1 Corinthians 7:17-31 Be Strong in Struggles!

1 Corinthians 7:17-31  Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.  This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.  Was a man already circumcised when he was called?  He should not become uncircumcised.  Was a man uncircumcised when he was called?  He should not be circumcised.  Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.  Keeping God’s commands is what counts.  Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.  Were you a slave when you were called?  Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so.  For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.  You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.  Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.  Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.  Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.  Are you pledged to a woman?  Do not seek to be released.  Are you free from such a commitment?  Do not look for a wife.  But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.  But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.  What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.  From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.  For this world in its present form is passing away.

In the above focus we see Paul telling the Corinthians that the time was short before the return of the Lord and because of that reality, each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.  If they had been circumcised, set apart for God, they should remain in that situation.  If they were not circumcised, they should remain uncircumcised for the time is short.  If they were slaves, be satisfied to remain as slaves; if they were free, do not seek to become a slavish followers of men or women.  Stay free from such entanglements.  Remain stable in your emotional state; do not be overly involved in your emotional feelings in life: those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not.  Do not become heavily involved in the things of this world, what you buy, what you use, for all of that kind of activity and concerns will pass away soon.  For Paul and the other disciples of Jesus, a primary assumption in their lives was that Jesus would return quickly.  We see this impression of theirs in everything they did for Jesus had talked about his return a lot.  On Jesus' ascension into heaven, two men dressed in white questioned why they were just looking at Jesus disappearing into the clouds, maybe implying they should get busy for He will return someday quickly.  Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:9-11)  Jesus had given them an assignment of spreading the Good News throughout the world before He returns.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)  By saying that He will be WITH THEM until the very end of the age, implies that in their short lives they will see the end of the age, the soon returning of the Lord.  Jesus also warned the disciples that they would be persecuted at the end of time.  “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.  Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.  On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.  At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.  Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.  (Matthew 10:16-23)  Of course Paul and the disciples experienced all of these things that Jesus talked about: imprisonments, floggings, addressing governors and kings, fleeing from town to town, hated by the people they were addressing.  They felt the urgency of getting out the message of redemption.  Their mission will not be finished before Jesus returns.  Paul is now writing to the Corinthian church who are experiencing persecution: the present crisis.  He tells them not to waste their time seeking another situation or condition in their lives, for Jesus is returning soon, so he desires that they stay as they are presently, so that they might be fully engulfed in knowing Jesus when He returns.  

Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit; he was given an assignment by Jesus to minister the Good News to the Gentiles.  He now knows that the Good News is also for the Gentiles and that they too will receive what the prophet Joel spoke about: In the last days, God says,I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days,and they will prophesy.  — And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  (Acts 2:17,18 and 21)  In the above focus he reminds the Corinthians that they were bought at a price, the precious blood of Jesus.  This price ransomed them from eternal death so they should understand as new creatures in the Kingdom of God that they are servants of the Most High now.  So it does not matter that on this earth and in their present state whether they are slaves or not.  Their concern in life should not be whether they are slaves or not, but whether they are God’s slave.  What is important is the NEW CREATURE not the condition of the old creature, the latter is assigned to eternal death.  The former is free to be in the presence of God forever.  Paul is establishing in this letter to the Corinthians that their responsibility in life should be to Christ and to the new life that Christ has won for them through the cross.  In this new life there will be opposition, a crisis to their stability and peace in the world, but their dedication to Christ should be strong regardless of their struggles or situation in life.  Paul is a good example of what a born-again life looks like, one not entangled with the affairs of men.  But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:8-11)  Paul is asking the Corinthians to forsake some of their own desires for their lives so that they might know Jesus Christ better.  If they hold onto this life and their own desires for their lives, they will lose the victory of Christ in their lives and maybe even their spiritual existence.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  (Matthew 16:25-27) 

