Okay. Welcome everyone. Let's just open with a word of prayer with someone we willing to pray for us before we begin. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time my master that you have given us to learn your word. Lord we pray that you will inspire us to learn whatever you have for us master. Lord I surrender all the students who are joined online and who are presently attending this course master that you will give us your wisdom and understanding to know what you are teaching as my master. And I also pray for our teacher who is teaching us and imparting towards what you have. Thank you Lord in the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Thank you. So we'll just continue from where we stopped last week. We stopped in the book of Romans. We'll continue from Romans 6. So we were just covering the outline here. So, like we talked about Romans focuses a lot on the salvation through Jesus Christ. So one of the soteriological epistles. So from chapter 6 onwards he's talking about sanctification in Christ. And he first in chapter 6 talks about being dead to sin but alive in Christ so we cannot continue to sin. We are slaves to righteousness not slaves to sin. So even though God's grace is available to us this doesn't give us an excuse saying that we can sin and we will be forgiven. Because we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit we no longer can continue to walk in sin. Chapter 7 talks about this battle between us being spiritually renewed in our inner person and the battle between our sinful nature and how that is a constant struggle. But our hope is presented in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit which is what he moves on to in chapter 8. And then at the end of chapter 8 he talks about how we can continue in our present sufferings in hope of that future glory. So chapter 8 verses 1 to 17 is encouraging us as believers not to live according to the flesh but to live according to the Spirit. And the Spirit will empower us to walk in holiness. So the end of chapter 8 talks about the intercession of the Holy Spirit for us in order to accomplish all that God desires for us and God's desire for us is always good. With that he goes on to chapter 9 when he's talking about Israel's rejection. Now if you remember last week we talked about the fact that the church had become a primarily gentile church because the Jews had been made to leave Rome by Claudius. But now with the return of Jews starting to return there was that tension between the Jews who were coming back and the Gentiles who had been in the church and a clash of cultures and practices that they had within the church. And so again Paul is talking about how in verses 9 to 10 he's talking about how Israel has been rejected but only for a limited time. So he's saying that their rejection is serving for the salvation of the Gentiles is because they have rejected Jesus as their savior that now the Gentiles have this opportunity to receive this hope that was theirs for so many years. That was available to the Jews right from the Old Testament something that was being talked about. So I just quoted one verse here from chapter 10 verse 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. So we see in this one verse that Jesus fulfills the Jewish law but that righteousness is offered to all who believe so that is the Jew and Gentile like anyone who believes can receive this righteousness that comes through Christ. With that he goes into how should that righteousness be practically applied in the lives of the church. So he begins chapter 12 talking about our lives being a spiritual sacrifice as a response to the mercy that we have received. So he's telling the Gentiles don't think that you are better than the Jews because you have been saved and you have received the salvation because the Jews have for so long been trying to earn their salvation by works and this is why they have not received Jesus. This is why they have been rejected by God because they're trying to earn their righteousness by works.  And so he starts chapter 12 saying in view of God's mercy so recognize that this is God's mercy that has saved you and our response to God's mercy is to live a life of spiritual sacrifice. And what does that look like? What does that life of spiritual sacrifice look like? He talks about unity within the church and within the community so our larger community, how we should relate to the church and to the larger community, how we should submit to the government in chapter 13. The kinds of relationships we should have with people also in chapter 13, then in chapters 14 and 15 he's talking about in matters of opinion. So here he's talking about disputes. This is the differences that are coming up between the Jews and the Gentiles. They have differences in what day is important, what should you eat, what should you not eat and all of those things were becoming issues that were kind of causing disruption in their relationships. So he's saying in all of these things you follow what seems right to you, don't judge someone else's faith. I just put one verse here 15 verse 7, accept one another then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring place to God. So that's a summary of what he's saying in these chapters telling Jews and Gentiles alike to accept one another and not to be caught up in these disputes over things that are not important over all of these ritualistic practices. From here he closes with the last two chapters. So in chapter 15 he writes about his plan to visit Rome and then from Rome that they would help him to then go into Spain. So his goal is to take the gospel to places that have not yet received the gospel and so since Rome already has a church, his goal is to go past Rome to Spain. And then in chapter 16 he closes with greetings to various members of the church, warning for them