DECEMBER 1

Regarding Immorality

CALL FOR DISCIPLINE. 1Cor. 5:1-5

It is actually reported that there is sexual im­morality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not phys1Cally present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature c may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

 

DANGER OF TOLERATING SIN. 1cor. 5:6-8

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you real­ly are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrif1Ced. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of mal1Ce and w1Cked­ness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

 

DUTY OF SELF-POL1CING. 1 cor 5:9-13.

I have written you in my letter not to  associate  with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sex­ually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the w1Cked man from among you."d

 

JUDGMENT AMONG SELVES.  1 cor 6:1-8.

If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!61 say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dis­pute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

 

SIN PREVENTS INHERITANCE. 1 cor 6:9-11.  

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexu­al offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

 

BODIES NOT MEANT FOR SIN. 1 cor 6:12-20.

"Everything is permissible for me" but not  everything is beneficial  "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stom­ach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do  you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

 

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a pr1Ce. Therefore honor God with your body.

 

Regarding Marriage and Singleness

 

MARITAL RELATIONS. 1Cor.7:1-7

Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.  But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The hus­band should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her hus­band. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

 

SINGLENESS. I cot.7:8,9

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

 

REGARDING SEPARATION. 1Cor. 7:10,11

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

 

UNBELIEVING SPOUSES. 1Cor.7:12-16

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

 

REMAINING IN PRESENT STATE. 1Cor.7:17-24

 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to wh1Ch God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncir-cumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each one should remain in the situation wh1Ch he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a pr1Ce; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

 

REASON FOR ADV1CE. 1Cor 7:25-31

Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trust­worthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

 

What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy some­thing, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

 

ADVANTAGES OF SINGLENESS. 1cor 7:32-35.

 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her hus­band. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

 

REGARDING MARRIAGE  1Cor. 7:36-38

If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

 

REGARDING WIDOWS.    1 Cor. 7:39,40

A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

 

Regarding Mutual Submission

 

KNOWLEDGE WITH LOVE  1 Cor. 8;1-3

Now about food sacrif1Ced to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.' Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.

 

KNOWLEDGE REGARDING IDOLS. 1Cor. 8:4-6

So then, about eating food sacri­f1Ced to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

 

WEAK WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 1 Cor.8:7,8

But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrif1Ced to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

 

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD WEAK. 1Cor. 8:9-13

Be careful, however, that the exer­cise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eat­ing in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sac­rif1Ced to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

 

FREEDOM IS NOT THE ISSUE. 1Cor. 9:1,2

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

 

RIGHTS ARE NOT THE ISSUE. 1Cor.9:3-7

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don't we have the right to food and drink? Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apos­tles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas ? Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

 

EXAMPLE OF A LAWFUL CLAIM. 1Cor. 9:8-12a

Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."'' Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

 

FORGOING RIGHTS. 1Cor. 9:12b-14

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In

the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

 

REWARDS FOR GIVING UP RIGHTS 1 Cor.9:.15-18

But I have not used any of these rights.. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.

 

CONCESSION VERSUS ASSERTION. 1 Cor. 9:19-23

Though I am free and belong to  no man I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

 

VALUE OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. 1cor.9:24-27

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. Everyone who competes in the games goes into str1Ct training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

 

EXAMPLE OF OVERCONFIDENCE. 1Cor. 10:1-5

For I do not want you to be ignorant  of the fact brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompa­nied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

 

EXAMPLE OF SELF-INDULGENCE 1 Cor.10:6-10

 Now these things occurred as examples' to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

 

EXAMPLES ARE WARNING.    1 Cor. 10:11-13       

These things happened to them as examples were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to

man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you

can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

ACTIONS IND1CATE LOYALTIES. 1Cor. 10:14-22

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for wh1Ch we give thanks a part1Cipation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a part1Cipation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

 

Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrif1Ces part1Cipate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrif1Ce offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrif1Ces of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be part1Ci­pants with demons. 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. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

 

LIBERTY YIELDS FORBEARANCE. 1Cor. 10:23-30

"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not every­thing is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

 

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of con­science, for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."

 

If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat what­ever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if any­one says to you, "This has been offered in sacrif1Ce," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake0 —the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankful­ness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

 

YIELD SELF FOR OTHERS' SAKE. 1Cor. 10: 31 11:1

So whether you eat or drink or what­ever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stum­ble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

 

Regarding Role Distinctions

 

VEILS AS SYMBOL. 1Cor. 11:2-10

I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,? just as I passed them on to you.

Now 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. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.

A man ought not to cover his head,? since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

 

EQUALITY DESPITE DISTINCTIONS. 1Cor. 11:11-16

In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other pract1Ce—nor do the churches of God.