1 Corinthians 7:17-40

 1 Corinthians 7:17-40

The Church of Corinth had written Paul and asked several specific questions which he answered beginning in this chapter. Rather than address each issue the Corinthians bring up, there are some key principles that we can apply to our circumstances.

First, when a person becomes a disciple, that will not suddenly change their status. A laborer suddenly doesn't become a manager, a poor man doesn't suddenly become rich, and a person in a bad marriage doesn't suddenly become single. Sometimes Christianity is presented as a quick fix or cure for all of our personal hardships, and Jesus is seen as a genie to do tricks for us. What we are when we become Christians is what we are going to be as we begin our lives in Christ. But as a Christian, there is now Grace for our circumstances.

The second principle is about engagement in life and ministry. Paul is not discouraging improving lives or circumstances. However, we must do this in view of our engagement in life as disciples and our ministry. Gaining freedom for a slave is good, but a Christian slave serving the Lord faithfully is better off than a freeman who is still in sin. Wherever we are, we ought to serve, thrive, and minister. Building a better life ought to be secondary to our ministry.

The third principle that we can apply is that of freedom. If a disciple wants to marry, they are free to do so, but there will be consequences, specifically a certain loss of freedom in ministering. If they wish to remain celibate, there are specific advantages for ministry, but they must make sure that they are able to live holy in that life. There is no one pattern that must be applied to all believers apart from holy living. In holy living there is great freedom for the disciple.

The fourth principle is to be astute and aware of our circumstances. Corinth was beginning to experience persecution, and that persecution would get worse and spread. This is what Paul is talking about in verses 26 and 29. They were about to face growing pressure, and they would need to get on a persecuted footing in advance. As Christians, we need to be especially aware of what is going on around us. That doesn't mean being panicked by every dire warning but wise and astute enough and preparing accordingly. Jesus said, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” He never said to be as dumb as donkeys.

The disciple in the world that is not engaged in the Lord’s service where they are and in their current condition will be of little value to the kingdom.

“Lord, help me live the life I have to the fullest for You and Your Kingdom. AMEN”

1 Corinthians 7:1-16

 1 Corinthians 7:1-16

The lax moral culture of Corinth and the Corinthian Church crept into the church's understanding of marriage and the Christian’s life. Sexual promiscuity and divorce were common in Corinth. Strange religions taught strange doctrines about sexual conduct and produced a lack of self-control. The Corinthians were so confused that they actually wrote to Paul to ask for advice.

Since marriage is a picture of the Trinity, this is no small matter but needs to be given serious and continuous thought and meditation. It is not possible to address all the issues of marriage Paul teaches in this passage, but we can address some key and foundational principles. In the same way that the persons of the Trinity live to bring joy and glory to the others, so a husband and a wife need to make their focus and marriage to bring joy and honor to their spouse. The provision for love and mutual support is not an actuarial expression of marriage but the core of what marriage is about. A couple in which one partner has become a believer and the other is not, the believer is still bound to that union. The unbelief of one does not corrupt the faith of the believer. In fact, the faith of the disciple sanctifies the marriage. Believers ought not to initiate separation; in fact, they ought to stay married in the hope of the salvation of their unbelieving spouse.

As we might expect in Corinth, there were sexual hang-ups, which apparently led in some cases to the denial of conjugal contact. Both partners ought to, in mutual submission, gratify the wishes of their spouse. Aside from the positive benefits, this shared love will help prevent sexual sin. It is not a cure for all sexual issues, but it provides a legitimate expression of sexual passions. There are some, we might say a rare few, who have been given the gift of celibacy. Like all gifts, it is not to be presumed but accepted and used for God's glory.

Within the context of marriage is an openness and intensity that ought to remain beyond the observation or review of an outsider. There is both radical restrictiveness, one man plus one woman for one lifetime only, and free openness. Inside this restriction, a husband and wife are free. There is no place for coercion or demanding, but there is limitless space to freely serve and give. It is a picture of our discipleship to Christ, and that as we die to self and live for the other, we find the richest, fullest, and greatest life.

“Lord, thank You for the joy and gift of our sexuality and marriage. AMEN”

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Many of us would like to be able to compartmentalize our lives to make sure that what happens in one area does not bother or affect any other area. That simply is not the case. In this passage, Paul addresses two issues, which he will address in greater detail later. He begins with a play on words that is missed in English. It is almost as if he says, “All things are under my power, but I will not surrender that power to anything.”

