues to instruct the Corinthians concerning matters of public worship. When considering how speaking in tongues and prophecy fit into public worship, Christians ought to consider what best builds up the body of Christ into peace and order, rather than confusion. For this same reason, women should not be ordained into the pastoral ministry, so...
Dec 15, 2023•57 min
Rev. Richard Mittwede, pastor at University Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. St. Paul shows the Corinthians the way that excels above all others, the way of love. If the gifts of the Holy Spirit are used without love, they are nothing. Instead, Christians pursue love for each other because God has loved us first. This love given to Christians is more than a feeling; it is an action for the other person's good. Although other gifts from ...
Dec 13, 2023•55 min
Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. St. Paul teaches concerning the reality that the Holy Spirit works for the Church. Through the one Baptism, though we are many members, we are joined together into the one Church, the body of Christ. Because this is the reality of the Church, individual members should not despair within themselves, thinking they have no place within the body. Nor should members compete again...
Dec 12, 2023•55 min
