Pleasing God or Man 1 Cor. 10 33 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Pleasing God or Man
I Corinthians 10:33 ; Galatians 1:10

In this lesson we are going to compare what Paul says in 1 Corinthians with what he says in Galatians. On the surface it may appear as a contradiction but when we examine the scripture we will see that it is not.

In 1 Corinthians 10:33 Paul says that he pleased all men that some might be saved. In Galatians 1:10 Paul says that if he pleased men he would not be the servant of Christ. So is he contradicting himself? Of course not so let us look to the scriptures and see what is going on.

1 Corinthians 10:33 is explained in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22. Paul is not saying that he made men happy or pleased them by doing whatever they were doing so that they would get saved. But he is saying he did everything he could within the limits of scripture so that some would be saved.

Galatians 1:10 is explained in Matthew 22:16. Jesus preached what was the truth no matter whether men liked it or not. Note the context of Galatians 1:10-24. Paul was not preaching to gain favor of others or to please man. The fear of man brings a snare (Proverbs 29:25)

We must remember that our number one purpose above all things is to please God because that is why we were created (Revelation 4:11). If we are going to please God then we should note two things, what doesn’t please him and what does please him.

Some things that do not please God (1 Corinthians 10:1-10)

1) Lust after evil things (verse 6)
2) Idolatry (verse 7)
3) Fornication (verse 8)
4) Tempting Jesus (verse 9)
5) Murmuring (verse 10)

Some things that please God

1) Escape bad women (Ecclesiastes 7:26)
2) Don’t be in the flesh (Romans 8:8)
3) Avoid fornication and know how to possess your vessel (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7)
4) Have faith (Hebrews 11:6)
5) Do good and forget not to communicate (Hebrews 13:16)

Remember that the fear of man will get you into a snare but when our ways please the Lord, God makes even our enemies to be a peace with us (Proverbs 16:7)