Useful Bible Studies > 1 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 16
Paul was simply making practical arrangements here. However, the verse interests us because it contains several important facts about the first Christians.
Firstly, the verse tells us that Christians have always considered Sunday to be a special day. Here, Paul describes it as the ‘first day in the week’. In Revelation 1:10, John calls it ‘the Lord’s day’, that is, Christ’s day. It was the day when Christ became alive again (Luke 24:1). The Christians soon selected Sunday as a convenient day for their meetings.
So on Sunday, at the beginning of each week, Paul told the Christians to prepare their gifts. They should separate the gifts from their other money. Those gifts were holy; they belonged to God.
Paul wanted every Christian to give. However, it was not necessary for them all to give the same gift. A few Christians in Corinth were very wealthy. Many of them were poor; some were slaves. There should be a relationship between the person’s wealth and the amount that he gave. A wealthy Christian should give a larger gift.
Paul did not want to ask for people to give money when he arrived in Corinth. He recognised that he would have much more important tasks to carry out in Corinth. He had to teach them from the Bible. He had to give them some more instructions about their meetings (11:34). Probably the local leaders of the church would need his advice and help.
So, Paul urged the Christians in Corinth to prepare their gifts now. They should not wait for an appeal before they made their gifts. Instead, they should be ready now.
Next part: Arrangements for a gift (1 Corinthians 16:3-4)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.