August 19, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for Sept. 29
Be careful about which body is making decisions
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__1 Corinthians 5:1-11; 6:9-20
___5:1 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. 2 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? 3 Even though I am not physically 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. 4 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, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
___6 Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 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 sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
___9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10 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. 11 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. ...
___6:9 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 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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.
___12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 "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. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 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! 16 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." 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
___18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 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; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
___By Bob Nickell
___On my way from Fort Worth to a meeting in San Angelo, I listened to a talk radio station in which Dr. Laura Schlesinger was featured. Having never heard her program before, and out of the range of alternate channels, I listened to her callers and the doctor's responses.
___A man and wife both called in and stated their problem as this: The couple is going through a divorce due to the husband's obsession with watching pornographic movies at home, going to strip joints and spending much of his free time with other forms of pornography. The wife has considered putting in the divorce decree to have her children supervised during visits with their father, but she isn't sure if that will suffice and protect her children.
___The husband is going to counseling to get help with his problem and wants his wife to forgive him and reconcile.
___Dr. Laura's response in a nutshell: "You must live with your stupid mistakes and your poor decisions. I'm tired of people running to psychiatrists hoping to get cured and work on their problem." Dr. Laura told the wife she married a man with a bad character and she needed to get out of the relationship, and not let her children be around the sorry character without adult supervision.
___As Dr. Laura went on to say to the husband: "You made bad decisions over and over again. You must live with your irresponsible choices. That's the way life is!" At the end of her show she said, "Now go and do what's right."
___I'm not sure her advice and the the Apostle Paul's to the church at Corinth aren't similar. We do not have to accept the bad character. We must do what is right!
___That does not mean we neglect to help others find counseling and resources to aid in their changing, but we do not allow them to use that exercise as an excuse to continue in their current lifestyle. Paul made it clear that the church was harming itself and its witness for Christ; and the person whom they were covering up or excusing, was not changing his behavior.
___The word used in the Greek is "porneia," which is used for unchastity and sexual immorality. It literally means "prostitute."
___Paul did not use the Greek word for adultery nor incest; rather, he used the word "porneia" because the sexual relationship was between a grown man and his stepmother. Paul said such behavior was "detested even by the Gentiles," but not the Corinthians.
___The practice was "commonly known," by those inside the church and those outside the congregation. It was not a secret held only by Chloe's people.
___This may be a Gnostic view, held by some in the first century church, that separated the physical body from the spiritual body in all matters of living. So, whatever a man does with his physical body, they taught, had no bearing on his spiritual well-being with God. After all, the flesh was sinful, so accept it. That was the point of their boasting or arrogance that Paul rejected so strongly.
___An act that should have brought distress and grief to the church manifested arrogance (v. 6). Paul called upon the church to remove this man from their fellowship. In verses 7-11, Paul admonished the church to "go and do what is right." He appeals to their relationship to Christ as it supercedes all other relationships.
___Paul used the analogy of leavened and unleavened bread to make his point. The bacteria (yeast) which causes bread to rise is not a part of the Passover celebration. Unleavened bread (no bacteria/yeast) is the bread of the feast of Passover and the bread of choice.
___The application he makes is in verse 11: "I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard or robber--not even to eat with such a one."
___Often we're afraid to appear insensitive or uncaring when ministering to others with deep problems, so we tolerate behavior in the name of compassion.
___The reality is that we are not only hurting the person who is living an immoral life by not confronting them, we are also hurting our witness by ignoring the issue at hand. When non-believers do not tolerate such behavior, what does that say about us?
___Paul does not appeal to church leaders, but to the congregation at large. This is a matter of the entire church.
___His appeal is to expel the man from the fellowship of the church. They are to deliver him to the one he so evidently worships--Satan. Until the man chooses to live a spiritual life, he will follow the way of the flesh, and only Christ can convict one to die to the flesh and follow him.
___Paul sees this issue as a character flaw, not a mental illness. Paul views this man's actions as an act of one's will, an act of choice--not an illness therapy could remedy. That is why he admonished the church, similar to Dr. Laura's "Go and do what's right!" You have a choice; exercise your choice.
