Review:

• We left off at the 1st 9 verses in Chapter 7 where Paul was encouraging married people to have sex with each other and no one else (inside of marriage).
• Remember there were a group of people who were promoting celibacy at the time.
• I realize in this room we have married people, we have divorced people, we have remarried people, we have widows/widowers and we have single people.
• We are not viewed based upon our marital status but viewed based upon our identity in Jesus.
• There is no condemnation here so don’t start feeling uncomfortable here… just process with us.
  
  

ABOUT MARRIED PEOPLE
1 CORINTHIANS 7
10 To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to divorce his wife.

• Paul is literally saying, “work things out”
• Top 3 reasons for divorce…
• These are only symptoms… root issue is selfishness.

12 But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband.

• Now we are talking about mixed marriages in faith.

14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.

• This has to be referring to behavior and not salvation.
• Because the next verses are in reference to salvation.
• The influence of one’s nature (whether sinful or new) has a great impact on others in the house.
• Generational sin vs generational holiness
• My Mother had a great impact on the behavior of her family.
• They respected her enough to behave one way when they were around her and another way when they were not around her.
• They knew the difference.
• Again, it comes down to selfishness – “What I want, when I want it.”
• “What you want when you want it.” Will destroy you.
• “I don’t want to do that.” Will destroy you.
• Jesus came to say life is about others.
• It only came down to it being about Jesus because he gave every ounce of His life to others.

15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.

• Jesus’ “exception clause” in Matthew 19:19 (adultery or sexual unfaithfulness)
• This wasn’t even in Jesus’ teachings on divorce (Jesus taught in Mark 10, in the parallel passage in Matt 19, and in a shorter segment of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5: Marriage is designed to be for life.[1])

16 Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

• A husband or wife cannot actually save (in faith) their spouse but they can definitely lead/point them to salvation… usually through much prayer and modeling.

 
VARIOUS SITUATIONS OF LIFE
17 Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.

• “Blossom where you are planted”
• Just because you become a believer in Jesus, doesn’t mean you have to change your current situation.
• Learn how to live out of your new heart in your present situation (unless it is immoral or unethical… then the Spirit will lead you out of that… possibly).

18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision.

• Young Jewish boys who had been dispersed among the Greeks competed in Athletics in the nude.
• Epispasm – grafting of skin around the penis.
• The whole purpose of circumcision was because it signified something that could not be undone.

Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters.

• The certain amount of skin around one’s private parts has nothing to do with one’s obedience to God[2]
• How does one keep God’s commands?
• Naturally… new nature… want to… walk by the Spirit.

20 Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity. 22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise, he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.

• You are free to be free.
• Paul is not saying that you must always stay a slave because you were when you received salvation.
• If you have opportunity to be free (from a specific job) then take it.

24 Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

• “Blossom where you are planted” again.

 
ABOUT THE UNMARRIED AND WIDOWS
25 Now about virgins (celibacy): I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is faithful.

• Paul never heard anything from Jesus’ teachings (that was revealed to him) anything concerning virgins or practicing of celibacy.
• But he does affirm the Spirit leading him to speak his opinion about this specific issue.

26 Because of the present distress, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

• Married or single.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

• Paul is not saying that if you get married, you are going to have trouble… and he is trying to warn them.
• He explains his thought process.

29 This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, 31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.

• Paul is all about the return of Jesus be imminent.
• What we do in our personal lives is secondary to the mission of the Good News.

32 I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife--34 and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

• Paul is highly recommending those who are single and have undivided time to devote themselves to the things of the Lord because He is returning soon.

 
36 If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age (peak) for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.

• This statement is made in relation to the pro-celibacy community.
• They had an agenda and were being aggressive with it.
• Shaming people who were marrying.

37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. 38 So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better.

• This sounds like Paul is affirming the pro-celibacy campaign but in actuality he is supporting his own life decisions.

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.

• Remember that Christianity is new to the people.
• This is one of the issues with this whole discussion.
• They were coming believers after their marriage.
• But if a believer becomes widowed they should marry someone in the faith.

