Posts

1 Corinthians 8 - The Precious Gift of Freedom in Christ!

1 Corinthians 8 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. Before we can dive into what this passage means for us today, you need to understand the context of the issue of food sacrificed which was sacrificed to idols in 1st century Roman city of Corinth.  The Context of the Problem In the first-century Roman city of Corinth, much of the meat available in the public markets (macellum) had first been o...

1 Corinthians 7 - Paul's View of Marriage and Sex!

1 Corinthians 7 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Concerning Married Life 7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 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. 5 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. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 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. Once again in chapter ...

1 Corinthians 6 - Why is Sexual Immorality Different Than Other Sins?

1 Corinthians 6 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Sexual Immorality 12 “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. 13 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. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 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! 16 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.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not kno...

1 Corinthians 5 - Should the Church Bless Same Sex Committed Relationships?

1 Corinthians 5 Enduring Word Commentary "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. 12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Apparently sexual scandal in the church is nothing new in the church. Chapter 5 starts out an issue in which a man is sleeping with his father's wife. This would indicate that the woman was his stepmother. The fact that the verse (v.1) says " sleeping ", shows it is an ongoing relati...

1 Corinthians 4 - Your Pastor Isn't Perfect And Neither Are You!

1 Corinthians 4 - NIV Paul’s Appeal and Warning 14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. Paul has a very sarcastic tone throughout chapter 4. He is confronting the pride in the Corinthian church as they regarded their leaders like Apollos, as better than for instance Paul or Peter.  By following Apollos they acted as if it made them more special. They also did not respect the fact that Peter and Paul were apostles, which gave them apostolic authority. Paul says,   Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benef...

1 Corinthians 3 - Is Discipleship Optional?

1 Corinthians 3 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary 3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?  This passage is great help for us, as we think about Christian discipleship, and what it means to become spiritually mature in Christ. Two of most consistent metaphors when it comes to becoming a mature Christian is the one Paul is using here. I.e. A baby growing up to move from being given milk to being fed with meat. He also uses an agricultural one. I.e. A seed growing to bearing fruit. Biblical stories include: "Parable of the Mustard Seed" (Mark 4), ...

1 Corinthians 2 - The Key to Successful Preaching!

1 Corinthians 2 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary 2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. This is a very important passage because Paul dispels any notion that the effectiveness of his preaching ia anything else but the Holy Spirit working through him. Athens in Greece was the intellectual captital of the world at that time. The orators and philosphers gathered on a weekly basis to talk about spiritual and philosophical matters.  But Paul kept his message simple. He gave his testimony about God, which was based on the facts. Pau...