1 Corinthians 8:1-6

1 Corinthians 8:1-6

And regarding food sacrificed to idols, we have known that all of us have knowledge.  Knowledge makes us haughty.  But love builds up.  If anyone thinks to have known anything, he did not yet know just as it is necessary to know.  But if anyone loves God, this one has been known by Him.  Therefore, regarding the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we have known that no idol is in the world and that there is no God except one.  For if after all there even are some while being called gods – whether in heaven or whether being upon the earth, just as there are many gods and many lords – but for us there is one God the Father.  Out of whom are all things and we are in Him.  And there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we are through Him. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought

All of us have knowledge.  But look at the warning that Paul gives to us.  The increase of knowledge makes us arrogant and haughty.  Don’t get me wrong.  It is good to increase our understanding about spiritual matters.  It is good to study scripture.  But our knowledge is no reason to have any arrogance.  After all, is it our knowledge that saves us?  Is it our knowledge that redeems our sin?  It is our intellect that drew God to relationship with us?  No.  What saves us is God’s love.  What redeems us is God’s love.  If we think we know, we are wrong.  But if we remember that what matters is love, we are in a good position to hear God and be obedient to Him.

What do you seek more: love or knowledge?  Are either bad?  Which is better?

Second Thought:

Out of this understanding comes a very interesting understanding.  It is one thing to know doctrine; it is another thing to know God.  We can know God in that we can be in relationship with Him.  But at the same time we cannot fully know God on this side of death and resurrection.  This is a very important point.  There are many people who seek to know everything about God.  They quest to study incessantly and increase their knowledge beyond what is truly necessary.  But the true spiritual person seeks to live a life that embraces valuable knowledge yet while living humbly in the understanding that we cannot understand God.  Again, knowledge makes us arrogant, love makes us humble.  When we seek to know all doctrine, we become arrogant in our own understanding.  But when we realize our place in love, we are humbled that God would desire relationship with us in spite of our inability to truly know His depth.

Are you a person who seeks to know everything?  How can this actually be a hindrance?  What does this kind of thinking have to do with the realization that information is useless unless with imitate the life of Christ and innovate such a lifestyle into our own calling from God?

Third Thought:

In order to set up the coming thoughts in the rest of the chapter, we need to also remember the confession here.  There are many so-called gods in this world and in the heavens.  There are plenty of other deities that people around the world still worship.  There are plenty of things in creation that people worship.  There are even plenty of things of human origin that people worship.  There are many gods in this world.  But for Christians, there is only one God.  We come into relationship with that one God only through Jesus Christ.  While there are indeed many things people worship, God the Father needs to be the only one on our list.

Is the Father the focus of your worship?  Is the Father the focus of your life?  How might this understanding affect how you think about idols and how you interact with things other people worship?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 8:7-13

1 Corinthians 7:32-40

1 Corinthians 7:32-40

But I desire that you all are free from worry.  The unmarried one worries about the things of the Lord: how he should please the Lord.  But the one who married worries about the things of the world: how to please the wife.  And he has been divided.  And the unmarried woman and the betrothed woman worry about the things of the Lord: in order that she should be holy by both body and spirit.  But the one who married worries about the things of this world: how she should please the husband.  And I say this for your own benefit, in order that I should not place a bridle upon you all but rather for attractiveness and devotion in service to the Lord without distraction.  And if someone presumes to act indecently upon his betrothed and if he should be past his prime and he is under an obligation to become this way, let him do that which he desires.  He does not sin, let him marry.  And whoever continues steadfastly on in his views in his heart while not having a necessity – but he has authority regarding his own will and having judged this matter in his own heart to keep his betrothed – he will do well.  Therefore even the one who married his betrothed does well and the one who does not marry does better.  A wife has been bound for as long as the time that her husband lives.  And if the husband should be dead, she is free to marry whomever she desires – only in the Lord.  But she is blessed if she should remain in this manner – according to my judgment.  But I also think to have the Spirit of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The first half of this passage has to do with one word repeated again and again: “worry.”  We all worry about things in this life, don’t we?  We all worry about our needs as well as our wants.  But there is one truth to worry.  When we are single, we only have our own worries to consider when contemplating obedience to the Lord.  But the married person has their own worries, the worries of the spouse, and also the worries of any children that might be involved.  Again, remember from yesterday that Paul isn’t arguing that marriage is bad.  What he is arguing is that marriage inherently makes obedience to the Lord more complicated.  There are more people, ideas, and relationships to align with God in marriage.  Again, that doesn’t make anything wrong.  In fact, when it all does align it actually means that there is a greater support network!  But it takes more work to get those things aligned.  There is more worry involved while people, thoughts, and relationships are getting aligned for God.

Whose worries do you have to consider in your life?  When do the relationships in your life honestly make it more difficult to follow the call of God?