40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion.

• Again, Paul is saying, “I never heard Jesus teach this… but I am listening to the Spirit inside of me.”

And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.[3]

• The pro-celibacy people were saying they were led by God to promote this way of life.
• Paul is simply saying, “I am pretty sure I can hear the Spirit of God as well.”

 

• But why these two exceptional cases?
• It may be that they both relate to what constitutes a marriage in God’s eyes, going right back to Gen 2:24: “A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife”—the transfer of ultimate human allegiance from parents to spouse—“and the two will become one flesh” (the unique sexual intimacy that follows).
• Adultery destroys the second of those two criteria.
• Abandonment with no intention to return destroys the first.
• It may be, therefore, that Jesus and Paul recognized that they really aren’t giving permission for divorce; they’re merely acknowledging that in these two situations, a rupture so serious has occurred that the marriage does not necessarily continue to exist, even if legally it does until papers are served[4]
• Divorce happens long before legal papers are signed.
• We are prone to think that a change in circumstances is always the answer to a problem.
• But the problem is usually within us and not around us.
• The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.
• I have watched couples go through divorce and seek happiness in new circumstances, only to discover that they carried their problems with them.
• A Christian lawyer once told me, “About the only people who profit from divorces are the attorneys!”[5]

 

• If Jesus were intending to give a comprehensive list of all legitimate reasons for divorce, then Paul contradicts Him by adding one.
• And if Paul were intending to give a comprehensive list of all possible reasons for divorce, then he failed to acknowledge the one that Jesus already gave.
• This discloses that we can’t say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there are no other situations where a divorce might not be the lesser of evils, and if we were to ask when such situations might be, we would want to look for a situation where, in reality a marriage is beyond repair.
• Very, very often one individual looking for a divorce makes that claim, when many people close to the individual can see all kinds of possible ways that there could be reconciliation and there could be intervention and there could be transformation.
• As a Christian leader… and pastor, I am always cautious to not endorse a divorce, and certainly if the two biblical criteria are not met.
• But on the other hand, we need to leave the door open for the possibility that there may on occasion be extreme situations where that is the case, and the person making the decision is the one who has to answer before God, not we ourselves.
• We lay out the Scripture’s teaching as best as we can, and we leave them to make a decision. And in those tough instances, we offer our support for them, however they decide.[6]

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 7:10–40). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 592). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Review:

• In Chapter 5 Paul was dealing with the difficult issue of incest that had been accepted not only by society but also the Church.
• The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city.
• Not only did the unsaved know about the immorality in the assembly, but they were also aware of the lawsuits involving members of the church.[1]
  
  

LAWSUITS AMONG BELIEVERS
1 CORINTHIANS 6
1 If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?

• This in reference to a judgment to come.
• This final judgment is way more important than the trivial matters you are dealing with here.
• If they are going to be able to do the future judgment, surely they can figure out a way to deal with these trivial issues without suing.

4 So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers?

• Paul is questioning about taking their matters to a secular world rather than dealing with them inside the church where there are common beliefs and standards.

6 Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!

• Most likely a territorial dispute between Christian brothers.
• These lawsuits weren’t for the purpose of receiving money as much as they were to publicly shame others.
• This was a society that pride and shame were more important than financial prosperity.
• The wealthy would often sue other wealthy people and many times the poor.
• The poor were never allowed to sue the wealthy.

7 As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters!

• “Well, because I don’t get any justice that way.”
• Bingo! The gospel is not about entitlement.
• It’s not about demanding one’s rights; it’s about relinquishing them for the sake of others.
• Nothing is said in this passage about complaint with a non-Christian.
• Nothing is said in this passage about defending the rights of others, even other believers who have been wronged.
• Those may be very appropriate processes and priorities.
• But if the sole purpose of initiating litigation is for my own benefit and to put someone else down, the lost world recognizes that when we do it in their system, and there’s no way that the gospel ministry is advanced.[2]
• But doesn’t that make us a “doormat” to society and to one another?
• I wouldn’t exactly call Jesus, who came to serve, wash feet, heal the broken and literally lay down His life for the world as a doormat.

