1 Corinthians Lesson 3: Marriage and Idols (PDF)

I Corinthians LESSON 3 1 Problem #5 Marriage 1 Corinthians 7:1-40 2 Problem Slogan: It is good for a man not to touch a woman (Corinthians). Corinthian excesses. Pushing Paul’s doctrine of freedom beyond its sensible limits. Paul is responding to questions the Corinthians have asked. One faction: “All things are lawful for me” and “Sex for the body and the body for sex”. Corinthian slogans to justify immorality (6:12-20). 3 Another faction: “Eschatological people (likely women) who were ‘too spiritual’ to have sexual relations”. Their slogan: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman”. Paul adds advice to widows and widowers, singles, and fathers. 4 In General Paul is not writing a general letter on marriage. He is responding to the slogan raised by the Corinthians: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman” (7:1). Paul alternates between male and female arguments (12x). Paul makes no difference between male and female. In each case, there is mutuality between the sexes. 5 There is no hint that Paul is anti-women, anti- marriage, or anti-sex in marriage. Paul’s advice throughout is strongly conditioned by his “apocalyptic” perspective. Like all New Testament writers, Paul is expecting the soon return of the Lord. Guiding principle: “Stay in the place in which you were called (or don’t)”. Your spiritual identity is “in Christ”. Changing your situation is neither here nor there. 6 Slogan: It is good for a man not to touch a woman Paul is writing to several groups: To the married and formerly married (vv. 2-16) Married believers (vv. 1-7) Unmarried (widows) and widowers (vv. 8-9; 39-40) Married but thinking of divorce (vv. 10-11) Married to an unbeliever (vv. 12-16) To the circumcised and uncircumcised; slave and free (vv. 17-24) 7 To those engaged to be married, singles, fathers, widows, and widowers (vv. 25-40) Virgins—engaged to be married (vv. 25-31) Singles—rationale for serving the Lord while single (vv. 32-35) Fathers giving daughters in marriage (vv. 36-38) Widows and widowers (vv. 8-9; 39-40) 8 1 Corinthians 7:1-16 1 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 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. 9 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 … 10 8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 11 12 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. 13 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. … 15 Butif 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. 12 Comments To the Married (vv. 2-7) Emphasis on healthy sexual relationships within marriage (Corinthians weren’t asking about this). Traditional view: Man’s privilege and the woman’s obligation. Paul disagrees. Sexual relationships are based on mutuality. Couples (both men and women) are indebted to each other sexually. 13 Paul forbids the practice of depriving a marriage partner of sexual relations (except for an agreed upon reason). Paul’s response: Don’t change your situation because you have become a Christian. Your status and role in life have nothing to do with your position in Christ. Stay as you are! 14 To the widows and widowers (vv. 8-9) Paul refers to those who have lost a spouse through death (Free). Paul’s response: Stay as you are. (Paul seems to identify with this faction) 15 To the married thinking about divorce (vv. 10-11) Paul begins by addressing the women (who, in the culture, had little or no rights). Jewish tradition, only men could divorce; Greeks, possible for a woman to divorce, but not common. They cannot argue that it would be unholy to have sex with an unbelieving spouse. Sexual relations is not an adequate reason for divorce. 16 No divorce—must be understood within the context of the instruction. Not canon law but ad-hoc. Not like in the gospels—“whosoever” (Free). Paul is not giving instructions about divorce, but whether the Christian should stay in a marriage and not initiate a divorce. Paul: Stay as you are. 17 To the rest (vv. 12-16) If married to an unbeliever, and unbeliever is willing to stay in the marriage, so ought the Christian. Once married, Paul’s instruction is that they should give themselves fully to the marriage. Because the “end is soon coming”, none should hasten to get married if they can stand it. However, if the Lord returns soon, should couples cease sexual relations? Quite the contrary. 18 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 17 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. 18 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. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 19 20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you— although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 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. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 20 The Theological Key: Stay as you are (7:17-24) Guiding principle: “Stay in the place in which you were called”. Your identity is in Christ. One is not locked into whatever the situation; theologically, changing your situation is neither here nor there. You have been bought with a price. Christ’s slave (v. 23). 21 About the “Virgins” (vv. 25-40) Virgins—engaged to be married (vv. 25-31) Singles—rationale for serving the Lord while single (vv. 32-35) Fathers giving daughters in marriage (vv. 36-38) Widows and widowers (vv. 8-9; 39-40) Paul has “no command of the Lord”. They should get married if they wish (or not). 22 The So What? Paul places sexual relationships in marriage on a higher plane than is often the case in the church. Mutual submission in marriage. The purpose of sexual intercourse in marriage. Divorce and remarriage (Paul is not addressing). The dignity and value of singleness. Singleness and missions (heroines). 23 Problem #6 On Being a Stumbling Block 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1 24 The Problem A division among the Corinthians themselves as to whether a believer is allowed to eat “meat offered to idols”. Two basic positions which Paul calls the “strong” and the “weak”. The weak thought it was wrong to eat meat sacrificed to idols. They were certain that the pagan gods had somehow contaminated the meat. Felt threatened. They want a set of general rules in matters of food and drink and sexuality. 25 I Corinthians 8:1-13 1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God. 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know “An idol is nothing at all” and “There is no God but one”. 26 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God. 7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food, they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 27 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 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? 28 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. 29 Context Life in ancient culture revolved around a cycle of temple meals, feasts, and celebrations in one of Corinth’s numerous temples. Meat would first be sacrificed to idols to honor the gods—then sent to be sold in the marketplace or sent to temple restaurants or special side rooms for celebrations. Celebrations included weddings, births, deaths, family or social and business gatherings. Often, the celebration itself included a religious ritual. 30 Refusal to host or to reject an invitation meant severe social and economic consequences. The rituals were part of daily life. The rituals were so common that people were accustomed and took them for granted. 31 An Overview of Chapters 8-10 Paul will pick up three words from the Corinthian letter: knowledge, rights, and freedom. Chapter 8: Paul’s response begins with “knowledge vs love”. He offers something for both sides then Paul presents what is often called the “Stumbling Block Principle” (8:9-13). Paul lays out his case in 8:1-13. 32 Chapter 9: Paul stresses his willingness to give up his rights if any would cause a weaker one to stumble. Chapter 10: PauI uses the Old Testament story of Israel’s wandering in the desert as an example of what NOT to do (10:1-13); what true freedom means. 33 Love is Stronger than Knowledge (8:1-3) 1 Now about food sacrificed to idols. The Corinthians: We all know “we all possess knowledge”. Knowledge “puffs up” … arrogance, inflates, hot air; “huff, puff, and blow”. “Love builds up”. 2 Thosewho think they know something don’t know what they don’t know. Just knowledge is not enough. 34 3 But whoever loves God is known by God. They might think they know God. But does God know them? 35 The Strong (8:4-6) 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: “We know “An idol is nothing at all” and “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods … 6 yet for us there is but one God. The strong’s argument: We all possess knowledge. There is no God but one. An idol is nothing at all (so-called). 36 We’re free! “We know … who cares what we eat, where we eat, or who we eat with.” They were likely flaunting their freedom. 37 The Weak (8:7-8) 7 Butnot everyone possesses this knowledge. The weak believed it was wrong to eat meat. What if gods contaminated the meat? Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food, they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. Conscience is weak because they haven’t yet developed a mature conscience. 38 Not aware or too aware of the power of the idol. The weak could fall back into idolatry. 8 Butfood does not bring us near to God; To the strong, “Food doesn’t matter to God”. But you know and they don’t, so if they see you … The strong were likely the patrons. Paul doesn’t want to offend them. 39 The Stumbling Block Principle (8:9-13) 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. 40 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. 41 The problem is greater than eating meat. The main problem is about idolatry. The strong believe they are immune—they have knowledge, but by eating in the temple, they are eating at the devil’s table. When you get too close to the devil’s world, you’ll get burned. Their “knowledge” wasn’t what they thought. 10 … weak conscience, for whom Christ died, sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be tempted to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 42 v. 13 … With a personal example of the Stumbling Block Principle, Paul shifts focus. Example is not about “meat sacrificed to idols”. It’s about any meat—anything—that would cause a brother/sister to stumble. Paul: “If eating meat causes my brother/sister to stumble, I’ll never eat meat again. I’ll become a vegetarian.” The first consideration about our action is not knowledge, rights, or freedom. It is about love—the good of the other person. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 43 Legalism The Stumbling Block Principle is not about legalism—“offending” some dear saint in the church. The principle is about attitude and conduct that another would copy to their own hurt. For those easily offended, in Romans 14, Paul writes about actions of indifference—stuff that doesn’t matter. People in the community should learn to live together in harmony. 44 Personal behavior is not dictated by knowledge, rights, or freedom. Care for each other should be the guiding concern. 45 Legalism “No No’s” NO NO Drinking Sports on Sunday Smoking Lottery (unless you win) Dancing Anything with an image (doves, Movies manger) Playing the “devil’s cards” Short hair for women (board games are fine if not Jewelry using “devil’s cards”) Photographs Devil’s music (rock) Alfa Romeo (emblem is a snake) Drums & electric guitars fine Martial arts in church if playing the Lord’s Contraceptives music Buying insurance 46 The Stumbling Block Principle How might I cause another person to stumble? Examples. 47 Run to Win: Self-control (9:24-27) 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 48 The So What? Boundaries between church and culture. Not enough? Too much? It’s about attitude. The “no problem, I can handle it”. Demons are real. Social class structures. Worshipping together creates koinonia. 49 Scroll down for Scriptures on Rights and Freedom from Chapters 9-10. 50 Verses from Chapter 9 on Rights and Freedom 18 Am I not free? I did not use these rights. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 19 Though I am free, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. [like a gentile] so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel. 51 Verses from Chapter 10 on Rights and Freedom 14 Therefore, flee from idolatry. 20 The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 25 Eat anything sold in the meat market. 52 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without asking questions. 23 “Ihave the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble. 53 Problem #7 Women in Worship 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 54 Problem This is what we are dealing with here. Women in Corinth were abusing the cultural norms of worship. Paul is addressing women being vocal in the local church and not having their hair covered. Women were breaking cultural norms by praying with their heads uncovered. There are certain decorums that everybody agreed to in that culture. Women thought they were already so spiritual they When they took out their head covering, it was like a sign saying "they were hookers". This puts shame had little need to cover their heads. on the church. Paul is concerned only with the violation of Christ as representatives. “To let their hair down” considered to be “bedroom What does the world think of you? activity”. This is a question of concern to Paul. Problem blurred the distinction between the sexes and was seen as scandalous. 55 Your identity in Christ has nothing to do with whether you are male or female There should be a distinction between those who are christians and those who are not. Problem should be understood as an “ad-hoc” This is a specific church issue only to the Corinthians. issue in Corinth, related to a specific historical How should we deal with this issue about women context, as well as the theological stance taken by involvement household? in church and who is the head of the the Corinthians throughout the letter (likely caused There were nine women in ministry with Paul by the “eschatological women” in Chapter 7: Marriage & Sex). This passage often abused to put women in their place. 56 Women in Worship (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) 2I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 57 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. 7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 58 10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 59 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. 60 Comments Two problems grew out of their misguided view of freedom: Women are bringing shame on themselves (a cultural fact). You are bringing shame on the community of faith Women are bringing shame on the church. Outside, people are wondering, what is happening? Women and church were getting a reputation for being immoral. Let's not do things that people were reject from a mile away At least give some reason for why you do some of these things. 61 Paul: “Don’t bring shame upon the church (11:3- 12)”. One must be aware of the cultural context. Use some common sense. Note: This issue is a question about freedom, not of equality. 62 In Paul’s churches, women participated in worship along with men. Paul endorsed the freedom of women to pray, prophesy, and pastor in the churches. Paul even lists the women who served. The issue in Corinth is related to the type of “headdress” appropriate when worshipping. Violating a social norm by discarding the headdress “brought shame”. The headdress is a what cultural and society accepts as decent to wear. For women to “let their hair down” was considered “bedroom activity”. 63 The passage does not require subordination of Male and female are different in distinction and not in equality. God has not made men and women women, but a symbolic distinction between the the same and there are certain distinctions - we should maintain these distinctions. sexes—even though some of the arguments presuppose a hierarchal ordering. The patriarchal order of v. 3 and vv. 7-9 is set in counterpoint with a vision of mutual interdependence of men and women “in the Lord” (vv. 11-12). The immediate concern is for the Corinthians to avoid bringing shame on the community. 64 While understanding cultural norms are foundational to this teaching, the principle and outcome are not culturally conditioned. Paul argued that God created male and female as equals, but with unique distinctives. Therefore, The distinctions between male and female should be honored in the church. There is a difference but not that they are different in levels or quality. All are equal. The functional equality of men and women should be emphasized in the church. 65 We are both created in God's image and we share the same rules in the kingdom There is no difference between the two. Theological Key Men and women are both created in God’s image. While there are distinctive differences, there are not functional differences. 66 Definitions Complementarianism: God created men and women equal in their essential dignity and human personhood, but different and complementary in function (roles and responsibilities) with male headship in the church and in the home. 67 Egalitarianism: Men and women have interchangeable roles and adhere to mutual submission toward each other in the home and in the church. (my view) 68 The So What? Church should always keep the door open to women. Some of the verses in 11:1-22 are difficult to understand. The controversy remains about the roles of women in many churches. Leadership should emphasize the functional equality of women in every aspect of ministry by teaching and by taking concrete actions. 69 SOT ADM 2024 BIB353 I & II Corinthians Problems in a City Church Lesson 3, 07 November, Transcription This is the one time when I don't have to get up at 3.30 in the morning. And so I'm just on the same time zone as everybody else. And I look forward to it. All good things come to an end. And so tomorrow we're on a plane home. And I printed out some of your essays. And that will be my 16-hour essay. ﬂight as I read through some of those, but I look forward to it. So Jennifer and I will start with a few questions and answers, and then I'm going to run through just some stuS as it relates, an overview and an introduction that I've already done, just to remind you of how Paul's approaching We'll start oS with going to prostitutes and then we'll take a look at marriage and then food sacriﬁce to idols. We'll do those. And these are, I mean, these are really good. These problems are so applicable to where we are in any urban church that I trust I'll be able to lay it out well enough to be able to see it. So, I don't know. There we are. Hi, Jennifer. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Good morning or good afternoon or evening to all of you. It's good to be here. Here's the good news. You're done the class at 7 o'clock in the morning. That's good news. It doesn't cut into your day. well um we do have a we have several good questions we're going to skip over a couple of them but as one says hi prof paul addresses the issues theologically and from paul's letters we can see that paul can be very direct and ﬁrm to a people church that he's writing to in modern day context we talk a lot about the love of god and loving the people How then should we address, deal with issues in the church being like Paul yet in love? That's good. Paul actually can be very diplomatic. But when he needs to be direct, he is. And I'm not, I used to be very direct. I'm Scandinavian and so Scandinavian is pretty direct. But after 25 years in Latin America, you're not direct. Everything's indirect. So I, um, but Paul in this letter, um, can be very direct in second Corinthians. You'll see the diSerent parts of Paul. You'll see Paul being direct. You'll see Paul being upset. You'll see him deeply hurt. You'll see him wounded. You see how much he cares, all these emotional things that we don't usually think about with Paul. But what he's doing here, and this is what is unique, is he's trying to save the life of this congregation. And This is one of his ﬁrst church plants. It was certainly the one he spent the most time on. And he recognizes he has to win this battle or else this church isn't going to make it. And as a pastor, he is willing to do whatever he takes. So you see Paul will go back and forth sometimes, and I'll point that out where he can be very diplomatic. And at other times, he just goes for the jungler. But... And I'll do a bit of this tonight. Part of it is Paul's rhetorical style. It's a way of speaking that we all have certain rhetorical styles, question and answer or whatever. And you'll see, I'll go through how Paul does that. And so Paul's using a style that happens to be direct. And everybody understands that style. So I'll take a look at that. But how do we do it today? Very carefully. It is diSicult to do discipline in a modern church because people just go to another one. And so it is diSicult. There are times I have found in my own ministry that if I can treat an issue without breaking somebody's arm, that's always the best. Um, but sometimes I know I would, I had, uh, like 150 missionaries that I was responsible for. And sometimes problems