Second Thought:

1 Corinthians 7:36-38 gives us a very strange and unique picture of the church in Corinth.  Here is what is going on.  There are people who cared for each other so deeply that they wanted to live life together.  However, they had become convinced that sexuality would bring their relationship down.  Therefore, they lived together in a sort of “spiritual marriage” without ever physically consummating the marriage.  That is, they lived as though they were married but never had sex.  In these verses, Paul is telling us that such a pattern of life in incredibly commendable!  To live as spiritual husband and wife and be able to put aside the physical need for sex is astounding.  However, Paul also tells them that it puts a great strain on a person’s spirit to care that deeply for a person and not share the physical act of sex.  In such cases, Paul tells those people to get married.  After all, it is no sin to get married.  It is better to get married and allow the natural physicality to exist than to try and adhere to an unnatural higher standard that may end up causing more problems than it is worth to those unable to attain such a standard.

Do you think it odd that people could live as husband and wife and not share in a sexual experience? Why might this be weird?  What might be the benefits of such an existence?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage Paul reminds us all that marriage is for life.  Normally, none of us are under an obligation to become married.  Thus, when we marry it is because we chose to do so.  If we make that choice and that commitment, we should live by it until the spouse dies.  Should the spouse die, we can choose to remain married or unmarried again.  But should our spouse live, we need to honor our commitment.

Do you think marriage is for life?  What gets in the way of that belief?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 8:1-6

1 Corinthians 7:25-31

1 Corinthians 7:25-31

And regarding the unmarried, I do not have a command from the Lord.  But I give a considered opinion as having been shown mercy to be faithful.  Therefore I reason this is a good state because of this impending distress: that it is good for a man to be this way.  Are you under the authority of a wife?  Do not seek divorce!  Are you released from a wife?  Do not seek a wife!  But even if you should marry, you did not sin.  And if an unmarried woman should marry, she did not sin.  And people such as these will have affliction for the flesh – and I would spare you.  And I imply this, brothers: the time is having been drawn to a close.  In what time remains, in order that the ones who have wives as though they should not be having, and those who weep as while not weeping, and the ones who rejoice as while not rejoicing, and the ones who buy as while not having possession, and the ones who have dealings with the world as while not being fully occupied with it.  For the nature of this present world is ceasing to exist.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul speaks to the whole congregation in Corinth in these verses, although he is specifically addressing the unmarried.  Let’s set the bigger scene.  We know that wherever Paul went he found rejection – and usually chains in a jail.  There was much about worshipping a monotheistic God that was unacceptable to a polytheistic society.  The fact that Christians could not offer tribute to the Roman Emperor and call him a “god” often brought them under political oppression.  As Christianity began to spread in the Roman culture, pressure began to increase.  Turmoil and persecution began to be more and more common.  What this meant is that there would be tough days ahead for the people who truly wanted to be devoted to God.  People would be arrested.  People would die.  Relationships would find separation and hardship as loved ones are separated through arrest or even death.  This is the greater context into which Paul is writing his advice.  This is why Paul says that the time has been drawing to a close.

Do you experience much persecution for your faith?  What do you think that answer says about your implementation of faith with respect to the culture around you?

Second Thought:

Because of this, Paul tells us at the end of this passage how to live in this world.  Generically speaking, Paul tells us that it is okay to go through life, but we shouldn’t go through life forming too many attachments to the things of this world.  Our focus shouldn’t be on whether or not we are married.  We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get too upset or too excited.  We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get attached to the things we can buy and possess.  First of all, our focus should be primarily on God and His calling.  Secondly, we need to realize that the things of this world are fleeting and temporary.

Is your focus on God?  Do you ever let yourself get too sad or too happy because of the things of this world?  Do you ever get caught up in what you can buy and possess?  How can these things ultimately lead us away from God?

Third Thought:

Through all of this context we can now turn back to the beginning verses of this section.  Paul encourages people to remain as they are.  He’s not saying at all that it is wrong to get married.  After all, he says that directly in the text: a person who marries has not sinned!  Rather, he is trying to give general advice to a people entering a time of great persecution.  Imagine seeing your spouse taken from you and executed because of their faith.  Imagine living with that loss the rest of your life.  It is from this pain that Paul is trying to spare people.  This is why Paul says that his words at the beginning of this section are his own, not a command from the Lord.  There is nothing wrong with getting married – God has ordained such an action.  But in times of trial, creating earthly ties also increases the potential amount of our suffering, too.  It’s not wrong, but it may imply a more profound level of suffering.

What do you think of Paul’s advice here?  Do you think it is right for him to remind people that this particular set of advice is from him, not from God?  When is relationship worth the extra amount of suffering that may come when the relationship is severed for one reason or another?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:32-40

1 Corinthians 7:20-24

1 Corinthians 7:20-24

Each one in the calling that he was being called, in this let him remain.  A slave was being called – do not let it be a concern to you.  But if you are powerful enough to also to become free, make us of the opportunity instead!  For the slave who is being called in the Lord is a free person of the Lord.  In the same manner a free person who is being called is a slave of Christ.  You all were being bought with a price!  Do not become slaves of men.  Each in that which he was called, brothers, in that let him remain with God. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The first principle of this passage is to be a follower of God wherever you are.  If we are a person of low position in society – the lowest of which would be a slave – we are not to be concerned about it.  There is nothing wrong with recognizing that the lowest in a society are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!  God does not see us through our lens of class or place in society.  God see us through Christ.  We should be willing to do the same.  Nobody should be made to feel as though they do not measure up within our gatherings.