 

• The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city.
• Not only did the unsaved know about the immorality in the assembly, but they were also aware of the lawsuits involving members of the church.

9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom?

• “Unrighteous”, “evil doers”, “wicked”, “unjust”, “Those who do wrong” – Noun
• There are those who make a profession of faith, and yet continue to live for years, perhaps their entire life, not struggling against sin, not making spiritual progress and growing in holiness, but having lapses, and at times even serious lapses, maybe a period of backsliding.
• But there are others who seemingly make a profession of faith, but from the perspective of outsiders, it never seems to create change—lasting, substantial change.[3]
• When Paul uses a noun, not a verb that refers to one action or series of actions, but he uses a noun—those who are “evildoers” would be another way of translating “wrongdoers”—that this is the term that defines their life, that that is inconsistent with a profession of faith that would lead to inheriting God’s kingdom, living reconciled with God in this life, and with God and His people for all eternity.[4]
• Have you ever thought about your lifestyle and how it defines you? What the world judges you by.
• Bill Gates, Mel Gibson, Ellen, Amy Coney Barrett, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, King David, Job, Rusty Kennedy.
• What defines you?

Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.

• this is their characteristic lifestyle.
• Verses 9–11, in short, teach that the consistently wicked are not Christians.
• We need to love people trapped in these lifestyles, but we cannot celebrate, we cannot justify it.
• We cannot say it’s consistent with God’s words or with His desires for humanity.
• And much of this is because, for the first time in human history, our generation has turned sexual expression into a right, rather than the privilege.
• Most of these issues Paul has listed stemmed from pride.
• Wanting more than they are given.
• The theme of simply wanting what I want, when I want it, how I want it, without thought for others, without any sense of delayed gratification, in flagrant violation of God’s laws and principles[5]

11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• Clarifying their identity in Christ at this point.
• Holy, sanctified – set apart from the rest of the wicked world.

 
GLORIFYING GOD IN BODY AND SPIRIT
12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

• This is where the grace message gets distorted.
• Paul’s message was one that cleared them from following Mosaic Law (God’s Law).
• God’s Law was used as a tutor to show people that they needed a Savior.
• You can make a list of sins (wrong doings) and identify that all have sinned.
• As Gentiles, you were never even placed under God’s Laws even though we can read about them.
• But now, as believers, you have been transformed into a new creation.
• He removed your old stone heart and replaced it with a heart of flesh.
• Your dead spirit has been made alive with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.
• You have the Spirit of God living in you…
• He guides you, He matures you, He gives you faith, He produces fruit in you.
• You no longer are defined by a list of sins.
• You are defined by your walk… by the Spirit or according to the flesh.
• Yah… your free. You can do whatever you want.
• But if you chose to walk by the flesh, it is probably not going to beneficial for you.
• As Christians, we must ask ourselves, “Will this enslave me? Is this activity really profitable for my spiritual life?”[6]

13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

• Many believed in dualism – the body is evil and the soul is good.
• Therefore, what we do with the body is one thing and what we do with the soul is another.
• They treated sex as an appetite to be satisfied and not as a gift to be cherished and used carefully.
• Sensuality is to sex what gluttony is to eating; both are sinful and both bring disastrous consequences.
• Just because we have certain normal desires, given by God at Creation, does not mean that we must give in to them and always satisfy them.
• Sex outside of marriage is destructive, while sex in marriage can be creative and beautiful.[7]
• Bank – Rob it – take what is not yours or invest and receive dividends.

14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not!

• Prostitution, taken for granted by most in the Greek and Roman world with very much of a double standard.
• Women couldn’t do it, but men could, even along with having a legally married wife to raise up legitimate heirs for the family.[8]
• Paul once again declares that “license to sin” is not what he is teaching.