Paul and the disciples believed in the soon return of the Lord.  This causes them not to be indolent, inactive, lazy.  If they would have considered that Jesus would not return for at least 2,000 years, they might have taken their time in telling the Good News to others.  Paul might have not traveled over 2,000 miles to win people for Christ.  But they expected the soon return of Christ, so they were busy fishing every day for souls to win some for the kingdom of God.  Paul was especially active, experiencing distresses of all kinds in his life, living always under the threat of death.  But Jesus conditioned the disciples to believe in his imminent return.  He told them about the last days and what to expect. “If anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.  For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.  "Immediately after the distress of those days“ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’  “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.  And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.  (Matthew 24:26-31)  Paul and the disciples understood well that it was important to tell the message of redemption.  They wanted people not to mourn when Jesus returns, but to rejoice for they are part of the body of Christ.  They hurried from one community to the next with the words of redemption on their lips; they wanted the Good News to be trumpeted everywhere before the last trumpet call.  Paul is telling his beloved Corinthians to forsake seeking change in their lives, instead, to  focus on the new within them.  He does not want them seeking only the benefits of this life, but rather seeking the benefits of the eternal with God.  Even the slaves in this world should be focused more on their new life IN CHRIST than on gaining their freedom.  Now breakfast companions, where are your thoughts and activities in this life?  Are you praying constantly?  Are your hours spent in quiet communication with God?  Or has this life robbed you of the active presence of the Spirit of God in your life?  We all have short lives; death is always a part of our finite lives.  For all of us this world in its present form will pass away.  Therefore, how should we live as born-again, new creatures IN CHRIST?  We should await his glorious appearing and listen for that loud trumpet call.  This is what our focus for today is telling us.

 

 

    

 

  

    

 

1 Corinthians 7:8-16 Each One has a Gift!

1 Corinthians 7:8-16  Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.  But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.  To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.  But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.  And a husband must not divorce his wife.  To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.  And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.  For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.  Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.  But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so.  The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.  How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?  Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

In the above focus we see Paul encouraging fellow believers to live as he lives, unmarried and completely committed to God.  Paul lives his life as a living sacrifice to the will of God.  Since he met Jesus in a personal way on the road to Damascus, he fell under the will of God; his life of murderous threats and anger towards others was transformed to the love of God for all people.  Paul’s commitment to God demonstrated his love for Jesus.  Jesus told his disciples that to enter the Kingdom of God and yet hang onto this world is an impossible life to live successfully as followers of Christ.  Jesus illustrates this point when talking to a wealthy young man who addresses him as good master.  “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  (Matthew 19:16)  This man had followed the commandments and its regulations in a perfect way.  Jesus loves him because he is so dedicated to God, but he does not confirm his life as being perfect; instead, Jesus asked something of this man that he could not do: If you want to be PERFECT, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”  (21)  The disciples immediately recognized what a difficult task it would be for humans to abandon everything in this world and follow God as perfect servants of his will.  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”  (25)  Jesus calms their fears by saying, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.  (26)  This statement shows us the magnitude of God’s grace for imperfect human beings.  When Jesus was put on the cross: the impossible was committed that day, the death of the Son of God.  Jesus had told the people in his Sermon on the Mount, “Be ye perfect as God is perfect.”  Of course, God giving us Jesus as the propitiation of our sins makes us perfect.  So, as Jesus said, all things are possible to God.  Now in our focus for the day, Paul is suggesting to the Corinthians to live a more perfect life is not to marry.  It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.  Of course unmarried people are free from the entanglements of being responsible to another person.  In a marital relationship, the other person’s needs and desires are paramount in a successful union.  Marriage is a union of two made one, under an oath to God and to others.  This is a serious commitment, for it places the two in the hands of God.  Has not the one God made you?  You BELONG to him in body and spirit.  And what does the one God seek?  Godly offspring.  So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.  (Malachi 2:15)  If God accepts and sanctifies this marital relationship, then all in this relationship, including the children, are under God’s protection, his umbrella of love.  God will bless such a relationship as long as the couple are faithful to each other.  “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  (Matthew 19:4-6)

