1 Corinthians Chapter 7

WARNING! Chapters 6 and 7 of 1 Corinthians are explicit and are not for children's Bible study!

Above image from https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians

(1) NOW regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations.

• NOW ... questions:
  • Paul now turns to issues raised by the believers in Corinth.
• Your letter:
  • We don't know the specific questions the Corinthians asked, but we know that some concerned celibacy and marriage. Ray Stedman: "Beginning with chapter seven, Paul turns to the questions they had written to him. And they wrote about four major problems. First, there was a question about marriage; they asked Paul if it was right to be married, in view of the pressures that were around them, if perhaps they should give themselves to the service of God in an ascetic life. Although Paul himself was not married, nevertheless he told them in this section that it is best, it is good for men and women to be married, that marriage is a perfectly proper way of life, and because of the temptation to immorality, he says, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband; that was in view of the Corinthian conditions. Then he shows them that it is also right to have a single life, if God grants this as a special calling to any individual -- this is a perfectly honorable way of life. Marriage is not a necessity, though it often is an advantage, and yet it can be a problem. Paul deals very thoughtfully, helpfully, and carefully with this whole question of marriage. Then they wrote to him about three things that were troubling them; largely in the church at Corinth. First, they were worried about offending God, and about offending the conscience of the weaker brother, in the matter of eating meat that was offered to idols. Although we are no longer troubled by the problem of whether we ought to eat meat offered to idols or not, nevertheless in this section, we are confronting in principle this whole thorny issue of Christian taboos -- smoking, drinking, dancing, everything that has ever been brought up as a problem within the church that is not specifically identified as an evil in the Scriptures. What do you do about it? ... Then, they wrote also about women ... because they were involved with a very difficult problem about hats. Then the problem concerning the Lord's table."
• Abstain from sexual relations:
  • Apparently, there were some who advocated that sex was dirty, no matter what the context. Hampton Keathley IV: "Some of the Corinthians had ascetic tendencies and thought that celibacy should be practiced by believers. Paul concedes that it is indeed good to be celibate (7:1,6), and he wished that all men could have that special gift, as he did (7:7), so they could devote full-time service to God (7:34), but it was certainly not the norm and it was certainly not commanded (7:6,25). In addition, if one without the gift were to attempt to remain celibate, it might be more than they could maintain and it might lead to immorality (7:9). There is also a possibility that the participation in immorality by some married people had led them to abandon their marital duties to their spouses, or there could have been a unilateral decision by one spouse to practice abstinence, and Paul deals with that issue. Certainly, these actions were self-centered and not done with a view to ministering to the other spouse."

(2) But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

• But: Greek δὲ.
• Paul disagrees that married couples should abstain from sex. Unlike what some critics today falsely proclaim, Paul is not anti-sex; he is pro-marriage! The Lord’s provision for sex drive is marriage!
• Sexual immorality (fornication) - Strong's Greek 4202 - porneia:
  • These Christians lived in a pagan, sex-saturated society known for prostitution where having multiple wives was normal and sexual immorality was a part of pagan worship. These Christians were wondering about the issues of sex and marriage. Some were thinking sex even within Christian marriage is bad. Some were thinking that when one gets saved, they have to divorce their wives. Some were thinking they shouldn't get married.
• His own wife:
  • Notice that "wife" is singular.
  • Many Greek philosophers, including Socrates, thought it was best for men not to get married because women were so temperamental and troublesome. The Jews, however, regarded marriage as an ordinance of God. And to this day, conservative Jews hold that a man who has reached the age of twenty years and is still unmarried sins against God.
  • Hebrews 13:4: Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

(3) The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs.

• Amplified Bible: The husband must fulfill his [marital] duty to his wife [WITH GOOD WILL AND KINDNESS], and likewise the wife to her husband.
• Fulfill ... sexual needs:
  • Albert Barnes: "There is a great deal of delicacy used here by Paul, and his expression is removed as far as possible from the grossness of pagan writers. His meaning is plain; but instead of using a word to express it which would be indelicate and offensive, he uses one which is not indelicate in the slightest degree. The word which he uses (εὔνοιαν eunoian - benevolence) denotes kindness, good-will, affection of mind. He reminds them of the sacredness of their vow, and of the fact that in person, property and in every respect, they belong to each other."

(4) The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

• Authority:
  • The equal rights of husband and wife, in the Scriptures, are everywhere maintained. They are to regard themselves as united in the most intimate union.

(5) Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

• Deprive:
  • The Greek word that was translated “deprive” here is “APOSTEREO,” and it “signifies to rob, despoil, defraud” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary). This is a continuation of the point Paul started making in 1 Corinthians 7:3. Within marriage, one partner does not have the right to withhold normal sexual relationships from his or her mate. Here, Paul gave the guidelines for the only exception to this instruction. To withdraw sexually from marriage, there must be mutual consent for a limited period of time for the express purpose of seeking God through fasting and prayer. No other exceptions are given. Unfortunately, sometimes in a marriage, withholding of sex is used as a tool to punish the partner.

(6) I say this as a concession, not as a command

• Concession:
  • Paul's will sometimes comment on something as being his own opinion on the matter. Paul's point is that a healthy marriage is one where both spouses are doing their best to please each other as a priority over pleasing themselves. When that happens, it leads both spouses into a closer relationship with God and with each other.

(7) But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

• I wish everyone were single:
  • Paul is not commending the single above the married state. In the Roman/Greek world, a wife was a more like a slave, a piece of property. Often, a man had several wives. The man went to the temple of Aphrodite for sex. Paul says that a man must have one wife whom he loves. Paul lifts the slave state of womanhood to that of a partner with man in love.
• Single ... as I am:
  • Most likely, Paul was married at one time. The book of Acts indicates that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin (Acts 26:10). This was the group that put Stephen to death in Acts Chapter 7 for Stephen’s belief in Jesus. The Sanhedrin were a large group of Jewish elders that met together to decide legal cases regarding the Jewish law.One of the requirements to be on the Sanhedrin is to be married. Perhaps, when Paul got saved, his wife left him or maybe she died. The Bible is quiet on that issue.
  • Acts 26:10: Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.

