1 Corinthians 11:1-2

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Opening Words (1 Corinthians 11:1-2)

11 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 2I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.

1 Corinthians 11:1-2 Commendation: Clearly, the first verse of the eleventh chapter should be the closing verse of the tenth chapter. It belongs to that context. Paul changes the subject to disorder in worship in 1 Corinthians 11:2. He commends the Corinthians for remembering to consult him about their problems, and for maintaining the apostolic teachings (traditions) he had taught them. Paul is using the word traditions to mean Holy-Spirit-inspired-doctrinesnot human traditions. He distinguished clearly between the two. In Galatians 1:14 and Colossians 2:8 he speaks of human traditions. In 1 Corinthians 11:2 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, he refers to apostolic traditions which were delivered and taught by the apostles and received by the Christians as the word of God (see 1 Thessalonians 2:13). This is precisely why Paul could address this church, with all its faults and difficulties, as brethren, and saints. They may seem grossly immature, but they knew where to turn for the truth! The only source for solution for the problems that plague the saints is the apostolic word (traditions).