Not all people can live as Paul lived: unmarried.  In many ways it is an unnatural life, even going against God’s command for humans to procreate, to populate the world.  Men and women are given a God-driven sexual passion, a passion necessary to produce children.  Paul is asking the Corinthians not to give in to this intrinsic biological sexual desire, to put aside their basic instinctive desire to have sex and serve God completely.  But Paul understands what he is asking and that it is an impossibility for most people, so he relents and says, I wish that all of you were as I am.  But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.  (1 Corinthians 7:7)   Peter was married, yet he carried out the will of God in his life.  He forsook everything in his life to follow God.  We must assume that his wife too forsook everything in her life to follow God, for they had been united under God’s blessings.  Under God’s blessings--divorce is not an option except for unfaithfulness.  Jesus told the disciples that Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.  But it was not this way from the beginning.  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.  The disciples said to him, If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.  (Matthew 19:8-10)  This statement shows the carnality of humans.  If we are straddled with just one sexual partner under our marital oath to God, should we free ourselves of this restriction by not marrying?  Jesus said, realistically under the commandment of God to procreate, men and women struggle with sexual activity.  Should they marry or not?   Should their attention in this life be completely for God in his service or should they marry and divide their attention between their partner and God?  Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.  For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  The one who can accept this should accept it.”  (Matthew 19:11-12)  Are you willing to live sexless lives for the kingdom of God?  That is your choice; not everyone can do that: like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  Paul verifies this statement of Jesus about the eunuchs when he writes, each of you has your own gift from God.  If God desires you to be married, then give yourself into a marital relationship.  If you were born not to be in union with another in marriage, then live that way and thank God that you can give your whole life to God.  If your self-discipline is strong and you are willing to forgo marriage for the sake of God, do it with thankfulness and faithfulness to God only.  Paul understood well what he was asking of the Corinthians.  He also understood that the Corinthian society was lascivious and unrestrained in their sexual activity, all of it impure, without God’s blessing on it.

In Paul’s teaching about sexual activity and marriage in the Corinthian church, he is primarily focused on these new converts to know Christ in his fullness, to become rooted deeply in Christ.  Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.  (Colossians 2:6-8)  Within the Greek society, many deceptive philosophies had been taught to them from their earliest awareness.  Variant sexual practices were considered good and only natural.  Prostitution was rampant, embedded in their culture, even in their temples.  The new converts in the the Corinthian church struggled with the idea of faithfulness to one partner, for it seemed to be an unnatural requirement put on the flesh.  The Corinthian church had even allowed incest within their congregation and they boasted about it.  Paul warned them that their service to God must be stronger than their fleshly urges of sexual passion.  Because the Corinthians struggled with sexual issues as viewed by the Greek society, some were asking whether they should just forgo marriage all together, because unfaithfulness was so much a part of their culture.  Paul is saying, no, but their lives must depend on the role God has given them, some can be married and serve God wholeheartedly and some cannot serve God wholeheartedly unless they are single.  Paul wishes for the latter, but he knows this lifestyle is only for a few.  Jesus talked about a farmer (or God) sowing seed throughout the world.  Some seed fell on hard paths, such as we see in the stories of Noah and Lot.  The people in those stories were actively involved with the world.  Their agendas were too strong and prominent for them to notice the seed that was sown in their lives.  The devil quickly snatched up the seed from their lives and in both cases God judged them for their wickedness.   Other seed was sown on rocky ground where the roots could not go deeply within the soil.  They had received the Good News with joy for a while, but then in a time of testing they fell away.  Some seed fell among weeds and they sprouted, but life’s worries, riches and pleasures caused them not to mature.  This was Paul’s chief worry about the Corinthians, could they put away the sexual pleasures that they had participated in within the Greek culture?  Could they come into maturity?  Paul’s teaching about appropriate sexual behavior under the authority of God was designed to bring them into maturity so that they would produce much fruit for the kingdom of God.  He had to be rather explicit to disengage them from learned practice from their youth.  For Paul, salvation for all was his primary purpose for this teaching on sex and marriage.  He urges believers not to divorce their unbelieving mate, if their mate wishes to stay married to them.  Why?   For the salvation of their unbelieving mate.  Paul wants the unbeliever in the marriage to experience the Good News by observing the believing wife or husband.  Our friends around this breakfast table, sexual activity and sexual pursuits outside of God's will for you can damage your whole life.  Live in integrity and faithfulness with others in every part of your life.  If single, live happily in that framework; if married, likewise.  In all things, live your lives unto God, knowing his blessings, that his constant and active presence within you are for the good.  