would come up and I would address the problems. And when we're done, Myrna would say to me, Doug, you were so indirect that if you think they understood a word you said, you're dreamy. But, uh, I think that, um, I can get a point across without going for the juggler. But there are times when it's necessary, but one has to be very, very careful. Discipline is diSicult in a modern church, and I am not sure. I would use it with leadership, but with people who attend, I'd be probably very careful. But everything's contextual. There's no rule. And we'll see that with Paul. Paul's going to give principles. He's not going to give rules. And they want rules and Paul's not going to give them. It depends. So we'll see that as we go. Next question, Jennifer. Okay. So you use this terminology a lot, but can you explain grace plus zero, what it means? I can. I'm not even sure where I got that from. I got it from somebody. I don't think I thought it up, but maybe I did. Paul uses this. He doesn't use that phrase, but he uses this point when he's writing to the Galatians, which is Paul's ﬁrst letter. He writes the Galatians because he has been there and has taught them about salvation by grace. You can't earn it. You can't deserve it. There's nothing you can do to merit it. It's God's unmerited favor. It's pure grace. You're saved by grace. The Galatians believe that. But... they would want to hedge their bets. And so they were still doing the circumcision. And that's where Paul comes with, it's just grace. There is nothing else. It's grace plus zero. And if you want to hear Paul be harsh, you can read that comment when he says, Um, addresses the people who are trying to teach this old Testament way of, uh, having to follow all the laws and in order to be in God's favor. And, uh, this is one time he's not diplomatic. Um, you can read it. It's when you're circumcising, he says, I hope you'll slip with a knife and, uh, emasculate yourself. you can put it together. So that's one time when he's really direct. But it's grace plus zero. And as Paul works through, this is going to cause some problems for Paul, as we'll see, because people take it to an end that's not reasonable. If it's grace plus zero, then great, we can do whatever we want. And so then Paul is having to correct that. Very good. Okay, so this goes along with maybe the same topic, but it says, Hi, Prof, if the Corinthians are ﬁlled with spiritual giftings, yet they are sinning, won't they grieve Holy Spirit? And how will they still be able to exercise these giftings and be sharp to the Holy Spirit? I'll do that one when I do chapters 12 through 14 on spiritual gifts. But this congregation, Paul says, is absolutely gifted. They're talented. They have all the gifts. And they're living like the devil. One of the things, I'll just point this part out. Using spiritual gifts is no indication of spirituality. You do grieve the spirit, but it's not related to spirituality. Spirituality is related to the fruits of the spirit, not the gifts of the spirit. And for reasons it's hard for us to understand, God uses imperfect vessels. And we should be thankful because he uses us. But the Corinthians are really egregious with it. And I'll do some examples when I get there next week or the week following. Okay, we have a question on head covering. Did you want to cover that? No. That one I'll say, if you look back in the archives, and I forget the name of the sermon, Cindy will be able to ﬁnd it, Pastor Kong preached on head coverings. It was terriﬁc. So it is, I'll do a little bit on it next week when I do women in ministry. But it's a complicated thing. But I think the main point of that story is cultural violation and where they are bringing shame on the church. But Paul isn't giving any instructions as to, well, all women should do this. He's dealing with a problem in Corinth. And so I'll try to point that out as we go, where when Paul deals with the problem, he is not laying this out. This is the rule for everybody. He dealt with the Corinthian problem. But what we need is to follow the principle. And so I'll try to do that as we go through, especially the three tonight. Okay. Well, we have several more questions. Keep on asking and submitting your questions, and we'll try to get to them. Here's what I haven't talked to Jennifer, but she'll agree. You send in your questions and you can have questions about assignments, questions about the course, questions about the questions I have posed in your notebook. And Jennifer and I will get together and we'll record it. And then post it so that you can get a good response to any question we don't cover. So we'll try to do that next Monday or Tuesday. And then post it, but we'll do it verbally so I don't have to write it, which is a bit diSicult for me. But it'll be good, our interchange. And I'll have Jennifer answer half of them. I don't know. I don't know about that. But I will, of course. I'll try my best. I have a good one for her tonight, so we'll wait for it to come. I thought she's better suited for it than me. If you would pull it up, there's a shared document. And let me just take a few minutes to run through some things. Here is what Paul is doing. He has received news from Chloe's people that some bad things are happening in Corinth. And so the ﬁrst part of his letter, which is chapters one through six, deal with problems he has heard, which is divisions, the incestuous man going to court, taking your brother and sister to court and going to prostitutes. Then in chapter seven through 16, he's going to deal with questions they have written about. But you'll notice as we go, They're not asking questions. It's sarcasm to Paul. I know for years I read 1 Corinthians and think Paul's just always giving advice. This is a conﬂicted letter. It is really conﬂicted and I think important. So he starts oS with there's divisions in the church, ﬁrst four chapters. And one of his main points here is that for a church to function, it can't be ﬁghting. There has to be unity. And a point they do make in one issue after another, and it's this. Anything that hurts the body, anything that hurts the church, the community of faith, is wrong. You can be right. But if it hurts the body, it is sin. Paul is always concerned about the community. And what does the world think? When they see us, what do they think? We can say, well, we don't care what the world thinks. Paul does. And, um, cause his goal is to reach the world. He doesn't want to alienate half of them. And so, um, this is going to be important for Paul. And we'll see that as we go. Somebody asked me who was Apollos and what's the big deal on Apollos. Um, This is an important... I'm going to use it for one of Paul's main things. He's got these people who criticize him because he's a weak speaker. He feeds the milk. He's not deep enough. He's not... He sort of stutters and he doesn't get his words out right and on and on. When we get to 2 Corinthians, this problem like triples because some... of these people from Jerusalem come with all of their teachings on the law, but they're into fantastic speaking. I mentioned this in the ﬁrst night. First century were bonkers about people who could tell a good story, who had a great vocabulary, who were smooth, and they would come and they would hire them. To do this, the better they could speak, the better. Well, Apollos was one of those, but in a good sense. He was smooth. He's from Alexandria. Alexandria was the second largest city in Greco-Roman world. You have Rome, you've got Alexandria, and you have Corinth. But Alexandria was famous for philosophy, great libraries, real high level of learning. and it produced these smooth-speaking people who would do this for a living. It was like you could go to university and take a major, and how good you could tell a story. It wasn't important so much that the content was real good. It was that if you could come up with some conspiracy or some... Endless way to look at something and tell it just so unique. So you capture the audience. They love that. Apollos was good at it. When he comes to Corinth, he doesn't quite have his theology right. And to Apollos credit Priscilla, who is a woman and a lay person teaches Apollos. his correct theological position, and Paul becomes a great blessing, but he's a smooth speaker. And then somebody asks, well, these divisions, I'm of Paul, I'm of Peter, I'm of Jesus. Aren't these the same as denominations? And that is a problem. Here's how these divisions work. We have our favorite people. You can say, well, my favorite preacher is Pastor Cone, or my favorite preacher is Bobby, or I even like Prof Dunn. That's great. You can do that. It's when I like this person, and if you don't, you're wrong. And that's where these divisions, if you belong to the Cephas party or the Peter party, you're probably very much into that Old Testament and circumcision and saying, you know, we really have it right. You're all wrong. The Paul party was probably one who was taking this grace to the limit that we're saved by grace. We're going to heaven. We can do whatever we want. And Apollo's the smooth speaker, so to speak. The issue was not that you like certain things. It has to do with you're right or I'm right, you're wrong. Denominations, you know, all of you buy your clothes somewhere and you have diSerent choices. Some like to wear this, some like to wear that. Some prefer this or the other. Often that's how denominations work. It's just sometimes preference. Though we would always be concerned that a denomination would have a strong evangelical background. And anybody who names Jesus Christ as Lord is part of the family. We are very Pentecostal. And for us, that is like our DNA. But we don't go around saying, well, if you can't be like us Pentecostals, you're not any good. My position on Pentecostal doesn't make me better than someone else. It makes me better than I would be without it. And somebody asked about sarcasm on chapter four through eight. It's pure sarcasm because they think they know everything. And Paul is then saying to them, so you know everything. You're already ﬁlled. And it's just pure sarcasm because he's going to make a point about you actually don't know anything. Next slide. Now, this one is the incestuous man. And here I'll do historical literary so you can see how that works. Historical is incest in the Roman Greco world. How was it understood? And why was this particular case so egregious? It wasn't a biological relationship. It was with stepmother. And so you ﬁnd when you do the historical work that this one is particularly named. In fact, they would have a list of all things that they considered to be incestuous. And this