16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh., 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

• When a man and woman join their bodies, the entire personality is involved.
• There is a much deeper experience, a “oneness” that brings with it deep and lasting consequences.

18 Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.

• Paul warned that sexual sin is the most serious sin a person can commit against his body, for it involves the whole person.
• Sex is not just a part of the body.
• Being “male” and “female” involves the total person.
• Therefore, sexual experience affects the total personality.[9]
• Non-Christian psychologists and sociologists have demonstrated that the more sexual partners a person has, the harder it becomes to form and sustain any kind of human intimacy, even should one later choose to.[10]

19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.[11]

• In a culture of consumerism and entitlement, where we’re bombarded with messages daily telling us we deserve x, we need to treat ourselves to y, we need to remind ourselves that from God’s perspective most of those statements are false.[12]

 
PRINCIPLES OF MARRIAGE
1 CORINTHIANS 7
1 Now in response to the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”

• In light of the “sexual culture” that dominated the Greek & Romans worlds during this time, there was a movement for pro-celibacy marriages.
• Marriages that were spiritually based and did away with sex because it was so distorted at the time.
• There was a concern that Paul was teaching that all men and women should not have sexual relations.
• This was the excuse used before “I have a headache.”

2 But because sexual immorality is so common, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband.

• Sexual immorality is so common and rampant and available… there is a way to avoid it.
• Have sex with your spouse!
• If sex or even thoughts about sex, outside of your marriage, is an issue… Paul’ solution is to have sex with your spouse.

3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.

• “Marital duty”. For both the husband and the wife.
• It is both of their “duties” to fulfill their sexual desires.
• What if only one of them has the need?
• Paul says, “take care of it for them.”
• Otherwise, they are going to look elsewhere to fulfill that need and there are plenty of opportunities available.
• “likewise” means it is not a way transaction.
• Seek to please each other.

4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.

• Paul is not saying “rape”.
• Paul is talking about the commitment that was made at marriage.
• One flesh… in this together.
• They share the rights of each other’s bodies… together.

5 Do not deprive one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

• Abstain for a period of time is OK… but it needs to be talked about and agreed to by both.
• Want a good marriage… have sex OFTEN
• One of you probably wants/needs it more often than the other.
• You are only asking for trouble if you refuse to have sex with your spouse.

6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.

• He is pleading and recommending.
• Not demanding.
• As a parent to a child.

7 I wish that all people were as I am.

• Celibacy… Paul is currently single.

But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that.

• Our desires are different because we are created different.

 
A WORD TO THE UNMARRIED
8 I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.

• An encouragement to those who remain single.

9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire. [13]

• But if sex is going to control your life, you probably ought to marry someone of the opposite sex.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 587). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 588). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 589). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 589). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[10] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 6:1–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 7:1–9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Review:

• 1) The division in the church based upon who was better (Paul, Apollos, etc.) – Answer was message is greater than the messenger.
• 2) Worldly wisdom vs spiritual wisdom
• 3) Walking according to the flesh vs walking by the Spirit
• 4) True apostles vs false apostles
  
  

THE FAITHFUL MANAGER
1 CORINTHIANS 4
1 A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God. 2 In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful. 3 It is of little importance to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even judge myself. 4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me.

• The point is, he is devaluing that which is merely human judgment.
• And it’s in that light that he says, “I don’t even judge myself,” which hardly means that he doesn’t periodically take stock of what he’s doing and how he’s doing it, but in the sense of the ultimate Judge, the only one who can declare things to be as they truly are.
• He realizes that his conscience could be clear, and yet that would not necessarily acquit him in God’s eyes.
• “A clear conscience was a sign of a faulty memory.”
• And if we were honest, we would all say that that’s true, unless we’re speaking of the conscience that is clear because we know we’ve been forgiven for our sins by Christ.[1]

5 So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.

• Our task is not to do God’s rewarding and condemning work for Him;
• Of course we are to judge others in the sense of assessing but not in the sense of the ultimate judgment reserved for God.
• We can leave the master to do His job. We can be faithful stewards.[2]

 
THE APOSTLES’ EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY
6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.”