1 Corinthians 7:1-7 Enjoy Others with Pure Hearts!

 1 Corinthians 7:1-7  Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”  But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.  The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.  The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband.  In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.  Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.  Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  I say this as a concession, not as a command.  I wish that all of you were as I am.  But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.  

In this focus today we see Paul fighting against the mores of the Greeks and Romans at that time.  These Corinthians were in a Greek culture where immorality was considered normal.  Men especially had license to do many things that Christians would consider immoral.  Once a Greek woman married she was to have fidelity to her children and to her husband.  In Romans 1 we see men and women in the Roman Empire chasing after experiences of “shameful lust” activities.  Sexual activities of all kinds have been part of the human condition from the beginning and most of it not merely for procreation.  Men and women have been blessed by God with a sexual passion for each other, a God-given passion for the purpose to fill the earth with humankind for God’s glory.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  (Genesis 1:28)  Sexual activity is natural, a prominent part of life.  We see in Song of Solomon the fantasizing of two young people about the other’s attractiveness: their desire to have physical intimacy wth each other.  There I will give you my love.   How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!  (Song of Songs 7:12&6)  Love is an important part of intimacy: the desire to be bound together physically with your lover, to be one with her or him.  Paul warns Timothy as a young man to be focused on oneness with God and not on sexual activity with women.  Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts.  Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace.  Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.  (2 Timothy 2:22)  We see in the above focus that Paul has placed himself within this milieu of oneness with God.  He is recommending this lifestyle to others so that they might give themselves completely to God.  Of course this is a very unnatural lifestyle for a human being who was given by God the passion for sexual activity.  In answering a question given to him, Paul answers, It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.  He wishes that all men and women could live life as he is living life for God.  For him the purpose of his life was to spread the Good News to all, especially to the Gentiles who are caught up with all kinds of illicit sexual activity, none of which God desired for mankind from the beginning.  Paul tells these Greeks, I wish that all of you were as I am.  But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.  But some of you have the ability to not have to be solely focused as I am on God and still carry the Good News effectively to the world, so get married if it is your desire.  God can bless your lifestyle, married or not married.  

Paul’s dedication to the Lord was intense because he had been given by Jesus a special commission to preach the Good News to the whole world.  He had been blinded by Jesus for three days, and in those three days he had to consider seriously what it means to know God through the work of Jesus Christ.  Up until the road to Damascus, Paul was a virulent enemy of Jesus.  He hated this person Jesus, for Jesus to him was an apostate to the truth of knowing God through the law.  Everything Paul was, Jesus was not.  Paul was the hypocrite that Jesus spoke against.  As a rabbi Paul had deemphasized the grace and mercy of God, the weightier things of the law, and had chosen to emphasize the regulations and strictures of the law, placing the heavy burden of the Law and the rabbi’s demands rigidly on the backs of the people.  Paul was a Pharisee, the religious police of that era.  He thought true holiness was earned through complete obedience to every regulation and law that the rabbis demanded.  Now as a Christian, Paul’s previous life had been turned upside down.  The weightier things in serving God became primary in his life.  In front of the mob in Jerusalem that wanted to kill him, Paul defends himself before them by recounting his experience with the Lord, and how he became a follower of Jesus and a minister to the Gentiles.  “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.  And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’  “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”  (Acts 22:19-21)  When Paul told the Jerusalem Jews that he went to the immoral Greeks to teach about God, the crowd again tried to kill Paul.  The Roman garrison saved Paul’s life.  But for the Jews to hear that Paul was ministering the Good News to the wicked Gentiles was more than the crowd could accept as being good.  The Jews were quite aware of the Gentiles’ lifestyle; they knew of their sexually deviant and immoral behavior.  They knew their temples to their goddess were but brothels.  For Paul to teach about their God to such people was an anathema that could not be tolerated, so they tried to kill Paul.  Of course Paul was in the business of changing the lifestyle of the Greeks to the holiness of God.  He taught against the Greeks' sexually immoral behavior.  Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?  Never!  Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?  For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”  But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.  (1 Corinthians 6:15-17)  The Greeks' understanding of sexual behavior was strongly attacked by his presentation of the Good News.  He tells them that a Christian should be united in Christ, one with him in holiness.  They are to have one mate to unite with in a intimate relationship, no others.  Since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.  The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.  The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband.  In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.  Within the sanctity of marriage, people are to engage in sexual activity.  Outside of marriage it is condemned by God and He will not bless such relationships.