would be on the list. Everybody saw sleeping with your mother-in-law as an act of incest. So this is where Paul comes with at least live as good as the Romans do, which is a sarcastic shot. So that's a historical look. A literary look is what happens within the text. So overall, Paul's addressing problems that there are. He's heard from Chloe's people that there are problems in their letter. And this particular... one is the second problem um out of a series of 11 so that would be like your literary then you add one more we ﬁnd out that there is a previous letter that paul has written a previous letter so that'd be part of your literary which um I don't know if I mentioned this about this incestuous man. Why were they hesitant to treat him when everybody saw it as incestuous? One was they thought they were so spiritual, it didn't matter what you did with your body. But there are, in most of the problems, you have a gender issue, either male against female, Jew against Gentile, slavery, rich, poor. or the class structure, and that is evident in many of these problems. That probably is the case here. This person's probably wealthy. And even the patron of some of the people And so they're hesitant to touch him because it'll probably cost them money as inﬂuence. Paul is not so upset with the incestuous man. Like, you can't make theology out of, okay, get everybody who's doing incest, throw them out. That is not what Paul's saying. The church is for people who are sinning. It's leadership, the Corinthian leadership, didn't see this as a problem. And that's who he's dealing with. You don't, you, in fact, you're celebrating. You think this is just ﬁne. He's mad at the leadership for not dealing with it. The context one has to see, why did Paul want this person thrown out? It's contextual to the Corinth situation. In fact, overall, Paul wants sinners to be in church. It's not a place. Church isn't a place where all of us are pure. Otherwise, we'd have an empty house. We want people to come, but they can't be in leadership. So let me look at the next one. This one is lawsuits. We took a look at this. Remember, Paul is talking about principles, not rules. So how you'll often hear this is, you shouldn't sue somebody. This is a problem in the Corinth church. And here's the historical background. Courts were usually rigged. And all of the emphasis would be on the rich. The bias was always to the rich. Poor did not bring rich to court. They didn't have money. They didn't do that. But rich would bring poor and they'd always win. And it was in a public marketplace. And Paul is just furious. He's furious because what is shame? You're bringing shame and honor and shame. You're bringing shame on the gospel, but he's equally furious about this division of social classes. What makes you think you are better? And if you have something they don't have, where's your mercy? Where's your justice? You should be sharing. Paul never has an issue with rich people. In fact, he really likes rich people. They support him. What his problem is, is the same as in the Gospels. It's the love of money, not money. It's the love of money that is the problem. And Paul is actually very careful when it comes to rich. That's where he's quite diplomatic in some cases. But this one is you're bringing shame. You're airing your laundry in public places and that brings shame on the church. But it's a contextual issue. It is not about should we never take a brother to court. When in all of these cases... Paul is a task theologian, so he'll deal with a speciﬁc situation, always with theology. So when you're looking at them, look for the theological key, not the rule, but the theological key. What does he use? In this case, I think, as I remember oS the top of my head, it's, don't you know? You have been washed. Don't you know you've been sanctiﬁed, which means set apart? Don't you know you've been justiﬁed? That is just as though you've never sinned. Don't you know that? There's this theological key. Every time he deals with an issue, look for theology. And sometimes you use more than one. So we'll pick those up as we go. Paul wants grace plus zero. But the Corinthians have taken this beyond any kind of common sense. So just move that up. I want to take a look at Paul's rhetorical style. Or before I do that, somebody asked about the indicative imperative. The indicative is you are a new creature in Christ. That's a fact. When Christ comes into our life, Scripture is clear. Our sins are washed away as far as the East is from the West. We are a new creature. When God looks at us, he does not see us as guilty. He sees us as white as snow. That's the grace. This grace deserves an imperative, which is, well, if that's a fact, how are you looking? what are you doing it should doesn't infect behavior here is where paul i don't know paul doesn't tell us did he think in the early church that when people were redeemed they just start behaving if he did he was in for a big surprise and that's what we see on all of his letters don't you know you're a new creature in christ period therefore get up and like it that's the imperative grace always precedes demand you will see he'll run a laundry list like in this case he'll run but you were drunkards you were um immoral you were all of these things are you and don't you know those people will not inherit the kingdom of god But they have experienced the indicative. So he says, and such were some of you. Because they're still doing it. That's why he's writing the letter. His point is, do you understand you've been bought with a price? You do not belong to yourself. Christ has given his life for you. Therefore, get up and act like you're a believer. which is conforming to the image of Christ. And how we do that is through the fruits of the Spirit. And I think we'll see this later on. What if people just keep on sinning? And they know they are. They're, say, addicted. They can't stop sinning. I think I'll deal with that a little bit later of how do you go about stop sinning? Then, if you see this about Paul's rhetorical styles, when you read Paul, he'll shift. This idea that they say Paul is two basics, just milk, etc. Paul is brilliant when it comes to rhetorical styles. He's trained in them. And it is like... How you, let's say you're a really good writer. What literary structures do you use? What kind of tools, what kind of mechanisms do you use? Well, these were all present in the ﬁrst century. It's just they're diSerent from what we do. Paul will often do a question and answer. Don't you know? And he's not really asking them, don't you know? It's like he's horriﬁed. Don't you know? And so you get that going back and forth. But he also has what we call a diatribe, which is he'll state whatever the issue is or a slogan. We're going to take a look at slogans tonight. And it'll be food for the stomach, stomach for food, sex for the body, body for sex. So he'll state that and then he'll rebut it with, do you not know? And then he'll have a support statement. Therefore, and comes this theological key. So as we go, I'll point out some of Paul's rhetorical styles. One of the most famous ones in 2 Corinthians chapters 10 through 13 and his famous fool speech where he says, you make me do this. I don't want to do this. And so he takes on the position of a fool. That was a literary way of talking and how it would be done. They'd do it in dramas or whatever. Once you take the position of a fool, then only a fool could say all these direct things. And it would just cut to the core. So that's what Paul was doing. He takes that literary structure of... Anybody then would know in a play, this is how a fool works. And then would say things they'd never say in the natural, but what they say just cuts right to the core. And then I make a few notes here. If you just roll the screen up a little bit so I can see those. A few notes. Notice when Paul writes, notice his therefore. Paul will make a bunch of statements and then he'll write, therefore. That therefore, then, is based on what he said above. That's his logic, his rationale. Therefore, whatever, straighten up or whatever the case is. He'll also do, and you'll notice this in several of these cases, he'll make a case and then he'll say, so then. What's above then is going to drive this response. So then, because of what I just said, this is what should happen. And one of the wonderful things in Paul, when you see a but, something usually good is going to follow. You were dead. You were lost. You had no chance. But Christ, through his love, has redeemed you. So those are very Pauline type ways of writing. It takes time, but once you get into it, each of the people who write letters in the New Testament have a style. All of our missionary career almost was before internet. And telephones were too expensive. You wrote letters. I could tell a letter from my mother in the ﬁrst three lines. Just was, Mom. I knew it's Mom. or from somebody else. You have a style. So with Paul, one wants to keep an eye on getting that style. And one more, when there's a therefore, ask why it's therefore. That's a good rule. Okay. I want to just make some comments about your assignment just quickly. Footnote and bibliography. A footnote is when you cite an author and you want to put it in the body of your paper. That's a footnote. A bibliography is when you take all of the sources you use and you put them at the end. I think in the last class I gave you a structure. Here's how you write a footnote. Here's how you write a bibliography. But I also mentioned, don't try to remember. Look it up. I had to look up one today. I couldn't remember where the comma went. And I have a pretty good memory. But why ﬁll my mind up with where brackets go? I can just look it up. Just get the book oS the shelf. How to cite. Anytime you get information that is not public information that everybody knows, common sense, you got it from somewhere. unless it came out of your head. But anything that just comes out of your head isn't gonna work because in an academic, you build it on a case. You're building on other people. So anytime that happens, you have to give credit. And so you cite what the source is. And you have to be just really precise. And it's not just you didn't do it like I didn't just take the paragraph. If you took an idea, cite it. And I used to think, well, if I had all these footnotes, it looks like I didn't know anything. Well, that's all point of footnotes is that this is a strong case and I can support it. What to cite is that you have to cite any place you get information from. And as you get better at this, you learn all kinds of ways to do it. Sometimes if I am following, let's say I'm