(8-9) So I say to those who aren't married and to widows - it's better to stay unmarried, just as I am. But if they can't control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It's better to marry than to burn with lust.

• Marry:
  • Paul encouraged marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:2, 9, 28, and 38. He also gave a command to young widows to remarry: 1 Timothy 5:14: So I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them.

(10) But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband.

• But:
  • This verse commences the second part of their question about marriage - the possibility of divorce in a mixed marriage; i.e., where one of the married partners is a believer and the other isn't. The Lord does not want His people to divorce, and in 1 Corinthians 7:11, He said if they do, they are not to remarry.
• From the Lord:
  • The Jews of Jesus’ day saw divorce not as a kind of necessary evil, but as a right. But, God hates divorce. God never commanded men to divorce. At the very most, God reluctantly allows men to divorce for very limited reasons, due to the hardness of men's hearts. Jesus goes back to the garden and sets before His questioners God’s ideal for marriage: One man, married to the same woman, for life. What God joins together, no man should dare to separate.
  • Deuteronomy 24:1-4: “Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.
  • Malachi 2:16: "For I hate divorce!" says the LORD, the God of Israel. "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife."
  • Matthew 19:1-12: When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went down to the region of Judea east of the Jordan River. Large crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick. Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason? Haven't you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery - unless his wife has been unfaithful.” Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry! Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
• Not leave her husband:
  • Hampton Keathley IV: "Paul also deals with the situation where a believer is married to an unbeliever. In the previous section and the next section, he does not give a command, but here he does and adds that it is not his, but it is the Lord’s command. God does not want the believer to leave their mate because God’s will is not divorce. Instead, they should live with them and try to win them over to Christ. Paul adds that whatever circumstance you were in when you became a Christian, remain in them. Christianity is not designed to take us out of the world. It is to help us live in it."
  • Probably, many thought it was unlawful to live with those who were not Christians.
  • Christians are now resorting to the divorce courts nearly as often as those who profess no faith at all. When I was young, divorce was looked down on and rarely practiced, but now, divorce is not only accepted but is common. Divorce is so common, so messy and so expensive, many if not most young couples today simply forgo getting married in the first place, avoiding entanglements and permanence.
  • Seneca wrote that women were married to be divorced and divorced to be married. Cicero, in his old age, divorced his wife so he could marry a young heiress, whose trustee he was, that he might enter into her estate, in order to pay his debts.
  • Most couples seeking a divorce today do so for unbiblical reasons. They cite reasons such as poor communication, incompatibility, financial problems, lack of commitment to the relationship, changes in priorities. In short, when marriage isn't working, the common solution is to get out. Divorce is rampant in the United States, and it is rampant among Christians and non-Christians alike. There are some instances where people have married not once or twice, but three, four, five, or six times. They have had a succession of mates, a succession of children, and a succession of problems.

(11) But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

• Remain: https://www.gty.org/resources/distinctives/dd04/divorce-and-remarriage: "God providentially allows the circumstances they find themselves in when they come to Christ. If they were called while married, then they are not required to seek a divorce (even though divorce may be permitted on biblical grounds). If they were called while divorced, and cannot be reconciled to their former spouse because that spouse is an unbeliever or is remarried, then they are free to either remain single or be remarried to another believer (1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14). ... In cases where a believer obtained a divorce on unbiblical grounds and remarried, he or she is guilty of the sin of adultery until that sin is confessed (Mark 10:11-12). God does forgive that sin immediately when repentance takes place, and there is nothing in Scripture to indicate anything other than that. From that point on the believer should continue in his or her current marriage."

(12) Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.

• Not a believer:
  • Probably many supposed that it was unlawful for a Christian to be married to someone who was not a Christian. to live with those who were not Christians and they thought such a marriage should be eliminated.
• Willing to continue:
  • There might be many cases where the wife or the husband, that was not a Christian, would be so opposed to Christianity, and so violent in their opposition, that they would not be willing to live with a Christian. When this was the case, the Christian husband or wife could not prevent the separation. When this was not the case, they were not to seek a separation themselves.
  • Many years ago, the Lord used me to lead my boss, an alcoholic, to Christ. But, his wife could not stand this new Christian and divorced him - she preferred a drunk over a "religious nut." He later married a Christian woman and remained happily married to her until his death.

(13-14) And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.

• One of the probable reasons that the Corinthians desired clarification on this matter was because many of them were in mixed marriages. Their mates not only were non-Christians, but also may have been involved in worshiping other gods and in pagan sexual orgies). They questioned whether or not God wanted them united with unbelievers through marriage. Wouldn't that defile them? How would such marriages affect their children? This verse answers these questions.
• Holiness:
• Holiness means "set apart for God's use." Verse 14 says the unbelieving husband or wife is made holy (sanctified in the KJV) by the believing spouse. This does not mean the unbelieving spouse is saved. That would be contradictory to the Gospel message of individual salvation. What it does mean is that God recognizes the marriage and sets apart that family structure as being “set apart” for His use.
• Children ... holy:
  • There is a principal in the Bible that children are saved until they reach an age of accountability on their own. (Romans 7:8-9). Once the children are old enough to understand individual accountability, their salvation is now “up to them”. There is no set age of accountability. It is different for every child and is based on their upbringing and understanding. The point is there is some age at which a child, brought up in a home with at least one Christian parent is no longer saved just because they came from a Christian “set apart” home.

(15) (But if the husband or wife who isn't a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.)

• Let them go:
  • Many sincere people differ on their interpretation of what this verse means when it says that believers are “no longer bound to the other.” The liberal interpretation would be that Paul was saying they are free to remarry if their unsaved mates divorce them.

(16-20) Don't you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don't you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you? Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches. For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God's commandments. Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you.

• Circumcised:
  • All of the unbelieving Jews, as well as many of the Jewish Christians, believed that circumcision was essential for salvation. Paul said that it was “nothing” (“one of no consequence or interest” [American Heritage Dictionary]).
• Remain as you were:
  • Paul was simply stating that those who were Jews before they were born again should not renounce their Jewish heritage. Likewise, Gentiles who come to Christ do not have to become Jewish.
  • David's relationship with Bathsheba was adulterous. Yet, when he repented, God forgave him and blessed his marriage with Bathsheba to such a degree that the Lord personally named their child Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24-25), meaning “beloved of Jah” (Strong's Concordance). Likewise, marriages that were totally wrong before salvation can be sanctified (1 Corinthians 7:14) and redeemed so that they become blessed relationships.