Have you ever heard or felt as though someone would not measure up?  Why do human gatherings tend to emphasize or class, social position, the way we dress, etc?

Second Thought:

Putting aside the spiritual argument against the lens of class, Paul does encourage slaves to buy their freedom.  This isn’t really an argument against slavery, although I do think it is fair to say that society is generally better without the concept of slavery being a part of it.  Rather, this is an argument about priorities.  A slave must do the work of the master.  If a master asks a slave to do something that violates his faith, the slave then is in a conundrum.  However, we who are free can truly be accountable for our own choices – recognizing that we all make bad choices occasionally.  But it is always best to be free to act as God calls us rather than have to worry about the agendas of others.

When have you been in a position to feel conflict between God’s calling and the calling of others?  How can you live your life so this happens as little as possible?

Third Thought:

That being said, there is a greater overarching truth.  While we strive to be free with respect to humanity, we are by default slaves in Christ.  We are here to advance the kingdom of God.  That is our calling.  In fact, that is why we seek to be free in this world.  The freer we are in this world, the more we can be subject to God and do His will.

Are you God’s slave?  What does that mean to you?  Do you really want to think about yourself as a slave of God?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

1 Corinthians 7:17-19

1 Corinthians 7:17-19

But only to each person as the Lord assigned particular responsibility, each one as God has called.  And in this manner I command in all churches.  If someone was being called after being circumcised, do not let him undo his circumcision!  If someone is having been called in uncircumcision, do not let him be circumcised!  Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.  Rather, obedience of the commandments of God is.   

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We now move to a really powerful teaching here in Paul’s letter – a teaching that often gets forgotten in many Christian gatherings.  Paul advises people to live and do as God has called them to live and do.  Paul advises people to take the responsibilities that the Lord Himself assigns to them.  So often we do more than God asks of us.  We do this for many reasons, actually.  We do it because we are made to feel guilty and do more than we should.  We do it because we want our church to be able to compete with what other churches are doing.  We do it because we don’t want to disappoint other people.  We have many reasons for living beyond what God has called us to do.  Unfortunately, that’s just not right.  Do what God calls you to do.  Focus on that.  Live that out.

What are you doing not because God asked you to do it but because someone else asked you to do it?  What are you doing because you think it needs to be done regardless of whether God asked you to do it or not?  How can you stop doing things that God has not asked you to do?

Second Thought:

Paul’s advise to the circumcised and the uncircumcised may seem a bit shocking, especially if we remember where it is that Paul had his roots.  Remember, he was an up-and-coming Pharisee.  He knew the Jewish law.  Imagine how far God had to move his spirituality in order for him to say, “remain uncircumcised” to anyone!  This is the power of God.  Human beings like to dig in our heels.  We hate change.  We like to have things figured out so that we can properly put everything in a box.  Actually, we like to have God in a box, don’t we?  But when God comes among us, we feel ourselves pulled out of that box.  Paul was pulled way out of that box.

Where has God pulled you out of your box?  Do you embrace that or resist it?  Why?

Third Thought:

I love the simplicity of 1 Corinthians 7:19, even if the grammar in the Greek is horrible!  Paul is clear.  What is important is that we are obedient to what God asks us to do.  It really is a repeat of the first verse of this section and the first point that I make.  Listen to what God calls you to do and do that.  If it means you partake in particular rituals, celebrate it.  If it means that you don’t, celebrate that, too.  There is no magic mantra that guarantees closeness to God.  What guarantees closeness to God is having a position on humbleness while being willing to listen and then following His calling.

Are you obedient to God?  What does obedience mean to you?  How can you live in a position of even more obedience?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:20-24

1 Corinthians 7:12-16

1 Corinthians 7:12-16

And to the remaining ones I – not the Lord – say: if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she consents to live with him, do not let him divorce her!  And if some woman has an unbelieving husband and this one agrees to live with her, do not let her divorce the husband!  For the unbelieving husband is being made holy in the wife and the unbelieving wife is being made holy in the brother.  Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.  But if the unbelieving one desires to separate, let him separate.  The brother or sister has not been enslaved in cases such as these.  And God has called you all in peace.  For how do you all know, wives, if the husband will be saved?  Or how have you all known, husbands, if the wife will be saved?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

At first, these two cases at the opening of this section look like cases on divorce.  Which, it is.  But even more importantly, these are cases that are all about obedience to God.  Look at the examples.  In the first case, you have a believing man.  Paul says specifically that he should not be allowed to divorce her while leaving out constraints upon her behavior.  The same is true about the believing woman with an unbelieving husband.  She is encouraged to not divorce him while Paul puts no limit upon his behavior.  The message of the bigger picture is that we as Christians are held to a higher standard than the world.  We are held to the standard of God.  We don’t have any right to put Christian expectations upon non-Christians.  But we have every obligation to expect Christians to live up to the ways of their Father.