to remain faithful to Christ and then a benediction to close the letter. So with that we come to the end of Romans. We're going to try and cover first and second Corinthians in today's class so we might go a little fast. Also for second I've not included a few things from your textbook, things which I felt that are being covered in other parts that we are talking about in class. So please make sure you are also reading the notes because your exam will be based on everything in your textbook. But I'm just covering some of the key points that also hit on the other things that are in your textbook as well. So first Corinthians is also one of the soteriological ethyls. So a comparison with Roman and Galatians. Roman and Galatians talk about justification by faith. But first Corinthians talks about being washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. So it's talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in us. So we know that Paul had already written a letter to the Corinthians and he refers to this letter in chapter 5 verse 9. So although we call this first Corinthians because it's the first letter that we have in our Bible, there is a letter that Paul had written before this to the Corinthians. And that letter that he wrote to them received a response and so first Corinthians is a response to their response to his first letter. So chapter 7 verse 1, the church had written a response and so he is writing this response to them. And there were a few people from the church who had gone to visit Paul, Staphonus, Fortunatus and Ochaegis. And so they are the ones who take a report of the church back to Paul and take that first response from the church to Paul. And then Paul sends back his letter with either these church members or with Titus who goes back to the Corinthian church. And we'll read a little bit about that in second Corinthians of Titus coming back from the church in Corinth with a report from them. So one thing is we don't have a copy of that first letter that went into the Corinthians which is why it's also not in our scriptures. We only have references to it so we know there was a letter that was sent out but we don't know exactly what was the content of that letter. We know from first Corinthians itself that this letter was written by Paul. So right in the first verse he mentions that he is the one writing to them and then in the last chapter as well he puts his own greeting in his own hand. So he says that he himself has written that. Date and location so this letter was written during Paul's second missionary journey. So he spent 18 months in Corinth and this is when the church was established. And after that he moved on he went to Ephesus. He stopped at Ephesus briefly went on to Jerusalem and then returned to Antioch. So that was the end of his second missionary journey. On his third missionary journey he goes and he spends over two years in Ephesus and this is where he writes first Corinthians from. So the dating for this is somewhere between 53 to 55 or even 56 AD. All of these dates are approximate because we're just trying to put dates to all the things that we know happened in Paul's journeys. So between 53 to 55 AD or 56 AD even is when he wrote it more likely before 56 AD. So yes the church was established in his second missionary journey and this letter is written in his third missionary journey when he was in Ephesus while he was ministering in Ephesus. So why did Paul write this letter? He had received reports like we said from various sources. So there were the people who took that letter back to him. And then we see in chapter 1 verse 11 he talks about some people from Chloe's household. So from this house church or from her house or family itself who had given him a report about what was going on in the church. And then he's also responding to the letter that the Corinthians had sent to him. So one of the main issues that we see addressed in 1 Corinthians is that the church had become very influenced by the culture around it. We will talk a little bit about the culture in Corinth itself. But there was a huge focus on learning, on philosophy. There was immorality that was being practiced in society. There was a difference, a large variance in status within society because Corinth was such a diverse city that there were people who were very rich. But there were also the merchants like even Paul who was serving in the marketplace. He would have been considered as someone of lower status because he was working in the marketplace. He was working as a merchant. So there was a wide variety of people from different economic backgrounds. So all of this starts to then impact the people who are coming into the church. So the people in the church have this background of being from either a much lower status background or much richer people. Some of them very learned. Some of them highly proud of their philosophical influences and something that was very important in Corinthian culture. And so all of these we see playing a part in the issues that had come into the church. The recipients are the church of God in Corinth as we see in chapter 1 verse 2. But also then to all God's holy people. So all those who call on the name of God. So meant to be a letter that would circulate among the churches as well, the rest of the churches in the area. So the key verses we have from 1 Corinthians. If someone can read these verses for us, 1 Corinthians 4-5 and 1 Corinthians 14-33. 1 Corinthians 4-5. Therefore a judge nothing before the appointed time wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. 