Read the Bible in a Year (30NOV19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, November 30’s Bible reading is 1 Corinthians 5-8.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, December 1’s Bible reading is 1 Corinthians 9-11. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

 

1 CORINTHIANS MOMENT – (30NOV19) “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? 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” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The Apostle Paul had to address some issues in the church of Corinth to settle matters of division and sexual immorality amongst them. A case of incest had taken place in the church where a man had slept with his father’s wife. Paul rebuked this type of behavior and informed the church that they should have dealt with this man as his immoral behavior was inappropriate for the body of Christ. Paul argued that the church should expect the world to act contrary to God, but He would be the One to judge them so they may come to His saving grace. Nevertheless, when it came to matters such as sexual immorality taking place within the church, these types of issues were to be judged accordingly and dealt with so that the rest of the body would not be negatively affected. The Apostle Paul wrote: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—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. 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” (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). Paul used the example of using old leavened bread to celebrate Christ when it came to fulfilling the lustful desires of the flesh, while supposedly being new in Christ. Therefore, being in Christ was supposed to produce change.

Then there was the issue of the married verses the unmarried. Paul was a single man who had not been married, and he wrote that it was good for a person to remain single, so they may be able to devote their time to God. Nevertheless, he also said that there was nothing wrong with a person getting married if they so desired. It was better to marry than to commit sexual immorality. Paul wrote: “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” (1 Corinthians 7:18-20). We are free in Christ, but we are not free to commit acts that goes against the very nature of who God is. We are to honor Him with our bodies and not cause ourselves nor someone else to sin due to yielding to temptation. For those who are married, they are to submit to one another except for a mutual time of fasting and prayer, but after such, they are to come back together to avoid temptation.

As for divorce, Paul repeated the words of Jesus that a woman was not to leave her husband, but if she did, she was to remain unmarried or be reunited with him. This prevented couples from divorcing and remarrying on a whelm but caused them to seriously think about the commitment they were making to one another, and should they choose to leave the marriage, to weigh the consequences of their decision. The Apostle Paul wrote: “A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39).

The Apostle Paul was clear in his instructions to the church in Corinth, and the issue of marriage and sexual immorality is still what the Lord would have us to follow today. Regardless of how man tries to twist the Bible or make God’s laws nonexistent, marriage is and will forever be between a man and a woman. Divorce does not give everyone the right to get remarried unless it happens on biblical grounds. God desires for us to be a righteous and holy people in our relationships with one another for we are to represent the relationship Christ has with us. Therefore, when we see our fellow brothers and sisters living contrary to the Word of God, we are to lovingly try to win them back over towards the Lord's side, but if they continue to live sinfully, then we are not to follow their same path and disassociate. First, however, we are to judge ourselves to ensure that there is no hypocrisy in us, and then, we can see clearly as to the other person’s spiritual condition. Something to ponder….