Paul’s ministry about sexual relationships is based on his understanding that the Lord will come soon and that each person should dedicate his life completely to God and not be distracted by other concerns in life.  Later on in this chapter he tells the once promiscuous Greeks that the time is short.  From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.  For this world in its present form is passing away.  (1Corinthians 7:29-31)  Paul’s life was dedicated to the Lord completely because he felt the time was short; the Lord would be coming soon to collect those who are his own.  Therefore, Paul traveled thousands of miles in the ancient world to tell them of the Good News, to prepare them for the Lord’s return.  He traveled in the lands of very immoral people, instructing them that there is a better life to live, one that is less chaotic and disruptive, a life of fidelity to one’s mate and to God.  But Paul also knows that infidelity and miscreant behavior have been part of the Jewish experience too.  The prophet Malachi cries out loudly to the Jews to come back to the Lord in fidelity to him and to their partners in marriage.  Here is another thing you do.  You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure.  You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?”  I’ll tell you why!  Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young.  But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.  Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife?  In body and spirit you are his.  And what does he want?  Godly children from your union.  So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.  “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel.  “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”  (Malachi 2:13-16)  We see in this passage what Jesus said about Jewish people not staying married to another because of the coldness of their hearts.  Sexual activity is a strong component of the human existence.  If not controlled, deviant and extra marital sexual experiences will spread like a virus.  Paul had told the Corinthian church to cast out the man who was boldly living in an incestuous relationship with his mother.  Why?   Because this kind of behavior is like yeast: it will spread just as deviant sexual behavior has become a part of the Greek culture.  Paul was fearful that this unnatural behavior would destroy the fidelity of the church to others and to God.  When disobeying God and the harmony of life as He constructed it, sin becomes natural, darkness becomes accepted.  Sadly and truly, God will judge such behavior as not his will and destruction will follow.  So faithful breakfast companions, put Christ first in your life, jettison lascivious, immoral, and adulterous thoughts from your minds.  You have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus.  You are now to live his life in holiness in thoughts and actions.  When you fail, know for sure God forgives a repentant heart.  David had a contrite heart, and God counted him as very precious to him, even Jesus came from his lineage.  Accept your place in Christ and rejoice in him.      

  

         

     

        

      

 

  

 

  

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Live a Good Life!

1 Corinthians 6:18-20  Flee from sexual immorality.  All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.  Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies.