1 Corinthians 14-33. For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the congregations of the Lord's people. Thank you. So as we look at the outline, we'll see why these two verses are considered as key verses in 1 Corinthians. We'll come back to them. So one major theme in the episode is order in the local church. That is how is a church supposed to function in a way that is reflective of who Christ is. So unity in the way we conduct our services and the way people relate to each other. All of these things are what Paul addresses in this letter. So just a note on the city of Corinth itself. So this is Corinth in the ancient world, so a map of ancient Greece. We can see Corinth right here in a little piece of land that joined southern Greece to northern Greece. So it was a port city which meant that there was a lot of ships coming in. There was a lot of trading coming in happening at Corinth. It was also at this key point in the center of Greece. And so it became an important place connecting north and south Greek. It was considered as the capital of the province of Achaea, which is the majority of ancient Greece. At this point, this is under Roman control, but it's still very retained a lot of its Greek culture. And so we see a lot of that worship of gods and all of that still continuing in Corinth, worship of Greek gods. So Corinth was known for immorality, was known for sin, was known to be a place where people would come who wanted to seek physical pleasure or just satisfying the flesh. It was that kind of place. It was a very important urban center. There were people coming in from all over, so lots of different religions also that were present in Corinth. And the marketplace was a very important place in Corinth because all of the trading happened there. So that was a key place for Paul also to be ministering in the marketplace. So with that background on the letter to the Corinthians, we'll just go a little bit into what the book actually talks about. So it begins with an introduction. And what we see Paul say right at the start is that we as a church are called to be holy. So we know that this is something that he's going to address throughout the book, that call to holiness. And if you were paying attention to what were the issues that he was addressing in the letter, it was that so much of the culture had influenced the church. That immorality had come into the church. So much of the other issues in culture had been brought into the church. And so he begins with this that we are called to be holy. And then he talks about the spiritual gifts. So the Corinthian church was a church that was really seeing the spiritual gifts being manifested amongst its members. And so he commands them. And he also says that these gifts have been given and they will continue to be there as you function as a church until the Lord's coming. So God has equipped you with these gifts to continue to be his body till his return. Then from here he addresses divisions in the church. We see this first major division is a division over leaders where people are fighting over the leader that they follow. Some say they follow Apollo, some say they follow Paul, some say they follow Cephas, Peter. And so why are they divided over leaders? It's because of that the importance that the Corinthians placed on philosophy. And over that kind of gift of speaking of people being able to present their views in ways that were impressive use of rhetoric in their preaching. And so we know that Apollo was someone who was very gifted as a preacher. Paul in comparison was not as eloquent in his speech. And so there were some people who preferred Apollo's over Paul. And then like we talked about Paul was also a tent maker, which was something that was of lower status and a philosopher would not want their leader to be someone who was working with their hands. And so again another reason for them to reject Paul and to follow Apollo's. So we see this kind of division in the church and then Paul addresses this division talking about certain things about who God is. The first is that God's wisdom is not the wisdom of the world. Why these people were wanting their leaders to meet the standards of the world in terms of wisdom. Paul says that God's wisdom is far greater than the wisdom of this world. And the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's eyes. So God makes the wisdom of this world foolish. And true wisdom, the true wisdom of God is understood only by those who have his holy spirit. It's those who have his spirit in them who are able to recognize what is godly wisdom and what is natural wisdom or what is worldly wisdom. He then talks about the fact that all of God's service are simply people who are carrying out the work that God is entrusted to them. So there is no sense in boasting in the workers because they are simply carrying out their duty but God is the one who is actually making the growth happen. So one waters and other plants and other sows but God makes the plant grow. And so this is where boasting should be in the Lord. And then his last defense for why they should not be divided over leaders is that everyone's work will be judged when Christ returns. So what may look impressive now when Jesus returns will be tested. And only if it actually stands God's test will it be rewarded. But if it doesn't, if it burns up under the fire of God's testing, then it improved that all that work that was done was actually done with false motivation, with an intent that was not actually truly godly intent. From there he goes into issues of moral or immorality within the church. He begins with an issue of sexual immorality in the church. So again, looking at how the church has been influenced by the culture. And we see this the example of the man sleeping with his father's wife. He uses that example and talks about the importance of judging sin within the church. So that we cannot ignore sin that is taking place within the church and we cannot take God's grace for granted. So just tell the church just because now you know that you are saved by grace. It doesn't mean that you can turn a blind eye to sin. You need