Paul was the champion of Christian liberty, rejecting sanctification by the rituals of the Mosaic Law. But apparently the Corinthians took this so far as to become libertarian. They may have even used the phrase, “all things are lawful for me,” as a rallying cry. The Corinthians may have argued that their liberty permitted them to eat whatever they liked, even food dedicated to idols. The ceremonial law of Moses forbade certain foods. Jesus declared all foods in themselves acceptable. But the Corinthians were going to the point of eating food sacrificed to other gods. Since both body and food will eventually go away, what is the big deal? The big deal is the resurrection means the body is important. To eat a sacred meal is to worship the deity with that meal. In much the same way that the bread and the wine of communion are more than just food when they are eaten in worship. The food sacrificed to an idol is more than simply a piece of meat.

Paul now turns to the practice of hiring a prostitute. The practice was legal but absolutely wrong. When a person has sex, they become one flesh with their partner, married or not, in love or not. This union is as much spiritual as it is physical. Sex has been described as two bodies connected at the spirit. The sex union of a Christian and a non-Christian is an attempt to unite the Holy Spirit within the believer with whatever spirit directs the life of their lover. In the case of a prostitute, that spirit is demonic.

Our lives are not made up of compartments; they are an integrated whole. The food offered to an idol or demon, which a person eats, opens their whole person to the dark powers, not just their stomachs. A sexual union opens the whole being to union with that person and their spirits. Because Christ has ransomed us from our sentence of guilt, we belong to Him. We are not free based on the laws of man or even Moses. We are free in Christ, and that freedom and power must not be surrendered to the control of anyone or anything.

"Lord, I am Your's and only Your's. AMEN"

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Nothing displays our maturity or lack of maturity more clearly than our reaction to not getting what we want. In this the most immature of churches, the response to denied desires was litigation. The Corinthian culture was very litigious, and this carnal behavior was at home in this church. Paul points out that as Christians we will judge the world and angels; this refers to the judgment at the end of time. Paul says little on that subject, and that is best for us as well. But he was using this reference to point out that with such God-given wisdom and authority, we ought to be able to work out the details of our own civic life.

Paul says that their lack of an ability to work stings out as a matter of shame. People have ruined their reputation and that of the church because, like spoiled children, they refuse to work things out. If cooperation and compromise are not possible, they are so immature that they lack even one person wise enough to decide between the two parties who disagree. This church that is so puffed up, so proud, so pretentious, and so self-aggrandizing doesn’t have one person smart enough to settle these small matters. Even the most humble person, if holy and honest, should be sufficient, but they lack even one such person. The issue is another indication of how sinful and wicked they are. Justice would be best. Suffering loss would be the next best option. But the worst possible option was the one they chose.

Their behavior indicates that the old sinful way of life still clings to them, and so they do evil to their brothers. Paul then lists some of the immoral behaviors that are more obvious and are from their past. Paul is identifying the evil of their wronging each other as being as wicked as their former life. They seem to have forgotten that this wicked life ended with baptism; they were made holy and declared not guilty and should by no means continue the practice.

How wicked is it to divide a church to fracture the fellowship? And in some ways it would be better to practice the vices listed by Paul in verses 9-10. At least those who practice these have a sense of shame and guilt that might lead to repentance. Those who, for their own twisted purposes and personality wreck at church, are almost never repentant, are generally not ashamed but are always guilty.

“Lord, convict my heart if I ever demand to have my way. AMEN”

I Corinthians 5:9–13

 I Corinthians 5:9–13

It is hard not to view the irony of this passage in view of most churches today. It seems that the very thing Paul commands is the very thing, which we as contemporary conservative Christians all want to avoid. And that which Paul commands, most liberal Christians reject. In short, Paul commands that the church dis-fellowship or excommunicate the supposed brother consistently living in sin while engaging socially with the nonbeliever regardless of their vice.

We have that upside down in many churches. Behaviors that ought not to be tolerated are. However, when some sins are practiced by fellow church members, these behaviors are ignored or winked at in the name of grace, personality, or some other excuse. The tolerance of this unholy behavior hurts the church's witness and, worse, supports the spread of the wickedness within the church. Churches that have protected and coddled from this sort of behavior tend to go from being strong and effective to dead. They are legion.

At the same time, many churches are scandalized if a member befriends or keeps company with notorious sinners from outside of the church. The church, wanting to protect itself from sinners that are “out there,” retreats into a busy schedule with all the entertainment in the context of a Christian subculture. Bad sinners are kept at arm's reach, while nice, or not-so-bad sinners are permitted to join if they aren’t too wicked and are willing to make the effort to join.

Salt is of no use in the saltshaker and must be out of its confined collection space. Paul advocates and practices contact with those outside of Christ. The Christian who is part of the church that practices holy living and proper church discipline will not likely be swept away by the company or companionship or social interaction of non-Christian friends and acquaintances.