• If anyone can understand this popular proverb that Paul is quoting, it would be Paul himself.
• The man who not only knew God’s law but he also knew the oral law.
• But in light of the context, Paul is speaking about add-ons to the Gospel message.
• Jesus alone

The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another. 7 For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?

• I have a seminary degree… that doesn’t make me any better than…
• Don’t you realize that everything you have was given to you by God?

8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us—and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you! 9 For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless; 12 we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage.
 
PAUL’S FATHERLY CARE
14 I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children. 15 For you may have countless instructors in Christ, but you don’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

• In a culture of honor and shame, the perception that Paul would have been intentionally shaming the Corinthians would have been a very serious charge; though, because of his special relationship with them, he had the right.[3]

16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

• Any believer, after a number of years and life experiences and growth in Christianity, should be able to say to a young Christian or someone exploring the possibility of faith, “You want to see how a Jesus-follower lives? Watch me. Better yet, “Come, stay with me.
• Watch me 24/7, not because I am perfect in my behavior—but perfect in my Spirit.”
• Paul’s made that point powerfully. “Watch me repent.
• Watch me apologize when I have to and seek forgiveness and pick up the pieces and move on.”[4]

18 Now some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk, but the power of those who are arrogant. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?[5]

• The power of the Kingdom of God is love and a spirit of gentleness.
• It is the love and gentleness that earns you the audience to hear the truth.
• Paul has earned the right to speak truth and judgment to the church at Corinth.
• Ephesians 4 talks about speaking the truth in love, and historically, Christians have not always done well with both halves of that mandate.
• Perhaps they have spoken the truth but not done so lovingly, or perhaps they have been very loving but recoiled from speaking the entire truth.[6]

 
IMMORAL CHURCH MEMBERS
1 CORINTHIANS 5

• These are difficult topics.
• These are topics that would’ve been very difficult for Paul to address in a Graeco-Roman world, where there were very few sexual taboos.
• They’re very difficult issues for us to address today as well, and the most that we can hope to do is to be faithful to Scripture as best as we understand it, recognizing that, on many controversial topics, other well-intentioned and godly believers will take different approaches.[7]

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is sleeping with his father’s wife.

• The specific case at hand is a kind of incestuous behavior.
• The fact that Paul speaks of a man having his father’s wife suggests not his biological mother but probably a stepmother, and because second wives—even at times, first wives but certainly second wives—in the ancient Graeco-Roman world were often considerably younger than their husbands, it’s very possible that this is a woman who is closer in age to the father’s son than to the father himself, which could explain a sexual attraction between the two.[8]
• “Not even tolerated”
• What does our society tolerate?

2 And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this?

• The Corinthian church has not reacted, not reacted properly.
• In fact, they have reacted profoundly improperly by being proud of the fact that this is going on.
• By what contorted logic could they see this as a matter of pride?
• “Love is love.” = I can do whatever because it is love. (agape, philo, eros, etc.)
• TV – Lucy & Ricky, Soap, Cuties…
• What do we tolerate?
• And probably, it has to do with an issue that will come to the fore in chapter 6—namely, their misunderstanding of freedom in Christ.
• Paul will quote what appears to be a kind of a Corinthian slogan in 6:12 when he says, “All things are lawful.”
• And there is a sense, in the age that is not now under the law the way the old covenant or Mosaic period was, that that’s true, but it needs qualification as 6:12 also does: “Not all things are expedient.… Not all things build others up.”
• Clearly, this is an example that is far from a healthy exercise of any kind of Christian freedom.[9]

3 Even though I am absent in the body, I am present in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who has been doing such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

• Ancient communities were so tightly knit that formal ostracism of a disfellowshipping or even excommunicating nature was often such a shock to the system that it caused people to repent when nothing else did the trick.[10]
• Isolation

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven, leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

• If it becomes “accepted behavior” it then comes with an agenda.
• The agenda will infect the whole bunch.
• One agenda here… among perfect believers who sometimes display imperfect behavior.
• Jesus

8 Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

• So then the question is asked, if we all still sin, how can we “turn one over to Satan”?
• 1 Corinthians 4:5 - So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.
• It is a matter of the heart.
• I personally believe the difference is repentance.
• Is Jesus the agenda or is your sexuality?
• Is Jesus the agenda or is self-indulgence?
• Is Jesus the agenda or is greed?