to address sin within the church and you need to get rid of this person. This person cannot continue to be in the church because that sin will spread within the church. In chapter 6, he talks about division between believers and people actually going to courts of law against one another. And here he says, why don't you let yourself be cheated rather than being the one cheating others and then going to court against them. In all of these we see a lot of talking about judgment. So it begins with Christ being the judge. Then it talks about judge judging those within the church. Then here he talks about don't you know that we are going to sit as judges with Christ at his return. Then how is it that you are going to outsiders to make judgments between you within the church. And then later on in chapter 6, again he goes back to sexual sin in the church and talks about keeping our bodies pure because our bodies are the temple of God. In chapter 7, we see him responding to the letter that the Corinthians had sent to him. So he says with regard to the things you had mentioned in your letter. He begins the chapter with that and he talks specifically about marriage. So this whole chapter is about marriage, whether it's good to get married, whether it's better to stay single. His recommendation is that you focus on serving God and if marriage is going to be a distraction, then it's better not to get married. And then he also encourages those who are married to unbelievers to continue to remain married if that unbeliever wants to stay married to them. To continue to stay married because you might be the reason for them coming to salvation. Now this is not an instruction to say that you can marry an unbeliever. This is for people who were already married and then became believers but their spouse did not become a believer. And so for them he says continue to stay in that marriage if your spouse still wants to stay married to you. Chapters 8 to 11, he starts to address some other things within the church. The first is eating food, sacrifice to idols and he uses his own life as an example. He talks about how he has given up the right to receive support from the church, although that is something that he can very well clean. He can take monetary support from the church for the work that he's done for the church but he wants to do it for free for the sake of the gospel. He wants to make that kind of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. And so using his example of giving up his own rights, he encourages believers to do what is beneficial for others in the body. So if he's using that to say do not eat food, sacrifice to idols, do not do things that will cause your brother or sister and the Lord to fall. Rather give up your rights so that they may be protected, so that they may be blessed. And then he uses examples from Israel's history to talk about how Israel although chosen, a lot of them fell away from the faith. Because of idol worship, sexual immorality, because they tested God, because they grumbled against God. And so he's warning the church to not fall into the same trap that the Israelites fell into. Chapter 11 verse 2 to 1440 is where he addresses worship within the church.  He talks about the Lord's supper and divisions that are happening in the church. So we see that issue of status coming into the practice of the Lord's supper where the poor are being forgotten and the rich are having a feast. And so he's calling them back to recognize the sanctity of the Lord's supper and telling them that this is what they're coming together for. Chapter 12, he talks about spiritual gifts and how they are to be exercised. And to recognize that everyone has a gift and it's all for the benefit of the body of Christ. And all of the exercising of spiritual gifts is to be based on love, which he talks about in chapter 13. And then chapter 14, he talks about specific prophecy and tongues as an example to say that gifts are to be used for the benefit of the whole body. And they should be exercised when the body comes together in worship. These gifts should be exercised in a way that allows worship to happen in an orderly way so that there's no confusion. Chapter 15, we go into resurrection. So he talks about the resurrected body. There were some people who were saying there is no resurrection and so he is correcting them saying that if there is no resurrection, then we of all people are to be pitied if our hope in Christ is only for this life, right? So our hope is an eternal hope and that is why it's worth all the suffering that we are experiencing in this life because we know that this is not all there is to our life, but there is the life that we will have with Christ once we pass from this earth. And so he talks about that in chapter 15. And then in chapter 16, he talks about the collection that is being made for the church in Jerusalem, the money that they are collecting to give to the church in Jerusalem. He talks about his travel plans to come and visit them. And then he commends certain people within the church, some of the leaders within the church, and then closes the letter with some greetings. So that is all of first Corinthians. We covered that quickly when we have a few minutes for second Corinthians. But any questions or anything you want to share before we go on? Am I going too quickly, too fast? Okay. So just because we have a lot of content, I'm just trying to make sure we finish all of it before the end of the semester. So we'll go into second Corinthians. So this is second Corinthians. So while first Corinthians in our Bible is actually Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church. Second Corinthians is Paul's fourth letter. So his first letter is the one that has been lost. His second letter is what we have in our scriptures as first Corinthians. The third letter is another one that