I inadvertently used the New Living Translation on this message. I normally use the Christian Standard Bible.

​Review:

• We started Chapter 11 two weeks ago with Matt Tully talking about covering your head and submission.
• I talked about the practice of the Lord’s Supper in relation to the Church.
• It is this section that Paul is referring to practices of public worship… when they come together.
• There was obvious division in the Church.
  
  

SPIRITUAL GIFTS
1 CORINTHIANS 12
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

• Special abilities – gifts
• Paul describes here the difference between believers and non-believers.
• Believers won’t curse Jesus
• Non-believers won’t say “Jesus is Lord”
• Paul wants to make clear at the outset that simply because something appears to be a manifestation of the Spirit of Christ, of the Spirit of the living God, it may not necessarily be so.
• One has to observe it, one has to test and evaluate it, and then make an assessment.
• it is an important foundational reminder that one’s fundamental allegiance must be seen and known to be of Jesus.[1]

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

• Paul can three times say, there are diverse gifts, but one Lord, one God, one Spirit.[2]

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

• The gifts given by God were intended to benefit the Church as a whole and as individuals.
• They are gifts given by God and directed by God.
• Spiritual gifts are for the common good of the Church.
• The gifts are given for the good of the whole church.
• They are not for individual enjoyment, but for corporate employment.[3]

8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

• Wisdom and knowledge are two different things.
• Knowledge is book or experience smart.
• Wisdom comes from God and is used for applying knowledge to life.

9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another,

• Two types of faith:
• 1) Faith to say, “I need you God” – salvation.
• This faith comes from you.
• 2) Faith that comes from God to believe in Him beyond what the normal person believes.
• This is where trust for the unknown or unseen comes into play.
• This faith comes from God.

and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles,

• An interesting difference of these two gifts from the rest of the list is it they are not the kind of thing that people necessarily have as ongoing abilities or responsibilities but require the Spirit’s choice to work in a particular moment in a way that He doesn’t necessarily in every single instance.[4]
• Do I believe in the gift of healing and miracles today?
• You better believe I do.
• I’ve seen it… I’ve seen massive tumors disappear yet the hole where the tumor was… still was there.
• I’ve seen many marriages that had divorce papers written completely healed.
• I’ve seen people who were told they were never going to walk again… walk.
• People who were told they were going to die… live far beyond predictions or expectations.
• I’ve seen emotional wounds and scars disappear.
• I am praying for an absolute miracle of healing for my friend Randy in Tulsa right now.
• I believe.

and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.

• Speaking a word that came from God however long a person may have meditated on it or prepared how to say it, or however spontaneous it may have been given, and the gifts of discerning, prophecy determining its origin:
• Is this from the Lord, is this of human manufacture, or something worse?[5]

Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

• It is the most problematic gift at Corinth, and so he perhaps deliberately waits and puts it at the end.
• “Tongues,” a Greek word that again has a very broad semantic range and can mean everything from the literal part of one’s anatomy fit in one’s mouth to any human utterance in some linguistic configuration, known, unknown, or a collection of syllables that God uses to provide meaning to someone in a particular context.[6]
• I grew up in the charismatic capital of the world, Tulsa, OK.
• It is still problematic and Paul will talk about this issue later.

11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

• No spiritual gift was ever intended to be the gift of every single Christian.
• And any Christian context that claims believers have to have a certain one or a certain combination of the gifts, either to be saved or even simply to reflect a certain level of Christian maturity, is contradicting what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 12.[7]
  ​