(21-22) Are you a slave? Don't let that worry you - but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.

• Slave:
  • Slaves abounded in Greece and in every part of the pagan world. Athens had at one time 20,000 freemen, and 400,000 slaves.
• Free:
  • Those who have freedom in Christ are free indeed (John 8:32) regardless of their situation.

(23-24) God paid a high price for you, so don't be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.

• Paid a high price for you:
  • 1 Corinthians 6:20: for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
• Enslaved:
  • They were actually serving Christ, not man (Ephesians 6:5-7 and Colossians 3:22-24). When this attitude is adopted, then the bondage is removed from slavery. Christian slaves could not be forced to do what they freely offered to do.

(25) Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I will share it with you.

• Now:
• In this section, he is focusing on those who are engaged to be married. Paul makes it clear that he is giving an “opinion” on the matter of singleness. He also reminds his readers again in 7:40 that he is expressing his opinion
• Not yet married:
  • The term could refer to virgin women who were not married. The central issue would then be whether or not their fathers should give them in marriage to eligible men. (This is the view which has been widely held throughout the history of the Church.) The view adopted by many modern commentators is that the term refers to young, engaged women who were under the influence of various groups within the Corinthian church not to go through with their marriages. The central issue would then be whether the young men and women should continue with their plans and finalize their marriages.

(26) Because of the present crisis, I think it is best to remain as you are.

• Present crisis:
  • It’s much more difficult to face martyrdom if you're married. Paul sensed severe persecution was coming. In less than 10 years, Nero would be the emperor of Rome, who burned down Rome because he wanted to rebuild it later and blamed the Christians for the fire.

(27) If you have a wife, do not seek to end the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married.

• End the marriage:
  • Proverbs 18:22: "The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord."

(28-31) But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems. But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage.hose who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will SOON pass away.

• SOON:
  • 1 Corinthians was written before Acts 28:28 when the present dispensation of grace began and God put off the return of Christ until Israel repented. After 2000 years, we're still waiting for His return!

(32-40) I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible. But if a man thinks that he's treating his fiancee improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin. But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry. So the person who marries his fiancee does well, and the person who doesn't marry does even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord. But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God's Spirit when I say this.

NOTES:

• Except otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers,Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-corinthians-references.html
• Index to all our 1 Corinthian studies are at 1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/index-to-1-corinthians.html
• Index to all our studies are at oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/

1 Corinthians Chapter 5

Above image from https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians

Chapters 5 and 6 introduce a new section of the letter to us. Previous to this, the apostle has been dealing with pride and its consequences in the Corinthian assembly, and what a terrible thing was happening there because of the love of human wisdom and the love of human status. Now he turns to a related theme, but one that is somewhat different: Lust and its problems.

Deliver this Man to Satan - A Case Study in Church Discipline by Simon J. Kistemaker: "A personal translation of the paragraph of vv. 1-5: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you and of such a kind that does not even happen among the Gentiles, namely, that a man has the wife of his father. And you are arrogant! Should you not rather be grieved? Put the man who practiced this deed out of your midst. For even though I am absent in the body but present in spirit, I have already judged the man who has so committed this as if I were present. When you come together and I am with you in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, in the name of our Lord Jesus deliver this man to Satan for destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord." "Paul had been told that someone in the church had committed incest but that the members of the Corinthian church had not censured this person. In an earlier letter, Paul had warned the Corinthians not to associate with immoral people. Apparently, they had paid little if any attention to his instruction because when a man had committed incest, the church failed to act. Now Paul instructs the church to remove this man and his heinous sin from their midst. Indeed both the man, because of incest, and the church, because of failure to impose discipline, are guilty of sin before God."

(1) I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you - something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.

• Report:
• Greek: It is heard. A rumor that had been brought to Paul, probably by the members of the family of Chloe - 1 Corinthians 1:11.
• Sexual immorality:
  • The Greek word rendered sexual immorality is porneia from which the English word “pornography” is derived. The KJV renders it “fornication,” but since it involves a married woman, the wider meaning of “sexual immorality” is clearly preferable and in this case would today be called "incest."
  • Corinth and other Greek cities had no problem with sex outside of the marriage relationship. The temple of Aphrodite in Corinth was devoted to the worship of sex. Therefore, Christians were easily tempted in this area. Many of them had practiced fornication before they became Christians and it was difficult for them to break these habits. Unfortunately, fornication, pornography, adultery, homosexuality are not only accepted in this country, but even encouraged.
• Going on:
• The words “going on” denotes an ongoing sexual relationship. This man and woman are “living together” (“cohabiting,” NET).
• Pagans don't do:
• Even the pagans had heard about this relationship - making a mockery of Christianity. Cicero says of such a relationship that “it was an incredible and unheard of crime.”
• Living in sin with his stepmother:
  • No condemnation is voiced regarding the woman in this case which evidently indicates that she was not a Christian.
  • The man either
  • seduced his step-mother away from his father or
  • was living with his divorced step-mother or
  • was living with his widowed step-mother

(2) You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

• Proud:
  • The word “proud” is the translation of the Greek word phusioo, which means literally “to inflate.” The KJV’s rendering “puffed up” is, therefore, closer to the original. Although they knew of his immoral lifestyle, they accepted him in full fellowship - they were being "tolerant". They probably said to themselves, "Look how loving we are. We accept this brother just as he is. Look how open-minded we are!"
• Sorrow and shame:
  • Upon the announcement of Bill Clinton’s adultery with Monica Lewinsky, Pat Robertson said, “No Christian should rejoice in this; this is a sad day for America.” He had it right: this was a shame to America".

(3-4) Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.