we do not have a copy of, but is referenced in second Corinthians. And this was a letter of discipline, a letter which was a little harsh because of certain issues that were happening in the church that he needed to address. So how we know about this letter and that it was a letter of discipline is because of some things that he mentions in second Corinthians. So second Corinthians two, three to four and seven, six to nine. If somebody can read that for us quickly. Second Corinthians two, three to four and seven, six to nine. Second Corinthians, three to four sister. Chapter two versus three to four. Chapter two versus three. Okay. I wrote as I did so that when I came, I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you that you would all share my joy. But I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears not to grieve you, but to let you know the depth of my love for you. Thank you. And chapter seven versus six to nine. Chapter seven versus six to nine. But God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever. Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it. I see that my letter hurt you, but not only for a little while, yet now I am happy not because you had made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance for you became sorrowful as God intended, and so were not armed in any way by us. Thank you, sister. So we see Paul referencing this letter that he had written and his main intent was to bring correction to the church and the church had responded in godly sorrow and so he was very grateful that their response had been one of repentance. So we see also what we talked about earlier about Paul that he was one who loved the people he ministered to to the extent that he didn't mind even saying things that would hurt them at that time if it meant that it would do good eventually. And we see that example here. So second Corinthians, the date and location. So this was written not too long after first Corinthians. We saw first Corinthians 53 to 55 AD. Second Corinthians is 55 to 56 AD. So after Paul left from Ephesus, his third missionary journey, he goes from Ephesus to Macedonia, and this is the region of Macedonia. There are a few cities here. New Paul is Philippite, Thessalonica and Berea. And it was while he was at Macedonia that he writes second Corinthians. So he says that Titus brought back a report to him about the church. This is what we just read. And Titus takes back second Corinthians to the church and also goes back to make the final arrangements for the money that is going to be taken to the church in Jerusalem. We see that talked about in chapter 8, 6, 16 to 17 and 23. So the purpose for writing this letter, one was to assure them that what he had, that his heart for them was one of love. That whatever correction he had sent that had caused distress was for their good. To also let them know that he was very glad to hear about their repentance. To encourage them to continue their collection for the church in Jerusalem because they had started the collection a year earlier and so now he wants it all to be ready as he is going back to Jerusalem that the money there would be ready for him to pick up. Then he also tells them that he will come visit them and then one major part which is the last part of second Corinthians chapters 10 to 13. He has to defend himself against certain false teachers who have come into the church and who have begun to criticize him. So Paul himself established this church. But there were other leaders who came in after Paul left Corinth and who began to question Paul's apostleship and leadership and speak against him and boast about themselves. And so we'll see Paul addressing a lot of this in this letter just to make sure that the church is not led astray by these false teachers who have come in. So a key verse here from second Corinthians for what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ is Lord and ourselves as your servants for Christ's sake. So we see some key points here. We are preaching not ourselves because the false teachers were boasting in themselves. But Paul's intent was very clear. It was to preach Christ and to be a servant to the people. And this was the evidence that he was a true minister of the gospel versus the teachers who had come in who were using their preaching to boast about themselves who were taking money from the people who were speaking against Paul. So all of these things are things that Paul will differentiate himself and distinguish his ministry from these people in these ways based on what has been his way of ministering to the church. So we'll do a quick outline. We may go a little over time if you all are okay with that. We'll try and finish the outline if possible. So Paul begins the letter with a greeting as usual. He talks about his suffering in Ephesus. He was in Ephesus when he wrote first Corinthians so he's talking about what were the challenges he faced in Ephesus. He then talks about his change in plans and this is where he says all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. So he's saying that some people were questioning why Paul had not come to visit them when he had said that he would come to visit the church. So he explains why he changed his plans. His plans were changed because he didn't want to cause them any more distress. He had written that letter to them. He knew that they had been hurt and he didn't want to go to them at that point of time and cause more distress. And so he decided not to visit the church but rather to go into other parts and minister in other places. And then in verses 5 to 11 he talks about someone who had caused a huge offense to Paul and to the church and so they had brought correction to this person and so Paul says bring this person back now so that they will not fall away from the faith and Satan won't use this as a way to