ONE BODY WITH MANY PARTS
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

• In this very room, we could be divided many ways.
• Fishers, Carmel, Indianapolis, Westfield, etc.
• Children, teens, adults, senior adults
• Wealthy, median or poor
• Hoosier born or transplants
• Employed or unemployed
• Former Catholic, former Baptist, etc
• Men or women, republican or democrat, conservative or liberal, etc.
• So many ways to divide
• But Paul is saying we have one unifying factor… Jesus.
• We have been baptized into one body…
• Baptism being our identifier of what we believe… Jesus.
• The baptism of the Spirit occurs at conversion when the Spirit enters the believing sinner, gives him new life, and makes his body the temple of God.
• All believers have experienced this once-for-all baptism.
• Nowhere does the Scripture command us to seek this baptism, because we have already experienced it and it need not be repeated.[8]
• You can fight for unity and make that your stance.
• Or you can keep your eyes on Jesus and unity will be a byproduct.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

• Paul was hardly the first in the history of the world to liken a community of people to the members of a body.
• In the Roman world, armies were often thought to be like a body, every individual soldier needing to work together under the various commanding officers themselves, under the top military general, and yet each having a distinctive role to play.[9]
• But think about the diversity in this room.
• The capabilities in this room.
• What if we all did the same thing?
• What if we were all alike?
• But that is not the way it works.
• We seek each other for wisdom.
• We lean on each other in times of need.
• We share what is ours with one another.

20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

• POS – Power of sin
• POS begins to work here… one person is more important than the other.
• It is easy for me to get recognition over my wife.
• Michelle does just as much for this body as I do, if not more.
• During pandemic, she has been less present on Sundays… it hasn’t changed her importance to the body.
• Luke is a loud personality and everyone knows Luke. He is role-model in this community.
• Matt and Keith teach often from this stage. They are recognized as leaders.
• My set up crew… faithful every week and you don’t even know who they are.
• Wanda Pontius, one of the most important people to our body and she has been home since the quarantine.
• I don’t even know the whole chair pusher group after the service.
• I don’t know half the stuff that happens on a weekly occasion.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

• Rhetorical questions
• He wants the recipients of the letter to think… to process.
• The roles inside the body are important.
• We are not going to know everything that happens.
• But each of you are important to this body.
• How so? Don’t ask me… ask the Spirit.
• I’m not going to do any spiritual gifts tests or try to assign you to ministry opportunity.
• Just go do what the Spirit leads you to do.
• If you tell me about a great idea you have for this ministry… I’m going to tell you… “Sounds like the Spirit is leading you…”

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. [10]

• Did you see the IU win over Wisconsin yesterday?
• Did you see the after game interview on the field with Coach Tom Allen?
• Go look at that video
• https://twitter.com/i/status/1335375688313004041
• This is what Paul is about to jump into next week.

LEO

[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] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 608). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[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] 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] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 608–609). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 12). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Review:

• We began in 7:1 with consideration of the issues that the Corinthian church wrote to Paul about.
• Chapter 7 dealt with the collection of issues surrounding marriage
• Chapters 8–10 with issues surrounding food sacrificed to idols and related analogous concerns
• Chapters 11–14 are a series of issues bound up directly with the gathered community in Corinth for Christian worship.[1] (public worship)
• We left off with Matt talking about head coverings and submission.
• During the age of Augustus Caesar, there was a group increasingly called “the new Roman woman.”
• Much more so in Latin or Roman contexts than in a Greek context, but recall that Corinth was a Roman colony, despite being in Greece, where women were given greater freedom, given greater public privilege, and especially those of some substantial means.
• Apparently, some of these women are having the opportunity to pray and prophesy but without what Paul believes is the appropriate head covering.[2]
• There has always been (and always will be… until all things have been made new) a competition between men and women.
• Genesis 3:16 - He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.[3]

• As for the head covering (the Greek translates it as “comes down” – which could even mean the length of hair).
• I personally believe it is a cultural practice of both men and women showing fidelity to their relationship with Jesus.
• Signifying identification is different for both men and women.
• Gender identity and competition has always been an issue.

 
THE LORD’S SUPPER
1 CORINTHIANS 11

• Paul turns to a second issue concerning public worship (Chapters 11-14)
• Since the beginning of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together (Acts 2:42, 46).
• It was an opportunity for fellowship and for sharing with those who were less privileged.
• No doubt they climaxed this meal by observing the Lord’s Supper.[4]

17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!