 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE
9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

• It’s here also that we learn for the first time that there was a previous letter that Paul had sent to the Corinthian church.
• We don’t know its contents beyond what is disclosed in this paragraph, and it may have been a very short letter dealing only with this topic, and because it becomes clear that it was misunderstood and corrected in what we call 1 Corinthians, it may have seemed unnecessary to anyone to save that original letter.[11]

10 I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. 11 But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

• The fact that he uses the language that he does in this context of people who are certain things, as opposed to just specific actions, suggests that he is not talking about a one-time offense.
• He is not even talking about periodic lapses, possibly over a lifetime, but a prolonged and characteristic and persistent and unrepentant celebration of an overall lifestyle that involves the various sins mentioned here.
• This, he says, is utterly inconsistent with any profession of Christian faith.[12]
• Even when Paul commands disfellowshipping, he is not referring—as the church sadly has sometimes interpreted it—to a total breaking off of contact with a given individual.
• That rarely is rehabilitative, and it rarely was in the ancient world.[13]
• I have friends who practice worldly behaviors and I am still able to say, “I love you” to them.
• I can still eat a meal with them.
• I still try to have an impact on their lives even though I don’t agree with their practices.
• How would they ever hear about the goodness of the Gospel if we totally isolate them?

12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 God judges outsiders.

• I have friends who practice worldly behaviors and I am still able to say, “I love you” to them.
• I can still eat a meal with them.
• I still try to have an impact on their lives even though I don’t agree with their practices.
• How would they ever hear about the goodness of the Gospel if we totally isolate them?

Remove the evil person from among you.[14]

• Deuteronomy 17:7 – You must purge the evil from you.
• Quoting the story of Sarah with her slave Hagar and her son by Abraham, Ishmael, when they were sent out into the wilderness, Paul speaks of expelling the wicked from among you.
• These are difficult words to apply.
• Complete disassociation usually fails utterly.
• The removal of an offender from a leadership role, even as we tell them we want to be involved in your restoration, is probably the best that we can hope for, in hopes that they will sense our love as well as the seriousness of the situation and be willing to exhibit profound sorrow and a change of behavior over time.[15]
• If we see this simply as a matter of a way to be rid of a troubling person or a troubling issue, we’ve missed the point.
• The point is God’s care for individuals, His concern for restoration.
• Certain issues have to be addressed but in ways that, from the very outset, make it clear that those addressing it want the best for the person who’s being confronted and have thought through a process of restoration, of repentance, of reinstatement into fellowship, perhaps, if appropriate—sometimes it may be, sometimes not—for those in ministry, a restoration to ministry, and maybe that will be in the same congregation;
• Maybe it will be in a different one.
• These aren’t absolutes—one size fits all.
• So much depends on the issue on who has already been affected and how the offending party responds.[16]
• We mourn the sin
• We judge the sin
• We remove the sin
• We  love the person.

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 4:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[12] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[13] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[14] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 5:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[15] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[16] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Review:

• 3 weeks ago we talked about the division in the church based upon who was better and how the Spirit keeps us all on the same level through humbleness.
• And last week we talked about the divisiveness between the world and those who had the Spirit of God in them.
• Both of them having to do with Spirit being the difference maker in the division.

 
THE PROBLEM OF IMMATURITY
1 CORINTHIANS 3
1 For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still worldly (sarks). For since there is envy and strife, among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans? 4 For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like mere humans?