take them away from the body of Christ. We then see Paul talking about his ministry beginning with talking about he and those who serve with him being taken as slaves of Christ and as slaves of Christ they carry the fragrance of Christ wherever they go but that fragrance is received differently based on the people who see them. If it's someone who actually is receiving the gospel it is a sweet fragrance but someone who rejects the gospel it's a fragrance of death that they bring, that they carry. He then talks about his calling from God that the church itself is his letter of recommendation that the work of the spirit in the church testifies to the fact that what Paul has done has been a true work of the Holy Spirit. And he talks about the glory of his message which is the glory of the new covenant versus the old covenant that Moses brought in. This covenant is so much greater and Paul has the privilege of bringing that gospel to the people. Paul also talks about his suffering if we can just quickly read 1 Corinthians 4-5 someone can read the 2 Corinthians 4-5 sorry I think we actually read that in the key verse. Yeah 2 Corinthians 4-5 sorry. So it's here for we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves for yourselves. So this is the evidence that the ministry is doing is one of sincerity that it's purely for the glory of Christ and to serve the church. He then goes on to talk about this ministry of reconciliation so we have been entrusted as carriers of the gospel to reconcile people back to God. And so this is what we do and we're willing to do it even at the cost of our own lives at the cost of our own physical safety all of the suffering all of that is worth it because we're bringing people back to God. So his evidence of the fact that his ministry is something that is really trustworthy is in the way he has done his ministry and so now he comes into this thing of calling the exhortation to holiness is to say do not be yoked with unbelievers. So who are these unbelievers? These are the false teachers who have come into the church who are telling them things about Paul and about the other leaders with Paul, Titus and Timothy and others who had served the church with Paul and drawing them away. And so he's saying don't entertain these people don't be yoked with them because you yourself will go astray if you do that. And then he talks about their repentance in response to the letter that he had already sent. Then we go into the section on giving. So all of this is related to the giving to the church in Jerusalem. He encourages them to finish collecting the money they had started to collect. He encourages them to give as much as they can give but not to give more than they are able to give. He talks about practical aspects of how the money is going to be collected, who's going to take it and then he closes with the benefits of giving that will be a blessing to the church and those who are blessed will in turn bless the church as well. And then chapters 10 to 13 is where he closes with the defense of his apostleship. Talking about his power in Christ. They do not fight the battles as people of the flesh fight but they fight with spiritual weapons. So this is in contrast to the Paul's apostles. In this chapter 11 to 12 that he talks about his suffering that proves that he is serving with right intentions that he is giving up all of his own physical comforts. He suffered so greatly for the sake of the gospel and that is proof of the fact that his ministry is one that is sincere and is not meant to deceive or to blind the church but is one that is truly for their benefit. And then he closes with, he talks about his plans for travel, closes with certain exhortations and then a benediction which is the usual way he closes the letter. So in chapter 12 is where he also talks about his vision and the thorn in his flesh and talks about the fact that these apostles he's contrasting himself with these apostles I'll just close with this but they are boasting in themselves but he boasts in his weakness so that the glory of God will be seen all the more in his life. And so in Paul's defense of himself although he talks about the things he has suffered the sacrifices he has made his final conclusion is that his boasting is in his own weakness because in his weakness Christ is glorified and that is the last closing bit of his defense as one who can be trusted, one whose ministry can be trusted. So with that we come to the end of Second Corinthians. Please do go back and read your notes as well. So we will try and cover maybe two episodes with each class and I hope that we can all stay together if it's too much and too fast please let me know. Okay, thank you all for being here. See you all on Thursday. Thank you sister. Thank you sister. Thank you.


Meantime, the People's Democratic Party has cautioned Senate President Ahmad Lawan against aid in the confirmation of Loretta Onoche as a National Commissioner and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. President Mohamed Buhari had in October 2020 forwarded Onoche's and the names of two other nominees to the Senate for confirmation as INEC commissioners. The Senate had kept the President's nomination in abeyance, apparently following public outcry over Onoche's alleged membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, AAPC. However, the Senate referred Onoche and the two other nominees to the Senate Committee on INEC for screening and possible recommendation for confirmation last week. But at the media briefing in Abu Jhaber, the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Olaq Bordio, the party charged Lawan to respect Nigerians by rejecting Onoche's nomination. Olaq Bordio said Lawan would be ridiculing himself and his exalted office if he failed to reject the nomination, threatening legal action if Onoche is eventually confirmed.