• Paul is not saying, “Stop having these ‘love feasts’”.
• He is literally telling them what to do and what not to do.
• Sometimes you have to state the obvious.
• Don’t get drunk when we come together.

22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

• The divide between the handful of wealthy and the vast majority of poor in the Corinthian congregation (as in the community) created a disproportionate percentage of the problems that Paul has to address.[5]
• Symposium was more of a “love feast” rather than a gathering to talk about a certain subject like it is today.
• They called this meal “the love feast” since its main emphasis was showing love for the saints by sharing with one another.
• It would be more like a pot-luck dinner today.
• Tables were placed in a u-shaped partial square and were served from the middle.
• Very typical to today’s hibachi set up.
• Each family brought food and drink to share among each other
• The rich would bring food and drink enough for them and leave the “leftovers” for the poor.
• Today, we gather on “cyber weekend” but you have still generously filled 175 stockings for those in need this month.
• There is a balance in taking care of the poor and taking care of yourself.
• That balance is dependent upon the Spirit inside of you.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

• And Paul’s wording is strikingly similar to the wording in Luke 22 about Jesus’ Last Supper.
• All three of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—have similar accounts of this last night.
• Paul’s is closest to Luke, not because Luke was his travel companion and he got it from Luke;
• Luke’s Gospel would not be written until, at the earliest, the early 60s, and we’re still here in the mid-50s.
• No, it’s Paul and Luke who both know the oral tradition—faithfully passed on—of the words, the sayings, the teachings of Jesus.[6]
• Jesus Christ took the cup and the loaf—the ingredients of a common meal in that day—and transformed them into a meaningful spiritual experience for believers.
• However, the value of the experience depends on the condition of the hearts of those who participate; and this was the problem at Corinth.[7]
• No one would have imagined that somehow that bread supernaturally became molecular extensions of His hand and fingers.
• It’s profoundly symbolic: “This bread represents, in a deep and meaningful and religiously poignant way, my body about to be given for you in death on the cross.”
• Jesus wants us to remember how He died. Why? Because everything we have as Christians centers in that death.
• We must remember that He died, because this is a part of the Gospel message: “Christ died … and was buried” (1 Cor. 15:3–4).[8]
• He rose from the dead so as to conquer death.
• We have the ability to really live here on earth and after for eternity.
• In the midst of the pandemic, let’s practice/remember this by symbolization of eating. Simply by placing your hand to your mouth.
• “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”
• No, the cup and its contents have not suddenly become blood in some physical molecular fashion, but they stand for, memorialize, represent, symbolize, in a profound way, Jesus’ giving of His life blood in death on the cross. “Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
• His blood was shed as a sacrifice for our sins.
• Total for forgiveness was available to all.
• Total forgiveness for all believers.
• All sins: past, present and future.
• Drink from the cup with both hands.
• Jesus may not be literally present in the bread and in the cup, but He is present. He is present spiritually.[9]

 
SELF-EXAMINATION
27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

• Examine to see if they are worthy?
• We have participated in the Lord’s Supper where condemnation was expressed and we either had to deal with it immediately for refrain from participating in the Lord’s Supper.
• No, examine to see if they are behaving unworthily, in an unworthy manner.[10]

29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.[11]

• The Communion is not supposed to be a time of “spiritual autopsy” and grief.
• It should be a time of thanksgiving and joyful anticipation of seeing the Lord!
• Jesus gave thanks, even though He was about to suffer and die.
• Let us give thanks also.[12]​
• When we figure out what Jesus truly did for us… and what we have inside… it changes everything.
• Sometimes we lose focus and need to be reminded by stating the obvious.
• Remember what it was like when you stepped out of “religion” into a “relationship”?
• It is the difference of just being alive versus living.