As the saying goes, there’s no problem with the boat being in the water, but when the water is in the boat, there is a definite problem. There is no problem with the Christian or the church being in the world; that is where they belong. The problem has been that the world has made its way into the church. That will ruin the church, and such a church will never be effective at rescuing the world.

“Lord, protect Your church through the ministry of faithful disciples.  AMEN”

I Corinthians 5:1-8

 I Corinthians 5:1-8

This short chapter is dedicated to addressing a case of horrific immorality within the church. A man in the church is having an incestuous relationship with his mother or stepmother. There is in this chapter a number of principles and practical lessons for our lives as disciples today living together in a community of faith.

First is the danger of abusing grace. By grace, God justifies the sinner, but He does not ever justify the sin. This sin, abhorrent even to the Greeks, could never be made right by grace. The Corinthians took a perverse pride in their acceptance of the sinner. As if to say, “See how good grace is. In Grace, anything goes.” Grace is almost seen as permission to sin. The extension of grace to a sinner that doesn’t also declare and require passionate love to the grace giver, which, by the way, will include obedience, is a prostitution of grace.

Second, when there is gross immorality in the church, the correct response is intense grief and sorrow. In many churches, people will mourn the loss of a fellow member to death, or the death of a dog or a cat, and in some cases the loss in a game. At the same time, the congregation will tolerate, and in the worst cases even celebrate, blatant sin. But sorrow for sin by itself is only the beginning point. It must be sorrow that includes a point of action. In this case, the action that is needed is excommunication.

Third, the church must not be flippant about excommunication. By virtue of belonging to the body of Christ, a Christian enjoys certain protections. When they are turned over to Satan, that protection is removed. For this reason, the church must excommunicate a person only as a last resort and only in cases of unrepentant and unrestrained sin. When a person is excommunicated, they are delivered over to Satan in the hopes that the destruction of the flesh will result in the spirit being saved in the coming judgment. Satan is powerless over the Christian except as we surrender authority to him by sin or by making an agreement with him. Real misery and harm await the person under Satan‘s power. The mind and the body are subject to and defenseless against one who hates them with a white-hot passion. The excommunicated Christian is vulnerable even up to the point of demonic oppression and possession. Terrible as that is, even in this there is an expression of God‘s goodness. There is the hope that in the end the spirit of the backslider is saved, and in the meantime the church is protected.

“Lord, protect Your people from hearts that are open to sin. AMEN”

I Corinthians 4:14-21

 I Corinthians 4:14-21

Paul will conclude his comments concerning the divisive state of the church and those who are causing it with an invitation and a warning. Church discipline always has as its primary objective restoration, but there is a secondary objective, which is to protect the church as a whole from these evildoers. This will become evident in the next chapter more thoroughly. While the church at Corinth may have a wealth of teachers, many of whom would have been the source of the division, there was only one who cared for them like a father. Paul said they had many “tutors” (NASV) or “guardians” (NIV). A slave most often filled the role of tutor. a reference back to under rower and steward in verse one. This slave’s life was not so demeaning as the under rower and less exalted and honored than the steward. The Greek word for tutor is a compound word that comes from the combination of “boy” and “guide”. The tutor was sort of a mammy, but also a teacher, and did have the authority to discipline; he was nevertheless only a guide for the boy. When the boy was mature, the tutor would have no authority. Paul, in contrast, is their loving father. No tutor ever came close to the father in terms of authority. Paul is calling his children to follow his example, and he is about to address those uppity teachers. First by sending them an older brother, Timothy, which they will ignore, and then by coming to them personally and directly dealing with these troublemakers.

Paul’s absence has prompted some of these teachers to become “arrogant” or literally “puffed up.” They believe they could live without a day of reckoning. They did not expect Paul to come, and if he did come, they did not expect much from him. They were betting everything on Paul’s perpetual absence. Paul warns that, with the Lord's permission, he will in fact come, and when he does, it will not simply be a verbal chastisement. While not specific about what will happen, Paul says there will be a demonstration of the power of these usurpers. He will respond with a demonstration of his power in ministry. Which will prove that these usurpers really have nothing. On two occasions, apostles had, by the power of God, confronted evil people with disastrous results for the evil persons. Ananias and Sapphira, when confronted by Peter, died, and Elymas was struck blind before Paul. When it comes to those who divide the church, way too often we cower and retreat rather than confront and call for repentance. Congregations so infected rarely recover.

“Lord, make me afraid of creating division within the church, knowing there will be a day of judgment.  AMEN”