Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Corinthians 9-11.

Paul continues to write about our freedom in Christ and our obligation to use our freedom in a responsible way.   He uses himself as an example by teaching that those who preach the Gospel have a right to receive financial support from those to whom they preach.  However, Paul chose not to exercise that right.  In fact, he chose not to exercise that right because, for him, his reward for preaching the Gospel was doing so free of charge (there is a fairly important but complex message in that which I am not going to go into today).  In fact, Paul tried, to the best of his ability, to put himself into the circumstances of those to whom he preached.  When Paul said that he became all things to all people, he does not mean that he pandered to them the way that some politicians do today (and probably always have).  I don’t believe that he means that he pretended to not be a Jew, or that he pretended to be a Corinthian when in Corinth.  Instead, I think it means that he made sure that he did not act in a way which would make those to whom he preached think that he thought he was better than they.

Which brings us to Paul writing about our freedom in Christ.  He started writing about this subject in yesterday’s passage, but has gone onto other subjects a few times.  He gets back on the subject by writing about the idea of taking part in the religious rituals dedicated to idols.  Paul points out that while the idols which idolaters worship are not real things, the people in these ceremonies and rituals are worshiping demons.  I believe Paul was addressing those who sought to take part in the idol worship which was a part of civic life in Corinth in an attempt to hide how being a Christian made them different from the people around them.  His discussion here serves as a counterpoint to his statement about being all things to all people.  Paul goes on to explain that while we have freedom in Christ to do anything, we should avoid those things which are not beneficial.  He makes clear that he does not mean that we should evaluate whether the things we do our beneficial for ourselves, although that should also play a role in our decisions about in what activities we will take part.  No,  we should decide based on what will be best for those around us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Corinthians 5-8.

In today’s passage Paul teaches on how we should deal with human sexuality.  He begins with an example of a situation going on within the congregation in Corinth.  Paul writes that we should have nothing to do with those who actively sin while claiming to be followers of Christ.  Paul tells us that we should do this in order that these people might turn from their sin and enter back into fellowship with Christ.  And even though the proximate cause of Paul writing about this was a case of sexual immorality, Paul points out that the same principle applies to those who allow themselves to be consumed by greed, or who slander others, or swindle people, or who allow themselves to become controlled by alcohol (or other substances).  From the context, I believe Paul is speaking about those who embrace these behaviors to the point of believing that it is OK to do any of these.  I want to point out that while Paul tells us to completely avoid those who claim to be Believers who practice these things, he makes clear that he is not talking about those who make no profession of faith.  Even the judgement he calls us to make against Believers is merely to treat them as one who does not believe.

In discussing passing judgement on Believers who embrace sin, Paul suggests that, as Believers, we should turn to someone in the Church to judge between us and fellow Believers when we have a dispute.  In fact, he suggests that we should allow ourselves to be wronged, we should allow ourselves to be cheated, before we take our disputes with fellow Believers to the judicial system outside of the Church.  I think that we do not put enough focus on Paul’s teachings regarding keeping our disputes out of the courts.  If we have a disagreement with those who claim to be followers of Christ, we should take that disagreement to another member of the Church for resolution.  If the party with whom we have the disagreement will not accept such a resolution we should allow the wrong we think they have done us to stand rather than take it before the civil authorities.  I want to note that it is not clear to me that Paul tells us not to defend ourselves before the civil authorities should a fellow Believer take us to court.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.