(5) Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

• Over to Satan:
  • To "throw out", “hand over” (NASB, ESV), “turn” (NET, HSB), or “hand” (NRSV, NIV) a person over to Satan means to put that person out of Christian worship and fellowship by thrusting him into Satan’s realm, the world system.
  • Handing someone over to Satan is similar to what Jesus said to His disciples: treat an unrepentant sinner as a pagan or a tax collector (Matthew 18:17). The command to deliver someone to Satan has a parallel in another epistle where Paul writes about some people shipwrecking their faith: 1 Timothy 1:20: Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.
  • Here are two examples from the OT and the NT, respectively, of individuals who repented and returned to fellowship:
    • Gomer, who as Hosea's sexually immoral wife personifies Israel, exclaims, "I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now" (Hosea 2:7, NIV).
    • The prodigal son repented by confessing that he had sinned against God and against his father. Of his own volition, the son went to his parental home. This Jewish son came to his senses when he worked seven days a week herding pigs for a Gentile and was physically starving. He had broken God's commands, but confessed his sin before God. In the words of the father, the wayward son was dead; but when he returned home, he was alive again (Luke 15).
  • Sinful nature - Greek sarx :
    • The rendering “so that his sinful nature will be destroyed” raises some questions. The Greek word sarx often has the meaning of sinful human nature, but it is also used for the human body. For instance, in the statement “The Word became ‘flesh’ and made his dwelling among us,” (NIV) it would be very inappropriate to give sarx the meaning of “sinful nature.” We may safely assume that Paul’s intent was that the offender would become very ill, even close to death, to hopefully bring him to repent and call upon the Lord for forgiveness.
  • Saved:
    • The goal is this man’s repentance and restoration to fellowship with the Corinthian believers. Now, if he refuses to repent, the Lord may bring financial, emotional, and physical problems. Eventually, the Lord may have to take his physical life.

  (6) Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?

  • Yeast:
    • Leaven is yeast, and even today Jews will go through their houses and look for any form of leavened bread that may be present before they celebrate the Passover. Leaven is consistently used throughout the Scriptures as a symbol of evil and sin. Paul says the problem is that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump." Most interpreters assume that the leaven is the incestuous man. But this is not what the context says. Rather, what is infecting the congregation is their boasting about their toleration of this man.
    • Matthew 13:33: Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
    • Matthew 16:6,12: “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ... Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
    • Galatians 5:9: This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!

  (7) Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

  • Our Passover Lamb:
    • This passage proves that Paul meant to teach that Christ had “taken the place” of the Passover lamb.
    • Isaiah 53:7: He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
    • John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
    • 1 Peter 1:19: It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
    • Revelation 5:6,12: Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. ... And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered - to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

  (8-9) So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.

  • Wrote ... before:  
    • In Verse 9, Paul refers to a letter that he had written to them, a letter that evidently is lost to us. No one knows what it said other than this reference to it.
  • Associate - Greek sunanamignumi, meaning literally: “to mix up together”:
    • The Wycliffe Bible Commentary comments on this: “The thought is that of familiar fellowship. The apostle knew that some fellowship with the world must take place in the daily pursuits of life. However, the brother under discipline was to be denied fellowship, and particularly were the believers not to eat with such an one, the most obvious act of fellowship.”
    • We become like those we keep company with. Paul had warned of the dangers of fellowshipping with sinners
    • Psalm 1:1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
    • Psalm 26:4-5: I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked.
    • Proverbs 13:20: Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.
    • 1 Corinthians 15:3: Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
    • Ephesians 5:11: Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

  (10) But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.

  • Unbelievers:
    • In a previous letter, Paul had told them not to associate with immoral people and they had obviously misunderstood. He was not referring to unbelievers as they would have no witness should they isolate themselves. He was referring to immoral people in the church because they would corrupt the church and weaken its testimony.
  • Leave this world:
    • We are IN the world, but not OF the world. To be "not of the world" requires us to be free of worldly influence. This does not mean that we do not participate in government or typical social processes. It means that we do not act as the unsaved world does. This notion is consistent with the teaching of the New Testament, even if it isn’t a direct quote.
    • John 15:19: The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
    • John 17:16: They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
    • Romans 12:2: Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
    • 2 Corinthians 6:14-15: Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
    • 1 John 2:15-17: Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

  (11-12) I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

  (13) God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

  • Remove:
    • This situation was resolved: 2 Corinthians 2:5-11: I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him. I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions. When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

    NOTES:

    • Except otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
    • Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-corinthians-references.html
    • Index to all our 1 Corinthian studies are at 1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/index-to-1-corinthians.html
    • Index to all our studies are at oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/

1 Corinthians Chapter 6

WARNING! Chapters 6 and 7 of 1 Corinthians are explicit and are not for children's Bible study!

Above image from https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians

Why We Should Demonstrate Change by Jeffrey E. Miller: "'Don't do that! That's what the nonbelievers do!' I think this would be Paul's title for 1 Corinthians 6. Christians have distinguishing marks that cause us to stand out from our culture. We can be identified by our love for one another as well as our high moral standards. But it seems that the church in Corinth needed to be reminded of these things. Their arguments were being broadcast before unbelievers in court, and their conduct shared too much in common with an immoral culture. We, too, need to be reminded that the work of Christ to transform us internally will be demonstrated through external change. Our treatment of other believers should reveal our love for one another, and our purity should reflect our gratitude for the high price that God paid to purchase us."

Coffman's Commentary: "It is sometimes necessary for Christians to appear in courts for justice; Paul himself appealed to Caesar. The Rabbis taught the Jews never to take a case before the Gentiles; and there were reasons excellent enough why the Christians should have likewise stayed out of pagan courts, except through the utmost necessity. Not only were the Christians more competent in an ethical sense, but the use of pagan courts would involve oath-taking in the names of pagan deities and other practices abhorrent to Christians." Of course, the leading Rabbis had no problem turning both Christ and Paul over to Gentiles in Gentile courts!

(1) When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!