You can really live right now

[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). (Ge 3:16). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 604). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 605). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 605). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[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] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 11:17–34). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 607). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Review:

• We left off with 1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.[1]
• I explained the distortion of God will not give you more than you can bear.
• The evil one is responsible for evil things that happen in a fallen world.
• What I did not say was that in this life… you will have more than you can bear.
• It is then… when God comes in because you have to become dependent upon Him to get you through the crisis.

 
WARNING AGAINST IDOLATRY
1 CORINTHIANS 10
14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.

• Paul goes back to the argument of are the Christians able to eat the meat that was sacrificed to the idols/gods.
• Paul is saying, “Idolatry is the distraction.”
• Zoom out… think about it. What is true in this world?
• There is only one truth… why are we even arguing about what is true and what is fake?
• That stuff doesn’t even matter in your own spiritual world.
• Don’t forget that we are all about Jesus.
• We are in this together because of our faith in Jesus.
• We eat from the same loaf of bread and drink from the same cup (except during a pandemic) and that is Jesus Christ.
• We can see Paul’s main point: There is a union that occurs.
• We are united with Christ in a special, even if undefined, way through the sacrament or the ordinance, and we are unified as participants in the ritual with all those who commune with us, as symbolized by what, in the earliest stages of church history, was a single loaf and a common cup from which people ate and drank.[2]

18 Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!

• Can you not separate the eating of meat and drink from the worshipping of demons?
• Run from what is evil.
• Run from the appearance of evil.
• Stay focused on what you know is true.
• If you are hungry and need food… eat! But don’t worship the demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

• Paul is encouraging them to recognize the spiritual side of things.
• You can justify doing evil things because you make light of the spiritual world.
• Paul is saying, it doesn’t matter what you do. It matters that you recognize the two opposing sides: good vs evil… God vs the evil one.
• Spiritual warfare is raging.

 
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.

• The Corinthian slogan quoted back 1 Corinthians 6:12-13.

24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.

• It’s not straightforward how we are to behave in every setting, especially when we are in a group, and we are being scrutinized, and what may give us an advantage for the sake of the gospel with one person is viewed as a drawback by someone else.[3]
• Discernment… if you have to think about it… pause… seek wisdom.

25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it.,

• Quoting Psalm 24:1
• Nothing spiritual happens to food itself just because a pagan priest prayed and said, “Isis,” “Osiris,” Apollo”—whoever the individual was—“may you be pleased with this offering.”[4]

27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience.

• Don’t create more legalism
• Freedom is the keyword Paul is trying communicate.
• What would expect from an unbeliever? For them to act the same way you do?

28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?

• Paul is asking them to consider, why is the person telling you about the tainted food? Because they may have a conscience about it.
• Then don’t do it as not to confuse them.
• Measure the room. Use your wisdom.
• Sometimes you will blow it.

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

• Paul summarizes chapters 8-10 with 3 statements:
• 1) God’s glory is your #1 priority… Not your opinion or anyone else’s opinion.
• 2) Be conscious of the non-believers and even the believers who are weak so as not to lead them to sin.

 
1 CORINTHIANS 11
1 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.[5]

• 3) As I follow Jesus, use me as an example.

 
The Lord’s supper – this is what they did when they ate together… so we shall today.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 10:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[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 10:14–11:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Review:

• We left off last week with Paul talking about the food offered to idols being consumed by some.
• Paul and his ministry as an example of the things he has done.
• There will be people with differing opinions and don’t be a stumbling block to them.

 
1 CORINTHIANS 9
19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people.

• But his goal is not to please himself but to please God by exercising his call and commission to evangelize, to spread the Word, to preach the good news as widely throughout the known world of his day as he possibly can.[1]

20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law.

• 1 Corinthians 11:24 - Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.[2]
• Five times he put up with flogging on his back (and perhaps on the back of his legs or arms as well) of this intensity, when all he would’ve needed to do was announce that, in Jewish eyes, he was committing apostasy;
• he was rejecting his Jewish upbringing;
• that serving Jesus was a new religion, like all of the other options in the Graeco-Roman world.
• The synagogue would have had no jurisdiction over him.[3]

21 To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law.

• What is the law of Christ?
• To love others
• To serve others
• Walk by the Spirit rather than a list of rules.
• 10 Commandments were for the Jews.