In this brief focus we see Paul writing about what is a betrayal to our own bodies.  Whoever sins sexually is acting against the best interests of his or her own spiritual body, a place where God’s Spirit abides.  God’s Spirit is a place of unity, of harmony, and of peace.  An act of adultery is a betrayal of God’s Spirit, for it is an act against a direct commandment given by God on Mount Sinai: Thou shall not commit adultery.  Such an act breaks unity with God.  It breaks harmony with God, for He did not create us to participate in sexual experiences with those who are not our mates.  And within this caldron of adultery, peace within and peace outside in the community are disrupted, for solemn promises and vows were broken to his or her mate and to the community at large.  Adultery is the ultimate act of betrayal, for it hides behind deception, a demeanor of lies.  The longer the deceptive cohabitation takes place, the more damage it will caused when the evil is exposed.  The other violations of God’s commandments are outside the body:  I am the Lord thy God.  Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.  Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.  Honor thy father and mother.  Thou shall not kill.  Thou shall not steal.  Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.  All of these are diametrically against God’s holiness and perfection, but done alone without joining with anyone else to complete the act of disharmony with God’s will for humans. The act of adultery needs a coconspirator in breaking God’s perfect will for a man or woman.  Christians possess the Spirit of God within them.  Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.  (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)  This is a clear warning for those who participate in adulterous affairs.  If you destroy the holiness and sacredness of God’s place within you, God will destroy that person.  The Holy Spirit is not to be dishonored or belittled.  He is the power of God; He is the power of resurrection in each Christian.  Without him in our lives, we are void of any power that will bring us eternal life.  That is why in today’s focus Paul says,  Flee from sexual immorality.  Peter tells us, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.  (1 Peter 2:9-10)  Because our lives are hidden IN CHRIST, we should perform the priesthood duties of bringing praises to God.  If we are united with Christ, we should honor him within our communities by not acting on our variant sexual desires.  Peter goes on and tells Christians to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.  (1 Peter 2:11-12)  Sexual purity within a Christian or within a Christian community will bring light to an adulterous world, one where people betray each other, one where people live in lies and deception.

Sexual sins within the world are an indication of darkness and chaos.  Without fidelity, without oaths of honor, agreements, vows, treaties, and the like, the world is in a state of constant instability.  Since sexual sins are between one man and one woman, unfaithfulness in such intimate relationships can easily be seen as a precusor of greater problems within the world at-large, for if people cannot be faithful in individual, intimate relationships, they definitely will have problems working together in global circumstances.  Jesus knew the nature of mankind; He knew they were adulterous not only in their own relationships, but also to God.  When the Pharisees and Sadducees approached Jesus to perform another miraculous sign for them, Jesus identified clearly what adulterous people they were, for He had already performed many miraculous things within the community of the Jews.  These were acts that no man had done from the beginning of time; yet, they would not believe He was sent by God to them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.  He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’  You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.  (Matthew 16:1-4)  Jesus saw them as not necessarily sexually immoral, but immoral to God, unfaithful to God, unwilling to bend to God’s authority.  The elite, governing Israelites were always fighting God’s authority in their lives.  In the Old Testament we see God judged the  kingdom of Israel first because of their unwillingness to serve him.  These ten tribes broke away from Judah under Jeroboam.  Jeroboam had the people in his kingdom worship Baal.  Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.  He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar.  This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made.  (1 King 12:31-32)  Because the kingdom of Israel disobeyed God by worshipping other gods, He sent the Assyrians to war against the Israelites and carried them off to Assyria as captives.  Later on the Babylonians defeated Judah because they too were rejecting the God who rescued them out of Israel.  They too forgot their God and turned to idols.  “The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron chisel—engraved with a diamond point on their stony hearts and on the corners of their altars.  Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill.  (Jeremiah 17:1-2)  All twelve tribes turned to worshipping other gods, claiming that these gods had rescued them out of slavery, claiming these gods would bring prosperity and security to them, but they were wrong.  Their gods were but stone and wood, containing no power to rescue them from anything.  The Israelites of old fought God in their lives, rejected the prophets' words that God sent to them.  Now in Christ's time, they were rejecting Jesus; rather than serve him, they killed him on the cross.  The Israelites are a perfect depiction of mankind in general.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)