• In reading this verse about not taking a fellow Christian to the civil courts to settle a dispute, remember that, there was only one "church" in Corinth and it was small enough to meet in homes! Therefore, settling a dispute would be possible between two members of the same "church." Today, there are many churches and denominations and the dispute might between members of different "churches". They still should seek to find an independent Christian to help settle the dispute, but that may not be feasible. Also, bear in mind that this is not about criminal cases.
• Dispute:
• The word used for “dispute” in verse 1 is the Greek pragma – from which we get our word “pragmatic.” It means a dispute about ordinary matters – usually a commercial dispute.
• Paul’s point is that Christians have been “set apart” for God's purpose and should not behave like the unbelievers around them.
• William Barclay describes how normal it was to be involved in the legal system in Corinth: "The Greeks were naturally and characteristically a litigious people. The law-courts were in fact one of their chief amusements and entertainment...In a Greek city every man was more or less a lawyer and spent a very great part of his time either deciding or listening to law cases. The Greeks were in fact famous, or notorious, for their love of going to law. Not unnaturally, certain of the Greeks had brought their litigious tendencies into the Christian church; and Paul was shocked."
• Acts 18 tells us that in the city of Corinth during Paul's time there, the Jews had dragged him before the proconsul, a man named Gallio, and accused him of treason, of preaching a religion that would undermine Rome. Gallio listened to it and said, "No, this is a minor religious dispute. This has no place in a court of law." So, Paul himself benefited from the Roman legal system.
• Acts 18:14-16: But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case.  But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.” And he threw them out of the courtroom.
• Lawsuit:
  • Paul now deals with another problem in the church in Corinth - going to pagan civil courts instead of settling disputes amongst themselves. This would give a bad witness to the pagan world.
  • Two Christians should not stand before Judge Judy, a secular Jew, besmirching Christianity!
  • The Jews usually settled things in front of the important men in their village or the important men in a synagogue because they thought that it was wrong to go to a pagan law court. As a Jew, and even more as a Christian, Paul strongly felt that their appealing their disputes before a Gentile.

(2) DON'T YOU REALIZE that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?

• DON'T YOU REALIZE:
• The expression "Don't you realize" or "Do you not know" appears six times in this chapter (Verses 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19) and only twice in all the other of Paul's writings.
• Coffman in his commentary believed that the words are a sarcastic reference by Paul to the Corinthians' conceited arrogance.
• Farrar in The Pulpit Commentary says that "(these words) are a fitting rebuke for those who took for knowledge their obvious ignorance."
• Judge the world (Greek kosmos):
  • Scofield: "The Greek word kosmos means "order," "arrangement." When used in the New Testament, it usually refers to organized humanity. The word for chaotic, unorganized humanity -- the mere mass of man is thalassa, the "sea" of men (e.g.) Revelation 13:1."
  • 2 Peter 2:9: So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

(3) DON'T YOU REALIZE that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.

• Judge angels:
  • http://www.gotquestions.org/judge-angels.html: Most likely, the meaning of this passage is that believers in heaven will take part in the judgment of the fallen angels and exercise some authority over the holy angels. Christ has been exalted above all the angels, and it seems reasonable that those who are in Him and made in His likeness will share in His authority, including His authority over the angels.
  • 2 Peter 2:4: For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.
  • Jude 6: And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.

(4) If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?

• Disputes:
• The word translated “disputes” in verse four is different from the word in verse 1 where it was pragma – here it is kriterion, from which we get our word “criterion.” The subtle meaning is that we are to apply criteria, or standards, to such disputes.
• Outside judges: 
  • The pagan magistrates were usually very corrupt and easily bribed. Josephus says that the Romans normally permitted the Jews to decide private affairs among themselves. And Dr. Lardner observes, that the Christians might have availed themselves of this permission to have settled their disputes in the same manner.

(5) I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?

• Shame:
  • 1 Corinthians 1:27: Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
• Wise:
  • 1 Corinthians 3:18: Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.
  • 1 Corinthians 4:10: Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:19: After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!

(6-8) But instead, one believer sues another - right in front of unbelievers! Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.

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A new section begins here about sexual sin and would have been a better place for the translators to begin a new chapter to be combined with chapter 7. I strongly recommend reading the article What are bodies for? by Ray Stedman at www.pbc.org/system/message_files/4841/3585.pdf which covers this subject extremely well. This section, as well as chapter 7, is not suitable for youngsters.

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(9) DON'T YOU REALIZE that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who INDULGE in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,

• Do wrong:
  • If we read this without thought, we would have to conclude that no one can be saved and no one can "inherit" the Kingdom of God, because we all do wrong (unrighteous) in the KJV! So, we must be missing the point! But, we have been changed from being unrighteous to righteous by the blood of Christ.
  • So, what's the connection between going before Gentile courts and Paul's list of sinners? The Christian who sued his fellow Christian is in court with fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, murderers, etc. and none of those who live characterized by these sins will inherit the kingdom of God. In fact, the judge himself is most likely guilty of these very sins.
  • Verse 11 clearly teaches that these types of sins should be in the Christian’s past, not in their present. The Christian community in Corinth was made up of people who were in their past idolaters, thieves, adulterers, fornicators, etc. However, these sins are not how they are characterized now, because they have been transformed by the gospel. The transformation of the gospel is Paul’s main point in this section. It is the best way of understanding how verses 1-8 flow into verses 9-20. The gospel transforms our actions and who we are. This is why urges them not to bring fellow Christians to court. It is also why we no longer practice these listed sins.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:21: Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.
  • Galatians 5:19-21: When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
• Kingdom of God:
  • Occurs four times in 1 Corinthians: 1:9, 1:10, 4:20, 15:50.
  • We shouldn't think that a Christian who has committed an act of fornication or homosexuality (or any of the other listed sins) is automatically excluded from the kingdom of God. Instead, since Paul describes these people by their sins, he means those whose lives are dominated and characterized by these sins. So, is an occasional act of fornication or homosexuality no big deal to God? Of course it is a significant matter, because it goes against everything we have been given in Jesus, and because a lifestyle of sin begins with single acts of sin.
• Don’t fool yourselves:
• Someone was trying to deceive them into thinking that there is no judgment coming on these behaviors. They were in danger of falling into the trap of thinking that God does not care if you sin. Perhaps they assumed that, since God forgives sin, it is okay to sin a lot. Such thinking is a deception.
• 1 Corinthians 15:32-34: And what value was there in fighting wild beasts - those people of Ephesus - if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
  • Paul is saying that there were some among them who were not believers, had not repented of their past life and turned their lives over to Christ - just as today we find "pretenders" in the pews often completely unaware of their lost condition because they've deceived themselves. Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5 urges them to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"
• Galatians 6:7-8: Don’t be misled - you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
• Ephesians 5:5-6: You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.
• Sexual sin:
• The temple of Aphrodite dominated Corinth. Halley's Handbook: "A thousand public prostitutes, kept at public expense, were always ready (in the temple) for immoral indulgence as worship to their goddess!" In such an atmosphere, some of the Corinthians were finding it difficult to adjust to the strict code of Christian morality."
• Commit adultery:
  • Adultery is the Greek term moichos, which refers to extramarital sexual unfaithfulness. This is the only place it is used in the Corinthian letters.
  • Proverbs 6:25-32: Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.
• Male prostitutes:
• Macknight in his commentary: "This word is translated from a Greek word meaning "catamite," the technical word for a boy used in pederasty. Those wretches who suffered this abuse were likewise called pathics, and affected the dress and behavior of women." Catamites were the passive partners in sodomy.
• Homosexuality:
  • What about churches which not only condone this sin, but have actually ordained homosexuals to the ministry? Homosexuality was rampant in the Roman world; 14 out of the first 15 Roman emperors were bisexual or homosexual. Nero castrated a boy named Sporus and then married him (with a full wedding ceremony), brought him to the palace with a great procession, and made the boy his "wife." Later, the emperor lived with another man, and Nero was declared to be the other man's "wife."
  • William Barclay in his The Letters to the Corinthians: "In this particular vice in the time of the early church, the world was lost to shame; and there can be little doubt that that was one of the main causes of its degeneracy and the final collapse of its civilization." Take a look at America and Europe today and you can see how we are increasingly looking like the Roman Empire.