Do you mind living up to a higher standard than the rest of the world?  Do you think this is fair?  Does it become fairer when you consider the reward of eternal life?

Second Thought:

We need to be careful with verse 14.  In fact we need to temper the tense of 1 Corinthians 7:14 with the tense of 1 Corinthians 7:16.  In verse 14, Paul seems to be indicating that the unbelieving spouse is absolutely made holy. But in verse 16 Paul says that salvation is a possibility – but not a guarantee – of marriage to an unbelieving spouse.  So what is Paul actually talking about when he says “made holy?”  Remember the model of Christ.  Christ was a perfect man living in an imperfect world.  But He was not corrupted by being a part of this world.  His purity did not become impurity.  Rather, His purity made us pure!  It is Christ whose character bleached into us, not the other way around.  This is what Paul is getting at here.  In a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever, there is a chance that the behavior of the believer will transfer to the unbelieving spouse.  The desire is for Christianity to be infectious.  That’s what Paul is saying.

How infectious is your Christianity to your spouse?  How infectious is your Christianity to the world?

Third Thought:

Paul reminds us that we are called in peace.  This is such a difficult concept.  We want to be right.  We want to be on top.  We want to win.  But God has called us in obedience, not in absolute victory.  It is better to go in peace when we are not wanted.

Do you value peace?  How often do you realize that peace is a desired outcome with God?  How should this dynamic influence our work with the world.

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:17-19

1 Corinthians 7:8-11

1 Corinthians 7:8-11

And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they should remain as I also am.  But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry.  For it is better to marry than to burn with inner passions.  And to the ones who have been married, I command – not I but the Lord: a woman is not to be separated from her husband.  But if she should even be separated, let her remain unmarried or let her be reconciled to her husband.  And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I cannot help but laugh at Paul’s underlying current for advocating marriage: it is a means for relieving the sexual passion that is within some people.  That’s literally what he means when he says that it is better to marry than to burn with passion.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Paul is not saying it is wrong to get married.  After all, God Himself instituted marriage!  Neither is Paul saying that sex within marriage is wrong.  Obviously God blessed that action, too.  But Paul’s position on marriage is pretty clear here in 1 Corinthians.  The work of the Lord is far superior to any other work that can be done.  We should be focused upon that work as our primary goal.  That work can be done by the person who is married and by the person who is unmarried all the same.  One need not be married to advance the kingdom of God.  Our highest priority should be the kingdom of God, not marriage and children.

Does this perspective on marriage leave you feeling a little flat?  Why might a person be underwhelmed by Paul’s perspective on marriage here?

Second Thought:

In this passage we also have some very difficult words regarding divorce.  Paul says it should not be done.  Now, of course, this isn’t meant in a hard-and-fast “if you do this there is no forgiveness” kind of teaching.  That isn’t it at all.  There is forgiveness for every kind of disobedience against the Lord’s command.  One act of disobedience is not greater or worse than another.  Rather, what this command is meant to mean is that God’s ideal state for marriage is that it is to stay together.  Fights, arguments, and disagreements will happen.  But they are to be resolved within the union.  And if they cannot be resolved within the union, we are to consider that they might not be resolved in a second union should divorce occur in the first union.  Thus it is really quite simple.  If you are married, do your best at staying married.  Make it a priority.  And if marriage doesn’t work out, than accept it and focus on the Lord and His work.

Why is this a difficult teaching?  Why is it important especially in today’s day and age to make sure that people don’t think that this is a law upon which there is no forgiveness should a transgression occur?

Third Thought:

In many respects, I find these verses in ironic contrast to the modern methodology that most churches employ with respect to church growth.  For many years, the largest of church denominations are only experienced church growth because their members have been having babies.  But here in this passage we hear Paul talking about the unmarried and widows would be better off being unmarried or widowed (as Paul himself is).  Paul isn’t showing any concern here for having children and continuing the biological lineage of a person or growing the church through having babies!  Hear that loud and clear, because it is a difficult yet true message of this set of verses.  For Paul, having biological children in order to preserve the lineage of a person really isn’t even a concern in life.  Paul has been focused this whole letter on developing spiritual children, not biological ones!  A person can create spiritual children regardless of whether or not they are married, widowed, or unmarried!