22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.

• It is unfortunate that the phrase “all things to all men” has been used and abused by the world and made to mean what Paul did not intend for it to mean.
• Paul was not a chameleon who changed his message and methods with each new situation.
• Nor was Paul a compromiser who adjusted his message to please his audience.
• He was an ambassador, not a politician!
• He did not parade his liberty before the Jews,
• nor did he impose the Law on the Gentiles.[4]

23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.

• It takes tact to have contact.[5]
• Imagine if David would have put on Saul’s armor to protect himself?
• He would have lost his freedom to defeat Goliath.
  ​
  
• What does it look like in today’s world to “be all things to all people”?
• Many times it means to “shut your mouth” or “put your device down”.
• Once you fly your colors… you have lost part of your audience.
• Yah, but there are stands that need to be made.
• Any stand greater than someone coming to know Jesus and letting the Spirit lead them?

24 Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.

• It’s far easier to be legalistic about everything, to set up a long list of dos and don’ts far beyond anything Scripture explicitly sanctions,
• or to be completely hedonistic about everything—anything goes, do what seems good to you in the moment, go with the flow.[6]
• Zoom out and see the bigger picture.
• It’s not about being the sole winner.
• Live your life as though you have trained well for the race.

25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.

• Self-control = Free will
• You always have a choice between your flesh and the Spirit that resides in you.

They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.

• In Greco-Roman times the winner received a wreath to place on their head like a crown.
• The wreaths were typically made of pine (like pine needles), olive branches or celery.
• How long did it take for the celery to wilt?

26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air.

• Shadow boxing is used as a cardio exercise today.
• I’m sure that Paul had many sparring partners and took many body blows for his beliefs.
• But he learned from them on how to defend himself and to also win.

27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

• Control? Who has control of my body?
• Sometimes my flesh does…
• But I am learning more and more every day to let the Spirit that resides in me to have control.
• Put my device down, my remote…
• Quit dwelling on the things that are temporary but the things that are eternal.
• If I am focused on the eternal… the temporary will take care of itself.
• Zoom out… see the bigger picture.

 
WARNINGS FROM ISRAEL’S PAST
1 CORINTHIANS 10
1 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

• In reference to their ancestors escaping from Egypt under Moses leadership and passed through the Red Sea.
• Baptized = Immersion – But also means to identify with.
• When we baptize at Leavener… we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit so as everyone knows who you are identifying with.

3 They all ate the same spiritual food, (manna from heaven) 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. (water poured out from an actual rock when struck from Moses rod – Numbers 20:11) 5 Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.

•  One generation of Jews died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.,

• Paul urges the Corinthians not to follow the Israelites’ example of complaining about provisions given by the rock (Christ).[7]

7 Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; (Exodus 32 – worshipping the golden calf) as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.,, 8 Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, (Moabite women seduced both men and women in the wilderness near the end of the 40 years – Numbers 25) and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. 9 Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. (They were tempting God and He sent judgment in Numbers 21) 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, (Numbers 14 & 16) and were killed by the destroyer. (angel)

• Why choose this array of examples of Old Testament sin and rebellion?
• What does that have to do with the Corinthians they thought?

11 These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages, have come.

• They all have something to do with idolatry, of not putting the God, Yahweh of Israel, first in the lives of the children of Israel.
• And strikingly, they all have something to do with aspects of Graeco-Roman pagan worship in the pagan temples in Corinth and the other major cities of the empire.[8]