___The right to choose
___There is great debate in our society today regarding the lifestyles that some choose to follow. Evidently the debate began centuries ago, for Paul had to face similar issues in the first century.
___So in verses 9-10, Paul lists 10 types of behavior of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God. They are the immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the effeminate, the abusers of themselves with mankind, the thief, the greedy, the drunkard, the reviler and the robber. These are people who have no desire to be elevated from their current status.
___He is not suggesting they could not repent and receive God's forgiveness. He is saying a person who continues to live such a life will not inherit the kingdom of God.
___He reminds the converts at Corinth that some of them had at one time chosen a different lifestyle before Christ came into their lives and showed them a better way. They have a new orientation to God because they have been washed, set apart and put right through his Son, Jesus Christ.
___God's power allows us to choose to be different. He empowers us to be ethical and moral in dealing with our fellow believers and those outside the faith.
___Many of us grew up with the adage, "Love the sinner, not the sin." That tears many families apart today. For some parents, their child chooses a lifestyle contrary to Paul's writings and the parents have a difficult time separating the sin and the sinner because it is their child.
___The church is challenged as much today as it was in the first century over how to deal with such real issues. Counseling and counselors have helped many people deal with these deep-seated issues, many of which Paul listed.
___We must be reminded that Paul's list is not exhaustive, only representative. He does not include the murderer, the wife abuser or drug addicts and others who could be numbered. Perhaps Paul was addressing an issue or issues particular to Corinth alone.
___A more apparent issue may be the way the church was to handle such problems.
___In Galatians 6:1-5, Paul commands his readers to the following: "Now if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a man in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted."
___Scholars are not definite about the dates of these letters. Some list 1 Corinthians at about 55 A.D. and Galatians at 58 A.D. Maybe there is a less aggressive approach in Galatians than in Corinthians because Paul has changed his mind.
___It could be that in the Galatian letter one is more remorseful over his behavior and seeks restoration after changing his behavior, contrary to the conduct of the man in Corinth. Paul's plan in the Galatian letter seems to be more compassionate and caring and less confrontive and public.
___In the church today, we attempt to apply Paul's teachings in Galatians rather than in Corinthians.
___There was a time when churches were known for having "churched" people for immoral behavior. This was an open and public proclamation of one's behavior and a vote taken to remove that person from the church rolls.
___Most churches today are more discreet, wishing to not disrupt the fellowship, nor to stir up other issues. Also, there is the subject of lawsuits being filed against churches and their ministers that cause the church to consider alternatives to their disciplinary actions for members' behavior.
___But when a fellowship has already been disrupted by scandal, Paul's recommendation to the church at Corinth may be the only solution. For the ultimate concern is the body--the body of Christ.
___The body
___Paul refers to the church as the body of Christ, and he called on the Corinthians to live unto that belief. He also raised the issue of how they used their physical body as a witness for Christ. Paul asserts that our body is not for immorality, but for the Lord. Because he died for us and bought us, we have no right to live as we choose, but to live as God commanded us through his Son.
___Paul drives home his point by reminding the readers of our Lord's statement, "the two will become one flesh." Jesus was referring to marriage and the desire of two people committed to each other for life. That "one flesh" means that we take on each other's beliefs, traits, values and habits.
___Two people really do become one flesh. So, to join one's life with a prostitute or harlot means one's values, beliefs and habits will be different than before.
___Paul takes his analogy a step further by reminding the Corinthians that their body is the temple (dwelling place) of God. God resides within the believer. So when we defile our bodies in immoral behavior, we are defiling God who lives in us. We are making him a party to our way of life.
___But God won't hang around for very long. We cannot separate our spiritual life from our physical body. The two are one. The Gnostics told the Corinthians it was possible; Paul opposed their way of thinking based on God's actions through his Son and by his Holy Spirit living in us. We are not our own. We have been bought with a price--the life of our Lord!
Questions for thought and discussion
___Since people watch us daily at work, school and home, how important is it that our walk and our talk go together? Are people really concerned about morals and ethics?
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