Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.
Chapter 2: What issues does Paul address in his letter to the Corinthians?
Today, Paul continues his letter to the church he started at Corinth. You may notice that every time he rebukes them for something or addresses a problem they have, he presents the gospel in response to it.
One of the themes that shows up frequently is that those who follow Christ should view every aspect of their lives through the lens of the gospel and live it out empowered by the work of the Spirit. This is not what the Corinthians are doing. They're not only living lives of sexual debauchery, but they're praising it.
They do things not even the pagans do, and they try to use God's grace as an excuse for why it's okay. It's an abuse of grace. We're free in Christ, they say. But freedom in Christ isn't freedom to sin. Freedom in Christ is freedom from sin. It means we're no longer enslaved to sin, and we actually have the power of the Spirit to help us obey God.
Any version of God's grace that treats sin as no big deal is a crude misrepresentation. Grace is an agent of change. It's God's favor on us to help us walk according to His ways. It redirects us away from the works of the flesh and toward the fruit of the Spirit. On the other hand, anything that lets us continue in sin unchecked and carefree isn't grace. It's passive wrath.
The church at Corinth doesn't get this at all. One problem with sexual sin is that it dishonors people by disassociating their body from their soul, using them for our own pleasure. In short, it's not loving, it's selfish. He addresses this topic again in chapter 6 with even heavier words. He says, if you're a believer, you have the Spirit of God living inside you.
And when you force the Spirit of God into sexual situations he doesn't want to be in, well, there's a word for that. So Paul says to flee sexual immorality, to run. But in Corinth, no one is doing anything about it. The people are on a trajectory of sin, and the church is like, praise God, look at how much grace he has for us. Paul calls their wickedness and the refusal to deal with it arrogant.
He tells the church how to respond to those in the church who walk in active rebellion against God's call for sexual integrity. Not those who struggle to do it, but those who refuse. There's a big difference. Rebellion and repentance move in opposite directions. Rebellion moves from God and repentance moves toward God. And when it comes to sin, there's no such thing as standing still.
Paul tells the people in the church how to respond. They're supposed to judge those inside the church. On the surface, this may seem contradictory to other things he said. So let's talk about what he doesn't mean and what he does mean. He doesn't mean the church takes the place of God as final judge, determining the destination of that person's soul.
We couldn't do that kind of judging if we tried. What he is telling us to do is be fruit inspectors and spade callers. If a Christ follower is in blatant rebellion against the ways of the kingdom, Paul says to address it.
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Chapter 3: How does grace relate to sin according to Paul?
And if they continue to rebel, deliver them over to Satan. Wait, what? The good news is, the sentence doesn't stop there. He says, "...deliver this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." So this delivering to Satan part is intended to bring repentance eventually. This is the same idea as letting someone hit rock bottom.
This is tough love. The hope is that the works of the flesh will be brought to an end, ultimately for the person's good and freedom and joy. Restoration is always the goal. But the standards are different for people who do not profess to follow Christ. Of course, they're going to do whatever they want. I would too.
Why would they live their lives according to the laws of a God they don't love or believe in? They can't be held accountable to the same standards. In chapter 6, Paul addresses lawsuits against other believers. He doesn't forbid them. He just says there's a better way to handle disputes. The preferred way is to find someone in the church who is wise enough to help make peace amidst the chaos.
After all, the believer will not only judge the earth someday, but will even judge the angels. And he says if you can't find someone wise enough to be a judge in the dispute, then maybe it's better to just accept being wronged instead of fighting for what's yours. God is a God of justice, it's true.
But if Christ took the punishment for your brother's sins against you, then justice has been meted out in eternity and in a far greater way than any earthly judge could manage. In verses 9 through 10, Paul lists types of people who won't inherit the kingdom. It's a scary list because we've all been on it at least once. Ever been greedy and wanted something that isn't yours?
Ever taken something you didn't pay for, even just a song from the internet? This list is us. It's where we all start. Paul says no matter where we start, the blood of Christ and the Spirit of God have cleansed us. When the Father adopts sinners into His family, He changes our identities. Paul says, "...such were some of you." That's who we were, people whose identities were rooted in sin.
But now we aren't just sinners, we're saints who happen to sin. We're God's children who bear His name and His Spirit. In chapter 7, Paul gives a lot of information about marriage, singleness, widowhood, and divorce. He's careful to make distinctions between God's instructions and his opinions.
In my Bible, I've circled the spots where he makes these distinctions by saying things like, I say, or I wish, or I give this charge, not God, or God says, not I. Paul believes his opinions are supported by the Holy Spirit, but he's humble enough to open his hand on it. He has opinions, but he doesn't try to urge people to follow them.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of sexual immorality in the church?
He just says what he thinks is best. For instance, he thinks it's better to remain unmarried like he is, but ultimately, both marriage and singleness are gifts given by God, and the one who gives the gift is the one who chooses what to give. He says in marriage, you don't own your own body.
This picture of unity reflects what happens in our relationship with God, since the church is the bride of Christ. And for those who are married to unbelievers, Paul says, hang in there. When he says this is how an unbelieving spouse is made holy, he's not saying this is a saving act. The word holiness means set apart.
By staying married to an unbeliever, the unbelieving spouse and unbelieving children both live in a space where God is honored and regarded. They might not have that apart from the marriage. In verse 16, he basically says, we have no idea how it will all turn out, but why not give it a shot?
Since God is the one who assigns our positions in life, Paul says we'll find a lot of freedom in accepting what He's given us and living open-handedly. If at some point He gives us something different, then we accept that as well. We don't grip tightly to anything, and least of all to something that isn't even in our hand to begin with.
He says there's freedom from anxieties if we live in the space of contentment with what God has given, and that ultimately, it frees us up to focus on eternal kingdom things. In Paul's opinion, marriage is good, but singleness is even better. I used to hate that Paul thought this because I always wanted to agree with his opinions, but I also wanted to be married.
Then, once I committed to my assignment of singleness and accepted what God had put in my hands, I had peace, just like he said. Chapter 8 addresses food sacrifice to idols. Remember the problem Paul had with the Galatians, how they felt like they had to adhere to Jewish restrictions? The Corinthians have the opposite problem.
They're waving their freedom around, and it's causing a lot of division. Here's the situation. Some newer believers who haven't really learned the ropes of Christianity yet are still eating food sacrificed to idols, and they really mean it. They're doing it as a way of worshiping that idol.
And others who've been around for a while are eating the same food, but with a different aim and perspective. They're like, hey, God says there's nothing wrong with this food. But the problem is, if the older believers eat their pagan barbecue in front of the newer believers, the new believers might think they're on the same page and that the old guys are worshiping idols too.
They might see it as an endorsement of idolatry from the seasoned believers. So Paul addresses the seasoned believers and says, look, you're 100% right, but knowing the truth has made you arrogant. It's time to shelve your rightness for the sake of unity. It's time to love people more than brisket.
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