12 So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it. [9]

• This passage has always been misconstrued to say that “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”
• That is not what it is saying at all.
• First, it says, “There is nothing new in satan’s game”
• Whatever temptation you are currently dealing with… nothing new… that is why he went back to the age of Moses and listed things.
• As believers in Jesus and with the Spirit of God now residing in you… there is no temptation that can’t be overcome.
• You will always have a way out by choosing to walk by the Spirit… rather than your flesh.
• The sin is not the action… but the choice to follow your flesh.
• The temptation, the test, the trial—all of which come from the same Greek roots—may not go away.
• That is never promised in the Scripture as a generalization for all situations.
• But what is promised is, if we turn to God, we will be able to endure it;
• we do not have to fail the test, give in to the temptation, or be overcome by the trial.[10]

 
Hebrews 3:7-11 - Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me, tried me,
and saw my works 10 for forty years.
Therefore, I was provoked to anger with that generation and said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.”
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.” [11]

• The difference between the Old Covenant believers and the New Covenant believers is that God has given us the ability to rest from our own works.
• We can continue to do things in our own strength as they did in the wilderness… or we can learn the lesson and surrender to the Spirit in each of us.
• Give it a try this week… rest… trust… put down the device… put down the remote.

Set your eyes on things above… listen for the Spirit… you are in for an adventure!!!

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 11:24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 601). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 601). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Co 10:4). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 9:19–10:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 3:7–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Review:

• We have moved on from marriage, sex and circumcision to a new topic today!
• Paul turns to issues of food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8.
• It looks, in chapter 9, as if he has moved on to yet another topic (money for ministry) but comes full circle in chapter 10 back to the issue of food sacrificed to idols in a way that makes it clear that chapters 8–10 are meant to be taken as a unit.
• What ties them all together is the theme of not allowing Christian freedom to become a license to sin, or to potentially lead another fellow believer into sin or even to acting against his or her conscience.[1]
  
  

FOOD OFFERED TO IDOLS
1 CORINTHIANS 8
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

• “We all have knowledge” is another Corinthian slogan of that time period.
• Similar to “All things are permissible but not all things are profitable.”
• Secular slogans that Paul uses as logic in Christian lifestyle.
• Difference between “knowledge” and “wisdom”.
• What are we hearing during election week?
• Knowledge (facts)… and proving that they don’t mean anything.
• “We just need a little more love… that leads to grace.”
• Paul is saying… BREATHE!
• Proverbs 21:1 - A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand:

He directs it wherever he chooses.[2]

• The king has authority… but God has ultimate authority.

2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it.

• Know it all… hard to listen to.
• They may know it all but have no wisdom in sharing their knowledge.
• Rusty, you do this every week…
• But, I will listen to you as well.

3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.

• God takes the initiative in human interactions.
• For God so loved the world…

4 About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”--6 yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.

• Why take meat sacrificed to idols and make it such an issue?
• Probably because some of the poorest believers only ate meat on any regular basis on the two or three or four days every month that were Roman or Greek holidays and festivals in which the temple to Aphrodite in Corinth offered free food to the populace as long as it lasted; and poor and rich alike could come, but always in the context of some religious devotion or worship.
• Was the meat somehow inherently tainted?
• Paul is going to argue not and that Christians have full freedom to participate, but he recognizes the disagreements among them and so he will also stress that “If I have a clean conscience, a clear conscience to eat, but my Christian brother or sister doesn’t, then I should refrain.”[3]

7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.

• Some have wondered if Paul is contradicting the apostolic decree of Acts 15 here, where, with Peter and James, they agreed that for the sake of Jewish ministry, as Paul traveled, believers would—even Jewish believers—would refrain from sexual immorality, blood, the meat of strangled animals, and food sacrificed to idols.
• I don’t think it’s a contradiction, because that was a decree sent off to a group of churches, much closer to Jerusalem in contemporary Southeastern Turkey and Syria, and it was a voluntary approach for the sake of Jewish evangelism not to put unnecessary stumbling blocks in front of the gospel.
• Here, the context is entirely different.
• Is it okay for poor Christians who don’t get to eat meat very often to eat meat at these special holidays, even though it has been dedicated to a pagan idol? And Paul says, “Yes, it is.”[4]

 
9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? 11 So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined, by your knowledge. 12 Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