(10-11) or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you WERE once like that. But you WERE cleansed; you WERE made holy; you WERE made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• Notice the order:
1. Cleansed (washed),
2. Made holy (sanctified),
3. Made right (justified).
• WERE once like that:
  • Paul placed an emphasis on the word “WERE.” He was contrasting their previous condition with their current righteous position in Christ. Was this because they had ceased committing all these sins? Obviously not!
  • Ephesians 2:1-2, 5:8: Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ... For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
  • Colossians 3:7: You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
  • Titus 3:3: Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.
• Cleansed (washed):
  • This is not water baptism, but is what had been done by God when He washed away this filth in our life when we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. Paul here uses three words, “cleansed (washed), made holy (sanctified), made right (justified),” to denote the various agencies of the Holy Spirit by which they had been recovered from sin. By the agency of the Spirit the defilement of these pollutions had been washed away or removed. The words "made whiter than snow" still ring in my ears from the day when I was saved as a child.
  • Titus 3:5: he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
  • Hebrews 10:22: let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
• Made holy (sanctified) - Greek hagios:
• Sanctified means "set apart for a special use." This denotes the progressive and continuing process of purifying in the Christian. It does not mean that the Corinthians were perfect - they clearly were not; but that the work of the Holy Spirit was in the continuing process of sanctifying them.
• John 17:17: Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
• Made right, declared righteous, (justified) - Greek dikaioó:
• "Justified" is the act of declaring that a person or thing is righteous. The act of justification does not MAKE a person righteous. It is merely a declaration that he IS righteous. People are justified when they believe.
• George Whitefield, Justification by Christ: " "But ye are justified," says the apostle; which is, as though he had said, you have your sins forgiven, and are looked upon by God as though you never had offended him at all: for that is the meaning of the word justified, in almost all the passages of holy scripture where this word is mentioned. Thus, when this same apostle writes to the Romans, he tells them, that "whom God called, those he also justified:" And that this word justified, implies a blotting out of all our transgressions, is manifest from what follows, "them he also glorified," which could not be if a justified person was not looked upon by God, as though he never had offended him at all. And again, speaking of Abraham's faith, he tells them, that "Abraham believed on Him that justifies the ungodly," who acquits and clears the ungodly man; for it is a law-term, and alludes to a judge acquitting an accused criminal of the thing laid to his charge. Which expression the apostle himself explains by a quotation out of the Psalms: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin." From all which proofs, and many others that might be urged, it is evident, that by being justified, we are to understand, being so acquitted in the sight of God as to be looked upon as though we never had offended him at all."
• Romans 1:17: This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
• Romans 3:25: For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
• Romans 4:3-5: For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
• Romans 8:30: And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing (justified), he gave them his glory.