following that diatribe argument, I might put a footnote and put in the following section, I follow Gordon Fee and I'll put the book. And then I just covered it all. I'm just going to follow his example. What he has quotes, here's the biggie, how you use quotations. When you start, you're going to be tempted to use a lot of quotations. And as you think, man, they said it so well. That's not a good thing. You can only use the quotation to support a point you already made, not to make your point. Use it to support a point. So you want to use them correctly. carefully. So your paper's just not, I've had students where I can scratch out anything in between and tie their whole paper together in a series of 30 quotations. I can just read the book. That isn't going to do it. It's when you quote somebody you have to quote them absolutely accurately but I'll often let's say it's a paragraph I'll put that into my own words and then I may use a part of that as a quote but limit your quotes and make sure you're not making a quote to make your point you're using a quote to support a point that you already made And I'll do historical context and literary context as I go with the structures tonight. So let's start with, in fact, what I'll do is I'll take the break right now. And we'll come back and start with going to prostitutes. I was going to say, I have downloaded one assignment who wrote their exegetical paper and submitted it early. I don't know who it was. I didn't look at the name. But it was really good. Really good. It seemed to me that I could tell a Singaporean wrote it. because it's very precise and follows all the rules. But I was very impressed. But don't be apprehensive. There's no way you can fail a course, certainly not one that I teach, if you work. It's not going to happen. And the goal is to get a little better every time. So if you get a lot of remarks back, those are just to be helpful. What I often tell a student is you don't have to do what I say, but you need to pay attention to what I say. And then I should only have to correct an issue one time. I shouldn't have to do it the following week and the week after that. Um, but a lot of the things, when it comes to this, I, in my own work, when I'm publishing or something, I ﬁx them at the end. I don't spend time while I'm going, trying to get every little piece. I ﬁx them at the end. So, um, as we go, and especially on some of the answer, the questions answer, that I'll do with Jennifer, we'll talk about this. So it's 8.50 exact and we'll start back at nine o'clock. So take a bit of a break and we'll see you back and I'll start with the PowerPoint that is ongoing to prostitutes. because I never saw it before. Welcome, Coogs. matter and then the cultural activities that are contra the gospel you have to but As we'll see when we do food sacriﬁce to idols, that can get into legalism pretty quickly. And that isn't what I'm talking about. So these are arguing that they're people of the spirit. Remember the ﬁrst couple of chapters. One of the things is they are arrogant. They think they have a corner on spirituality because they have all the gifts and They have it where they're living on another dimension spiritually that other people have not achieved, that they are somehow special and they don't have to pay attention. So they're people of the spirit. And when you're people of the spirit, who cares what you do with your body? Your body just turns to dust when you die. And for the Roman Greco world, The body, when it died, was just rotten. There wasn't any good thing. And so they're thinking, the body just turns to dust. It putreﬁes or whatever. Who cares what we do with our body? It's our spirit that is saved. And Paul is just horriﬁed at this kind of logic. They're sort of coming from some of Paul's teaching about it's grace alone. Grace plus zero. And so Paul's going to have to go back and ﬁx some of that, as we'll see he does. They're impacted by behaviors that are related to the body, which they don't see any problem with. They're free to do what they want because their body doesn't matter. where Paul is really going to treat this, and we'll see this in chapter 15, is his whole thing on the resurrection. That is because they don't think their body matters. And he wants to make a point that when The second coming and we're caught up to be with the Lord. Those who are dead in Christ shall be caught up. There are bodies. We get our new body just like Jesus was. So your body matters. So let's go to the next slide. There's two problems. One is this false concept of freedom that gives a freebie when it comes to sexual immorality. And the second is a false concept of the body. If you just look at these few verses, and I've mentioned to you, when you see something repeated, take a note. This ﬁrst one, it's mentioned ﬁve times in, what are there, 612 through 20? That's only eight verses. And this false concept of the body, eight times. And they have a slogan. So on several of the issues that Paul is dealing with, he takes the people's slogan and then ﬂips it around. So we'll see how that goes. Let's go to the next page. So. Um, how, uh, journaling is going to read this and I'm going to have her do all eight verses rather than divided up by sections, but I'm going to do my comments by section. So if you'd read this for me, it'd be great. Corinthians chapter six and verse 12. You say I have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneﬁcial. I have the right to do anything. but I will not be mastered by anything. Verse 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. Verse 14, by his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also. Verse 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. 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. Verse 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 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. 20. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies. Next slide. If you note, if you take classes with me, you'll note I always have a woman's voice reading because we hear too much of men's voices. And all kinds of studies are, we sometimes hear scripture diSerently when it's a woman's voice. And I particularly do. If I'm listening to like one of those tapes and it's about, they're just reading scripture, I'll try to ﬁnd a woman because I can give the man's voice. That woman's voice gives a whole diSerent perspective. So that's my reason. There's Roman, Roman graphical diatropes. A style that oSers a dialogue that is alive. There's always a slogan. Like you saw the slogan, food for the stomach, stomach for food, body for sex, sex for the body. That's the Corinthians saying that. So Paul's going to take that and ﬂip it. he will do the slogan then he'll have a rebuttal statement like his objections and why this is a false conclusion and then you follow with a support statement and he usually does it in the second person do you not know and then you get therefore and will come the theological key um you noted as we read it went through this process and you know the theological key now Um, how you get a handle on this as you do it and listen to somebody like, like me, because you're not going to get this on your own to start. It's, it's, um, sophisticated, but it really brings the Bible alive when you see how it is done. So, uh, next slide. There are three Corinthian slogans. In these eight verses. They're not Paul's. They are the Corinthians. And he's heard them. He gets this news from Chloe's people. And let's read. All things are lawful for me. That's this idea of being saved by grace. So I'm free. I can do whatever. And then food for the stomach. Stomach for food. But God will do away with both of them. Paul says not exactly. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body. The body doesn't count for anything. Who cares about the body? Therefore, anything we do is kosher, it's ﬁne. Paul confronts this practice of immorality by attacking the theological core of where these Corinthians are coming from. Next slide. Here's slogan one. All things are lawful. Paul says, but not all things are beneﬁcial. Just because something's lawful doesn't mean it's a good idea. It may be a terrible idea. I will not be mastered by any of these. I'm not going to let anything control me. You're letting these things control you. And then you're making this grace argument. We may be free, and you make the point, we're free, but you're not free to go to prostitutes, for goodness sake. That when something is ﬁne, it doesn't mean it's... Good. We'll see that in eating meat oS our dietals. That may be absolutely ﬁne. We all know there's no gods in the meat, for goodness sake. But if it would cause your brother to stumble, now there's a problem. So it may be all right in some context, but if it's causing someone to stumble, it's not good. So I will not be mastered by any. That's the ﬁrst is rebuttal to the slogan. Next slide. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food. It's the same that it's this kind of logic. Makes sense. Food is for the stomach. Stomach is for food. Their idea then, therefore, Same logic. Sex is for the body. Body is for sex. So Paul's revival. God will not do away with both of them. That's what you say. Your body is going to be raised in the resurrection. So it doesn't just go into the ground. Um, The body for Paul is, and here's how he's going to treat body. He'll do it three ways. Your body, um, your physical body, or don't you know, your body is the temple of the Holy spirit or use the body for the body of Christ. He, there's a three metaphors that he used and we have the just common sense will help us. He's talking about the church. He is talking about us. But God not only raised the Lord from the dead, he also raised him up through his power and his physical body. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the power, so shall we. So your rationale is just ridiculous. Next slide. Here's his supporting statement. And then you notice, don't you know? It's a rhetorical stuS. Don't you know that your bodies are members of Christ? See, he's following now the theological key. Don't you know that one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? The two will become one ﬂesh. In fact, Paul's going to make a point that this is unlike other sins. There are all kinds of other sins, but this is something that is spiritual, where the two shall become one ﬂesh. So you are bringing your body that has been redeemed, that Christ has bought, And you're uniting that salvation body with something very sinful. So the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. In other words, the one who joins himself with the prostitute is one spirit with her. But note, it's this idea of uniting that spirituality. with something that is grossly immoral. So he says, ﬂee immorality. Next slide. Slogan. Every sin that man commits is outside the body. Paul says, that's just not true. When you go to prostitutes, You're sinning against your own body because it has been redeemed. You are a new creature in Christ. So see where he takes it here on this next slide. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Notice how Paul solves this. the most base kind of sin with theology he never any problem he'll always use theology rather than come up with 14 ways you could do this it's always theological don't you know you are not your own you were lost you were dead you had no chance but christ through the cross has purchased you. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. Next slide. Here's the so what. Sex outside of marriage is a sin. How big of a problem is this in the church? I don't know in your context, but it's probably a bigger problem certainly than we want it to be. We may not be doing prostitutes, but having sex outside of marriage is the point Paul is making. When we get saved, God redeems all of us. Not just our spirit. That was the Corinthian idea. No, body, soul, and spirit. All of us, he redeems. Our bodies belong to him. It matters what we do with our bodies. This is certainly in this context having to do with sex. But Paul will make this point. It matters what we do with our bodies that... As them to do with sex, I can bring up, um, I can use this sometimes as an ethical issue, not on sex, but you have a responsibility to your family. So that's a basic principle. If you are a hundred pounds overweight. you are putting your family at risk for who you have responsibility because you can't control your appetite and you're going to get a heart attack and you're going to leave them stranded. So I think, I haven't done this for a while, but I think the way I use that is send deep potato chips and take something ridiculous and then work it through. What does it mean to glorify God in your body? So remember that question. We'll come back to it. Okay. Next slide. A lack of theological understanding is always a problem. Just to say, well, you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage. Understand the theological foundation. You are uniting the spirit. with something that is opposite. Your body belongs to God. You're the temple. The resurrection. Paul hits this one with like three diSerent theological themes. With salvation, you've been bought with a price. It's the temple. And then eschatological. There's a great day coming. So glorify God with your body. Next slide. So here we'll take a look at marriage. And this one, if you read this chapter closely, you're probably still amiss where I'm going to go with it. But I think I'm on solid ground. Another slogan. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Well, we just dealt with one on sex for the stomach, sex for the body, body for sex. This is the absolute opposite. So they are ﬁlled with divisions in this church. This almost certainly has to do with some super spiritual women who think it's just, I am so spiritual. I can't even think about this. And so that's the slogan. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. That's what these super spiritual women are saying. And so that's what Paul's going to deal with in the ﬁrst verses of chapter 7. He's now moving to questions they have asked. And so it comes, is it good for a man to touch a woman? No. They're not asking Paul, though. They're, they are, they think they know it all. And they're just sort of right in Paul's face with it. It's these Corinthian excesses on the one hand going to prostitutes and on the other, we're too spiritual to have sex in our marriage. Paul is responding to questions that the Corinthians have asked. You got one faction. All things are lawful for me. So sex for the body. And another faction, these super spirituals, that, oh my goodness, we're too spiritual for that. So let's see how this works. Next slide. Here's another faction. I mentioned this, these eschatological women who are too spiritual. Their slogan, it's good for a man not to touch a woman. So Paul's going to add advice to this. He's going to answer this question in the ﬁrst seven verses. And then he's going to respond to questions they probably did not ask. He is just going to take advantage of it. But let's see how he responds to these ﬁrst seven question verses. Next slide. In general. Paul's not writing a general letter on marriage. He's responding to their slogan. That's what it's about. They have raised this question. I'm too spiritual to have sex. That's what he's dealing with. He's not dealing with a marriage counseling session. And he alternates between male and female. and he does this very deliberately because he doesn't see 12 times, he is going to make a point here that will come up again with women in ministry. He wants to make the case there is no diSerence between male and female as far as role and behavior. God created male and female. They are equal. there's not this macho and then you jump to everything the macho wants. In each case, there is this mutuality between the sexes. It's not one over the other. That's where he goes back and forth, back and forth, and he makes no diSerence. He just talks for a while about male, female, back and forth. It's all exactly the same. Next slide. There's no hint that Paul's anti-women. A modern perspective of Paul is that he's a macho. He is down on women. He is down on sex. And where we get all our misconceptions on this issue is from Paul. Um, you have to read this chapter to see that's not possible even to hold. Um, throughout it's conditioned also by this apocalyptic perspective. Here's the thing. All the new Testament writers expected Jesus to return very soon. And that impacts the way they write. For example, um, don't get married. Because Jesus is coming soon, he says to the singles. But then, because that's his eschatological perspective. But then he clariﬁes that with, but if you can't, don't. Here's his guiding principle. And this is the point he's trying to make throughout all the... He's going to address a half a dozen diSerent groups. And it's this. Stay in the place... in which you were called or don't. If you're in a marriage, you're outside of marriage, you're single, you're a parent, you're a virgin, you're whatever. That has nothing whatsoever to do with your spiritual identity. Your spiritual identity is in Christ. You don't have to change your situation. You're married in a situation where you're married to an unbeliever. Paul's going to be very speciﬁc there about not getting out of that marriage if the person's willing to stay. It has nothing to do with your position in Christ. Your position in Christ has to do with you're a new creature. You have been redeemed. It does not have anything to do with your situation. So his point is, don't change. Because you think that has something to do with spirituality. These super spiritual women. It has nothing to do with your spirituality. You're in Christ. So get this nonsense out of your head. Next slide. Here's the slogan again. It's not good for a man to touch a woman. He's writing now to several groups. Verses 2 through 16. He writes the married and... Formally married. The ﬁrst seven verses has to do with married believers. Husband and wife were married. Then he addresses unmarried, but in particular widows and widowers. And he does that twice. You wonder why did you do it twice, Paul? Then he writes to those who are married, but thinking about divorce because they're so spiritual. And then married to an unbeliever. So that's what he's going to cover in this ﬁrst 16 verses. Then to the rest. Slave, free. He's going to cover in verses 17 to 24. Next slide. And then he'll ﬁnish it up in verses 25 to 40. He'll write to those engaged to be married. To singles. to what fathers should do. And he brings up this widow and widowers again. So these virgins engaged to be married, but they're not married yet. Singles, rationale for serving the Lord while single. One of the big questions that I'll raise is, has God called you to singleness? I wouldn't get too excited about, nobody gets excited about that one. But I mean, it could be. But if you're single, make your in Christ. It has nothing to do with your position. And fathers giving their daughters in marriage, should we? If Jesus is coming, maybe we should just not do this. And then he's back to widows and whatever. So let's see how he does it. Next slide. Now, generally, if you could read for us and we'll read through the whole passage. 1 Corinthians 7 1 Now for the methods you wrote about, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. 2 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. Verse 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. Verse 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. Verse 8, now to the unmarried and the widows I say, it is good for them to stay unmarried as I do. Verse 9, but if they cannot control themselves, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Verse 10, to the married I give this command, not I but the Lord. A wife must not separate from her husband. Verse 11. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. Verse 12. To the rest I say this. I am 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. Verse 15 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. Let's take a look at this ﬁrst group, to the married. Now, who thinks of Paul as some kind of sex therapist? But follow where he's going. Paul is pretty progressive, even for the 21st century. He puts an emphasis on healthy sexual relationships within marriage. Note the Corinthians weren't asking him this. Their thing is, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Paul's just going to dismiss that as nonsense, and then he's going to go to, here's what a healthy situation looks like. Here is the traditional view for a century. Men's privilege, woman's obligation. Paul disagrees. How that system would work is a man has a right to everything and a woman has to respond. She has no rights. She just needs to listen to the macho. Paul wants to make sexual relationships are based on mutuality. There's no such thing as... a husband's privilege any more than a wife's privilege is built on mutuality. Both men and women are indebted to each other sexually. Let's see what he means by that. Next slide. All forbids the practice of depriving a marriage partner of sexual relationships. You can't do that, he says. Not in a healthy marriage, you can't, unless you've come together for a agreed reason. We're going to give up all these things for two weeks and pray, or whatever the case. Here's what Paul's response is. Don't change your relationship. That's what they want to do. We're too holy. Paul says, don't change your relationship. This isn't about your spirituality. It has to do with a healthy family. Your status in the world have nothing to do with your position in Christ. So stay as you are. None of this, oh, I'm too holy. But then let's see where he takes it from there. Next slide. To the widows and widowers. And I'm going to come back to those ﬁrst seven. I think I have it on a later slide. Widows and widowers. Here's what's interesting here. Paul seems... to put himself in this group. He shifts the way in his language and it seems that he puts himself in this group as a widower. Now, we know Paul was a Pharisee. To be a Pharisee, he had to be married. We don't know. We can't say. The Bible doesn't tell us anything about the personal lives of the disciples or whatever the case. But it would make sense that he, well, may be a widower, and maybe that's why he touches this issue twice in the same chapter. His response is, stay as you are. If you are a widow or a widower, from a spiritual perspective, Changing that doesn't change your identity. Your identity is with Christ. He is not saying, oh, if you are a widower, you should not think about getting married. That's not what he's saying. He's saying whatever your situation is has nothing to do with your spiritual identity. You're a new Christian in Christ. So if you stay as you are or don't, no diSerence. Next slide. to the married thinking about divorce. So some of these super spiritual women are thinking, well, it's not only the fact that we can't have sex in marriage, even living together, we can't do that. So we need to dump our husbands. You can see why some of them may think this, because their husbands are probably going to prostitutes. I should mention, only the upper class is going to prostitutes, by the way. The lower class doesn't have the money to go. So we have another rich-poor issue. Here's Jewish tradition. Only men could divorce. A woman could not divorce her husband. With Greeks, it was possible for a woman to initiate the divorce, but it was very, very rare. Paul is going to make a case here for women, and he's going to give them rights that didn't really exist in culture. When he says a woman can divorce, he's not saying they should. But the rule is only men can do that. Paul's going to put them on equal footing. They can't argue that it's unholy to have sex with an unbelieving husband. You just can't do that. Sexual relationships is not a reason for divorce. Sexual relationships and marriage have nothing whatsoever to do with your situation in Christ. Nothing other than Be healthy. Next slide. No divorce must be understood within this context. This isn't canon law. Paul makes the point. This is an ad hoc situation. It's not like in the Gospels where whosoever does this, Paul isn't dealing really here with divorce. He's dealing with women who were thinking about divorce. And his point is, that's crazy. Just stay in the marriage. It has nothing to do with your relationship with Christ. If your partner's willing to stay. Next slide. To the rest. If married to an unbeliever... and the unbelievers willing to stay, stay. I've made this point, I think, already. They should give themselves fully to their marriage. If they marry to the unbeliever, and Paul will make a point, in other places, marry within people who are redeemed. It saves you a lot of problems. But if you haven't, Maybe it was before they were saved or even after, for whatever reason, you give yourself to that marriage. Because the end is coming soon, which is this apocalyptic view. Jesus is coming any moment. None should hasten to get married or not. It's irrelevant, he says. It's irrelevant. If you want to get married, get married. If you don't, don't. And you'll, I think you'll make a point where it would be great if you were all like me. Let's see if I hit that slide. Let's go to the next one. Okay, if you'd read these, Jericho, for me. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17. 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. Verse 18. 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. Verse 19, circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Verse 20, each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Verse 21, were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you, although if you can gain your freedom, do so. Verse 22, 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. Verse 23, you were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of human beings. Verse 24, brothers and sisters, each person as responsible to God should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Paul's just going to make a whole list. He is not making rules about what slaves should do, should they get free, not free. His whole point is it doesn't matter your situation when it comes to Christ. Stay as you are, makes no diSerence. The theological key that he'll hit here, guiding principle is, Your identity is in Christ. Whatever situation is, you are not locked into a, that hurts you theologically because your situation has nothing to do with your salvation. You've been bought with a Christ. You belong to Christ. That's what matters, not your particular situation. Next slide. Then he'll do a thing about the virgins. You're engaged to be married. And I mentioned these rationale for serving the Lord. This whole idea of singleness. Fathers giving daughters in marriage. Widows and widowers, he'll touch that again. And then Paul makes the point. This isn't the command I have for the Lord, from the Lord. Let's say when he does the Lord's Supper, he will list that as command of the Lord. Paul's just saying, this is what I think. You should get married if you want. And if you don't, don't. That's not the point. That's not the point. It's who are you in Christ? Next slide. Paul places sexual relationships in marriage on a higher plane than then is often the case in the church. He's not hesitant to talk about it. Here's this thing. Sexual relationships and marriage is mutual submission. No one has power over the other. The purpose of sex in marriage, just think of where Paul is coming here He says it is wrong for one spouse to deprive the other of sex because your body belongs to your partner and your partner's body belongs to you. This Jewish idea of you only have sex for procreation, and so that's why they go to prostitutes. Paul says... You have sex in marriage for pleasure. That's the whole point. It's not for procreation. And how you do that is mutual submission. It's not macho, it's not the other. It's, in fact, he says, your body belongs to your spouse and your spouse's body belongs to you. Whoever thought of Paul as being out on the cutting edge here he hits the dignity and value of singleness. But Paul is not saying it's more spiritual to be single. That's not the point. His point is be single. You have more time for the Lord. But if that's the problem, get married. And for goodness sake, he used the term If you can't stand it, you think you're going to burn, fall into sin, get married, for goodness sake. It has nothing to do with it. This idea of singleness and mission, I think, is something that is important for us to take a look at. Some of my most wonderful friends and colleagues are single. The ones who I work with closely would not say God has called them to being single. They are content to be in the situation they are in. Would they like to be married? They would. But not just to be married. They're single. They're going to serve the Lord. And if they get married, they'll serve the Lord. Um, I think there may be a case where somebody could say I'm called the singleness, but I think you'd have a hard time making a spiritual case for that. Um, I am not going to get married because whatever the reasons. If you get married, you get married. If you don't, you don't. However, some of the great heroines on the mission ﬁeld have been women. And, you know, one of my closest friends is also the president of Child Hope. Um, she was, I had her in my class 35 years ago at Vanguard. And so she was young and, um, Lord called her to the mission ﬁeld. She would not say, oh, I'm called to be single. Nor would she sit around crying about it. It is what it is. And the opportunity came great. It doesn't, but. She has something to contribute that is huge. She doesn't have to go home by 5 o'clock because it's supper time. And if you're in this situation, you can be an unbelievable blessing because you You are not distracted by a bunch of other things. That doesn't mean you should be single. It means if you are, you can be a wonderful blessing. And I think sometimes we have a tendency to marginalize where, oh, that person is single, so can they ﬁll this role or that role? That's just absolute nonsense. I would be, I would never have been any more successful or without the help of these marvelous women who've given their life. And like Mary, the one I'm talking was one of my closest friends in the world. Um, she will go back and forth with Myrna. We live a world apart. She's in Latin America almost every two days. And with me regularly. Um, and when she comes, she stays with us and we laugh and we visit, but what a blessing, what an unbelievable blessing, uh, she has been. And so I have had the joy of working with a number like that. And I've tried to use whatever inﬂuence I have to make sure they are given a fair shake and that we are treating them as equals. So, um, I'm right on it's nine 50 and we'll come back at 10 and I'll do, um, sacriﬁce the idols. Which isn't quite like it sounds. It is being a stumbling block. Or can I still do this and be a Christian? Which is going to be a huge thing for us in the urban church. And then I'll ﬁnish that and we'll have some time for questions. So it's 9.50. We'll come back at 10. Okay? Okay. I can't see if I'm muted. Then, let me just check. More deals. He crazy lah. After this, he will actually play this song lah. How is he going to live this kind of life? I really doubt he will. He won't believe me. It's crazy lah. Is this supposed to be? I think Samita is one. Samita is... double the space times 1. I don't have space. I don't have space for you. And then, and then no power. Everything that was faced with you. Okay. What would you do? Okay. almost everything that I'm going to do in this lecture has to do with chapter eight, because there Paul lays out his case as to what is happening. So this, this one is really critical for us because the issue always comes up on what can I do? What