Is this line of thinking stunning to you?  Do you think Paul has any problem against having biological children?  Why do you think Paul is intentionally trying to draw so much attention away from sex – and even in some points marriage for the sake of having children?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:12-16

1 Corinthians 7:1-7

1 Corinthians 7:1-7

Now concerning matters about which you all wrote: it is good for a man to not marry a woman.  But because of sexually immorality, let each one have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband.  Let the man fulfill what ought to be done for his wife, and also likewise the woman to her husband.  The woman does not have authority over her own body – rather the husband.  Likewise the man does not have authority over his own body – rather the wife.  Do not be defrauded by one another – except out of a mutual agreement for a season in order that you all should devote yourselves to prayer – and then you all should be together in order that Satan should not tempt you all because of your lack of self-control.  And I say this according to a concession, not according to a command.  And I desire that all men should be as I myself am.  But each has his own gift out of God – in one case this way and in another case that way.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The advice in the opening sentence can be taken three ways.  The easiest interpretation is that when Paul says, “It is good for a man not to marry a woman” that he is actually quoting the words that the Corinthians wrote to him.  However, I don’t think this provides as deep of an understanding as is possible.  The second way to take this phrase is that Paul is setting a high bar of expectation.  Again, I don’t think that Paul is setting up a high bar and thus telling those who do marry that they are some sort of second class Christian citizen.  I believe a third understanding is important.  After all, how did we begin the last section of verses?  Remember that Paul’s point is that we need to be discerning people.  All things are permissible, but not all things are healthy in every circumstance.  Therefore we can say this.  There is nothing wrong with living a celibate life.  But that is not the only way to live, either.  For those who can live that way, it is good.  But for those who cannot, we have the rest of the verses in this passage.

Why do you think people intend to take the first verse of this chapter and make it into a higher standard?  How does our attempt to do things like this actually disrupt community?

Second Thought:

Paul says a really interesting thing in the middle of this section.  The woman is not in full authority of her own body.  The husband is not in full authority of his own body.  Remember what God says?  The two shall become one.  Marriage is not a social contract.  Marriage is not a means for two people to combine their resources and have an easier time paying bills in the world.  Marriage is a commitment to one another in which we give up of ourselves and become one new being.  If the husband is in need of physical release, then the couple is in need.  If the wife is in need, then the whole couple is in need.  When we unite ourselves in marriage, we inherently turn from a position of self-interest to a position of joint interest.  The needs of the spouse become the needs of the couple.  That is how marriage works.

How can this view of marriage bring strength to life?  What are the downsides of this view of marriage?  Why might this lead us to consider why Paul says that he wishes all people were like him – that is, able to live without succumbing to sexual impulses?

Third Thought:

When Paul says that we should not be defrauded, he is actually using the same verb that was found in 1 Corinthians 6:7.  To defraud means to deprive someone of something that is typically theirs.  It is often used in context of money and possessions, but it can be used with respect to character and persona as well.  A person can even be defrauded of their reputation.  So what is Paul saying here?  To be blunt, Paul is speaking about not using sex as a weapon.  A person should not without sex because they are trying to punish their spouse.  After all, what is the natural consequence?  Sexual urges are primal, often beyond the control of logic and reason when they are at their worst.  So when one spouse decides to defraud the other spouse – that is, to withhold sex when it is genuinely needed by the other – it throws open the door to temptation.  Paul warns us to not do this.  We should not desire to intentionally put our spouse into a place where temptation could take root and lead us into easy sinful behavior.

Where are you guilty of leading your spouse into an easy place for sin?  Is sex the only dynamic of marriage that this is possible?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:8-11

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

All things are permitted for me, but all things are not to my advantage.  All things are permitted for me, but I will not be ruled by anything.  Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.  But God will utterly destroy both of these.  The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.  And God raised the Lord and he will raise us through His power.  Have you all not known that your bodies are members of Christ?  Therefore after removing the members of Christ should I make them members of a prostitute?  Let it not be so!  Or have you not known that the one who becomes joined to a prostitute is one body?  For it is said, “The two will be one flesh.”  And the one who becomes joined to the Lord is one spirit.  Flee from sexual immorality!  Every sin that a person should do is outside the body.  But the one who commits sexual immorality sins into his own body.  Or have you not known that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit– whom you all have from God – within you all?  And are you all your own?  For you all were being bought for a price.  Therefore glorify God in your body.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul speaks about all things being permitted, but not all things are to his advantage.  Paul isn’t saying that he has carte blanche on everything in the world.  Paul is not giving permission to sin!  Rather, Paul is speaking metaphorically.  For example, take eating.  Paul can eat everything that he wants.  But he knows that while he can eat, he needs to be careful.  He shouldn’t eat things that offend the people around him.  Nor should he eat so much that he cannot go throughout the world proclaiming his message.  Or take sex.  Paul knows that sex is permitted for him, but in the circumstances of marriage.  Just because sex is permitted does not mean that all sex is permitted in every shape and form.  The same argument can be made for just about anything.  Everything is permitted, but not all circumstances make permitted actions beneficial to our life.

Can you think of another action that is beneficial in one circumstance but detrimental in another?  What does this line of thought actually say to us regarding our need to be a people of discernment rather than absolute rules?