• Paul calls them out for their behavior.
• Carnal Christian vs Spiritual Christian (the church likes to focus on behavior)
• Paul is talking to the Church and they are choosing to split over “spiritual things”
• Two different diets (more like a scale)
• “Milk” those who are interested in participating based upon their own desires and what they will receive.
• “Meat” those who choose to participate in how the can help the community.
• Believers can still walk “according to their flesh”
• I (Rusty) am not the “magical” link to a person eating “meat”. Nor was Paul.
• But… I can see one’s participation in ministry (not just Sundays) as it directly correlates with their spiritual walk.
• You stop showing up here on Sundays is an indicator something is changing in your life.
• It is not about coming here and being fed the Word on Sundays.
• It is directly related to how the Spirit is working in you and you choosing to listen or not.
• When you start letting worldly agendas influence your choices, you will get derailed on this walk.
• Your walk is what is evident to others.
• You can walk “according to the flesh” for a season and it is going to cause a series of consequences for you.
• Then you will “call a friend” for help
• This is all Paul is trying to clarify with the Church at Corinth.

 
THE ROLE OF GOD’S SERVANTS
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers.

• Paul & Apollos have roles (calling) but they are not what matters.
• It is God that grows the believer
• The pressure is off of me.
• Neither am I competing with any other teacher in Leavener.
• Leavener is the local church and is a field that ought to bear fruit. (not should)
• The task of the ministry is the sowing of the seed, the cultivating of the soil, the watering of the plants, and the harvesting of the fruit.[1]
• Wash, rinse and repeat.
• The unifying factor in this ministry is that we each play a part.
• Paul planted, Apollos watered, others harvested.
• For the last 10 days, this community has ministered to my friend Derek… (Ryan, Luke, Troy, Ed, Danny, Mike, Trish, Keith, Big John, Tim, Wednesday Night Students… and Michelle)
• See the diversity in ministry… yet unified in purpose?
• At the same time, there is humbleness because even though these people were used by God, they would take no credit for work done in Derek’s life this past week. That was God alone.

You are God’s field, (total transition here) God’s building. 10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

• The foundation has to be Jesus.

12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.

• Judgment Seat of Christ

16 Don’t you yourselves (The Church as a whole) know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and that is what you are.

• The world depends on promotion, prestige, and the influence of money and important people.
• The church depends on prayer, the power of the Spirit, humility, sacrifice, and service.
• The church that imitates the world may seem to succeed in time, but it will turn to ashes in eternity.
• The church in the Book of Acts had none of the “secrets of success” that seem to be important today.
• They owned no property; they had no influence in government; they had no treasury (“Silver and gold have I none,” said Peter); their leaders were ordinary men without special education in the accepted schools; they held no attendance promos; they brought in no celebrities; and yet they turned the world upside down![2]
• We have to move from the mindset that the institutional church is the foundation of Christianity.
• The quarantine was a magnifying glass for this litmus test.
• It’s not about Sundays at Pinheads or any other place.
• It’s about being a light in a dark, dark, dark world.
• It’s the difference between being selfish and selfless.
• The foundation is Jesus Christ who came to set an example… we build on that… not our own abilities and desires.

 
THE FOLLY OF HUMAN WISDOM
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness; (Job 5:13 – One of Jobs friends who was not speaking truth to Job all the time.)

• Worldly wisdom is different than spiritual wisdom.
• How are you going to know the difference if you don’t know the Father?

20 and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile. (Psalm 94:11) 21 So let no one boast in human leaders, for everything is yours--22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come—everything is yours, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.[3]

• The members of the Corinthian church were glorying in men, and this was wrong.
• They were comparing men (1 Cor. 4:6) and dividing the church by such carnal deeds.
• Had they been seeking to glorify God alone, there would have been harmony in the assembly.[4]
• You have to come to the realization that you already have everything in Christ.
• You belong to Christ… not any other man.
• Everything is already yours.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 578–579). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 581). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 3:1–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 581). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.