"My Body, His Temple" October 9 Readings: 1 Corinthians 5-6
Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024
This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.
Bible Readings: 1 Corinthians 5-6
Background:
Evidently, one of the reports that came to Paul was about serious sexual immorality going on at the Corinthian church. This was not just the presence of people who fell to sexual sin, but those who twisted the grace of God. This was the arrogance Paul spoke of in 5:2. They proudly spoke of their tolerance and "grace" toward this scandalous sinner. Paul corrected them with clarity.
He then addressed, in chapter 6, the prevalence of lawsuits among the believers. This passage has been much abused by Christians. It does not teach that we cannot make us of the justice system, but that we ought to prize reconciliation over victory in conflicts and put the reputation of Christ ahead of our own agendas.
The focus then turned back to sexual immorality with a powerful admonition confronting a false doctrine. Some taught that Christian liberty opened the door to sexual practices outside of normal boundaries of marriage. But since our bodies are the dwelling places of the Spirit of God, it is unthinkable that we would use our bodies for sexual immorality.
What is amazing here is that even in an apostolic church there was doctrine and practice that were far removed from the truth that Paul was correcting.
He then addressed, in chapter 6, the prevalence of lawsuits among the believers. This passage has been much abused by Christians. It does not teach that we cannot make us of the justice system, but that we ought to prize reconciliation over victory in conflicts and put the reputation of Christ ahead of our own agendas.
The focus then turned back to sexual immorality with a powerful admonition confronting a false doctrine. Some taught that Christian liberty opened the door to sexual practices outside of normal boundaries of marriage. But since our bodies are the dwelling places of the Spirit of God, it is unthinkable that we would use our bodies for sexual immorality.
What is amazing here is that even in an apostolic church there was doctrine and practice that were far removed from the truth that Paul was correcting.
Daily Devotional: My Body, His Temple
Grace run amok - that was a common problem among the Corinthian Christians.
There is nothing more beautiful to the Christian than the Grace of God. We are saved by grace, not by works. But some in Corinth seemed to believe that since they were under grace, they were free to live as they pleased and indulge the flesh whenever the whim struck them. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," they said. If you are hungry, you eat. If you feel like having sex with someone, do it. That is the way God intended it, they claimed. And besides, since we are no longer under the law, "everything is permissible for me." Sexual immorality was rampant among the Corinthians in general and even among those in the church.
Paul was pretty forceful in his confrontation of these unbiblical and dangerous ideas. Most errors are simply truths taken out of context or balance. Did God create us male and female? Of course, he did. Was his creation "very good"? Yes, it was. Did Jesus Christ die to free us from a righteousness that is based on our ability to keep the law? Absolutely. In fact, is the enjoyment of God's creation, including sex, a gift from God? It is, within the parameters God designed. These common cliches among the Corinthians were part of the truth, but they were not the whole truth.
We were created as sexual beings, but that aspect of our nature was to be expressed only within the boundaries of marriage according to God's original intent. Paul does not equivocate at all when he commands the Corinthians, in 6:18:
We were not freed from the law and redeemed by grace to indulge the flesh but to overcome it by the power of that Spirit who dwells in us. We must not even entertain the idea of using our bodies, which Christ redeemed for his glory, to be used for immorality.
No, our bodies have one purpose.
There is nothing more beautiful to the Christian than the Grace of God. We are saved by grace, not by works. But some in Corinth seemed to believe that since they were under grace, they were free to live as they pleased and indulge the flesh whenever the whim struck them. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," they said. If you are hungry, you eat. If you feel like having sex with someone, do it. That is the way God intended it, they claimed. And besides, since we are no longer under the law, "everything is permissible for me." Sexual immorality was rampant among the Corinthians in general and even among those in the church.
Paul was pretty forceful in his confrontation of these unbiblical and dangerous ideas. Most errors are simply truths taken out of context or balance. Did God create us male and female? Of course, he did. Was his creation "very good"? Yes, it was. Did Jesus Christ die to free us from a righteousness that is based on our ability to keep the law? Absolutely. In fact, is the enjoyment of God's creation, including sex, a gift from God? It is, within the parameters God designed. These common cliches among the Corinthians were part of the truth, but they were not the whole truth.
We were created as sexual beings, but that aspect of our nature was to be expressed only within the boundaries of marriage according to God's original intent. Paul does not equivocate at all when he commands the Corinthians, in 6:18:
Flee from sexual immorality.Run away. Don't play games. Don't mess around. Flee! Such sin is unthinkable for the believer, ignoring the basic truth that Christ bought us for himself by shedding his blood on the cross and we do not belong to ourselves anymore. We are part of Christ's body and the Spirit indwells our body. We have no right to take the bodies that Christ purchased with his blood and which the Spirit indwells and join them in acts of sexual immorality.
We were not freed from the law and redeemed by grace to indulge the flesh but to overcome it by the power of that Spirit who dwells in us. We must not even entertain the idea of using our bodies, which Christ redeemed for his glory, to be used for immorality.
No, our bodies have one purpose.
"Therefore, honor God with your bodies." (verse 20)I do not decide my actions based on what I like or what would please me, but what would glorify the God who owns me - body, soul, and spirit!
Father, keep me pure in Christ. Help me to remember, when the enemy tempts, that I don't belong to myself, but I belong to you. May my body glorify your name.
Consider God's Word:
Do you recognize your body as the dwelling place of God's Spirit and use your body for his honor and glory?
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