Second Thought:

In the middle of this passage Paul talks to us about spiritual life.  He does this through the comparison of our Lord and a prostitute.  Notice his words.  The one who becomes joined to a prostitute is one body; but the one who becomes joined to the Lord is one spirit.  Paul is contrasting life in the flesh versus life in the Spirit.  He is contrasting the finite with the infinite.  He is telling the Corinthians that it is one thing to make choices for the benefit of this world: choices of physical pleasure and fleeting consequence.  But it is another thing entirely to make choices that will last into the spiritual realm: the realm of the eternal.  It is a matter of choice.  Would we rather tie ourselves to the temporal things of this life or would we rather tie ourselves to Christ and the life to come?

Where do your loyalties lie?  Are you a part of this world or the world to come?  How does this play out in your priorities?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage Paul asks a really neat question.  Are you your own person?  In other words, are you free to make your own decisions?  Are we not all bought by Christ at the cost of His own life?  If we are bought, then am I really free to do as I please in any circumstance?  No.  Paul’s teaching is clear.  While we are free from sin through Christ, we are bought by God.  We are to do His will.  We are to commit ourselves not to our own vain pursuits but rather to His will and His glory.

Are you committed to doing the will of God?  How does that live out in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 7:1-7

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Or have you all not known that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not stray from the path!  Neither the sexually immoral people nor the idolaters nor the adulterers nor the recipients of homosexual behavior nor the givers of homosexual behavior nor thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkard nor the slanderer nor the plunderer will inherit the kingdom of God.  And you all were some of these.  But you all purified yourself.  But you all were made holy.  But you all were made righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul gives an incredible list of unrighteous behavior here.  I have a few points to make about this.  First of all, this is not an exclusive list.  Second, this is not meant as a list of “if you do these things, you have no hope.”  After all, at the end of this list Paul says, “you all were doing these things!”  So clearly Paul believes that people who do such things have hope!  People can be changed.  People can have their life redeemed.  People absolutely can know a different life from the sinfulness that naturally dwells within us.

What sinfulness do you need to escape?  Do you want to escape it?  How can you?

Second Thought:

Paul uses a really neat verb at the beginning of verse 11.  And we tend to skip right over it.  The verb is: “were.”  It’s an imperfect verb, which means that he is talking about behavior that occurred in the past for a time but that it no longer is going on.  This is the power of God!  We can be in a certain unrighteous pattern of life for a time; but God can bring us out of it and change who we are!  We don’t have to be the same, we can be a new creation in Christ!

Are you a new creation?  Has Christ transformed you?

Third Thought:

Paul gives us three more neat verbs as we end this passage.  “You all purified yourselves.”  Paul isn’t saying that we get rid of our own sins as we’ll see in the next verbs.  Rather, He is saying that we come repentantly and humbly to God, ready to have Him work in our lives.  “You all were made holy.”  Notice the passive voice, indicating that we do not actually make ourselves holy but rather He makes us holy.  “You all were made righteous.”  Again we have a passive voice verb, indicating that He makes us righteous; we do not accomplish it on ourselves.  God does all the hard work.  Our job is making ourselves ready to receive His work.

Do you get caught up in whether you are saved or not?  How does this actually point to our fear of not “doing enough?”  How does this point us to an inherent unbelief that it is actually God who saves us, redeems us, and makes us holy?  Why is it more important for us to worry about if we are ready to follow Him rather than whether we’ve done enough?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Do some of you all dare – while having a legal action against another – to be judged by the unrighteous and not by the holy ones?  Or have you all not known that the holy ones will judge the world?  And if the world is being judged in you all, are you all unworthy of legal action of trivial matters?  Have you all not known that we will judge the angels – and not in matters of human existence!  Therefore, if you all should have legal action in matters of human existence, why do you all set them among these ones who have no value in the church?  I say this to your shame.  So is there not anyone in you all who is wise who will have power to judge in the midst of his brothers?  But brother is being judged with brother – and this is by ones who are unbelieving?  This is already a complete failure for you all, that you all have legal matters with each other.  For what reason do you not rather choose to be done unrighteousness?  For what reason do you not rather choose to be defrauded?  But you all do unrighteousness and you all defraud – and you all do this to brothers!

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In Jewish culture, it was typically assumed forbidden to go to the civil court to decide matters among Jews.  A Jew would not go to a Greek or Roman court to decide a matter between two Jews.  The Jewish culture would decide it among themselves.  The principle at work here is that spiritual people should be able to decide both spiritual and non-spiritual matters.  We who are genuinely following God should not need the legalism of the world to make things right.  If we are who Christ says we are, we shouldn’t need the legalism of the world.  If we need to rely on the legalism of the world, it reveals both truth about our character and truth about our community.  It reveals truth about who we are versus who Christ says we are.

Have you ever seen two followers of Christ not be able to settle their differences within the church?  Why is that harmful to the church?  Why is that harmful to our proclamation to the world?