• Brother or sister… you know them well.
• One of the biggest issues in our society and in this community is the consumption of alcohol.
• We are free to drink… I will have a drink on occasion.
• I do not have a problem with people drinking alcohol.
• Jesus did turn water into wine.
• But I have to measure the room/situation.
• I have an impact on the room… as do you.
• Alcoholism is typically a private issue because it causes others to see you as weak.
• Just as identity issues or any other sin does.
• You don’t know all the alcohol issues in this room… neither do I… But I know a lot of them.
• Some of them have sought help, some have discussed and some are just obvious.
• But believe it or not… what I do impacts those around me.
• I rarely get invited to alcohol socials. Why?
• Because some people are considerate enough to not put me in awkward situation.
• Other just want the freedom to drink without the freedom from a “suspected” judgment.
• Others don’t want me around because they might just go beyond what they can handle.
• I rarely drink because I am sensitive to the many people that I deal with that have this issue.
• This is all Paul is saying here… They are free to eat the meat… and so are you… but if it bothers you or you think your actions may lead to others stumbling… then don’t partake!
• Paul is still saying it is about “others”.
• Are you really participating “socially” if you are putting your own selfish desires first?

 
PAUL’S EXAMPLE AS AN APOSTLE
1 CORINTHIANS 9
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

• What do I have to do to prove to you that I am a true apostle?
• The criteria for apostles to be selected was to be both an eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection, but also one who then can witness, in the sense of proclaiming the gospel message to others.[5]
• Give Paul credit for starting the Gentile churches.

3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? 6 Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working?

• Paul now goes on to prove his personal ministry by asking a series of rhetorical questions.
• Shouldn’t Barnabas and I be taken care of?
• If we had wives with us, shouldn’t they be taken care of as well?
• Who does what we do for free?
• Can I not participate like other Greco/Roman teachers and leaders… to eat from their generosity?
• When it comes to benevolence… I cannot receive from Leavener funds without it being taxed as income.
• I am given a designated salary just like everyone else.
• Money given to Leavener goes into the Leavener account and can be dispersed to help others… but not my family.
• Trust me… we are well taken care of by God… through many of you.
• We receive gift cards or items… or car surprises… as I am sure that Paul and Barnabas did as well.
• But at Leavener… we still have not asked for a dime.

7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock? 8 Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain., Is God really concerned about oxen? 10 Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.

• Don’t over burden the oxen so that it cannot do its work.
• There are provisions made for those who are laboring.
• This is not my personal issue… this is Paul’s at the time.
• It seems as if he is still having to establish his credibility and trust.
• He might have to because he is not actually present with them and doesn’t know how they are interpreting his teachings on difficult personal topics.

11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12 If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right;

• Paul has earned the right for such benefits but refused to take them (at least from Corinthians) for the sake of the Gospel being considered cheap or a business.
• He continued to make tents and earn his living.

instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.

• Asking for money, demanding money for ministry, can lead to all kinds of abuses.
• Paul wants to avoid every hint of these scandals.
• He wants to avoid every chance, in a culture rife with the practice of patronage, of anybody giving money to him thinking that that entitled them to give it with strings attached and dictate where Paul had to go, what he had to do, what he could preach about, what he could not say.[6]

13 Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.

• Paul once again declares the right for those who share the Gospel with others can also earn their living this way.
• Although Paul refused to do this from the Corinthians.

15 For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.[7]

• Paul will interestingly accept money and be grateful for it when he writes the letter to the Philippians, who have sent him a generous gift while he is in prison, probably a Roman prison in around the year 60–62.
• So it’s clear that what he is saying here to the Corinthians is not an absolute relinquishing of a willingness to receive financial and material support, but it is his consistent policy thus far with respect to the Corinthians.[8]
• “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.”
• I can’t imagine a world where I would not talk about the Good News of Jesus Christ… whether I got paid/supported or not.

To speak of grace, love and mercy in a world and time that so definitely needs it.

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Pr 21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[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] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 8:1–9:18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

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.