Paul in the above focus is telling the Christians to flee sexual sins, for the sin of adultery is a sin against God, for we who are IN CHRIST are God’s people.  Israelites, God’s chosen, lived in adultery; they turned to many lovers.  They chose the affections of these lovers over the love of God for them.  God found them in slavery; no one wanted them, but God wanted them.  He picked them up when they were bloody and without strength.  They were as a baby abandoned at birth, but God chose them as his own and as a good father took them out of slavery and gave them a new life.  On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.  No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you.  Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.“  ‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!  (Ezekiel 16:4-6).  But the Israelites betrayed God by playing wth adultery, seeking other lovers to please them.  Because of their adultery, God abandoned them to fierce nations that would enslave them, make them once more dependent on the will of men.  However, God in his everlasting love, his eternal, enduring love, brought the Israelites back to the Promised Land.  We who are now named as Christ’s own, should walk in faithfulness to God.  To seek physical sexual experiences that are out of the will of God will bring discipline, for God loves us.  It is a dangerous escapade, for it brings us in danger of losing the presence of God in our lives.  We should never forget that we were the baby in the wilderness that no one wanted.  Life had bloodied us up, but God came along through the works of Jesus to save us from eternal death.  The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)  We ought not to seek the world’s lovers, to satiate the flesh’s wayward longings.  Rather we should seek the eternal love of God.  We are not to combine our flesh physically with the world’s lovers or prostitutes.  Our affections should be one-hundred-percent toward God just as his love toward us is so great that He gave his only begotten Son for our redemption.  IN CHRIST WE HAVE A NEW LIFE; old things should pass away.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)  As Christians, we should be in the business of reconciling the world to Christ.  We are to be God’s ambassadors, revealing the righteousness of God to the world.  Adultery is the very opposite of reconciliation, the very opposite of being free from the entanglements of the flesh.  Therefore as Paul says,  Flee from sexual immorality.  Instead, championing the works of Christ, as with Christ’s fidelity with God, let us be the same: ONE WITH GOD, ONE WITH CHRIST AND ONE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.  This is your inheritance, your birthright.  Amen!    

    

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-17 Walk in the Light!

1 Corinthians 6:9-17  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  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.  “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.  “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.”  The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?   Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?  Never!  Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?  For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”  But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

God has designed the body, the universe, and the sky above to run exactly as He has ordained it.  There is no chaos or disharmony in his established existence.  In the world we know, Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.  But this world is tentative: the things of this world and all the physical preciseness of it and existence will cease someday.  The Lord God is eternal; even if heaven and earth pass away, God remains in his glory.  Eating and drinking will be gone someday.  At the present, humans and existence itself, groan to be delivered from the bondage of the penalty of sin, just as the Israelites groaned to be delivered from the heavy hand of Pharaoh.  The Bible says that Satan is the prince of the air, or that his spirit rules everywhere.  In the above focus, we see Paul excoriating the behaviors of the fleshly man and woman: immoral sexuality, worshiping idols, adultery,  sex with men, thievery, greediness, drunkeness, slandering, swindling.  In Romans 1 Paul adds many more human behaviors, thoughts and actions that are contrary to God’s will for men and women: envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping, insolence, arrogance, and boastfulness.  He goes on, humans lack true understanding of the world or the nature of humans; they have no steadfast fidelity, no enduring love or mercy.   All of these distort God’s image and his perfect will for humans.  God made men and women in his image and likeness.  In the beginning, man and woman were eternal, for they were holy and perfectly made.  But sin entered the world; men and women thought that their freedom from God’s authority would bring them happiness; instead, their lives became disruptive, chaotic, and evil.  Rather than live in the light of God, they lived in darkness without knowing the reason or purpose for their lives.  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.  If you follow me, you won’t HAVE TO walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  (John 8:12, NLT)  The light Jesus reflected was the light of God; Adam and Eve lived in the light of God in the Garden.  Jesus said, He and God are one; when you see me, you have seen the Father, for I am the complete fulness of God.  Christians who are IN CHRIST are to image God, not evil or Satan.  We are to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (Ephesians 3:19)  Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are IN CHRIST, washed, sanctified, justified.  They are new creatures who no longer live in darkness.  They have the Holy Spirit in their lives as the Israelites had in the wilderness: the cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night to lead them to the Promised Land or where the eternal God dwells.  All of this glorious inheritance comes through the mighty name of the Lord Jesus.  