Second Thought:

In the middle of this passage Paul makes a really neat point upon which I do not want to dwell too deeply.  When we take legal matters up with one another, we prove that we do not believe in the spiritual wisdom that God has placed in our midst.  It’s plain and simple.  When we take matters up with one another and refuse to forgive, we demonstrate our own disbelief in Matthew 18:15-20.  We make bold claims about ourselves and our community when we chose worldly justice over forgiveness.

Do you really believe in the spiritual wisdom in your midst?  Do you always live accordingly?  Why is it difficult to believe in spiritual wisdom?

Third Thought:

The last two verses in this passage are powerful.  Paul wants to know something of the Corinthians.  If they are claiming to be so spiritual, why are they so afraid of taking the higher road and allowing themselves to be done unrighteousness?  If they are claiming to be so spiritual, why are they so afraid of taking the higher road and allowing themselves to be defrauded by deception?  What is more important: to fight tooth and claw or to allow false accusations to wash over you and trust that God will sort it out to your glory in the end?  Paul knows the truth.  To fight tooth and claw will only cause deep injury and allow the world to believe that we are no better than they are.  When people come against us and see through any means to injure and defraud, often the best approach is to let it happen, move on, and let God settle the issue in the end.  One of the fundamental true principles of following a crucified Savior is that His genuine disciple will choose to be wronged rather than to do wrong.  It is a part of Christ’s DNA.  It is what led Him to the cross.  It should be a part of our DNA as well.

Do you think this is easier said than done?  Why?  Why is it so difficult to allow ourselves to be wronged and defrauded?  Can you make an argument for this being the higher road?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

I wrote to you all in my letter to not associate with sexually immoral people – by no means with sexually immoral people or the greedy people or the plunderers or the idolaters of this world, for consequently it was necessary to depart out of the world.  But now I wrote to you all to not associate with a sexually immoral person, a greedy person, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a thief while he should be called a brother – to not even eat with one such as this.  For what is it for me to judge the outsiders?  Do you all not judge the ones inside?  And God will judge the ones outside.  Get rid of the evil one out from yourselves.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

This is a bit of a neat passage in which we can meet the humanity of Paul.  It appears in reading his words that this is not the first time that Paul has written a letter to the Corinthians.  In that first letter, he apparently told the people to stay away from rampant sinfulness.  He now has to come back and correct some things.  We’ll handle his correction in the next thought.  But for now, let’s pause and reflect on what this means.  Paul wasn’t perfect.  He didn’t always say things perfectly.  He had to constantly calibrate teaching with circumstance.  There are indeed some universal truths: Jesus is God, salvation comes only through His death on the cross, and things like this.  But many other decisions – things like where to do ministry, to whom God is calling us, and how we should respond to sinfulness around us – are all far more complicated topics.  These topics require constant calibration in sensing God’s will.  It is common for teachers and disciple makers to need to go back and recalibrate often as circumstances change in ministry.

What do you think about this idea of calibrating and re-calibrating teaching?  Do you believe that there are situations in which one approach may be the godly approach but in another situation the same approach might not be the way God desires something to be done?

Second Thought:

What Paul needs to recalibrate is his teaching on rampant sinfulness.  Paul meant to say that it is wise to stay away from rampant sinfulness within the body of Christ.  After all, as Paul says here if we are to stay away from rampant sinfulness completely then we won’t be able to go out into the world at all.  If we are to stay away from rampant sinfulness everywhere how would we be able to do anything for the kingdom of Christ!  No, we need not fear the rampant sinfulness of the world.  What we need to be careful about is the rampant sinfulness within the church.  It isn’t that God cannot deal with the sinfulness.  Instead, rampant sinfulness within the body of Christ is a demonstration of a place where the Spirit of God is unable to have authority over life because the person is unwilling to submit to God.  That is what we should like to avoid.

Do you think the average Christian is more understanding of sin within the body of Christ or sin on the outside of the body of Christ?  Why do you think this is true?  How might this impact how effective our ministry to the world can be?

Third Thought:

Paul tells us that it is not our job to judge those outside the body of Christ.  It is God’s place to judge them, not ours.  We are to focus on being His body.  We are to follow Him, draw closer to Him, and go where He calls.  As for what happens outside the church, that is for Him to decide and for Him to judge.  We go in mission; He sorts out the details at the end of the age.

Do Christians like to judge those outside the church?  Why do you think this is true?  What does our desire to judge those outside the church do to our desire to do mission?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Your boasting is not good.  Have you not known that a little leaven leavens the whole dough?  Cleanse out the old leaven in order that you all should be new dough just as you all are unleavened.  For even Christ was being made our Passover Lamb.  Therefore we should celebrate the feast not in the old leaven nor in the leaven of wickedness and sinfulness but in the unleaven of sincerity and truth.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage, Paul is tying into a Jewish ritual.  Before Passover, Jewish tradition stipulates that all leaven was to be searched out through the house and cast out.  Thus, we inherently understand Paul’s desire to connect to Christ’s death as the Passover Lamb and Paul’s claim for us to be unleavened.  He is urging us to realize that with Christ’s death it is natural for us to become something new while casting out the old ways of humanity.