is the stumbling block to somebody? It's not, it's not sin too bad. So sad. If they, See it that way. But let's see how Paul deals with these. Very, very helpful. But he does not give rules. That's what they want. Just one, two, three. He's never going to do that. He gives you a principle. So let's take a look. Next slide. Here's the problem. There's a division among the Corinthians. Now think of, we've looked at, I am Paul, I am of Cephas, I am of Paulus, I am Jesus' party. Then we see these one group who is libertarian and they're going to prostitutes and another group who's so spiritual. I mean, they are divided on everything. Here's one more. A division among the Corinthians. on whether or not a believer is allowed to eat meat oSered to idols. Now, if just you can transpose this easy to our kind of a context. Is it all right if... And that's sort of an ongoing discussion we have. Let's see how Paul treats it. There's two basic divisions, which Paul calls the strong and the weak. So the strong are those who know that gods don't live in the meat. And the weak are the ones who are probably new Christians and think, boy, this is a problem. The weak thought it was wrong to eat meat sacriﬁced to idols. They were certain that the pagan gods had somehow contaminated what they were eating. And I mean, it was so common, food sacriﬁced to idols, that they hesitated. Now, this again is a rich-poor in that The poor didn't eat meat. Maybe once or twice a year was too expensive. As new believers, they would see the rich in the church eating meat. Not that so much they're eating meat, they couldn't aSord it. But that's what would be the problem for them. So they felt threatened. And They want some general rules on how this can be done. And if you've been in the church very long, you know some of this is hard to deﬁne because it might be a problem here and not over there. So let's see how Paul deals with it. Next slide. If you read the whole 13 verses. That's impossible. 1 Corinthians 8 and verse 1. Now about food sacriﬁced to idols. We know that we all possess knowledge. but knowledge puSs up while love builds up. Verse 2, those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. Verse 3, but whoever loves God is known by God. Verse 4, so then about eating food sacriﬁced to idols. We know an idol is nothing at all, and there is no God but one. Verse 5, for even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords. Verse 6, yet for us there is but one God. Verse 7, but not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacriﬁcial food, they think of it as having been sacriﬁced to a god. And since their conscience is weak, it is deﬁled. Verse 8, but food does not bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. Verse 9, be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Verse 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? Verse 11 So this weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed by your knowledge. Verse 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Verse 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. Okay. Let's look at the context. Life in ancient culture revolved around the cycle of temple rituals. So it could be meals, feasts, celebrations, birthday parties, wedding anniversaries, a business meeting, etc. This was a critical part of how life was lived. And at all these events, there'd be meat. So meat would ﬁrst be sacriﬁced to idols to honor the gods. Then what they didn't use, they sold to the marketplace. So almost all the meat sold at the marketplace at one time or another has been sacriﬁce the idols. But social standards, it's hard for the wealthy to avoid celebrations because every wedding, birth, death, family, social, business would revolve around food. In fact, if you think about it, with us, How much of our stuS revolves around food in the church? Every kind of thing we do is we're tied together by the food. The problem with this food is it's been sacriﬁced to idols. So how are we going to deal with it? Next slide. To reject an invitation. for the upper class would be social and economic consequences. It's like you don't host any of your family's activities. You're opposed to everything. You're going to be out of the business world. It was such a part of daily life. The rituals were so common. that people just took them for granted. It's something that was so common. No one thought about it until the salvation comes. Next slide. Here's an overview of these chapters, because I'm just going to do basically one chapter. Paul will pick up three words. from the Corinthian letter, knowledge. And here he does this halfway sarcastic, because remember, in the ﬁrst four chapters, that's what they're so proud of. We have knowledge. We know. And then rights. We have a right. We don't have to be bound by this superstitious nonsense. We are free in Christ. We know that's just crazy. So chapter 8, Paul's been a deal with this. He starts with knowledge versus love, the ﬁrst three verses. He says he's going to oSer something for both sides. And if you know that's what he does, he will give the strong argument that And then the weak argument. And both sides are not real happy because he won't say, this is what you need to do. It will depend on what he calls or what I call the stumbling block principle. So he lays out his case in these ﬁrst 15 verses that we've just read. Next slide. Chapter 9, he stresses his willingness to give up his rights. Paul says, I have rights. I am free. But if it causes my brother, who is weak, to stumble, I won't do it. Chapter 10 is he uses the Old Testament story of Israel. And by and large, Chapter 10 is really on what not to do. Um, so let's look at chapter eight. Love is stronger than knowledge. Paul is going to give them, he's talking to the wealthier crowd here about food, sacriﬁce, diet, the Corinthians. Here's where they come from. The upper class. We all know. We all possess knowledge. We know there's no such thing as gods in meat. The gods don't exist. There's no such thing. There is just one God. So this is just nuts. When I eat the meat, there's no gods in it. That's not possible. And here's Paul's response on the knowledge. And as I was doing this, I had my notes from like 1972 and I got these on my notes from, I'm taking notes from the prof. Knowledge puSs up. Arrogance, it inﬂates, makes you arrogant and inﬂates. Not, it's hot air. HuS, puS and blow. Love, in turn, builds up. So you think you have all this knowledge, and you may even be right. You just don't know how to use it, but you don't know what you don't know. I preached about this on the weekend, and when I did this thing about God uses young people because they don't know what they don't know, it really had, I just... I was reviewing this today and noticed this is something I wrote a year ago. So it has no relationship to what I was doing on Sunday. But Paul says you have all this knowledge. You think you do. You really don't. Just knowledge is not enough. Next slide. Whoever loves God is known by God. You might think you know God, you have all this knowledge, so you know God. But the question, this is my own professor, does God know you? That's the important question. Next slide. So here's the strong argument. He's going to go through their argument and here's where Paul is diplomatic. He doesn't want to oSend them. First of all, they pay all the bills. But he wants to lay out a pretty good case that they would agree with. So then, about eating food sacriﬁced to idols. We know, and notice he says, we know. He agrees. What they're saying in their letter is, These people get all uptight, and that's just crazy. We'll do what we want to do. There's no God. There's just one. They are so-called gods. They don't exist. They don't exist. Paul agrees. You possess knowledge. You know there's just one God. They can't possibly be in the meat. And An idol is nothing. It's just a piece of wood. I agree, he says. You're right. That's what it is. Next slide. Here's the strong. We're free. We know who cares what we eat, where we eat, or who we eat with. We have been redeemed and we're free. We're not bound by any of this. They were likely ﬂaunting their freedom. Probably. It's not that they're endlessly asking this. They're sort of saying, this is ridiculous. Look, we're free. We can do what we want. And people that don't agree don't know what they're talking about. Next slide. So then Paul gives the weak argument. He says, but not everyone knows what you know about there's one God and there's no God in meat. These are new believers. So he gives the weak argument. Here's where they argue. They cannot get over the fact that the meat is not contaminated by the gods. They are new believers. But there's something more here. They were so accustomed to idols and this sacriﬁcial food that it was like part of a cultural issue. And so when they get saved, they really begin to think, I mean, the devil, is the devil in this? It's been sacriﬁced to the devil. And their conscience is not mature. So let's see, Paul's going to give both sides some points. Next case. Next slide. Here's the issue. Not aware enough of the power of the idol or too aware of the power. And here is one of Paul's big cases. The weak, when they see this, could fall back into idolatry, which you know is there's no God there, but That's such a part of who they are. It's such a part of culture. And it is a huge cost socially to avoid this. So could your liberty cause them to fall into what everybody would agree is sin? Then Paul says, food doesn't bring us nearer to God. He's talking to the rich. We know that. But they don't. So then, if they see you, what happens? Paul's going to be diplomatic here because the strong in the church were likely the patrons. They're the people with money. And Paul doesn't want to oSend them. So he's going to be careful as he goes on this argument. But let's go to the next one. It's the stumbling block principle. He says, be careful. Be careful that the exercise of your rights doesn't cause a brother to stumble. For if someone with a weak conscience does not have your knowledge, could they fall back into sin? What responsibility do you have as a believer, a mature believer, to those who are still, it's all wrapped up in culture. And for them, this was everything that they have left. Because it's idols. Nobody would argue, even the ones who are strong wouldn't argue it's all right to worship idols. But will your freedoms cause someone to slip back into sin. Next slide. When you sin against them in this way, now Paul is going to ﬂip it. If you cause one of these to fall into sin, you sin. Therefore, If what

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