What is in the name of Jesus?  The Lamb of God is the name of Jesus, the power of God on earth.  To escape the confines of Egypt, the burden of slavery, the children of Israel had to place the blood of a lamb around the door frames of their houses.  By doing this the angel of death would pass over their homes, allowing them to escape the death of their first born.  This was a choice they made, to follow Moses’ instructions about the Passover.  They did not HAVE TO follow Moses’ words.  They could ignore them and experience the death that would enter their houses that night.  Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.  Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe.  None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.  When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.  (Exodus 21-23)  This passover lamb had to be perfect with no defects.  The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  (Exodus 12: 6)  When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  (John 1:29)  Two of John’s disciples left John’s side and followed Jesus that day, for they knew the Passover Lamb of God was to set people free from the household of slavery.  John knew that Jesus was sent by God, for he heard the voice of God when he baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.  From that day on, Jesus would perform the works of his Father.  He would heal, cast out demons, turn water into wine, feed thousands from just a few loaves of bread and some fish, and tame nature by telling the wind to calm down.  Jesus would walk on water and teach with authority the eternal words of God.  He demonstrated that He was the Son of God.  Jesus’ life of miraculous happenings frustrated the religious leaders of that time.  Because of Jesus breaking the Sabbath, they thought of Jesus as being the son of the devil and not of God.  Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?  Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father.  But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.  (John 10:36-38)  The leaders of the Israelites were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people.  They hated Jesus and constantly sought to kill him.  The religious leaders were functioning outside of God’s will for them.  They supposedly followed their father Abraham by insisting on the laws of Moses to be evident in the Jewish community, but they were not much more than religious police, unwilling to show the Jews the reality of God’s mercy and grace for those He loved.  They definitely were not in unity with God’s  purpose for the human race.  Now in the above focus, we see Paul warning the Corinthian church of being out-of-step with the will of God because of their fleshly lives.  They were uniting their spirits with the spirit of the world just as a man who unites himself with a prostitute.  Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?  The obvious answer is, no.  Of course not, a Christian is to be united with God.  Whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Our actions, thoughts, and deeds are to be in harmony with God’s perfection.  Jesus ends his teaching on the Mount, saying for us to be perfect as God is perfect.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  BE PERFECT, therefore, as your Heavenly FATHER IS PERFECT.  (Matthew 5:43-48)  We must be united with God in spirit, completely enveloped by him in our actions and thoughts.  God’s words are perfect and last forever.  When God gave the Israelites the law, He gave them a way to perfection, but sin interrupted the purpose of his words.  Paul proclaims that no one can be completely obedient to the laws and regulations given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  James says to us that if we prefer some people over others in the congregation of God when we seat them, we are breaking the perfection of God’s will for us.  Therefore, we are not perfect.  God’s words are eternal and they are meant to be followed.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  (Matthew 5:17-18)  God’s words can be considered as being on a eternal continuum.  They will never cease or be taken back.  They must be fulfilled.  Paul is a good example of this.  He was a murderer; he had a murderous heart.  Moses too was a murderer; he killed an Egyptian.  David also committed murder.  If God says, you cannot murder, does He take those words back because he loved Paul, David and Moses.  No, his words are eternal; righteousness is eternal, holiness is eternal; God’s words go on forever and must be fulfilled.  But now we see the Lamb of God entering the picture.  He will fulfill God’s words by substituting himself on the cross for the act of murder by Paul, David, and Moses.  He will complete the continuum of God’s eternal words by placing himself into those everlasting words.  God is not a liar; Jesus’ price on the cross pays the price for all law breakers, so that we as lawbreakers can be considered PERFECT as God IS PERFECT.  We are no longer under condemnation or judgment from God because the price for our sins has been paid in full.  Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:28)  Therefore breakfast companions, be in unity with Christ in everything you do; please the Father God in words, actions and thoughts.  We pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (HIS PERFECTION, NOT OURS.)  (Ephesians 3:14-19)  God bless you as you walk in the fullness of God today, rooted and established in his love.