What is your leaven?  What in your life corrupted you in the past that if you are not careful will corrupt you as a new creation in Christ?

Second Thought:

Now that we understand Paul’s overall theme for these verses, let’s go back and pick up on some of the power.  A little leaven leavens the whole dough.  It doesn’t take much to corrupt something.  Ever get a small grain of sand in your shoe?  That’s incredibly frustrating!  Ever do a whole load of dishes and realize that you missed one single dish?  Ever weed a whole garden only to realize you missed a single weed?  This is Paul’s message.  We can be almost completely walking with God and have just a little amount of sinfulness throw us completely out of balance.

Why do you think it is often the little things that trip us up?  Why are we great at purging big amounts of sinful nature out of our life but genuinely bad at purging small amounts of sinfulness from our life?

Third Thought:

Now we are ready for the truth about the Corinthians.  It is easy to read these words about a little leaven corrupting the whole batch and immediately think that Paul is talking about the sexual offender.  Don’t get me wrong, in some respects he is.  The greater context is that very point.  But notice that Paul begins these verses by saying that the boasting of the Corinthians is not good.  The reason that sinfulness continues to exist within them is because in their boasting they have convinced themselves that they don’t have any sin among them.  They have convinced themselves that they have it all going on.  As they boast about how great their spirituality is, ironically they become more and more blind to the sin that does remain.  In this sense, the leaven that Paul is talking about is the pride of boasting that exists in the hearts of all the Corinthians.

Have you ever become blinded by your own boasting?  What is it about human pride that puts blinders over our eyes?  What can you do to prevent this?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

It is being heard that sexual immorality is actually in you all – and of such a kind of sexual immorality that is not in the Gentiles – that someone has a wife of his father!  And you all are having been arrogant!  And you all did not mourn instead in order that the one who performs these works should be removed out of your midst?  For I, on one hand while being absent to the body but on the other hand while being present in the Spirit, have already passed judgment as while being present on the one who does these things in this manner.  In the name of our Lord Jesus – after you all and my spirit are being gathered together with the power of the Lord Jesus to hand over this person to Satan into the destruction of the flesh in order that the spirit should be saved in the day of the Lord.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

There is no point beating around the bush.  Wherever human beings go, there will be sexual immorality.  We are sexual beings.  Sometimes we act out of passion instead of acting with our minds.  We cannot always control to whom we are attracted.  It’s not like the people inside the church are going to have a different humanity than the people outside the church.  We should have a different spirit, to be sure!  But we all have the same humanity, one that is corrupted by the flesh.  So it should not surprise us to hear that in one of the churches that Paul helped to establish there is sexual immorality occurring.  Neither should it surprise us to hear that Paul deals with it.

Do you think sexual immorality is an issue in today’s culture?  Do you think it is an issue about which the church should be proactive?  How?

Second Thought:

At the beginning of this passage, Paul once more digs into the Corinthians.  They have been of the opinion that they are so spiritual and completely on the same page with God.  Yet so far we have seen them actively dividing the church.  Now we hear that they are not confronting sexual sin where it should be confronted.  No wonder Paul is bewildered by them.  They are arrogant and haughty without even realizing their own short-comings.  Not that any of us are perfect, mind you.  But this really goes back to the last chapter about the life of Paul.  Paul isn’t seeking to be the top dog with the best life.  Paul is seeking truth and embracing the hardships from the world that come along the way.  None of us have any reason to be haughty.  We all have every reason to be humble and look to our own lives and our own communities to cast out the sin that is rooted within us.

Why is it easy to be haughty and arrogant at times about our own life?  How can our own internal arrogance cause us to miss what we really should be doing?

Third Thought:

Paul’s closing words in this chapter should really be measured strongly to understand what he is saying.  Paul is not telling the Corinthians to kick out the man and have nothing to do with him.  If that were the case, Paul would not tell them that his flesh would be destroyed but his spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord.  What Paul is telling them to do is to judge the fruit of the man’s life, not his motivation or his mission.  After all, how many of us can actually judge another person’s motivation?  But we can judge the fruit.  So what Paul is really saying here is that the man’s actions must indeed be handed over to Satan – and as we’ll see tomorrow the man may even need to be physically purged out of the community until repentance is evident.  But this must be done in a way that continues to demonstrate and offer salvation to him.  The goal is not to “keep the church pristine.”  The goal is to “save the man’s soul.”  That is an incredibly important distinction to make.  We have no right to bar people from our assembly because they have sinned.  We have every right to purge evil behavior from our midst while continuing to extend the invitation of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Why is this an incredibly fine and difficult line to walk?  How is it easy to get this one wrong?  What does it look like to purge someone’s behavior from your midst but still offer forgiveness and repentance?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8