(12) You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

• What are Bodies For? by Ray Stedman: "Notice in verses 12 and 13 the quotation marks that are in the New Living Translation, the Revised Standard Version, the New English Bible and some of the other modern versions around the words "I am allowed to do anything." This is the editors' way of showing that they felt this was something these people had written to Paul about and were saying constantly within the church. And it is very likely that Paul had said something like this, because this was part of his teaching about the grace of God: "All things are lawful for us." The difference between legalism and true Christianity is right at that point. The legalist looks at life and he says, "Everything is wrong unless you can prove from a verse of Scripture that it is right." That is legalism. It is a negative approach to life; it clamps a prohibitive hand upon everything that is fun and says it is all either illegal, immoral or fattening. But New Testament Christianity comes at it differently. It says everything is right: God made the earth and everything in it and everything is right except what the Word of God labels is wrong. That is an entirely different point of view, opening the whole world to exploration and discovery and enjoyment, except for a very limited part that Scripture clearly labels wrong. Now this is what these people were doing -- they were quoting Paul in this regard. They were saying, "Paul himself said 'All things are lawful for me.'" And so Paul begins to answer that now with this paragraph recognizing their quotations. Notice how he answers it. Their argument sounded very familiar, and it should sound very familiar to us today. They were saying that sexual freedom, i.e., sex outside of marriage, is theologically sound. Their argument probably went something like this: "The Law of Moses is what tells us that it is wrong to commit adultery." ("Adultery" there is a broad word referring to any kind of sexual wrongness.) They would say, "The Law of Moses says, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' but Paul taught us that when Christ came into our life the Law ended its reign. We are no longer under the Law, we are no longer under this commandment not to commit adultery, therefore, by Paul's own words, we are free to indulge in some of these sexual practices here that are so widely accepted in Corinth." Now notice how Paul answers this: First, notice what he does not do. He does not come in and say, "Now that you are a Christian we have a new rule here for you. You must not do such and such, and such and such." Paul never does that; he never retreats into legalism. What he does is say, "Yes, you are right, but you need to understand that truth must always be balanced." And in this section he sets forth the balancing of truth. Balancing truth is like walking along the top of a fence. When I was a boy I used to enjoy walking along the back fences in the city of Denver. I could go for blocks on the back alleys just walking on them. I enjoyed doing it, but it was a very narrow path. And Jesus said that was what the Christian life would be like. He called it "the straight and narrow way," {cf, Matt 7:14}. The problem is to keep from falling off, and the interesting thing about that is you can fall off on either side. It does not make any difference -- either side is equally dangerous, it is the same distance down. Therefore, Christians ought to constantly remember that the pathway of liberty is always narrow. It is a wonderful path; it is a freeing and exhilarating walk, but it is not very wide, and you can easily fall off into one error or the other. I remind you again of C. S. Lewis' great admonition to us that Satan always sends error into the world in pairs which are opposites. His great hope is that you will get so upset about one of these errors that you will fall off the fence into the other one and then he has got you."
• Allowed:
  • Apparently, some Christians in Corinth were excusing their sins by saying that Christ had taken away all sin thus allowing them to leave as they please. Paul was free in Christ to do as he wished, but he chose not to do those things that gave Satan opportunity in his life. The liberty we enjoy in Christ is freedom from the guilt of sins, not the freedom to sin.
  • Galatians 5:1,13: So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. ... For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
• Good for you:
  • 1 Corinthians 10:23: You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is beneficial.
• Become a slave:
  • Don't ask, "Am I allowed to do this as a Christian?" Instead ask, "Am I a slave to this? Is this food or drink or sex or hobby or work becoming my master instead of my servant?" Sexual sin is certainly one of the most enslaving forms of sin there is. The more we indulge, the more likely we are to do so again - it can be addictive, like drugs, alcohol and tobacco. In our society today, sex is thrown at us from every direction - movies, internet, store displays, TV and even billboards. Our society today tells us, "if it feels good, do it." Then, our society wonders why the divorce rate is so high, why premarital sex is so common, why our colleges are centers of sex and drugs, why the drug addiction problem is so huge, why the crime rate keeps climbing! So, the politicians come up with programs to solve these problems, only making things even worse.

(13) You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

• Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.
• Again, notice the quotation marks! Some Corinthians must have argued that fornication was justified as a satisfying of a bodily urge just as eating satisfied bodily hunger. The idea seems to be that just as the stomach hungers for food and it's right to satisfy hunger with food, the human sexual drive can also rightly be satisfied without restraints. Paul contends that this “logic” is faulty because while the stomach was made for food, the Christian’s body is made for service to the Lord, not for fornication.
• The Corinthian Christians probably used this motto to justify giving their bodies whatever their bodies wanted. "My body wants food, so I eat. My body wants sex, so I hire a prostitute or go to bed with my girlfriend. What's the problem?"
• Matthew 4:3-4: During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
• Romans 14:14-23: I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
• Bodies:
• Romans 12:1-2: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
• Sexual immorality:
  • Some of the Corinthians had a view of the body that made what they did with it morally indifferent. In 1 Corinthians 5:2, they actually boasted about an act of incest in the church. In 11:21, some of them even got drunk at the Lord's Supper. They believed that they could eat and drink and have sex any way they wanted because the body is morally irrelevant.
  • Morris: "God did not design the body for fornication as He did the belly for food."
  • Lenski: "In the matter of sex the entire body is involved, and we may add the entire mental constitution . . . Marriage does not destroy the spiritual relation of the body to Christ and of Christ to the body; fornication does destroy that relation."
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5: God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor - not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.

(14) And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

• Raise us from the dead:
  • The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians goes into great detail about this. There is a physical body, and there is a spiritual body. The physical body must die for the spiritual body to live.
  • Morris: "Meats are for the belly and the belly for meats, and the destiny of both is destruction. The body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and resurrection is postulated of both."
  • Philippians 3:21: He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

(15) DON'T YOU REALIZE that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!

• DON'T YOU REALIZE:
• For the fourth time in this chapter (see verses 2,3,9) Paul says: "You know, don't you, that, etc." This implies that Paul merely reminds them of a principle which they already know. A "don't you" question expects a positive answer.
• Bodies ... parts of Christ:
  • 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27: The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ... All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
  • Ephesians 1:23: And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
  • Ephesians 4:15-16: Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
• Prostitute:
  • While the emphasis is on prostitution, he also condemns all sexual sin in this chapter.

(16) DON'T YOU REALIZE that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”

• Prostitute:
  • Warren Wiersbe, Be Wise, pg. 69: "Paul had dealt with the problem of incest and their inability to judge the offender in 5:1-13. That led to a discussion of having unbelievers judge church members (6:1-8), but Paul returns to his topic of sexual immorality. Evidently some of the Corinthians were going to prostitutes and they were probably appealing their right to do so because of their liberty in Christ, but they had a false view of Christian freedom."
  • What are Bodies For? by Ray Stedman: "It is almost frightening to see how certain leaders of the church are now openly advocating sexual immoralities, and certain of the pastors and leaders of youth groups in the church are openly encouraging young people to sleep together, and to live together. Now, at the time this letter was written, the atmosphere was such that sexual immorality was widely accepted within the city as the normal way of life. Within the church, however, it is absolutely set aside as being totally incongruous with the Christian profession, because it was a violation of the humanity of the individuals involved. The love of God burned in zealous judgment against this because it was destroying and would destroy those involved in it. That is why the apostle speaks in such scathing words concerning this matter. Chapters five and six both deal with this matter of immorality, and the apostle points out that the defense of the Christian must not be derived from any moral standards outside himself -- it is not "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not" that keeps young people or older people free from sexual problems and pressures, but rather it is the recognition that their bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. The Son of God himself dwells in us, and we are never out of his presence. Everywhere we go, he goes with us, and is in us, and, in that sense, everything we are doing is done in the presence of the Son of God himself. That is what keeps the young person free from the pressures that come."
• One:
  • Vine’s Expository Dictionary: "The Greek word that was translated “one” here is “heis” and it means “a single (one), to the exclusion of others”. It is the same word that was used twice in 1 Timothy 2:5 to say, For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man Christ Jesus.” We don’t have multiple Gods. There is just one God. Likewise, when we are born again, our new spirits become one with God’s Spirit."
• For:
  • God views intercourse as involving the whole person, not just the body. A physical union takes place that symbolizes the spiritual union of a husband and wife in marriage. Sexual relations very deeply affect the inner conditions of the individuals involved. This is what is in view in the reference to two people becoming "one flesh" in Genesis 2:24. Consequently it is improper to put sexual relations on the same level of significance as eating food.
• The two are united into one: This concept applies not only to marriage but to relations with prostitutes, sleeping with someone who is not your wife (or husband), sleeping with a boyfriend or girlfriend or even a fiancé or fiancéé (premarital sex).

(17-18) But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

• Run:
• We are not instructed to resist, but to run from sexual sin. Joseph did not hesitate resisting Potiphar's wife - he ran. Sin is easier to avoid than it is to resist. How many churches have been destroyed when the preacher ran off with the secretary?
• Ray Stedman: "That is Paul's apostolic advice as to how to handle the arousal of sexual desire when it is not able to be expressed within the proper terms of marriage. "Get out of there," Paul says. "Don't fool around with it; don't play with it. Get away from it; take to your heels." If you are in a parked car and you are beginning to get aroused, start the engine and drive home. If you are reading a magazine and you turn across something smutty, drop it, discard it, get rid of it. If you are watching television and it turns toward this and you find yourself dealing with these things, change the channel or go read a good book or something else. "Flee immorality" -- that is the advice everywhere in the Bible. Do not try to fight with it; do not try to overcome it; do not try to suppress it. Get away. That is all. These are subtle, powerful forces, and the widespread destruction we see in lives around us is ample testimony to the subtlety with which they can come at us"
• Sexual sin:
  • The fornicator has only one thing in mind: to satisfy his desire. He does not even care about the woman or what happens to her.
  • Bengel: "The body of a fornicator is more debased by his deed, than even the corpse of one slain by his own hand."
• Sin against the body:
  • Robertson and Plummer's Commentary on 1 Corinthians: "To sin against one's own body is to defraud it of its part in Christ, to cut it off from its eternal destiny. This is what fornication does in a unique degree . . . What St Paul asserts of fornication he denies of every other sin . . . All other sins are outside the body, in the sense that they do not as directly as fornication does, alienate the body from Christ, its Life and its Goal."

(19) Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

• Temple - Greek naos:
  • The general Greek word for “temple” is “hieron” and is translated so seventy-one times in the New Testament. This word includes the idea of the entire temple precincts. But the Greek word translated “temple” here (as well as forty-two other times in the N.T.) is “naos” and refers to the inner sanctuary, the place of the Ark of the Covenant, God’s dwelling place - the Holy of Holies!
  • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?  God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
• You do not belong to yourself:
  • The last six words of this verse are emphatic.
  • Romans 14:7-8: For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

(20) for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

• God bought you:
  • "Bought with a Price" by C. H. Spurgeon: "Death is a word of horror to the ungodly. The righteous hath hope in his death; but as Christ's death was the substitute for the death of the ungodly, he was made a curse for us, and the presence of God was denied him. His death was attended with unusual darkness; he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" O think ye earnestly on this. The Ever-living died to redeem us; the Only Begotten bowed his head in agony, and was laid in the grave that we might be saved. Ye are bought then "with a price" - a price incalculable, stupendous, infinite, and this is the plea which the apostle uses to urge upon us that we should "be holiness to the Lord." ... "Recollect, again, that your being "bought with a price" will be the most important fact in all your future existence. What say they in heaven when they sing? They would naturally select the noblest topic and that which most engrosses their minds, and yet in the whole range of their memory they find no theme so absorbing as this: "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." Redeeming love is the theme of heaven. When you reach the upper realms your most important memory will not be that you were wealthy or poor in this life, nor the fact that you sickened and died, but that you were "bought with a price.""
  • Matthew 20:28: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
  • Acts 20:28: “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock - his church, purchased with his own blood - over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:23: God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.
  • 1 Peter 1:18-19: For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
  • Revelation 5:9: And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
• Honor God with your body:
  • The Interpretation of I Corinthians by R. C. H. Lenski: "To glorify God in our body means so to use our earthly body that men may actually see that also these our bodies belong to God."
  • Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians: by F. W. Grosheide : "The main subject is no doubt the matter of fornication . . . With this subject Paul combines two more general points. For it first of all furnishes an occasion to condemn the Corinthians for making the rule 'all things are lawful for me' a starting point for their general conduct. Secondly, the apostle ends with the summons to seek through the body the glory of God alone."

SUMMATION:

We live in an era of sexual permissiveness. I have seen this era grow and develop throughout most of my life. I became an adult in the 60's when what was termed as the sexual revolution came on the scene and promised to set people free to enjoy their sexuality. Instead it had just the opposite effect:

• Homosexuality and its resulting diseases have spread like wildfire. There are entire countries today in which the majority of the population are infected with HIV.
• Abortions and single mothers have become the accepted norm.
• Pornography need not be sold on the street corner or at the local food mart; it is also freely available on the internet and is delivered unsolicited to people’s E-mail.
• Divorce has become a way of life while the exceptions to the rule have become those who remain faithfully married for life.

APPLICATION:
Christians should be pure. They should be above suspicion. They should avoid the appearance of evil. May we remember that we are not our own - We belong to God. Christians should do nothing that will tend to injure the cause of religion in the eye of the world.

NOTES:

• Except otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers,Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-corinthians-references.html
• Index to all our 1 Corinthian studies are at 1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/index-to-1-corinthians.html
• Index to all our studies are at oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/